[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1937 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1937

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require States to develop 
    contingency plans to address unexpected emergencies or natural 
    disasters that may threaten to disrupt the administration of an 
          election for Federal office, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 16, 2014

  Mr. Schumer 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 require States to develop 
    contingency plans to address unexpected emergencies or natural 
    disasters that may threaten to disrupt the administration of an 
          election for Federal office, 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 ``Elections Preparedness Requires 
Early Planning (Elections PREP) Act''.

SEC. 2. CONTINGENCY PLANS.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Contingency plans.--Title III of the Help America Vote 
        Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481 et seq.) is amended--
                    (A) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as 
                sections 305 and 306, respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting after section 303 the following 
                new section:

``SEC. 304. CONTINGENCY PLANS.

    ``(a) In General.--Each State shall develop contingency plans to 
address unexpected emergencies or natural disasters that may threaten 
to disrupt the administration of an election for Federal office in 
accordance with the following requirements:
            ``(1) The State shall develop the contingency plan in 
        consultation with State emergency preparedness organizations 
        (including State and local law enforcement agencies, State 
        Offices and Agencies of Emergency Management, electric 
        companies, and local fire departments).
            ``(2) The contingency plan shall contain--
                    ``(A) alternative ways to notify the public of 
                changes in election procedures; and
                    ``(B) plans to address disruptions at every step of 
                the voting process, including early voting.
            ``(3) The State shall review and update, as needed, the 
        contingency plan not later than 180 days before each regularly 
        scheduled general election for Federal office.
    ``(b) Certification of Compliance.--If the State has not filed with 
the Commission a certification under section 253(a) for the fiscal 
year, the State shall file with the Commission a statement certifying 
that the State is in compliance with the requirements under this 
section. A State may meet the requirement of the previous sentence by 
filing with the Commission a statement which reads as follows: 
`____________ hereby certifies that it is in compliance with the 
requirements under section 304 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002.' 
(with the blank to be filled in with the name of the State involved).
    ``(c) Effective Date.--Each State shall be required to comply with 
the requirements of this section for the regularly scheduled general 
election for Federal office occurring in November 2014 and for any 
subsequent election for Federal office.''.
            (2) Conforming amendments.--
                    (A) Section 401 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15511) is 
                amended by striking ``and 303'' and inserting ``303, 
                and 304''.
                    (B) The table of contents of such Act is amended--
                            (i) by redesignating the items relating to 
                        sections 304 and 305 as relating to sections 
                        305 and 306, respectively; and
                            (ii) by inserting after the item relating 
                        to section 303 the following new item:

``Sec. 304. Contingency plans.''.
    (b) Requirements for State Plans.--Section 254(a) of the Help 
America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15404(a)) is amended by adding at 
the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(15) How the State will develop contingency plans 
        consistent with the requirements of section 304.''.
    (c) Funding.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency may provide 
financial assistance to States under the emergency management 
performance grants program (as authorized by the National Flood 
Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.), the Robert T. Stafford 
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.), 
the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977 (42 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.), 
Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.), and section 662 of 
the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 (6 U.S.C. 
762)) for the purpose of developing a contingency plan under section 
304 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002, as added by subsection (a).
                                 <all>