[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4972 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4972

To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to permit certain 
  individuals who are under the minimum legal voting age to complete 
     voter registration application forms, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 22, 2004

   Mr. Markey (for himself, Ms. Linda T. Sanchez of California, Mr. 
McNulty, Mr. Ryan of Ohio, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mrs. Christensen, Mr. 
    Frost, Mr. Owens, Mr. Hinchey, and Mr. Deutsch) introduced the 
     following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House 
                             Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to permit certain 
  individuals who are under the minimum legal voting age to complete 
     voter registration application forms, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Gateway to Democracy Act of 2004''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) The right of citizens of the United States to vote is a 
        fundamental right.
            (2) It is the responsibility of the Federal, State, and 
        local governments to ensure that voter registration laws and 
        procedures enhance the participation of eligible citizens as 
        voters.
            (3) Young adults often fail to participate in the first 
        election for which they are eligible to vote.
            (4) Young adults are consistently the age group with the 
        lowest voter turnout. According to the Bureau of the Census, in 
        the 2000 general election only 45.4% of 18 to 24 year olds were 
        registered to vote and only 32.3% voted. The statistics for the 
        1998 general election were even more dismal, as 39.2% of such 
        individuals were registered and a mere 16.6% actually went to 
        the polls.
            (5) One of the reasons for the failure of young adults to 
        vote is that most States require registration prior to the 
        election itself, so that it is too late to establish voter 
        eligibility on Election Day.
            (6) The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 established 
        that the simultaneous application for voter registration with 
        the application for a motor vehicle driver's license provides 
        the government with an effective mechanism for increasing 
        access to voter registration.
            (7) While many States allow individuals to get their 
        license before they meet the age requirement for voter 
        registration, few States allow registration at that time if the 
        potential voter has not yet reached the minimum voting age.
            (8) In order to remove this barrier, increase the 
        effectiveness of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, 
        and ensure that the maximum number of young adults is given the 
        opportunity to register to vote, a procedure should be 
        established to allow young adults who do not yet meet the 
        voting age requirement to nevertheless register to vote at the 
        time they apply for their driver's licenses.
            (9) Hawaii, Connecticut, Iowa, Florida, Maine, Missouri, 
        and Texas have already implemented successful pre-registration 
        programs which allow individuals to register to vote prior to 
        meeting all of the eligibility requirements for registration.
    (b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act--
            (1) to increase the effectiveness of the National Voter 
        Registration Act of 1993;
            (2) to expand the categories of individuals who are given 
        the opportunity to register to vote under the National Voter 
        Registration Act of 1993 to include young adults who do not yet 
        meet the minimum age requirement to vote; and
            (3) to encourage civic engagement by young adults.

SEC. 3. PERMITTING CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS UNDER MINIMUM LEGAL VOTING AGE 
              TO COMPLETE VOTER REGISTRATION APPLICATION FORMS.

    (a) Forms Provided With Applications for Motor Vehicle Driver's 
License.--Section 5(c)(2)(C)(ii) of the National Voter Registration Act 
of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg-3(c)(2)(C)(ii)) is amended by striking 
``requirement'' and inserting the following: ``requirement (or, in the 
case of an applicant who is under the minimum legal voting age, an 
attestation that the applicant will reach such age prior to voting)''.
    (b) Forms Provided by Other Designated Voter Registration 
Agencies.--Section 7(a)(6)(A)(i)(II) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1973gg-
5(a)(6)(A)(i)(II)) is amended by striking ``requirement'' and inserting 
the following: ``requirement (or, in the case of an applicant who is 
under the minimum legal voting age, an attestation that the applicant 
will reach such age prior to voting)''.
    (c) Mail Voter Registration Form.--
            (1) In general.--Section 9(b)(2)(B) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
        1973gg-7(b)(2)(B)) is amended by striking ``requirement'' and 
        inserting the following: ``requirement (or, in the case of an 
        applicant who is under the minimum legal voting age, an 
        attestation that the applicant will reach such age prior to 
        voting)''.
            (2) Conforming amendment regarding check-off box for age.--
        Section 303(b)(4)(A)(ii) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 
        (42 U.S.C. 15483(b)(4)(A)(ii)) is amended to read as follows:
                            ``(ii) The question `If you are under the 
                        minimum legal voting age, will you certify that 
                        you understand that this application will not 
                        become effective and you will not be able to 
                        vote in any election prior to reaching that 
                        age?' and boxes for the applicant to check to 
                        indicate whether or not the applicant will so 
                        certify.''.
    (d) Rule of Construction Regarding Minimum Age for Submission of 
Forms.--Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 
U.S.C. 1973gg-6) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (j) as subsection (k); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (i) the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(j) Minimum Age for Submission of Forms.--Nothing in this Act may 
be construed to require a State to accept any voter registration 
application form from an individual who, at the time of submitting the 
form, has not attained the age at which the individual may apply for a 
motor vehicle driver's license in the State.''.

SEC. 4. MAINTENANCE AND AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION ON INDIVIDUALS 
              UNDER MINIMUM LEGAL VOTING AGE.

    Section 303(a)(1)(A) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 
U.S.C. 15483(a)(1)(A)) is amended by adding at the end the following 
new clause:
                            ``(ix) In addition to the information on 
                        legally registered voters which is maintained 
                        on the list, the State shall maintain 
                        information on those individuals in the State 
                        who have completed applications for voter 
                        registration prior to reaching the minimum 
                        legal voting age, and shall make the 
                        information available to election officials in 
                        the State.''.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to 
applications to register to vote in elections occurring in a State 
after the date on which the State is required to comply with the 
requirements of section 303(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 
(relating to the implementation of a computerized Statewide voter 
registration list).
                                 <all>