[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 738 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 738
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to allow all eligible voters
to vote by mail in Federal elections.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 24, 2025
Ms. Salinas (for herself, Ms. Norton, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Vargas, Mrs.
Dingell, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Tlaib, and Mr. Pocan)
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 allow all eligible voters
to vote by mail in Federal elections.
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 ``Universal Right To Vote by Mail Act
of 2025''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) An inequity of voting rights exists in the United
States because voters in some States have the universal right
to vote by mail while voters in other States do not.
(2) Many voters often have work, family, or other
commitments that make getting to polls on the date of an
election difficult or impossible. Under current State laws,
many of these voters are not permitted to vote by mail.
(3) 36 States and the District of Columbia currently allow
universal absentee voting (also known as ``no-excuse'' absentee
voting), which permits any voter to request a mail-in ballot
without providing a reason for the request, and no State which
has implemented no-excuse absentee voting has switched back.
(4) Voting by mail gives voters more time to consider their
choices, which is especially important as many ballots contain
greater numbers of questions about complex issues than in the
past due to the expanded use of the initiative and referendum
process in many States.
(5) Allowing all voters the option to vote by mail can lead
to increased voter participation.
(6) Allowing all voters the option to vote by mail can
reduce waiting times for those voters who choose to vote at the
polls.
(7) Voting by mail is preferable to many voters as an
alternative to going to the polls. Voting by mail has become
increasingly popular with voters who want to be certain that
they are able to vote no matter what comes up on Election Day.
(8) No evidence exists suggesting the potential for fraud
in absentee balloting is greater than the potential for fraud
by any other method of voting.
(9) Many of the reasons which voters in many States are
required to provide in order to vote by mail require the
revelation of personal information about health, travel plans,
or religious activities, which violate voters' privacy while
doing nothing to prevent voter fraud.
(10) State laws which require voters to obtain a notary
signature to vote by mail only add cost and inconvenience to
voters without increasing security.
SEC. 3. PROMOTING ABILITY OF VOTERS TO VOTE BY MAIL IN FEDERAL
ELECTIONS.
(a) In General.--Subtitle A of title III of the Help America Vote
Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended by inserting after
section 303 the following new section:
``SEC. 303A. PROMOTING ABILITY OF VOTERS TO VOTE BY MAIL.
``(a) In General.--If an individual in a State is eligible to cast
a vote in an election for Federal office, the State may not impose any
additional conditions or requirements on the eligibility of the
individual to cast the vote in such election by mail, except to the
extent that the State imposes a deadline for requesting the ballot and
related voting materials from the appropriate State or local election
official and for returning the ballot to the appropriate State or local
election official.
``(b) Notice and Opportunity To Cure Discrepancy or Defect.--
``(1) Notice and opportunity to cure discrepancy in
signatures.--If an individual submits a mail-in ballot or an
absentee ballot and the appropriate State or local election
official determines that a discrepancy exists between the
signature on such ballot and the signature of such individual
on the official list of registered voters in the State or other
official record or document used by the State to verify the
signatures of voters, such election official, prior to making a
final determination as to the validity of such ballot, shall--
``(A) as soon as practical, but not later than the
next business day after such determination is made,
make a good faith effort to notify the individual by
mail, telephone, and (if available) text message and
electronic mail that--
``(i) a discrepancy exists between the
signature on such ballot and the signature of
the individual on the official list of
registered voters in the State or other
official record or document used by the State
to verify the signatures of voters; and
``(ii) if such discrepancy is not cured
prior to the expiration of the third day
following the State's deadline for receiving
mail-in ballots or absentee ballots, such
ballot will not be counted; and
``(B) cure such discrepancy and count the ballot
if, prior to the expiration of the third day following
the State's deadline for receiving mail-in ballots or
absentee ballots, the individual provides the official
with information to cure such discrepancy, either in
person, by telephone, or by electronic methods.
``(2) Notice and opportunity to cure missing signature or
other defect.--If an individual submits a mail-in ballot or an
absentee ballot without a signature or submits a mail-in ballot
or an absentee ballot with another defect which, if left
uncured, would cause the ballot to not be counted, the
appropriate State or local election official, prior to making a
final determination as to the validity of the ballot, shall--
``(A) as soon as practical, but not later than the
next business day after such determination is made,
make a good faith effort to notify the individual by
mail, telephone, and (if available) text message and
electronic mail that--
``(i) the ballot did not include a
signature or has some other defect; and
``(ii) if the individual does not provide
the missing signature or cure the other defect
prior to the expiration of the third day
following the State's deadline for receiving
mail-in ballots or absentee ballots, such
ballot will not be counted; and
``(B) count the ballot if, prior to the expiration
of the third day following the State's deadline for
receiving mail-in ballots or absentee ballots, the
individual provides the official with the missing
signature on a form proscribed by the State or cures
the other defect.
This paragraph does not apply with respect to a defect
consisting of the failure of a ballot to meet the applicable
deadline for the acceptance of the ballot under State law.
``(c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed to affect the authority of States to conduct elections for
Federal office through the use of polling places at which individuals
cast ballots on the date of the election.
``(d) Effective Date.--A State shall be required to comply with the
requirements of this section with respect to elections for Federal
office held in years beginning with 2026.''.
(b) Conforming Amendment Relating to Enforcement.--Section 401 of
such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) is amended by striking ``and 304'' and
inserting ``303A, and 304''.
(c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for such Act is
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 303 the
following new item:
``Sec. 303A. Promoting ability of voters to vote by mail.''.
<all>