[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3635 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3635

To provide incentives for States to invest in practices and technology 
that are designed to expedite voting at the polls and to simplify voter 
                             registration.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 15, 2012

 Mr. Coons (for himself and Mr. Warner) introduced the following bill; 
    which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and 
                             Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide incentives for States to invest in practices and technology 
that are designed to expedite voting at the polls and to simplify voter 
                             registration.

    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 ``Louis L. Redding Fair, Accurate, 
Secure, and Timely Voting Act of 2012'' or the ``FAST Voting Act of 
2012''.

SEC. 2. INCENTIVES FOR STATES TO INVEST IN PRACTICES AND TECHNOLOGY 
              THAT ARE DESIGNED TO EXPEDITE VOTING AT THE POLLS AND 
              SIMPLIFY VOTER REGISTRATION.

    (a) Purposes.--The purposes of this section are to--
            (1) provide incentives for States to invest in practices 
        and technology that are designed to expedite voting at the 
        polls; and
            (2) provide incentives for States to simplify voter 
        registration.
    (b) Reservation of Funds.--From the amount made available to carry 
out this section for a fiscal year, the Attorney General may reserve 
not more than 10 percent of such amount to carry out activities related 
to--
            (1) technical assistance; and
            (2) outreach and dissemination.
    (c) Program Authorized.--
            (1) In general.--From the amounts made available under 
        subsection (h) for a fiscal year and not reserved under 
        subsection (b), the Attorney General shall award grants, on a 
        competitive basis, to States in accordance with subsection 
        (d)(2), to enable the States to carry out the purposes of this 
        section.
            (2) Number of grants.--A State may not receive more than 1 
        grant under this section per grant period.
            (3) Duration of grants.--
                    (A) In general.--A grant under this section shall 
                be awarded for a period of not more than 4 years.
                    (B) Continuation of grants.--A State that is 
                awarded a grant under this section shall not receive 
                grant funds under this section for the second or any 
                subsequent year of the grant unless the State 
                demonstrates to the Attorney General, at such time and 
                in such manner as determined by the Attorney General, 
                that the State is--
                            (i) making progress in implementing the 
                        plan under subsection (d)(1)(C) at a rate that 
                        the Attorney General determines will result in 
                        the State fully implementing such plan during 
                        the remainder of the grant period; or
                            (ii) making progress against the 
                        performance measures set forth in subsection 
                        (e) at a rate that the Attorney General 
                        determines will result in the State reaching 
                        its targets and achieving the objectives of the 
                        grant during the remainder of the grant period.
    (d) Applications.--
            (1) Applications.--Each State that desires to receive a 
        grant under this section shall submit an application to the 
        Attorney General at such time, in such manner, and containing 
        such information as the Attorney General may reasonably 
        require. At a minimum, each such application shall include--
                    (A) documentation of the applicant's record, as 
                applicable--
                            (i) in providing various voter registration 
                        opportunities;
                            (ii) in providing early voting;
                            (iii) in providing absentee voting;
                            (iv) in providing assistance to voters who 
                        do not speak English as a primary language;
                            (v) in providing assistance to voters with 
                        disabilities;
                            (vi) in providing effective access to 
                        voting for members of the armed services;
                            (vii) in providing formal training of 
                        election officials;
                            (viii) in auditing or otherwise documenting 
                        waiting times at polling stations;
                            (ix) in allocating polling locations, 
                        equipment, and staff to match population 
                        distribution;
                            (x) in responding to voting irregularities 
                        and concerns raised at polling stations;
                            (xi) in creating and adhering to 
                        contingency voting plans in the event of a 
                        natural or other disaster; and
                            (xii) with respect to any other performance 
                        measure described in subsection (e) that is not 
                        included in clauses (i) through (xi);
                    (B) evidence of conditions of innovation and reform 
                that the applicant has established and the applicant's 
                proposed plan for implementing additional conditions 
                for innovation and reform, including--
                            (i) a description of how the applicant has 
                        identified and eliminated ineffective practices 
                        in the past and the applicant's plan for doing 
                        so in the future;
                            (ii) a description of how the applicant has 
                        identified and promoted effective practices in 
                        the past and the applicant's plan for doing so 
                        in the future; and
                            (iii) steps the applicant has taken and 
                        will take to eliminate statutory, regulatory, 
                        procedural, or other barriers and to facilitate 
                        the full implementation of the proposed plan 
                        under this subparagraph;
                    (C) a comprehensive and coherent plan for using 
                funds under this section, and other Federal, State, and 
                local funds, to improve the applicant's performance on 
                the measures described in subsection (e), consistent 
                with criteria set forth by the Attorney General, 
                including how the applicant will, if applicable--
                            (i) provide flexible registration 
                        opportunities, including online and same-day 
                        registration and registration updating;
                            (ii) provide early voting, at a minimum of 
                        9 of the 10 calendar days preceding an 
                        election, at sufficient and flexible hours;
                            (iii) provide absentee voting, including 
                        no-excuse absentee voting;
                            (iv) provide assistance to voters who do 
                        not speak English as a primary language;
                            (v) provide assistance to voters with 
                        disabilities, including visual impairment;
                            (vi) provide effective access to voting for 
                        members of the armed services;
                            (vii) provide formal training of election 
                        officials, including State and county 
                        administrators and volunteers;
                            (viii) audit and reduce waiting times at 
                        polling stations;
                            (ix) allocate polling locations, equipment, 
                        and staff to match population distribution;
                            (x) respond to any reports of voting 
                        irregularities or concerns raised at the 
                        polling station;
                            (xi) create contingency voting plans in the 
                        event of a natural or other disaster; and
                            (xii) improve the wait times at the 
                        persistently poorest performing polling 
                        stations within the jurisdiction of the 
                        applicant;
                    (D) evidence of collaboration between the State, 
                local election officials, and other stakeholders, in 
                developing the plan described in subparagraph (C), 
                including evidence of the commitment and capacity to 
                implement the plan;
                    (E) the applicant's annual performance measures and 
                targets, consistent with the requirements of subsection 
                (e); and
                    (F) a description of the applicant's plan to 
                conduct a rigorous evaluation of the effectiveness of 
                activities carried out with funds under this section.
            (2) Criteria for evaluating applications.--
                    (A) Award basis.--The Attorney General shall award 
                grants under this section on a competitive basis, based 
                on the quality of the applications submitted under 
                paragraph (1), including--
                            (i) each applicant's record in the areas 
                        described in paragraph (1)(A);
                            (ii) each applicant's record of, and 
                        commitment to, establishing conditions for 
                        innovation and reform, as described in 
                        paragraph (1)(B);
                            (iii) the quality and likelihood of success 
                        of each applicant's plan described in paragraph 
                        (1)(C) in showing improvement in the areas 
                        described in paragraph (1)(A), including each 
                        applicant's capacity to implement the plan and 
                        evidence of collaboration as described in 
                        paragraph (1)(D); and
                            (iv) each applicant's evaluation plan as 
                        described in paragraph (1)(F).
                    (B) Explanation.--The Attorney General shall 
                publish an explanation of how the application review 
                process under this paragraph will ensure an equitable 
                and objective evaluation based on the criteria 
                described in subparagraph (A).
    (e) Performance Measures.--Each State receiving a grant under this 
section shall establish performance measures and targets, approved by 
the Attorney General, for the programs and activities carried out under 
this section. These measures shall, at a minimum, track the State's 
progress--
            (1) in implementing its plan described in subsection 
        (d)(1)(C);
            (2) in expediting voting at the polls or simplifying voter 
        registration, as applicable; and
            (3) on any other measures identified by the Attorney 
        General.
    (f) Uses of Funds.--Each State that receives a grant under this 
section shall use the grant funds for any purpose included in the 
State's plan under subsection (d)(1)(C).
    (g) Reporting.--A State that receives a grant under this section 
shall submit to the Attorney General, at such time and in such manner 
as the Attorney General may require, an annual report including--
            (1) data on the State's progress in achieving the targets 
        for the performance measures established under subsection (e);
            (2) a description of the challenges the State has faced in 
        implementing its program and how it has addressed or plans to 
        address those challenges; and
            (3) findings from the evaluation plan as described in 
        subsection (d)(1)(F).
    (h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.
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