[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 281 Reported in House (RH)]






                                                 Union Calendar No. 359
110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 281

                          [Report No. 110-581]

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 5, 2007

 Mrs. Davis of California (for herself, Mrs. Jones of Ohio, Mr. Larsen 
of Washington, Mr. Schiff, Mrs. Capps, Ms. Hooley, Ms. Woolsey, and Mr. 
  McDermott) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                   Committee on House Administration

                             April 14, 2008

Additional sponsors: Mr. Filner, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Holt, Mr. Baca, Ms. 
   Eshoo, Ms. Kilpatrick, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. 
   Carson, Mr. Al Green of Texas, Mr. Stark, Mr. Kind, Mr. Wynn, Mr. 
     Andrews, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Hare, Mr. 
 Blumenauer, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mr. 
   Farr, Mr. George Miller of California, Mr. Wu, Mr. McNerney, Mr. 
     Abercrombie, Ms. Clarke, Ms. Berkley, Ms. Linda T. Sanchez of 
 California, Ms. Zoe Lofgren of California, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Becerra, 
   Mr. Honda, Mr. Braley of Iowa, Mr. Space, Mr. Levin, Mr. Davis of 
 Alabama, Mr. Kagen, Mr. Loebsack, Ms. Matsui, Mr. Walz of Minnesota, 
   Mr. Hinchey, Mr. Yarmuth, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Mr. Crowley, Mr. 
Costa, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Wilson of Ohio, Ms. Norton, Ms. Sutton, Mr. 
   Clay, Mrs. Maloney of New York, Mr. McIntyre, Mr. Price of North 
Carolina, Mr. Berman, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Rush, Mr. Udall of 
  New Mexico, Mr. Ortiz, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Mitchell, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. 
 Courtney, Ms. Loretta Sanchez of California, Mr. Berry, Mr. Miller of 
 North Carolina, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Rothman, Mr. Bishop of New York, Mr. 
  Thompson of California, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Kildee, Mr. Hinojosa, Mr. 
  Peterson of Minnesota, Mr. Boswell, Ms. Watson, Mr. Inslee, and Mr. 
                                Cardoza

                             April 14, 2008

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 
                                5, 2007]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 2008''.

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.
            (3) Allowing voters to vote by mail can lead to increased 
        voter participation.
            (4) Voting by mail is more convenient for many voters.
            (5) Voting by mail gives voters more time to consider their 
        choices.
            (6) Studies show that an overwhelming majority of voters 
        prefer voting by mail as an alternative to going to the polls.
            (7) No evidence exists suggesting the potential for fraud 
        in absentee balloting is greater than the potential for fraud 
        by any other method of voting.
            (8) 28 States currently allow universal absentee voting, 
        which permits any voter to request a mail-in ballot without 
        providing a reason for the request.

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 (42 U.S.C. 15481 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 as 
required under subsection (b) and 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) Requiring Signature Verification.--A State may not accept and 
process an absentee ballot submitted by any individual with respect to 
an election for Federal office unless the State verifies the 
identification of the individual by comparing the individual's 
signature on the absentee ballot with the individual's signature on the 
official list of registered voters in the State, in accordance with 
such procedures as the State may adopt.
    ``(c) Effective Date.--A State shall be required to comply with the 
requirements of this section with respect to the regularly scheduled 
general elections for Federal office held in November 2010 and each 
succeeding election for Federal office.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment Relating to Enforcement.--Section 401 of 
such Act (42 U.S.C. 15511) is amended by striking ``and 303'' and 
inserting ``303, and 303A''.
    (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.''.
                                                 Union Calendar No. 359

110th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                               H. R. 281

                          [Report No. 110-581]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to allow all eligible voters 
                 to vote by mail in Federal elections.

_______________________________________________________________________

                             April 14, 2008

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed