[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 958 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 958

 To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to save eligible 
           voters from voter purging, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 28, 2019

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to save eligible 
           voters from voter purging, 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 ``Stop Automatically Voiding Eligible 
Voters Off Their Enlisted Rolls in States Act'' or the ``SAVE VOTERS 
Act''.

SEC. 2. INDIVIDUAL AND PUBLIC NOTICE OF REMOVALS FROM VOTING ROLLS; 
              CONDITIONS FOR REMOVAL OF VOTERS FROM LIST OF REGISTERED 
              VOTERS.

    (a) In General.--Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act 
of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20507) is amended by adding at the end the following 
new subsection:
    ``(k) Individual and Public Notice of Removals From the Voting 
Rolls.--
            ``(1) In general.--
                    ``(A) Individualized notice.--After a State or 
                political subdivision removes the name of a registrant 
                from the official list of eligible voters for any 
                reason, the State or registrar shall send the former 
                registrant notice of the removal, the grounds for the 
                removal, and information on how to contest the removal 
                or be reinstated, including a contact phone number. 
                Such individualized notice is not required in instances 
                where the State or political subdivision has received 
                written confirmation from the registrant that the 
                registrant is no longer eligible to vote in the 
                jurisdiction in which the registrant is registered.
                    ``(B) Public notice.--After a State or political 
                subdivision completes any systematic program to remove 
                the names of registrants from the official list of 
                eligible voters for any reason, the State or registrar 
                shall provide reasonable public notice, for example, in 
                a newspaper of wide circulation or on the Internet 
                website of the registrar and the chief State election 
                official, that list maintenance is taking place and 
                that voters should check their registration status to 
                ensure no errors or mistakes have been made. The public 
                notice under this subparagraph, in such publication or 
                on the Internet, shall be in a format that is 
                reasonably convenient and accessible to voters with 
                disabilities, including voters who have low vision or 
                are blind.
            ``(2) Deadline for notice.--A State or political 
        subdivision shall provide the notice required under 
        subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) not later than 48 
        hours after the removal described in such subparagraph (A) or 
        (B) took place.''.
    (b) Conditions Described.--The National Voter Registration Act of 
1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 8 
the following new section:

``SEC. 8A. CONDITIONS FOR REMOVAL OF VOTERS FROM OFFICIAL LIST OF 
              REGISTERED VOTERS.

    ``(a) Verification on Basis of Objective and Reliable Evidence of 
Ineligibility.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, a 
State may not remove any registrant from the official list of voters 
eligible to vote in elections for Federal office in the State unless 
the State verifies, on the basis of objective and reliable evidence, 
that the registrant is ineligible to vote in such elections.
    ``(b) Sending of Notices.--A State may not send a notice described 
in paragraph (2) of section 8(d) unless the State first obtains 
objective and reliable evidence that a voter has changed residence to a 
place outside the registrar's jurisdiction in which the registrant is 
registered.
    ``(c) Factors Not Considered as Objective and Reliable Evidence of 
Ineligibility.--For purposes of subsection (a), the following factors, 
or any combination thereof, shall not be treated as objective and 
reliable evidence of a registrant's ineligibility to vote:
            ``(1) The failure of the registrant to vote in any 
        election.
            ``(2) The failure of the registrant to respond to any 
        notice sent under section 8(d), unless such notice has been 
        returned as undeliverable.
            ``(3) The failure of the registrant to take any other 
        action.''.
    (c) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) National voter registration act of 1993.--Section 8 of 
        such Act (52 U.S.C. 20507) is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a)--
                            (i) in paragraph (3), by striking 
                        ``provide'' and inserting ``subject to section 
                        8A, provide''; and
                            (ii) in paragraph (4), by striking 
                        ``conduct'' and inserting ``subject to section 
                        8A, conduct''; and
                    (B) in subsection (d)(2), by striking ``A notice'' 
                and inserting ``Subject to section 8A(b), a notice''.
            (2) Help america vote act of 2002.--Section 303(a) of the 
        Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21083(a)) is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (2)(A)(i), by striking ``of such 
                Act'' and inserting ``of such Act, and section 8A of 
                such Act''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking ``, 
                registrants'' and inserting ``, and subject to section 
                8A of such Act, registrants''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
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