[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1951 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1951

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require the availability 
             of early voting or no-excuse absentee voting.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 5, 2015

  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 the availability 
             of early voting or no-excuse absentee voting.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. AVAILABILITY OF EARLY VOTING AND NO-EXCUSE ABSENTEE VOTING.

    (a) Requirement.--Subtitle A of title III of the Help America Vote 
Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as sections 305 
        and 306, respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after section 303 the following new 
        sections:

``SEC. 304. AVAILABILITY OF VOTING PRIOR TO ELECTION DAY.

    ``(a) In General.--Each State shall--
            ``(1) allow individuals to vote in an election for Federal 
        office prior to the date of the election through--
                    ``(A) early voting which meets the requirements of 
                subsection (b); or
                    ``(B) voting by mail which meets the requirements 
                of subsection (c); and
            ``(2) publicize the details of any voting allowed under 
        paragraph (1).
    ``(b) Early Voting.--Early voting meets the requirements of this 
subsection if such voting occurs--
            ``(1) over a period of 7 consecutive days (including 
        weekend days) during the 10-day period preceding the date of 
        the election;
            ``(2) for no less than 8 hours on each day such early 
        voting occurs; and
            ``(3) in each registrar's jurisdiction and at a sufficient 
        number of locations to permit all citizens of the State 
        reasonable access to voting prior to the date of the election.
    ``(c) Voting by Mail.--Voting by mail meets the requirements of 
this subsection if--
            ``(1) the State does not require an excuse in order to 
        obtain and cast a ballot by mail for any Federal election; and
            ``(2) the State does not include any requirements for 
        notarization.
    ``(d) Effective Date.--This section shall apply with respect to 
elections held on or after January 1, 2017.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment Relating to Enforcement.--Section 401 of 
such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) is amended by striking ``and 303'' and 
inserting ``303, and 304''.
    (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents of such Act is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating the items relating to sections 304 and 
        305 as relating to sections 305 and 306, respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after the item relating to section 303 the 
        following new item:

``Sec. 304. Early voting.''.
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