[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4886 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4886
To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to clarify that a
State may not use an individual's failure to vote as the basis for
initiating the procedures provided under such Act for the removal of
the individual from the official list of registered voters in the State
on the grounds that the individual has changed residence, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 20, 2022
Ms. Klobuchar (for herself, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Markey, Mr. Merkley, Ms.
Warren, Mr. Casey, Ms. Smith, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr.
Blumenthal, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. King, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Booker, Mr.
Murphy, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Menendez, and Mr. Brown) 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 clarify that a
State may not use an individual's failure to vote as the basis for
initiating the procedures provided under such Act for the removal of
the individual from the official list of registered voters in the State
on the grounds that the individual has changed residence, 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. PURPOSE.
The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to prohibit States from removing individuals from an
official list of registered voters due to changes in residence;
and
(2) to protect the right to vote by allowing voters who are
automatically registered or had previously registered to vote
in a State to update their address through the day of the
election.
SEC. 3. CONDITIONS FOR REMOVAL OF VOTERS FROM LIST OF REGISTERED
VOTERS.
(a) 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.--
``(1) Requiring verification.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of this Act, a State may not remove the name of 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.
``(2) Factors not considered as objective and reliable
evidence of ineligibility.--For purposes of paragraph (1),
except as permitted under section 8(d) after a notice described
in paragraph (2) of such section has been sent, the following
factors, or any combination thereof, shall not be treated as
objective and reliable evidence of a registrant's ineligibility
to vote:
``(A) The failure of the registrant to vote in any
election.
``(B) The failure of the registrant to respond to
any election mail, unless the election mail has been
returned as undeliverable.
``(C) The failure of the registrant to take any
other action with respect to voting in any election or
with respect to the registrant's status as a
registrant.
``(3) Removal based on official records.--
``(A) In general.--Nothing in this section shall
prohibit a State from removing a registrant from the
official list of eligible voters in elections for
Federal office if, on the basis of official records
maintained by the State, a State or local election
official knows, on the basis of objective and reliable
evidence, that the registrant has--
``(i) died; or
``(ii) permanently moved out of the State
and is no longer eligible to vote in the State.
``(B) Opportunity to demonstrate eligibility.--The
State shall provide a voter removed from the official
list of eligible voters in elections for Federal office
under this paragraph an opportunity to demonstrate that
the registrant is eligible to vote and be reinstated on
the official list of eligible voters in elections for
Federal office in the State.
``(b) Notice After Removal.--
``(1) Notice to individual removed.--
``(A) In general.--Not later than 48 hours after a
State removes the name of a registrant from the
official list of eligible voters, the State shall send
notice of the removal to the former registrant, and
shall include in the notice the grounds for the removal
and information on how the former registrant may
contest the removal or be reinstated, including a
telephone number for the appropriate election official.
``(B) Exceptions.--Subparagraph (A) does not apply
in the case of a registrant--
``(i) who sends written confirmation to the
State that the registrant is no longer eligible
to vote in the registrar's jurisdiction in
which the registrant was registered; or
``(ii) who is removed from the official
list of eligible voters by reason of the death
of the registrant.
``(2) Public notice.--Not later than 48 hours after
conducting any general program to remove the names of
ineligible voters from the official list of eligible voters (as
described in section 8(a)(4)), the State shall disseminate a
public notice through such methods as may be reasonable to
reach the general public (including by publishing the notice in
a newspaper of wide circulation and posting the notice on the
websites of the appropriate election officials) that list
maintenance is taking place and that registrants should check
their registration status to ensure no errors or mistakes have
been made. The State shall ensure that the public notice
disseminated under this paragraph is in a format that is
reasonably convenient and accessible to voters with
disabilities, including voters who have low vision or are
blind.''.
(b) Conditions for Transmission of Notices of Removal.--Section
8(d) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20507(d)) is amended by adding at the end
the following new paragraph:
``(4) A State may not transmit a notice to a registrant
under this subsection unless the State obtains objective and
reliable evidence (in accordance with the standards for such
evidence which are described in section 8A(a)(2)) that the
registrant has changed residence to a place outside the
registrar's jurisdiction in which the registrant is
registered.''.
(c) Conforming Amendments.--
(1) National voter registration act of 1993.--Section 8(a)
of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20507(a)) is amended--
(A) in paragraph (3), by striking ``provide'' and
inserting ``subject to section 8A, provide''; and
(B) in paragraph (4), by striking ``conduct'' and
inserting ``subject to section 8A, conduct''.
(2) Help america vote act of 2002.--Section 303(a)(4)(A) of
the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21083(a)(4)(A)) is
amended by striking ``registrants'' the second place it appears
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.
SEC. 4. STATE REGISTRATION PORTABILITY.
(a) In General.--Section 8(e) of the National Voter Registration
Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20507(e)) is amended to read as follows:
``(e) Procedure for Voting Following Failure To Return Card.--
Notwithstanding failure to notify the registrar of the change of
address prior to the date of an election, a registrant who has moved
from an address in the State to an address in the same State shall,
upon oral or written affirmation by the registrant of the change of
address before an election official, be permitted to vote (at the
option of the voter)--
``(1) at the polling place of the registrant's current
address; or
``(2) at a central location within the same registrar's
jurisdiction.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall take
effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
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