[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3169 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3169

 To direct the Election Assistance Commission to make grants to States 
 to respond to election administration needs which result from a major 
               natural disaster, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 24, 2007

Mr. Jefferson introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                   Committee on House Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Election Assistance Commission to make grants to States 
 to respond to election administration needs which result from a major 
               natural disaster, 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 ``Disaster Voting Reform Act of 
2007''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina came ashore and 
        destroyed 295 out of 442 polling locations in Orleans Parish, 
        Louisiana.
            (2) In advance of the April 2006 municipal elections, 
        Louisiana election officials requested $2.4 million from the 
        Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for replacement, 
        repairs, re-inspection, and certification of voting machines 
        damaged by the hurricane.
            (3) While FEMA provided $733,000 for repairs, those funds 
        could not be used to locate Orleans Parish voters spread across 
        48 states, and the State of Louisiana incurred a cost of 
        $750,000 for the purposes of voter outreach and education for 
        those displaced voters.

SEC. 3. GRANTS TO STATES FOR RESPONDING TO ELECTION ADMINISTRATION 
              NEEDS RESULTING FROM NATURAL DISASTERS.

    (a) Authority To Make Grants.--The Election Assistance Commission 
shall make a grant to each eligible State, in such amount as the 
Commission considers appropriate, for purposes of restoring and 
replacing supplies, materials, and equipment used in the administration 
of elections in the State which were damaged as a result of a major 
natural disaster, and for conducting voter outreach and education for 
voters displaced as a result of a major natural disaster, as determined 
on the basis of such criteria as the Commission may establish.
    (b) Eligibility.--
            (1) In general.--A State is eligible to receive a grant 
        under this Act if it submits to the Commission (at such time 
        and in such form as the Commission may require) a certification 
        that supplies, materials, and equipment used in the 
        administration of elections in the State were damaged as a 
        result of a major natural disaster.
            (2) Preference for states using funds for satellite voting 
        sites.--In determining the eligibility of States for receiving 
        grants under this Act and the amount of the grant awarded to a 
        State, the Commission shall give preference to States which 
        will use the grant to operate voting sites for displaced voters 
        which are located outside of the area which was affected by the 
        major natural disaster.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated for fiscal year 2008 for grants under this section 
$50,000,000, to remain available until expended.

SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY OF PROTECTIONS FOR ABSENT MILITARY AND OVERSEAS 
              VOTERS TO DISPLACED CITIZENS.

    (a) Right of Evacuees to Use Absentee Balloting and Registration 
Procedures Available to Military and Overseas Voters.--In the case of 
any individual who is an eligible disaster evacuee, with respect to any 
election occurring during the period described in subsection (d)--
            (1) the individual shall be treated in the same manner as 
        an absent uniformed services voter and overseas voter for 
        purposes of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting 
        Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff et seq.), other than section 103(b)(1) 
        (42 U.S.C. 1973ff-2(b)(1)); and
            (2) the individual shall be deemed to be an individual who 
        is entitled to vote by absentee ballot for purposes of the 
        National Voter Registration Act of 1993 and the Help America 
        Vote Act of 2002.
    (b) Eligible Disaster Evacuee Defined.--
            (1) In general.--For purposes of this section, the term 
        ``eligible disaster evacuee'' means an individual--
                    (A) whose place of residence where the individual 
                is otherwise qualified to vote is located within a 
                jurisdiction described in paragraph (2);
                    (B) who provides the appropriate State election 
                official with a certification that the individual is 
                absent from such place of residence as a result of 
                evacuation from an area affected by a major natural 
                disaster; and
                    (C) who provides the official with an affidavit 
                stating that the individual intends to return to such 
                place of residence after the election or elections 
                involved.
            (2) Jurisdiction described.--A jurisdiction described in 
        this paragraph is a registrar's jurisdiction defined in section 
        8(j) of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 
        1973gg-6(j)) in which not fewer than 20 percent of the voting 
        age population is absent as a result of evacuation from an area 
        affected by a major natural disaster (determined as of the date 
        on which the individual provides the certification and 
        affidavit referred to in paragraph (1)).
    (c) Requiring Designated Voter Registration Agencies To Notify 
Displaced Individuals of Availability of Protections.--Each motor 
vehicle authority in a State and each voter registration agency 
designated in a State under section 7(a) of the National Voter 
Registration Act of 1993 shall take such steps as may be necessary to 
notify individuals to whom services are provided of the protections 
provided by this section and of the requirements for obtaining those 
protections, including the requirement to submit an affidavit stating 
that the individual intends to return to the place of residence where 
the individual is otherwise qualified to vote.
    (d) Period of Applicability.--The period described in this 
subsection is, with respect to an individual who is absent from a place 
of residence as a result of evacuation from an area affected by a major 
natural disaster, the period--
            (1) which begins on the date of the individual's 
        evacuation; and
            (2) which ends on the date of the second regularly 
        scheduled general election for Federal office (or, if a runoff 
        election is held with respect to that second regularly 
        scheduled general election for Federal office, the date of the 
        runoff election) which occurs after the date of the 
        individual's evacuation.

SEC. 5. MAJOR NATURAL DISASTER DEFINED.

    In this Act, the term ``major natural disaster'' means a major 
disaster declared by the President under section 102 of the Robert T. 
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122).
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