[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4407 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4407

  To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to direct the Standards 
   Board of the Election Assistance Commission to release voluntary 
  considerations with respect to the administration of elections for 
                            Federal office.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 30, 2023

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to direct the Standards 
   Board of the Election Assistance Commission to release voluntary 
  considerations with respect to the administration of elections for 
                            Federal office.

    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 ``Voluntarily Offered Tools for 
Election Reforms by States Act'' or the ``VOTERS Act''.

SEC. 2. ELECTION INTEGRITY VOLUNTARY CONSIDERATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Subtitle C of title II of the Help America Vote 
Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20981 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating section 247 as section 248; and
            (2) by inserting after section 246 the following new 
        section:

``SEC. 247. RELEASE OF VOLUNTARY CONSIDERATIONS BY STANDARDS BOARD WITH 
              RESPECT TO ELECTION ADMINISTRATION.

    ``(a) In General.--The Standards Board shall draw from experiences 
in their home jurisdictions and information voluntarily provided by and 
between States on what has worked and not worked and release voluntary 
considerations with respect to the administration of an election for 
Federal office.
    ``(b) Matters To Consider.--In releasing the voluntary 
considerations under subsection (a), the Standards Board shall examine 
and consolidate information provided by States and release 
considerations with respect to each of the following categories:
            ``(1) The process for the administration of ballots 
        delivered by mail, including--
                    ``(A) deadlines for the return and receipt of such 
                ballots to the appropriate election official;
                    ``(B) the design of such ballots, including the 
                envelopes used to deliver the ballots;
                    ``(C) the process for requesting and tracking the 
                return of such ballots; and
                    ``(D) the processing of such ballots upon receipt 
                by the appropriate election official, including the 
                schedule for counting the ballots and the reporting of 
                the unofficial results of such counting.
            ``(2) The signature verification procedures used to verify 
        the identity of voters in an election, which shall include an 
        evaluation of human and machine methods of signature 
        verification, an assessment of the training provided to 
        individuals tasked to carry out such verification procedures, 
        and the proposal of other less subjective methods of confirming 
        the identity of a voter such as requiring the identification 
        number of a valid government-issued photo identification or the 
        last four digits of the voter's social security number to be 
        provided along with the voter's signature.
            ``(3) The processes used to carry out maintenance of the 
        official list of persons registered to vote in each State.
            ``(4) Rules and requirements with respect to the access 
        provided to election observers.
            ``(5) The processes used to ensure the timely and accurate 
        reporting of the unofficial results of ballot counting in each 
        polling place in a State and the reporting of the unofficial 
        results of such counting.
            ``(6) The methods used to recruit poll workers and 
        designate the location of polling places during a pandemic, 
        natural disaster, or other emergency.
            ``(7) The education of the public with respect to the 
        certification and testing of voting machines prior to the use 
        of such machines in an election for Federal office, including 
        education with respect to how such machines are tested for 
        accuracy and logic.
            ``(8) The processes and procedures used to carry out a 
        post-election audit.
            ``(9) The processes and procedures used to ensure a secure 
        chain of custody with respect to ballots and election 
        equipment.
    ``(c) Release of Voluntary Considerations.--
            ``(1) Deadline for release.--Not later than December 31, 
        2024, the Standards Board shall release voluntary 
        considerations with respect to each of the categories described 
        in subsection (b).
            ``(2) Transmission and notification requirements.--Not 
        later than 15 days after the date the Standards Board releases 
        voluntary considerations with respect to a category described 
        in subsection (b), the Commission shall--
                    ``(A) transmit the considerations to the chief 
                State election official of each State and the elected 
                leadership of the legislature of each State, including 
                the elected leadership of any committee of the 
                legislature of a State with jurisdiction with respect 
                to elections;
                    ``(B) make the considerations available on a 
                publicly accessible Government website; and
                    ``(C) notify and transmit the considerations to the 
                chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on 
                House Administration of the House of Representatives 
                and the chair and ranking minority member of the 
                Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate.
    ``(d) Use of Requirements Payments for Implementation of Voluntary 
Considerations.--A State may use a requirements payment provided under 
this Act to implement any of the voluntary considerations released 
under subsection (a).
    ``(e) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be 
construed--
            ``(1) to require compliance with the voluntary 
        considerations released under subsection (a), including as a 
        condition of the receipt of Federal funds; or
            ``(2) to treat the lack of compliance with such 
        considerations as a violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 
        or to treat compliance with such considerations as a defense 
        against an alleged violation of such Act.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents of such Act is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating the item relating to section 247 as 
        relating to section 248; and
            (2) by inserting after the item relating to section 246 the 
        following new item:

``Sec. 247. Release of voluntary considerations by Standards Board with 
                            respect to election administration.''.
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