[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4407 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4407
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to direct the Standards
Board of the Election Assistance Commission to release voluntary
considerations with respect to the administration of elections for
Federal office.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 30, 2023
Mr. Feenstra introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on House Administration
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to direct the Standards
Board of the Election Assistance Commission to release voluntary
considerations with respect to the administration of elections for
Federal office.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Voluntarily Offered Tools for
Election Reforms by States Act'' or the ``VOTERS Act''.
SEC. 2. ELECTION INTEGRITY VOLUNTARY CONSIDERATIONS.
(a) In General.--Subtitle C of title II of the Help America Vote
Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20981 et seq.) is amended--
(1) by redesignating section 247 as section 248; and
(2) by inserting after section 246 the following new
section:
``SEC. 247. RELEASE OF VOLUNTARY CONSIDERATIONS BY STANDARDS BOARD WITH
RESPECT TO ELECTION ADMINISTRATION.
``(a) In General.--The Standards Board shall draw from experiences
in their home jurisdictions and information voluntarily provided by and
between States on what has worked and not worked and release voluntary
considerations with respect to the administration of an election for
Federal office.
``(b) Matters To Consider.--In releasing the voluntary
considerations under subsection (a), the Standards Board shall examine
and consolidate information provided by States and release
considerations with respect to each of the following categories:
``(1) The process for the administration of ballots
delivered by mail, including--
``(A) deadlines for the return and receipt of such
ballots to the appropriate election official;
``(B) the design of such ballots, including the
envelopes used to deliver the ballots;
``(C) the process for requesting and tracking the
return of such ballots; and
``(D) the processing of such ballots upon receipt
by the appropriate election official, including the
schedule for counting the ballots and the reporting of
the unofficial results of such counting.
``(2) The signature verification procedures used to verify
the identity of voters in an election, which shall include an
evaluation of human and machine methods of signature
verification, an assessment of the training provided to
individuals tasked to carry out such verification procedures,
and the proposal of other less subjective methods of confirming
the identity of a voter such as requiring the identification
number of a valid government-issued photo identification or the
last four digits of the voter's social security number to be
provided along with the voter's signature.
``(3) The processes used to carry out maintenance of the
official list of persons registered to vote in each State.
``(4) Rules and requirements with respect to the access
provided to election observers.
``(5) The processes used to ensure the timely and accurate
reporting of the unofficial results of ballot counting in each
polling place in a State and the reporting of the unofficial
results of such counting.
``(6) The methods used to recruit poll workers and
designate the location of polling places during a pandemic,
natural disaster, or other emergency.
``(7) The education of the public with respect to the
certification and testing of voting machines prior to the use
of such machines in an election for Federal office, including
education with respect to how such machines are tested for
accuracy and logic.
``(8) The processes and procedures used to carry out a
post-election audit.
``(9) The processes and procedures used to ensure a secure
chain of custody with respect to ballots and election
equipment.
``(c) Release of Voluntary Considerations.--
``(1) Deadline for release.--Not later than December 31,
2024, the Standards Board shall release voluntary
considerations with respect to each of the categories described
in subsection (b).
``(2) Transmission and notification requirements.--Not
later than 15 days after the date the Standards Board releases
voluntary considerations with respect to a category described
in subsection (b), the Commission shall--
``(A) transmit the considerations to the chief
State election official of each State and the elected
leadership of the legislature of each State, including
the elected leadership of any committee of the
legislature of a State with jurisdiction with respect
to elections;
``(B) make the considerations available on a
publicly accessible Government website; and
``(C) notify and transmit the considerations to the
chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on
House Administration of the House of Representatives
and the chair and ranking minority member of the
Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate.
``(d) Use of Requirements Payments for Implementation of Voluntary
Considerations.--A State may use a requirements payment provided under
this Act to implement any of the voluntary considerations released
under subsection (a).
``(e) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be
construed--
``(1) to require compliance with the voluntary
considerations released under subsection (a), including as a
condition of the receipt of Federal funds; or
``(2) to treat the lack of compliance with such
considerations as a violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965
or to treat compliance with such considerations as a defense
against an alleged violation of such Act.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents of such Act is
amended--
(1) by redesignating the item relating to section 247 as
relating to section 248; and
(2) by inserting after the item relating to section 246 the
following new item:
``Sec. 247. Release of voluntary considerations by Standards Board with
respect to election administration.''.
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