[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3163 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3163

    To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require any State 
offering an early voting period in elections for Federal office to make 
  the period available for the entire 14-day period that precedes the 
 date of the election, to prohibit States from imposing identification 
 requirements on individuals who wish to vote or register to vote who 
 are not otherwise required to provide identification under such Act, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 12, 2011

Ms. Brown of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                to the Committee on House Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require any State 
offering an early voting period in elections for Federal office to make 
  the period available for the entire 14-day period that precedes the 
 date of the election, to prohibit States from imposing identification 
 requirements on individuals who wish to vote or register to vote who 
 are not otherwise required to provide identification under such Act, 
                        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 ``Easy Voting Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHING MINIMUM EARLY VOTING PERIOD FOR JURISDICTIONS 
              CONDUCTING EARLY VOTING.

    (a) Minimum Period.--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. REQUIREMENTS FOR STATES PERMITTING EARLY VOTING.

    ``(a) Minimum Early Voting Period.--If a State permits individuals 
to cast ballots in an election for Federal office during a period that 
occurs prior to the date of the election in the same manner in which 
ballots are cast on the date of the election, the State shall ensure 
that such period includes the entire 14-day period (including Saturdays 
and Sundays) which ends on the date of the election.
    ``(b) Effective Date.--Each State shall be required to comply with 
the requirements of this section beginning January 1, 2012.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment Relating to Enforcement.--Section 401 of 
such Act (42 U.S.C. 15511) is amended by striking ``sections 301, 302, 
and 303'' and inserting ``subtitle A of title III''.
    (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents of such Act is 
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 303 the 
following new item:

``Sec. 303A. Requirements for States permitting early voting''.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITING STATES FROM REQUIRING STATE-ISSUED IDENTIFICATION 
              AS CONDITION FOR VOTING OR REGISTERING TO VOTE.

    (a) Prohibition.--Subtitle A of title III of the Help America Vote 
Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481 et seq.), as amended by section 2(a), is 
amended by inserting after section 303A the following new section:

``SEC. 303B. PROHIBITING STATES FROM REQUIRING STATE-ISSUED 
              IDENTIFICATION AS CONDITION FOR VOTING OR REGISTERING TO 
              VOTE.

    ``(a) Prohibition.--An election official may not require an 
individual to provide a State-issued identification (including an 
identification issued by a unit of local government in the State) as a 
condition of receiving or casting a ballot in any election for Federal 
office or of registering to vote in any election for Federal office.
    ``(b) No Effect on Requirements for Certain Voters Who Register by 
Mail.--Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect any 
requirement under section 303(b) that certain individuals who register 
to vote by mail present a form of identification as a condition of 
casting a ballot in an election.
    ``(c) Effective Date.--Each State shall be required to comply with 
the requirements of this section beginning January 1, 2012.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents of such Act, as 
amended by section 2(c), is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to section 303A the following new item:

``Sec. 303B. Prohibiting States from requiring State-issued 
                            identification as condition for voting or 
                            registering to vote''.

SEC. 4. REQUIRING STATES TO MAKE SAME-DAY VOTER REGISTRATION AND CHANGE 
              OF ADDRESS SERVICE AVAILABLE.

    (a) Requirement.--
            (1) In general.--Subtitle A of title III of the Help 
        America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481 et seq.), as amended 
        by section 3(a), is amended by inserting after section 303B the 
        following new section:

``SEC. 303C. ELECTION DAY REGISTRATION AND CHANGE OF ADDRESS SERVICE.

    ``(a) In General.--
            ``(1) Registration.--Notwithstanding section 8(a)(1)(D) of 
        the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg-
        6), each State shall permit any individual on the day of an 
        election for Federal office--
                    ``(A) to register to vote in such election at the 
                polling place using a form that meets the requirements 
                of section 9(b) of the National Voter Registration Act 
                of 1993; and
                    ``(B) if, on the basis of registering to vote under 
                subparagraph (A), the individual is qualified to vote 
                in such election, to cast a vote in such election.
            ``(2) Change of address service for registered voters.--If 
        an individual who is a registered voter in a State moves to a 
        new address in the State but does not provide the appropriate 
        State election official with information on the new address 
        prior to appearing at a polling place to cast a vote in an 
        election for Federal office, the State shall permit the 
        individual--
                    ``(A) to provide such information at the polling 
                place using a change of address form developed by the 
                State; and
                    ``(B) notwithstanding section 302(a), to cast a 
                regular ballot instead of a provisional ballot for the 
                election.
            ``(3) Exception.--The requirements under paragraphs (1) and 
        (2) shall not apply to a State in which, under a State law in 
        effect continuously on and after the date of the enactment of 
        this Act, there is no voter registration requirement for 
        individuals in the State with respect to elections for Federal 
        office.
    ``(b) Transmittal of Forms to State Election Officials.--The 
appropriate election official at the polling place shall transmit a 
voter registration form provided by an individual at the polling place 
under subsection (a)(1) or a change of address form provided by an 
individual at the polling place under subsection (a)(2) to the 
appropriate State election official at the time the official transmits 
the ballots cast in the election.
    ``(c) Effective Date.--Each State shall be required to comply with 
the requirements of this section beginning January 1, 2012.''.
            (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of contents of such Act, 
        as amended by section 3(b), is amended by inserting after the 
        item relating to section 303B the following new item:

``Sec. 303C. Election Day registration and change of address service''.
    (b) Application to Early Voting Sites.--Section 303A of such Act, 
as added by section 2(a), is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (c); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(b) Application of Election Day Registration and Change of 
Address Service to Early Voting.--At each polling place in a State 
which allows voting prior to the day of a Federal election (as 
described in subsection (a)), the State shall permit individuals to 
register to vote in the same manner as the State is required to permit 
individuals to register to vote and vote on the day of the election 
under section 303C(a)(1), and shall provide change of address service 
in the same manner as the State is required to provide such service 
under section 303C(a)(2).''.
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