[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3657 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3657

  To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to ensure that voters in 
  elections for Federal office do not wait in long lines in order to 
                                 vote.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            December 5, 2012

  Mrs. Boxer introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
         referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to ensure that voters in 
  elections for Federal office do not wait in long lines in order to 
                                 vote.

    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 ``Lines Interfere with National 
Elections Act of 2012'' or the ``LINE Act of 2012''.

SEC. 2. MINIMUM REQUIRED VOTING SYSTEMS, POLL WORKERS, AND ELECTION 
              RESOURCES.

    (a) Minimum Requirements.--
            (1) In general.--Title III of the Help America Vote Act of 
        2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
        the following new subtitle:

                 ``Subtitle C--Additional Requirements

``SEC. 321. MINIMUM REQUIRED VOTING SYSTEMS AND POLL WORKERS.

    ``(a) In General.--Each State shall provide for the minimum 
required number of voting systems, poll workers, and other election 
resources (including all other physical resources) for each voting site 
on the day of any Federal election and on any days during which such 
State allows early voting for a Federal election in accordance with the 
standards determined under section 299.
    ``(b) Voting Site.--For purposes of this section and section 299, 
the term `voting site' means a polling location, except that in the 
case of any polling location which serves more than 1 precinct, such 
term shall mean a precinct.
    ``(c) Effective Date.--Each State shall be required to comply with 
the requirements of this section on and after September 15, 2014.''.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--Section 401 of the Help America 
        Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15511) is amended by striking ``and 
        303'' and inserting ``303, and subtitle C''.
            (3) Clerical amendment.--The table of contents of such Act 
        is amended by adding at the end of the items relating to title 
        III the following:

                 ``Subtitle C--Additional Requirements

``Sec. 321. Minimum required voting systems and poll workers.''.
    (b) Standards.--
            (1) In general.--Title II of the Help America Vote Act of 
        2002 (42 U.S.C. 15321 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
        the following new subtitle:

                  ``Subtitle E--Guidance and Standards

``SEC. 299. STANDARDS FOR ESTABLISHING THE MINIMUM REQUIRED VOTING 
              SYSTEMS AND POLL WORKERS.

    ``(a) In General.--Not later than January 1, 2014, the Attorney 
General, to the maximum extent practicable in coordination with the 
Commission, shall issue standards regarding the minimum number of 
voting systems, poll workers, and other election resources (including 
all other physical resources) required under section 321 on the day of 
any Federal election and on any days during which early voting is 
allowed for a Federal election.
    ``(b) Distribution.--
            ``(1) In general.--The standards described in subsection 
        (a) shall provide for a uniform and nondiscriminatory 
        distribution of such systems, workers, and other resources, and 
        shall take into account, among other factors, the following 
        with respect to any voting site (as defined in section 321(b)):
                    ``(A) The voting age population.
                    ``(B) Voter turnout in past elections.
                    ``(C) The number of voters registered.
                    ``(D) The number of voters who have registered 
                since the most recent Federal election.
                    ``(E) Census data for the population served by such 
                voting site.
                    ``(F) The educational levels and socio-economic 
                factors of the population served by such voting site.
                    ``(G) The needs and numbers of disabled voters and 
                voters with limited English proficiency.
                    ``(H) The type of voting systems used.
            ``(2) No factor dispositive.--The standards shall provide 
        that any distribution of such systems shall take into account 
        the totality of all relevant factors, and no single factor 
        shall be dispositive under the standards.
            ``(3) Purpose.--To the extent possible, the standards shall 
        provide for a distribution of voting systems, poll workers, and 
        other election resources with the goals of--
                    ``(A) ensuring an equal waiting time for all voters 
                in the State; and
                    ``(B) preventing a waiting time of over 1 hour at 
                any polling place.
    ``(c) Deviation.--The standards described in subsection (a) shall 
permit States, upon giving reasonable public notice, to deviate from 
any allocation requirements in the case of unforseen circumstances such 
as a natural disaster or terrorist attack.''.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--Section 202 of such Act (42 
        U.S.C. 15322) is amended--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and (6) as 
                paragraphs (6) and (7), respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following 
                new paragraph:
            ``(5) carrying out the duties described in subtitle E;''.
            (3) Clerical amendment.--The table of contents of such Act 
        is amended by adding at the end of the items relating to title 
        II the following:

                  ``Subtitle E--Guidance and Standards

``Sec. 299. Standards for establishing the minimum required voting 
                            systems and poll workers.''.

SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS FOR JURISDICTIONS WITH SUBSTANTIAL VOTER WAIT 
              TIMES.

    (a) Remedial Plans for States With Excessive Wait Times.--
            (1) In general.--The Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 
        U.S.C. 15301 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
        following new title:

     ``TITLE X--REMEDIAL PLANS FOR STATES WITH EXCESSIVE WAIT TIMES

``SEC. 1001. REMEDIAL PLANS FOR STATES WITH EXCESSIVE WAIT TIMES.

    ``(a) In General.--Each jurisdiction for which the Attorney 
General, to the maximum extent practicable in coordination with the 
Commission, determines that a substantial number of voters waited more 
than 90 minutes to cast a vote in the election for Federal office held 
on November 6, 2012, or any election for Federal office held on or 
after such date, shall comply with a State remedial plan established 
under this section in accordance with subsection (b).
    ``(b) State Remedial Plans.--The Attorney General, to the maximum 
extent practicable in coordination with the Commission, shall establish 
for each State or jurisdiction which is required to comply with this 
section a State remedial plan to minimize the waiting times of voters 
in the State or jurisdiction.
    ``(c) Jurisdiction Defined.--For purposes of this section, the term 
`jurisdiction' has the meaning given the term `registrar's 
jurisdiction' in section 8(j) of the National Voter Registration Act of 
1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg-6(j)).
    ``(d) Federal Register Notice.--Not later than March 1 of the year 
following the year in which an election for Federal office is held, the 
Attorney General, to the maximum extent practicable in coordination 
with the Commission, shall publish in the Federal Register a list of 
States and jurisdictions that are required to comply with a State 
remedial plan under this section.
    ``(e) State Remedial Plan Certification.--Not later than September 
1 of the year following the year in which the Attorney General 
publishes in the Federal Register a list described in subsection (d), 
the governor of each State included on the list shall submit to the 
Attorney General a letter certifying that the State has made a good 
faith effort to comply with the State remedial plan established for the 
State under this section.''.
            (2) Conforming amendment.--Section 401 of the Help America 
        Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15511), as amended by section 
        2(a)(2), is amended by striking ``and subtitle C'' and 
        inserting ``subtitle C, and title X''.
            (3) Clerical amendment.--The table of contents of such Act 
        is amended by adding at the end the following:

  ``TITLE X--REMEDIAL PLANS FOR STATES WITH EXCESSIVE VOTER WAIT TIMES

``Sec. 1001. Remedial plans for States with excessive voter wait 
                            times.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect on the date of enactment of this Act.
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