Voter Fraud Prevention Act - Amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to: (1) increase from 5 to 10 years the length of imprisonment for criminal activities involving intimidation or fraud in connection with voter registration and voting, (2) prohibit an individual involved in such activities from voting in subsequent federal elections; and (3) require use of automated tagging and tracking services for voter registration cards and absentee ballots.
Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require use of automated tagging and tracking services for absentee ballots.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1280 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1280
To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to increase the
penalties imposed for intimidating, threatening, or coercing any person
from engaging in voter registration activities or for procuring,
submitting, or casting false voter registration applications or
ballots, to require election officials to transmit voter registration
cards and absentee ballots to voters in elections for Federal office
through the use of the automated tagging and tracing services provided
by the United States Postal Service, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 20, 2013
Mr. Olson introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on House Administration
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to increase the
penalties imposed for intimidating, threatening, or coercing any person
from engaging in voter registration activities or for procuring,
submitting, or casting false voter registration applications or
ballots, to require election officials to transmit voter registration
cards and absentee ballots to voters in elections for Federal office
through the use of the automated tagging and tracing services provided
by the United States Postal Service, 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 ``Voter Fraud Prevention Act''.
SEC. 2. INCREASE IN PENALTIES FOR CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES INVOLVING VOTER
REGISTRATION AND VOTING.
(a) Increase in Length of Term of Imprisonment.--Section 12 of the
National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg-10) is
amended in the matter following paragraph (2) by striking ``5 years''
and inserting ``10 years''.
(b) Prohibition From Voting in Subsequent Elections.--Section 12 of
such Act (42 U.S.C. 1973gg-10) is amended in the matter following
paragraph (2) by striking the period at the end and inserting the
following: ``and, in the case of an individual, shall not be permitted
to cast a ballot in any subsequent election for Federal office.''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply with respect to violations occurring on or after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
SEC. 3. REQUIRING USE OF AUTOMATED TAGGING AND TRACING SERVICES FOR
VOTER REGISTRATION CARDS AND ABSENTEE BALLOTS.
(a) Voter Registration Cards.--
(1) In general.--Section 8(a) of the National Voter
Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg-6(a)) is amended--
(A) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph
(5);
(B) by striking the period at the end of paragraph
(6) and inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
``(7) in transmitting voter registration cards to
individuals who are registered to vote--
``(A) ensure that any tray or sack containing such
cards is tagged with Tag 191 or some other similar
tagging device used by the United States Postal Service
to provide greater visibility to containers of such
cards, and
``(B) use IMb Tracing or other similar tracking
methods made available by the United States Postal
Service to provide real-time tracking information for
such cards.''.
(2) Effective date.--The amendments made by paragraph (1)
shall apply with respect to elections for Federal office held
on or after January 1, 2014.
(b) Absentee Ballots.--
(1) In general.--Title III of the Help America Vote Act of
2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481 et seq.) is amended--
(A) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as
sections 305 and 306; and
(B) by inserting after section 303 the following
new section:
``SEC. 304. USE OF AUTOMATED TAGGING AND TRACING SERVICES FOR ABSENTEE
BALLOTS.
``(a) Requiring Use of Automated Tagging and Tracing.--In
transmitting blank absentee ballots to individuals who are eligible to
vote by absentee ballot in an election for Federal office, the
appropriate State election official shall--
``(1) ensure that any tray or sack containing such ballots
is tagged with Tag 191 or some other similar tagging device
used by the United States Postal Service to provide greater
visibility to containers of such ballots; and
``(2) use IMb Tracing or other similar tracking methods
made available by the United States Postal Service to provide
real-time tracking information for such ballots.
``(b) Effective Date.--Subsection (a) shall apply with respect to
elections for Federal office held on or after January 1, 2014.''.
(2) Conforming amendment relating to enforcement.--Section
401 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15511) is amended by striking
``sections 301, 302, and 303'' and inserting ``subtitle A of
title III''.
(3) Clerical amendment.--The table of contents of such Act
is amended--
(A) by redesignating the items relating to sections
304 and 305 as relating to sections 305 and 306; and
(B) by inserting after the item relating to section
303 the following new item:
``Sec. 304. Use of automated tagging and tracing services for absentee
ballots.''.
(c) Report on Efforts To Deter and Prevent Loss and Theft of Voter
Registration Cards and Absentee Ballots.--Not later than 90 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Postmaster General shall
submit a report to Congress detailing the efforts that the Postmaster
General has undertaken to deter and prevent the loss and theft of voter
registration cards and blank absentee ballots which are transmitted to
voters in elections for Federal office.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on House Administration.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line