Automatic Voter Registration Act
This bill amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require state motor vehicle authorities (MVAs), upon receiving certain identifying information with respect to any individual requesting MVA services, to transmit it to the appropriate state election official.
The appropriate state election official shall then notify the individual that unless he or she notifies the official, before 21 calendar days elapse after issuance of the notification, that the individual declines to be registered to vote in federal elections in the state, the individual shall be considered to have submitted a completed voter registration application and be considered automatically registered unless:
A state may not use any identifying information regarding an individual's citizenship status for any purpose other than determining whether the individual is eligible to vote in federal elections.
[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2694 Introduced in House (IH)]
114th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2694
To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require each
State to ensure that each individual who provides identifying
information to the State motor vehicle authority is automatically
registered to vote in elections for Federal office held in the State
unless the individual does not meet the eligibility requirements for
registering to vote in such elections or declines to be registered to
vote in such elections, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 9, 2015
Mr. Cicilline (for himself, Ms. Hahn, Mr. Israel, Ms. Wasserman
Schultz, Ms. Castor of Florida, Mrs. Capps, Ms. Tsongas, Mr. Swalwell
of California, Ms. Kuster, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Connolly, Mr.
Ellison, Ms. Sewell of Alabama, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Pallone, Ms. Meng,
Mrs. Bustos, Ms. Frankel of Florida, Ms. Brownley of California, Mr.
Courtney, Ms. Lee, Mr. McNerney, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Bass, Mr.
Blumenauer, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr. Lewis, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Van
Hollen, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Mr. Jeffries, Mr. Rangel, Ms. Moore, Mr.
Takano, Mr. Langevin, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Garamendi, Ms. Wilson of Florida,
Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Deutch, Mr. Cohen, and Ms. Bonamici)
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 require each
State to ensure that each individual who provides identifying
information to the State motor vehicle authority is automatically
registered to vote in elections for Federal office held in the State
unless the individual does not meet the eligibility requirements for
registering to vote in such elections or declines to be registered to
vote in such elections, 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 ``Automatic Voter Registration Act''.
SEC. 2. AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION THROUGH STATE MOTOR VEHICLE
AUTHORITIES.
(a) Automatic Voter Registration.--Section 5 of the National Voter
Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20504) is amended to read as
follows:
``SEC. 5. AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION THROUGH MOTOR VEHICLE AUTHORITY.
``(a) Transmission of Information to Election Officials.--
``(1) Transmission.--Each State's motor vehicle authority,
upon receiving the identifying information described in
paragraph (2) with respect to any individual who requests
services from the authority, shall transmit the identifying
information to the appropriate State election official.
``(2) Identifying information described.--The identifying
information described in this paragraph with respect to any
individual is as follows:
``(A) The individual's legal name.
``(B) The individual's age.
``(C) The individual's residence.
``(D) The individual's citizenship status.
``(E) The individual's electronic signature.
``(3) Restriction on use of information on citizenship
status.--A State may not use any identifying information
regarding an individual's citizenship status which is
transmitted under this subsection for any purpose other than
determining whether the individual is eligible to vote in
elections for Federal office.
``(b) Notification to Individuals.--Upon receiving the identifying
information with respect to an individual under subsection (a), the
appropriate State election official shall issue a notification to the
individual containing--
``(1) a statement that, unless the individual notifies the
election official prior to the expiration of the 21-calendar
day period which begins on the date the official issued the
notification that the individual declines to be registered to
vote in elections for Federal office held in the State, the
individual shall be considered to have completed and submitted
a voter registration application for purposes of this Act; and
``(2) a description of the process by which the individual
may decline to be registered to vote in elections for Federal
office in the State.
``(c) Automatic Registration of Eligible Individuals.--Upon the
expiration of the 21-calendar day period which begins on the date the
appropriate State election official issues a notification to an
individual under subsection (b)(1), the official shall ensure that the
individual is registered to vote in elections for Federal office held
in the State unless--
``(1) the official determines that the individual does not
meet the eligibility requirements for registering to vote in
such elections;
``(2) prior to the expiration of such 21-calendar day
period, the individual notifies the official that the
individual declines to be registered to vote in such elections;
or
``(3) the individual is already registered to vote in such
elections.''.
(b) Conforming Amendment Relating to Timing of Registration Prior
to Elections.--Section 8(a)(1)(A) of such Act (52 U.S.C.
20507(a)(1)(A)) is amended to read as follows:
``(A) in the case of registration through a motor
vehicle authority under section 5, if the identifying
information with respect to the individual is
transmitted by the authority to the appropriate State
election official under section 5(a)(1) not later than
the lesser of 30 days, or the period provided by State
law, before the date of the election;''.
(c) Other Conforming Amendment.--Section 4(a)(1) of such Act (52
U.S.C. 20503(a)(1)) is amended to read as follows:
``(1) through the State motor vehicle authority pursuant to
section 5;''.
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.
(a) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this Act shall take
effect upon the expiration of the 180-day period which begins on the
date of the enactment of this Act.
(b) Timing of Automatic Registration of Individuals Providing
Identifying Information to Motor Vehicle Authority Prior to Effective
Date.--For purposes of section 5 of the National Voter Registration Act
of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20504), as amended by section 2(a), if an individual
provided identifying information (as described in section 5(a)(2) of
such Act) to a State motor vehicle authority prior to the effective
date described in subsection (a), the authority shall transmit such
information to the appropriate State election official pursuant to
section 5(a)(1) of such Act not later than such effective date, unless
the motor vehicle authority determines that the information is no
longer valid with respect to the individual.
<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