Resilient Elections During Quarantines and Natural Disasters Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6202 To require States to adopt contingency plans to prevent the disruption of Federal elections from the COVID–19 virus, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 11, 2020 Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself, Mr. RASKIN, and Ms. DELBENE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Admin- istration A BILL To require States to adopt contingency plans to prevent the disruption of Federal elections from the COVID– 19 virus, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Resilient Elections 4 During Quarantines and Natural Disasters Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR FEDERAL ELECTION CONTIN- 6 GENCY PLANS IN RESPONSE TO COVID–19. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the 8 date of the enactment of this Act, each State and jurisdic- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6202.IH H6202 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6202 IH tion shall establish and make publicly available a contin- 1 gency plan to enable individuals to vote in elections for 2 Federal office in any case in which a significant number 3 of individuals in such State or jurisdiction are unable to 4 vote because— 5 (1) they are under a quarantine that is— 6 (A) imposed by a government order in re- 7 sponse to the coronavirus disease 2019 (re- 8 ferred to in this section as ‘‘COVID–19’’); or 9 (B) recommended by a government official 10 or public health expert in response to COVID– 11 19; or 12 (2) their polling place is closed because poll 13 workers or election officials are under a quarantine 14 that is— 15 (A) imposed by a government order in re- 16 sponse to COVID–19; or 17 (B) recommended by a government official 18 or public health expert in response to COVID– 19 19. 20 (b) REQUIREMENT TO PLAN FOR VOTERS TO BE 21 ABLE TO REQUEST ABSENTEE BALLOTS ONLINE AND 22 VOTE BY MAIL.—The contingency plan established under 23 subsection (a) shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6202.IH H6202 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6202 IH (1) permit all individuals who are registered to 1 vote to— 2 (A) submit an online request for an absen- 3 tee ballot; and 4 (B) cast a vote in Federal elections by 5 mail; and 6 (2) provide for the extension of vote-by-mail 7 deadlines if postal service is disrupted as a result of 8 COVID–19. 9 (c) STATE.—For purposes of this section, the term 10 ‘‘State’’ includes the District of Columbia, the Common- 11 wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the 12 United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of 13 the Northern Mariana Islands. 14 (d) ENFORCEMENT.—The Attorney General may 15 bring a civil action against any State or jurisdiction in 16 an appropriate United States District Court for such de- 17 claratory and injunctive relief (including a temporary re- 18 straining order, a permanent or temporary injunction, or 19 other order) as may be necessary to carry out the require- 20 ments of this section. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6202.IH H6202 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6202 IH SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT TO ALLOW NO-EXCUSE ABSENTEE 1 VOTING DURING CERTAIN PERIODS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help America 3 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended 4 by adding at the end the following new subtitle: 5 ‘‘Subtitle C—Other Requirements 6 ‘‘SEC. 321. NO-EXCUSE ABSENTEE VOTING DURING NA- 7 TIONAL EMERGENCIES. 8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 6(c) of 9 the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 10 20505(c)), in the case of any election for Federal office 11 occurring during any period described in subsection (b), 12 each State and jurisdiction shall— 13 ‘‘(1) permit any eligible voter to use absentee 14 registration procedures and to vote by absentee bal- 15 lot; and 16 ‘‘(2) comply with the requirements of subsection 17 (d). 18 For purposes of this subsection, an election shall be con- 19 sidered to occur during a period described in subsection 20 (b) if votes may be cast in such election (through absentee 21 balloting, early voting, or otherwise) on any day during 22 such period. 23 ‘‘(b) PERIOD DESCRIBED.— 24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A period described in this 25 subsection is a period— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6202.IH H6202 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6202 IH ‘‘(A) subject to paragraph (2), that begins 1 with the date that is 30 days after the date on 2 which at least 25 percent of States have de- 3 clared an emergency (under the laws of the 4 State) with respect to any single natural dis- 5 aster or infectious disease (including the 6 coronavirus disease 2019 (referred to in this 7 section as ‘COVID–19’)); and 8 ‘‘(B) that ends with— 9 ‘‘(i) in the case of a State that did not 10 declare an emergency with respect to the 11 single natural disaster or infectious disease 12 described in subparagraph (A), 180 days 13 after the first date on which less than 25 14 percent of States have an emergency dec- 15 laration in effect with respect to such nat- 16 ural disaster or disease; and 17 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a State that did 18 declare an emergency with respect to such 19 natural disaster or infectious disease, the 20 later of— 21 ‘‘(I) 180 days after the date on 22 which the State declares that the 23 emergency is no longer in effect; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6202.IH H6202 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6202 IH ‘‘(II) the date described in clause 1 (i). 2 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL PERIOD.—If, as of the date of en- 3 actment of this section, at least 25 percent of States 4 have declared an emergency (under the laws of the 5 State) with respect to any single natural disaster or 6 infectious disease (including COVID–19), then a pe- 7 riod described in this subsection shall begin on the 8 date that is 30 days after the date of enactment of 9 this section. 10 ‘‘(3) TREATMENT OF EMERGENCY DECLARA- 11 TIONS BY CERTAIN COUNTIES AND CITIES.—For 12 purposes of this subsection, a State shall be deemed 13 to have declared an emergency under the laws of the 14 State with respect to a natural disaster or infectious 15 disease (including COVID–19) if an emergency is 16 declared with respect to such disaster or infectious 17 disease by a city, county, parish, or other political 18 subdivision of the State that has a population that 19 is greater than 1,000,000. 20 ‘‘(c) STATE OPTION TO DECLARE EMERGENCY VOT- 21 ING PERIOD.— 22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 23 6(c) of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 24 (52 U.S.C. 20505(c)), if the Governor of a State has 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6202.IH H6202 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6202 IH declared an emergency voting period with respect to 1 the State in accordance with paragraph (2), the 2 State and any jurisdiction in the State, with respect 3 to any election for Federal office occurring during 4 such period, shall— 5 ‘‘(A) permit any eligible voter to use ab- 6 sentee registration procedures and to vote by 7 absentee ballot; and 8 ‘‘(B) comply with the requirements of sub- 9 section (d). 10 For purposes of this paragraph, an election shall be 11 considered to occur during an emergency voting pe- 12 riod if votes may be cast in such election (through 13 absentee balloting, early voting, or otherwise) on any 14 day during such period. 15 ‘‘(2) EMERGENCY VOTING PERIOD.— 16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Governor of a 17 State may declare an emergency voting period 18 in the State by— 19 ‘‘(i) stating that a natural disaster or 20 infectious disease (including COVID–19) 21 has resulted in emergency conditions in the 22 State; and 23 ‘‘(ii) invoking the authority provided 24 under this subsection to apply the absentee 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6202.IH H6202 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6202 IH registration procedures and absentee vot- 1 ing requirements described in paragraph 2 (1) to the State. 3 ‘‘(B) DURATION OF EMERGENCY VOTING 4 PERIOD.—An emergency voting period declared 5 by a Governor of a State under subparagraph 6 (A)— 7 ‘‘(i) shall begin on the date that is 30 8 days after the Governor declares the emer- 9 gency voting period in accordance with 10 subparagraph (A); and 11 ‘‘(ii) shall end on the later of— 12 ‘‘(I) 180 days after the date on 13 which the Governor declares that 14 emergency conditions no longer exist 15 in the State; and 16 ‘‘(II) if applicable, the date on 17 which the period described in sub- 18 section (b) ends. 19 ‘‘(d) ABSENTEE REGISTRATION AND VOTING RE- 20 QUIREMENTS.—The requirements described in this sub- 21 section are the following: 22 ‘‘(1) DEADLINE FOR ABSENTEE BALLOTS.—If a 23 ballot submitted by an individual by mail with re- 24 spect to an election for Federal office in the State 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6202.IH H6202 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6202 IH is postmarked on or before the date of the election, 1 the State may not refuse to accept or process the 2 ballot on the grounds that the individual did not 3 meet a deadline for returning the ballot to the ap- 4 propriate State or local election official. 5 ‘‘(2) ABSENTEE BALLOT REQUESTS.—The 6 State shall— 7 ‘‘(A) permit any eligible voter to submit an 8 online request for an absentee ballot to vote in 9 an election for Federal office in the State; 10 ‘‘(B) send an absentee ballot to vote in an 11 election for Federal office in the State by mail 12 to any eligible voter that submits a request for 13 such a ballot on or before the date that is 5 14 days before the date of such election; and 15 ‘‘(C) on or before the date that is 1 day 16 before the date of an election for Federal office 17 in the State, permit any eligible voter that sub- 18 mits a request for an absentee ballot to vote in 19 such election to download or receive via elec- 20 tronic mail a version of such ballot that the 21 voter may print out and mail in. 22 ‘‘(3) NO EXCUSE REQUIRED.—The State shall 23 not require that an eligible voter provide a reason in 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6202.IH H6202 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6202 IH order to vote by absentee ballot or request to receive 1 an absentee ballot. 2 ‘‘(4) NO WRITE-IN BALLOTS.—Any absentee 3 ballot for an election for Federal office in the State 4 that is provided to an eligible voter pursuant to 5 paragraph (2) shall include the name of each can- 6 didate for such office. 7 ‘‘(e) STATE.—For purposes of this section, the term 8 ‘State’ includes the District of Columbia, the Common- 9 wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the 10 United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of 11 the Northern Mariana Islands. 12 ‘‘(f) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a violation of 14 this section, section 402 shall not apply and any per- 15 son who is aggrieved by such violation may provide 16 written notice of the violation to the chief election 17 official of the State involved. 18 ‘‘(2) RELIEF.—If the violation is not corrected 19 within 20 days after receipt of a notice under para- 20 graph (1), or within 5 days after receipt of the no- 21 tice if the violation occurred within 120 days before 22 the date of an election for Federal office, the ag- 23 grieved person may, in a civil action, obtain declara- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6202.IH H6202 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6202 IH tory or injunctive relief with respect to the viola- 1 tion.’’. 2 (b) ENFORCEMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—Sec- 3 tion 401 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 ( 52 4 U.S.C. 21111) is amended by striking ‘‘and 303’’ and in- 5 serting ‘‘303, and 321’’. 6 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 7 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 is amended by in- 8 serting after the item relating to section 312 the following: 9 ‘‘Subtitle C—Other Requirements ‘‘Sec. 321. No-excuse absentee voting during national emergencies.’’. SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT FOR PREPAID RETURN ENVELOPES 10 FOR ABSENTEE BALLOTS. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title III of the Help 12 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is 13 amended— 14 (1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as 15 sections 305 and 306, respectively; and 16 (2) by inserting after section 303 the following 17 new section: 18 ‘‘SEC. 304. USE OF PREPAID SELF-SEALING RETURN ENVE- 19 LOPES. 20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State and local jurisdiction 21 shall provide with any voter registration application, ab- 22 sentee ballot application, or blank absentee ballot sent by 23 mail a self-sealing return envelope with prepaid postage 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Mar 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6202.IH H6202 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 6202 IH or subject to an arrangement whereby the State will reim- 1 burse the United States Postal Service for the postage of 2 any such return envelope that is sent by mail. 3 ‘‘(b) STATE.—For purposes of this section, the term 4 ‘State’ includes the District of Columbia, the Common- 5 wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the 6 United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of 7 the Northern Mariana Islands. 8 ‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirements of this 9 section shall apply to materials sent by States and local 10 jurisdictions after the date that is 60 days after the date 11 of the enactment of this Act.’’. 12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN- 13 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 14 21111), as amended by section 3(b), is amended by insert- 15 ing ‘‘304,’’ after ‘‘303,’’. 16 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of contents 17 of such Act is amended— 18 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec- 19 tions 304 and 305 as relating to sections 305 and 20 306, respectively; and 21 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec- 22 tion 303 the following new item: 23 ‘‘Sec. 304. Use of prepaid self-sealing return envelopes.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 2 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]