Short title

This Act may be cited as the

Voter Protection Hotline Act of 2011

Findings

Congress finds as follows: (1)At the Federal, State, and local levels, government funding supports well-intentioned voter hotlines that are not fully utilized because of a lack of access to information on such programs by the public at-large. All 50 states and the District of Columbia have at least one voter hotline in addition to an unprecedented amount of privately funded voter hotlines, all with different telephone numbers. The multiplicity of resources makes it difficult for voters to identify the correct hotline for their needs, which may result in voters who have immediate or urgent needs abandoning their effort to vote. (2)The Department of Justice has declared that a national telephone number or hotline on voting information is an important tool to facilitate the voting process, and has established a hotline through which individuals may obtain this kind of information. Notwithstanding the existence of the hotline, voting irregularities were still rampant, as evidenced by a number of problems that occurred during the 2008 election cycle, including the following: (A)Virginia voters who registered through the Department of Motor Vehicles or via third party groups reported never receiving a registration card. In other cases, they arrived at their polling places only to find their names missing from the voter rolls. Some voters did not fill out their registration paperwork correctly, but were not notified of this until well after the registration deadline of October 6. There were reports in one location all seven voting machines in the building had failed and that there were no paper ballots available. Voters at that polling place waited in line for an extraordinary 7 hours and 15 minutes to vote. (B)St. Louis voters who had submitted change of address forms several weeks prior to Election Day found that these forms had not been processed by Election Day. (C)On December 2, the New York Post reported that more than 3,500 voter registration forms were shipped to the New York City Board of Elections on September 10, only to sit in a box until November 6, 2 days after the election. Of these voters, those who cast provisional ballots had their votes counted, but it is unclear how many other voters were turned away at the polls. (D)Pennsylvania voters in cities reported not receiving absentee ballots by Election Day. This caused additional problems at polling places on Election Day, as some of those who feared their votes would go uncounted took time away from family obligations, work, or struggled with a disability to get to their polling place. Upon arrival, they were told they would be unable to vote in person since they had already requested an absentee ballot. (E)Voters at poorly prepared poll locations in Los Angeles County and elsewhere in California began reporting ballot shortages in the early afternoon on Election Day. Many people who went to the wrong polling place were incorrectly instructed to vote provisionally instead of being sent to the correct location. At one polling place, provisional ballots were handed out because so many voters were unaware that their poll location had changed and had gone to the wrong location. In other places, voters were not offered provisional ballots even when they were warranted, for example, when paper ballots were requested or when regular ballots were running out. In all, nearly 1,000,000 people voted by provisional ballot in California. (F)Wait times of 6 hours were reported for early voting in Franklin County, Ohio, leading to people leaving the line without voting. Wait times of between 2 and 10 hours were reported during early voting at multiple Georgia locations. (3)The fifteenth amendment to the Constitution protects the right of citizens to vote, yet every election cycle, the voting rights of thousands of citizens are denied or abridged due to factors ranging from misinformation to wholesale intimidation. For example: (A)In the 2004 presidential election, voters reported receiving calls telling them to report to the polls to vote the day after Election Day, that the polling location had changed, and that they would only be allowed to vote if they brought four separate forms of identification to the poll. In 2008, in southern Virginia and at George Mason University in the northern part of the state, official-looking fliers “informed” voters that, because of projected high turnout, Democrats should wait and vote on November 5, 2008, the day after the election. North Carolina voters complained of misleading calls that provided inaccurate information regarding absentee ballot deadlines. (B)Michigan poll workers were often unaware that Michigan voters who did not have a government-issued photo ID could vote after signing an affidavit. (C)In 2008, fliers distributed and posted in a west Philadelphia neighborhood claimed that any violation as simple as an unpaid parking ticket would render citizens ineligible to vote and subject to arrest at the polls. A flier disseminated on the campus of Drexel University in Philadelphia warned that undercover officers would be present at the polls, looking for voters with outstanding warrants or parking violations. (D)In Virginia, Michigan and Colorado, students were told that if they registered to vote where they went to school (instead of at their parents’ address) they could lose their healthcare, financial aid, and jeopardize their parent’s taxes, all false claims. (E)In 2008, the non-profit group Minnesota Majority, pretending to be from the Secretary of State's office, made calls to voters questioning their registrations in a supposed attempt to uncover voting irregularities. (F)Twelve Ohio counties released sample paper ballots that split the presidential contest over two columns for the November election. A study found that this particular layout often confuses voters and causes them to double-vote, which ultimately disqualifies the ballot.

Voter information hotline

(a)

Establishment and Operation of telephone service

The Attorney General, in consultation with State election officials, shall establish and operate a toll-free telephone service, using a telephone number that is accessible throughout the United States and that uses easily identifiable numerals, through which individuals throughout the United States— (1)may obtain information on voting in elections for Federal office, including information on how to register to vote in such elections, the hours of operation of polling places, and how to obtain absentee ballots; and (2)may report information to the Attorney General on problems encountered in registering to vote or voting, including incidences of voter intimidation or suppression. (b)

Voter Hotline Task Force

(1)

Appointment by attorney general

The Attorney General shall appoint individuals (in such number as the Attorney General considers appropriate) to serve on a Voter Hotline Task Force to provide ongoing analysis and assessment of the operation of the telephone service established under this Act, and shall give special consideration in making appointments to the Task Force to individuals who represent civil rights organizations. (2)

Eligibility

An individual shall be eligible to serve on the Task Force under this subsection if the individual meets such criteria as the Attorney General may establish, except that an individual may not serve on the task force if the individual has been convicted of any criminal offense relating to voter intimidation or voter suppression. (3)

Term of service

An individual appointed to the Task Force shall serve a single term of 2 years. A vacancy in the membership of the Task Force shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment. (4)

No compensation for service

Members of the Task Force shall serve without pay, but shall receive travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with applicable provisions under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code. (c)

Bi-Annual report to Congress

Not later than March 1 of each odd-numbered year, the Attorney General shall submit a report to Congress on the operation of the telephone service established under this Act during the previous 2 years, and shall include in the report— (1)a compilation and description of the reports made to the hotline by individuals citing instances of voter intimidation or suppression; and (2)an assessment of the effectiveness of the service in making information available to all households in the United States with telephone service.

Authorization of appropriations

(a)

Authorization

There are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General for fiscal year 2011 and each succeeding fiscal year such sums as may be necessary to carry out this Act. (b)

Set-Aside for outreach

Of the amounts appropriated to carry out this Act for a fiscal year pursuant to the authorization under subsection (a), not less than 15% shall be used for outreach activities to make the public aware of the availability of the telephone service established under this Act.