Short Title

This Act may be cited as the

Disaster Voting Reform Act of 2007

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.

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.

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.

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).