[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1828 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1828

   To change the date for regularly scheduled general elections for 
Federal office to the first Saturday and Sunday after the first Friday 
                in November in every even-numbered year.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 18, 2017

Mr. Reed (for himself, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Brown, Mr. King, Mr. Franken, 
and Mr. Whitehouse) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 
       and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To change the date for regularly scheduled general elections for 
Federal office to the first Saturday and Sunday after the first Friday 
                in November in every even-numbered year.

    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 ``Weekend Voting Act''.

SEC. 2. WEEKEND VOTING FOR REGULARLY SCHEDULED GENERAL ELECTIONS FOR 
              FEDERAL OFFICE.

    (a) Elections for House of Representatives and Senate.--Section 25 
of the Revised Statutes of the United States (2 U.S.C. 7) is amended to 
read as follows:

``SEC. 25. DATES AND TIME OF ELECTIONS.

    ``(a) Dates of Election.--The first Saturday and Sunday after the 
first Friday in November, in every even-numbered year, are established 
as the dates for the election in each of the States of Representatives 
and Delegates to the next Congress commencing after the dates of the 
election.
    ``(b) Hours of Operation of Polling Places.--Each State shall by 
law establish the hours of operation for polling places in the State on 
the dates of election established under subsection (a).
    ``(c) State Defined.--In this section, the term `State' means each 
of the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 
Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, 
and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.''.
    (b) Elections for President and Vice President.--
            (1) In general.--Section 1 of title 3, United States Code, 
        is amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 1. Date and time of appointing electors
    ``(a) Dates of Election.--The electors of President and Vice 
President shall be appointed, in each State, on the first Saturday and 
Sunday after the first Friday in November, in every fourth year 
succeeding every election of a President and Vice President.
    ``(b) Hours of Operation of Polling Places.--Each State shall by 
law establish the hours of operation for polling places in the State on 
the dates of election established under subsection (a).''.
            (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 
        1 of title 3, United States Code, is amended by striking the 
        item relating to section 1 and inserting the following:

``1. Date and time of appointing electors.''.
    (c) No Interference With Religious Practices.--It is the sense of 
Congress that the holding of elections over a weekend, as established 
by this Act, should be carried out in a manner which does not interfere 
with religious practices.
    (d) Cost Savings.--It is the sense of Congress that the holding of 
elections over a weekend, as established by this Act, should result in 
cost savings to the American taxpayer.
    (e) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to regularly scheduled general elections for Federal 
office beginning with the elections held in November 2018.
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