[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6349 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6349

   To require that ``None of the Above'' be provided as an option in 
     general elections for Federal office, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 17, 2016

 Mr. Grayson introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                   Committee on House Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To require that ``None of the Above'' be provided as an option in 
     general elections 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 ``None of the Above Act''.

SEC. 2. OPTION TO VOTE FOR ``NONE OF THE ABOVE'' IN GENERAL ELECTIONS 
              FOR FEDERAL OFFICE.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any 
individual casting a ballot in a general election for Federal office 
shall be given the opportunity to cast a vote for ``None of the 
Above''.
    (b) Placement.--On a ballot in a general election for Federal 
office, ``None of the Above'' shall appear as a separate line after the 
names of all other candidates in the election.

SEC. 3. EFFECT OF ``NONE OF THE ABOVE'' RECEIVING GREATEST NUMBER OF 
              VOTES CAST IN ELECTION.

    (a) Elections for House of Representatives and Senate.--
            (1) Special election required.--If ``None of the Above'' 
        receives the greatest number of votes cast in a general 
        election for the office of Senator or the office of 
        Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the 
        Congress--
                    (A) executive authority of the State in which the 
                election is held shall issue a writ of election to hold 
                a special election for such office, at such time and in 
                accordance with such procedures as the State may 
                establish (subject to paragraph (2)); and
                    (B) absent the certification of the result of such 
                a special election prior to the first day of the first 
                Congress which begins after the date of the election, a 
                vacancy shall be considered to exist in the office as 
                of such date.
            (2) Application to special election of certain rules 
        governing special elections in extraordinary circumstances.--
        Section 26(b) of the Revised Statutes of the United States (2 
        U.S.C. 8(b)) shall apply with respect to a special election 
        held under paragraph (1) in the same manner as such section 
        applies to special elections held in extraordinary 
        circumstances, except that--
                    (A) any reference in such section to the date on 
                which the Speaker of the House of Representatives 
                announces that a vacancy exists shall be deemed to be a 
                reference to the date of the general election for which 
                ``None of the Above'' received the greatest number of 
                votes; and
                    (B) notwithstanding subsection (b)(3)(A) of such 
                section, the determination of the candidates who will 
                run in the special election held under paragraph (1) 
                shall be made by such method as the State considers 
                appropriate that will ensure that the State will hold 
                the special election within the deadline required under 
                subsection (b)(2) of such section.
            (3) State defined.--In this subsection, the term ``State'' 
        means each of the several States, the District of Columbia, the 
        Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the United 
        States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern 
        Mariana Islands.
    (b) Elections for President and Vice President.--
            (1) New election.--If ``None of the Above'' receives the 
        greatest number of the aggregate votes cast in all States in 
        the general election for the offices of President and Vice 
        President held on the date established for the appointing of 
        electors under section 1 of title 3, United States Code--
                    (A) no electors of President and Vice President 
                shall be considered to have been appointed in any State 
                on that date; and
                    (B) the electors of President and Vice President 
                shall be appointed in each State pursuant to a special 
                general election held 35 days after that date.
            (2) Timing for meeting and vote of electors.--Section 7 of 
        title 3, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 
        ``following their appointment'' the following: ``(or, in the 
        case of electors appointed pursuant to a special general 
        election held under section 3(b) of the None of the Above Act, 
        3 days after the date of such special election)''.
            (3) Time for counting of electoral votes by congress.--The 
        first sentence of section 15 of title 3, United States Code, is 
        amended by inserting after ``meeting of the electors'' the 
        following: ``(or, in the case of a meeting of the electors 
        after a special general election held under section 3(b) of the 
        None of the Above Act, on the 16th day of January succeeding 
        the meeting)''.
            (4) Determination of candidates.--The determination of the 
        candidates who will run in the special election held under 
        paragraph (1)(B) in a State shall be made by such method as the 
        State considers appropriate that will ensure that the State 
        will hold the special election within the deadline required 
        under section 7 of title 3, United States Code (as amended by 
        paragraph (2)).
            (5) State defined.--In this subsection, the term ``State'' 
        means each of the several States and the District of Columbia.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This section shall apply with respect to general elections for 
Federal office beginning with the first regularly scheduled general 
election held after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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