Federal Role in Voter Registration The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 and Subsequent Developments Updated January 23 2019 Congressional Research Service https crsreports congress gov R45030 Federal Role in Voter Registration Summary Historically most aspects of election administration have been left to state and local governments resulting in a variety of practices across jurisdictions with respect to voter registration States can vary on a number of elements of the voter registration process including whether or not to require voter registration where or when voter registration occurs and how voters may be removed from registration lists The right of citizens to vote however is presented in the U S Constitution in the Fifteenth Nineteenth and Twenty-sixth Amendments Beginning with the Voting Rights Act VRA in 1965 Congress has sometimes passed legislation requiring certain uniform practices for federal elections intended to prevent any state policies that may result in the disenfranchisement of eligible voters The National Voter Registration Act NVRA was enacted in 1993 and set forth a number of voter registration requirements for states to follow regarding voter registration processes for federal elections NVRA is commonly referred to as the motor-voter bill as it required states to provide voter registration opportunities alongside services provided by departments of motor vehicles DMVs although NVRA required other state and local offices providing public services to provide voter registration opportunities as well NVRA also created a federal mail-based voter registration form that all states are required to accept and created criteria for state voter registration forms Certain procedures states must follow for performing voter registration list maintenance or removing voters from registration lists are also set forth in NVRA The Federal Election Commission FEC provided guidance to state election officials and issued biennial reports to Congress on NVRA implementation and voter registration in each state until these roles were transferred to the Election Assistance Commission EAC in 2002 NVRA remains a fundamental component of federal voter registration policy and has not undergone many significant revisions since its enactment though voter registration remains a subject of interest to Congress The Help America Vote Act HAVA of 2002 enacted a number of election administration measures several of which were based on recommendations from the FEC’s biennial NVRA reports and affected federal voter registration These included the computerization of state voter lists grants to states for election technology upgrades changes to the federal mail-based voter registration form and the transfer of the FEC’s role in administering NVRA to the newly created EAC More comprehensive information on HAVA can be found in CRS Report RS20898 The Help America Vote Act and Election Administration Overview and Selected Issues for the 2016 Election In the 115th Congress 66 bills were introduced related to federal voter registration or NVRA Some of these measures were narrow in scope whereas others were more comprehensive electoral reforms Many of these bills sought to expand the ways in which states must allow individuals to register to vote This can include adding other public service agencies to the list of NVRA voter registration agencies or requiring online voter registration same-day voter registration preregistration of teenagers not yet eligible to vote or automatic voter registration A number of other bills reflected ongoing concerns about the technology used to maintain voter registration data and about balancing the efficiency technology provides for citizens and election officials with sufficient cybersecurity protections Congressional Research Service Federal Role in Voter Registration Contents Introduction 1 Background and Context for NVRA Passage 2 Major Provisions of NVRA 3 Voter Registration at Departments of Motor Vehicles DMVs 3 Other Voter Registration Agencies 5 Mail-In Voter Registration 5 Voter Registration Form Requirements 6 Maintenance and Updates to State Voter Lists 7 “Fail-Safe” Provisions for Within-Jurisdiction Residence Changes 8 Criminal Penalties 8 Records and Reporting Requirements 9 Initial NVRA Implementation 9 Help America Vote Act HAVA of 2002 11 Biennial Report Recommendations Since HAVA 12 Voter Registration Sources Since NVRA 13 Legislative Proposals Regarding Voter Registration 14 Automatic Voter Registration Legislation “Opt-Out” 14 Same-Day Voter Registration 15 Online or Electronic Voter Registration 15 Outreach or Preregistration for Teenagers 16 Protecting Voter Information and Voter List Integrity 17 Technology Improvements 18 Concluding Observations 19 Tables Table 1 Sources of Registration Applications in NVRA States for Selected Years 4 Table 2 Summary of NVRA Recommendations from EAC Biennial Reports 13 Table A-1 Overview of Legislation Related to Voter Registration in the 115th Congress 21 Appendixes Appendix Legislation 21 Contacts Author Information 31 Congressional Research Service Federal Role in Voter Registration Introduction The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 NVRA 1 requires that states follow certain voter registration requirements for federal elections NVRA does not set requirements for state or local elections The stated purposes of NVRA are to establish procedures to increase the number of eligible citizens registered to vote in federal elections enable enhanced voter participation in federal elections protect the integrity of the electoral process and ensure accurate voter registration records 2 NVRA was not the first piece of federal legislation addressing state electoral activities but it did create a more significant federal presence in voter registration activities NVRA may be viewed as an extension of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 VRA and other federal legislation that sought to create uniformity across state electoral processes in order to expand voter enfranchisement and ensure constitutionally protected voter rights NVRA is sometimes referred to as the motor-voter bill since one of its provisions requires that eligible citizens must be able to simultaneously apply for voter registration when they apply within a state for a motor vehicle driver’s license or other personal identification document issued by a state department of motor vehicles In addition to these motor-voter registration opportunities NVRA requires that states establish mail-based voter registration processes and accept a federal mail-in registration form 3 States must also provide in-person voter registration opportunities at the designated residence-based voter registration sites in accordance with state law and at designated federal state or nongovernmental offices including state agencies providing public assistance or services to persons with disabilities 4 In addition to voter registration methods NVRA included procedural requirements for states to follow when performing voter registration list maintenance or when adding removing or modifying records for registered voters NVRA further required that the Federal Election Commission FEC provide guidance to the states for implementing NVRA NVRA also directed the FEC to publish a biennial election report assessing the impact of the act on federal election administration and offering recommendations for improvements to federal and state procedures forms and other matters affected by NVRA These FEC responsibilities were transferred to the U S Election Assistance Commission EAC following enactment of the Help America Vote Act HAVA in 2002 NVRA as amended by HAVA provides much of the framework for federal voter registration policy The first portion of this report provides a brief background on the federal role in voter registration and the passage of NVRA followed by a discussion of the key components of NVRA The implementation of NVRA subsequent modifications to its provisions and ongoing considerations related to federal voter registration are also discussed The final sections of this report provide descriptions of types of common legislative proposals addressing voter 1 P L 103-31 May 20 1993 107 Stat 77 52 U S C ch 205 52 U S C §20501 b 3 52 U S C §20505 a 1 NVRA directed the Federal Election Commission FEC to create and maintain the federal mail-based registration form but updates since 2004 have been tasked to the Election Assistance Commission EAC following the passage of the Help America Vote Act HAVA in 2002 See U S Federal Election Commission “The National Mail Voter Registration Form ” at http classic fec gov votregis vr shtml 4 52 U S C §20506 a 2 Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 1 Federal Role in Voter Registration registration with a full list of related bills introduced in the 115th Congress provided in the Appendix Background and Context for NVRA Passage Many elements of election administration remain under the domain of state and local governments but the federal government has become more involved in some election aspects since the 1960s The Voting Rights Act of 1965 VRA 5 and several subsequent federal laws including NVRA reflect congressional initiatives to increase voter participation across the states Various proposals were introduced in the 1970s and 1980s to create national standards for voter registration 6 but the enactment of NVRA in 1993 marked the first comprehensive federal policy addressing voter registration The House and Senate considered measures during multiple Congresses in the 1970s for example that would have created a postcard-based national voter registration form administered by the Census Bureau 7 In the 95th Congress 1977-1978 congressional attention turned toward creating national standards for same-day voter registration but neither chamber passed related legislation Congress considered other voter registration measures between 1983 and 1988 but no proposals appear to have reached the floor in either the House or Senate Previous versions of NVRA were introduced in the 101st Congress 1989-1990 8 and 102nd Congress 1991-1992 9 before similar legislation was ultimately signed into law on May 20 1993 10 Two laws enacted prior to NVRA the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act of 1984 VAEHA and the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of 1986 UOCAVA may be viewed as legislative predecessors to NVRA Primarily these laws focused on voting access but they also contained provisions that addressed voter registration VAEHA and UOCAVA represented extensions of the federal government’s role in some electoral activities that had traditionally been the domain of state and local governments VAEHA required that states make polling places more accessible for persons who are elderly or disabled provide absentee ballots for handicapped voters with no notarization or medical certification required and offer voting aids for elderly or disabled individuals to use in federal elections 11 With regards to voter registration VAEHA also required that states establish “a 5 See CRS Report R43626 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 Background and Overview U S Federal Election Commission The Impact of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 on the Administration of Elections for Federal Office 1993-1994 report to the 104th Congress Washington DC June 30 1995 p 5 hereinafter 1993-1994 NVRA Report 7 In the 92nd Congress 1971-1972 the House and Senate both held hearings to consider a postcard registration form The proposal came to the Senate floor for a vote but was tabled The Senate passed a similar measure during the 93 rd Congress 1973-1974 which would have created a National Voter Registration Administration within the Census Bureau but the House did not take up the bill see S 352 S Rept 93-91 H R 6278 H Rept 93-778 The House passed a modified version of the postcard voter registration system in the 94th Congress 1975-1976 but the measure stalled in the Senate see H R 11552 H Rept 95-318 8 H R 2190 passed the House the Senate took no action on H R 2190 or S 874 9 S 250 passed the House and Senate but was vetoed by the President 10 P L 103-31 May 20 1993 107 Stat 77 52 U S C ch 205 11 P L 98-435 October 31 1985 99 Stat 563 52 U S C ch 201 6 Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 2 Federal Role in Voter Registration reasonable number of accessible permanent registration facilities ” and offer registration aids for elderly or handicapped individuals to use in federal elections 12 UOCAVA required each state to permit uniformed servicemembers their spouses and dependents and overseas citizens who do not maintain a residence in the United States to vote absentee in federal elections using a federal write-in absentee ballot or a state absentee ballot approved by the presidential designee and made available at least 60 days before an election 13 UOCAVA also required states to accept and process any valid voter registration applications received at least 30 days prior to a federal election from military or overseas voters and created an official postcard form states would accept for these individuals containing both a voter registration application and an absentee ballot application 14 Major Provisions of NVRA NVRA’s shorthand name the motor-voter bill refers to one of its more well-known provisions— the requirement that states establish procedures for eligible individuals to register to vote in federal elections or to update their voter registration records simultaneously with their applications for motor vehicle driver’s licenses or for any other form of personal identification provided by the state’s department of motor vehicles DMVs 15 Under NVRA states must also establish other in-person voter registration locations including at federal state or nongovernmental offices that primarily provide public assistance or services to persons with disabilities and at other locations as described in Section 7 of NVRA In addition to specifying locations for voter registration opportunities NVRA also contains criteria for states’ voter registration forms and requires states to accept a national mail-based registration form created by the FEC 16 States must also meet certain procedural requirements when adding removing or modifying records in their voter registration lists Today the EAC provides states with guidance for implementing NVRA and publishes a biennial election report assessing the impact of NVRA on federal election administration and providing recommendations if necessary for improvements to federal and state procedures forms and other matters affected by NVRA 17 Voter Registration at Departments of Motor Vehicles DMVs Section 5 of NVRA provides that “Each State motor vehicle driver’s license application including any renewal application submitted to the appropriate State motor vehicle authority under State law shall serve as an application for voter registration with respect to elections for Federal office unless the applicant fails to sign the voter registration application ”18 An applicant submitting a change of address to a state DMV can also designate that the change should be 12 52 U S C §§20103-20104 P L 99-410 August 28 1986 100 Stat 924 52 U S C ch 203 14 See CRS Report RS20764 The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act Overview and Issues for additional information on UOCAVA and subsequent revisions to its voter registration provisions 15 As defined in 52 U S C §20502 “the term ‘motor vehicle driver’s license’ includes any personal identification document issued by a State motor vehicle authority ” 16 Under the Help America Vote Act of 2002 HAVA development and maintenance of the national mail-based voter registration form was transferred to the newly created Election Assistance Commission EAC See P L 107-252 §§201 202 209 802-804 17 Ibid The FEC was originally responsible for these functions but they were transferred to the EAC when it was created under the Help America Vote Act of 2002 HAVA 18 52 U S C §20504 a 1 13 Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 3 Federal Role in Voter Registration relayed to election officials as an update to his or her voter registration Voter registration information collected by DMVs must be relayed to election officials no later than 10 days after it is received If the DMV receives voter registration information within 5 days of the state’s voter registration deadline it must be relayed to election officials no later than 5 days after its receipt 19 This is the same timeline for application turnaround that NVRA requires for the other voter registration agencies it covers as discussed in the following section “Other Voter Registration Agencies ” Proponents of NVRA expected that most voter registration would eventually occur through this type of application 20 In the years since NVRA was enacted DMVs have become a popular source for voter registrations Among the voter registration methods denoted in NVRA and tracked in the biennial NVRA reports DMVs are consistently the most common source of voter registration applications The EAC reports that between 2014 and 2016 departments of motor vehicles accounted for a higher proportion of voter registration applications received than any other source of voter registrations designated under NVRA 21 Table 1 provides information on DMV-based registration and other sources for selected years Table 1 Sources of Registration Applications in NVRA States for Selected Years 1995-1996 2005-2006 2015-2016 Motor Vehicle Offices 33 10% 45 74% 34 43% By Mail 29 74% 22 75% 18 01%a Public Assistance Offices 6 28% 1 46% 2 77% Disability Services 0 43% 0 13% 0 22% Armed Forces Offices 0 18% 0 14% 0 14% State Designated Sites 4 18% 6 44% 2 23% Source CRS calculations based on data for NVRA covered states reported in U S Federal Election Commission The Impact of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 on the Administration of Elections for Federal Office 1993-1994 report to the 104th Congress Washington DC June 30 1995 U S Election Assistance Commission The Impact of the National Voter Registration Act on the Administration of Elections for Federal Office 2005-2006 a report to the 110th Congress June 30 2007 U S Election Assistance Commission The Election Administration and Voting Survey 2016 Comprehensive Report a report to the 115th Congress June 29 2017 Notes Data are provided on voter registration applications received and reported by NVRA-covered states this excludes voter registration application data for Idaho Minnesota New Hampshire North Dakota Wisconsin Wyoming American Samoa Guam Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands See “Initial NVRA Implementation” section for discussion of why some states are excluded from NVRA The percentages for each year do not total 100% due to other sources of voter registration application that are not affected by NVRA The categories of voter registration applications tracked by the Election Administration Voting Survey and reported in the biennial NVRA reports can vary across years and may not be directly comparable a The 2017 report identifies this category as “Mail Email Fax ” A separate category for “Internet” registration was also included in 2017 which accounted for 17 82% of voter registration applications 19 52 U S C §20504 e U S Congress Senate Committee on Rules and Administration National Voter Registration Act of 1993 report to accompany S 460 103rd Cong 1st sess S Rept 103-6 Washington GPO 1993 p 7 21 U S Election Assistance Commission The Election Administration and Voting Survey 2016 Comprehensive Report a report to the 115th Congress Washington DC June 29 2017 p 41 https www eac gov assets 1 6 2016_EAVS_Comprehensive_Report pdf hereinafter 2016 EAVS Comprehensive Report 20 Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 4 Federal Role in Voter Registration Other Voter Registration Agencies In addition to DMVs under NVRA states are required to provide opportunities for individuals to register to vote in-person at other locations These include “the appropriate registration site designated with respect to the residence of the applicant in accordance with state law ” as well as at certain federal state or nongovernmental offices 22 Section 7 of NVRA identifies these additional locations as “voter registration agencies ” Any office in a state that provides public assistance or administers state-funded programs primarily designed to provide services to persons with disabilities must be designated as voter registration agencies 23 Recruitment offices for the U S armed services are also designated as voter registration agencies 24 Beyond these required designations states are also directed to designate other locations such as public libraries schools city or county government offices unemployment compensation offices and fishing and hunting license bureaus 25 The Higher Education Amendments of 1998 further required that colleges and universities in states exempt from NVRA “make a good faith effort” to request and distribute mail-based voter registration forms to enrolled students 26 Each designated voter registration agency must distribute mail-based voter registration forms provide assistance to applicants completing the form unless such assistance is refused by the applicant and transmit completed applications to the appropriate state election official27 no later than 10 days after they are received or within 5 days of their receipt if received within 5 days of the state’s voter registration deadline 28 This timeline is the same as NVRA requires for state DMVs that receive voter registration forms Individuals assisting with registration applications cannot seek to influence the applicant’s political preference or party registration display a political preference or party allegiance or make any statement or take any action that has the intent or effect of discouraging an applicant from registering to vote or leading the applicant to believe that the availability of other services provided by the agencies is dependent upon the decision to register or not register 29 Mail-In Voter Registration Section 6 of NVRA further directs states to make available mail-based voter registration applications for federal elections These mail-based applications can also be used for voters to update a change of address 30 Section 6 requires states to accept and make available a mail-based application created by the federal government but also permits states to use a mail-based form of their own creation NVRA directed the FEC to develop and maintain the mail-based federal voter 22 52 U S C §20503 a 52 U S C §20506 a 1-2 An agency providing home-based services to an individual with disabilities must provide the voter registration services specified under 52 U S C §20506 a 4 A at the person’s home see 52 U S C §20506 4 B 24 52 U S C §20506 c 25 These and other examples of agencies that may be included are found in 52 U S C §20506 a 3 26 See §489 b in P L 105-244 October 7 1998 112 Stat 1581 See “Initial NVRA Implementation” section for discussion of why some states are excluded from NVRA 27 52 U S C §20506 d Additional details pertaining to how voter registration agencies should distribute applications options for registration forms and language to be used in conjunction with registration opportunities are provided in 52 U S C §20506 a 6 B 28 52 U S C §20506 d 29 52 U S C §20506 a 5 30 52 U S C §20505 a 3 23 Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 5 Federal Role in Voter Registration registration application 31 but this function was transferred to the EAC following the passage of HAVA effective in 2004 32 Mail-based voter registration applications created by the states were required to meet all the criteria specified by Section 9 of NVRA which are described in the subsequent section “Voter Registration Form Requirements ”33 States were required to make mail registration forms available to governmental and private entities for distribution with an emphasis on making forms available for organized voter registration programs 34 Under NVRA state laws could require that voters new to a jurisdiction who registered by mail vote in-person for their first election 35 If a registrar sends a notice to an individual regarding the disposition of a mail-based voter registration application via nonforwardable postal mail and the notice is returned as undeliverable the registrar may begin the process of removing the individual from the state’s voter list as detailed in Section 8 d 36 Voter Registration Form Requirements In addition to how and where states are required to provide voter registration opportunities NVRA contains requirements for the information presented on and collected by voter registration forms for federal elections 37 These requirements are presented in Section 9 b of NVRA and also serve as the criteria used for the federal mail-based voter registration application created under NVRA 38 States are also required to make the FEC mail-based registration form available at governmental and private entities for distribution with a particular focus on distributing forms to nongovernmental voter registration programs 39 Instead of listing a number of information fields that must be included on voter registration forms NVRA minimizes the amount of information an applicant needs to provide by utilizing personal information the applicant provides elsewhere At state DMVs for example the application for registering to vote must be incorporated into the application form for a driver’s license and cannot require the applicant to duplicate any information already provided on the driver’s license portion of the form For voter registration on driver’s license applications and for state mail-in applications a form may only request the minimum amount of information necessary to prevent duplicate registrations and enable state election officials to determine the eligibility of the applicant and administer voter registration laws 40 Voter registration applications under NVRA must include statements listing federal voting eligibility requirements including citizenship and require a signature from the applicant 31 52 U S C §20505 a 1 directs states to use the FEC-created form requirements for the FEC form are found in 52 U S C §20508 a 2 First-time voters may be required under state law to vote in person if the individual has not previously voted in the same jurisdiction 52 U S C §20505 c 32 P L 107-252 §§201 202 209 802-804 October 29 2002 33 52 U S C §20505 a 2 34 52 U S C §20505 b 35 52 U S C §20505 c Persons eligible to vote through mail under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act or the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act are excepted from any state requirement to vote in-person as stated in 52 U S C §20505 c 2 36 52 U S C §20505 d 37 52 U S C §20505 a 2 38 52 U S C §20505 a 1 39 52 U S C §20505 b 40 52 U S C §20504 c 2 52 U S C §20508 b Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 6 Federal Role in Voter Registration attesting that he or she meets the eligibility criteria 41 Voter registration forms may not include “any requirement for notarization or other formal authentication ”42 In recent years the EAC and U S Supreme Court have interpreted this to preclude states from requiring proof of U S citizenship in order to submit an application for federal voter registration 43 The forms also include a statement about penalties for submitting a false voter registration application and a statement asserting that information about declining to register or the office where a citizen registered would be kept confidential Maintenance and Updates to State Voter Lists As noted above agencies providing voter registration forms including DMVs are required by NVRA to accept completed forms from applicants and transmit the forms to the appropriate state election official within 10 days of receipt If the completed form is collected by an agency within 5 days of the state’s voter registration deadline the form must be transmitted to state election officials within 5 days of receipt 44 Under NVRA once state election officials have received and approved or denied an application they are required to send each applicant a notice regarding the disposition of his or her application 45 State election officials are also directed to ensure that any eligible applicant is registered to vote in time for a federal election as long as the applicant’s information was submitted to a voter registration agency or postmarked no later than 30 days before a federal election or the state’s registration deadline if that is less than 30 days before Election Day 46 Once a voter is registered his or her name is not to be removed from the list or roster of eligible voters unless the voter requests removal has died has moved out of the jurisdiction or as provided by state law has received a disqualifying criminal conviction or is found to be mentally incapacitated 47 Voters may not be removed from the registration rolls solely due to nonvoting 48 or for moving within the same electoral jurisdiction 49 States may “conduct a general program that makes a reasonable effort” to remove voters from the list due to death or a change of residence 50 States may also remove a voter from the registration rolls if the registrant has notified the election 41 52 U S C §20508 b 2 B 52 U S C §20508 b 3 43 See U S Election Assistance Commission Memorandum of Decision Concerning State Requests to Include Additional Proof-of-Citizenship Instructions on the National Mail Voter Registration Form January 14 2014 available at https www eac gov voters nvra-related-documents along with other related materials Simone Pathé “VotingRights Advocates Get Win at Supreme Court ” Roll Call June 29 2015 at https www rollcall com news supremecourt-victory-for-voting-rights-advocates 44 52 U S C §20506 d 45 52 U S C §20507 a 2 46 52 U S C §20507 a 1 47 52 U S C §20507 3-4 For an overview of state laws regarding voting rights and criminal convictions see links provided under “Additional Resources” at Felon Voting Rights National Conference of State Legislatures September 29 2016 at http www ncsl org research elections-and-campaigns felon-voting-rights aspx for one overview of state laws regarding voter rights and mental health conditions see National Alliance on Mental Illness Voter Rights Mental Health Conditions September 2016 at https www nami org getattachment Get-Involved Take-Action-on-AdvocacyIssues 2016-Elections VoterLawsforMHConditions pdf 48 52 U S C §20507 b 2 49 52 U S C §20507 e-f If a voter changed addresses within a jurisdiction and was removed from the voter roll NVRA contains provisions to allow these individuals to vote or update their registration information on Election Day 50 52 U S C §20507 a 4 42 Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 7 Federal Role in Voter Registration office that he or she has moved 51 States may also remove voters from the registration rolls if the registrant does not respond to a notice sent by the registrar containing a forwardable mail response card with prepaid postage and fails to vote or appear to vote in two consecutive general elections for federal office 52 The processes states use to maintain accurate up-to-date voter registration lists for use in federal elections must be undertaken in a “uniform nondiscriminatory” fashion and in compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 53 States could use the U S Postal Service USPS “National Change of Address” program as one way to help maintain their voter registration rolls 54 Removal of ineligible voters from the registration rolls must be completed at least 90 days prior to the date of any federal election general or primary 55 Beyond these guidelines NVRA does not specify any particular process states must follow when removing individuals from their registered voter lists “Fail-Safe” Provisions for Within-Jurisdiction Residence Changes NVRA includes “fail-safe” voting provisions enabling voters who have moved within a jurisdiction but lack updated registrations to vote on Election Day and to update the state’s records 56 These “fail-safe” provisions are limited to registrants who move within the same election jurisdiction under the principle that “once registered a voter should remain on the list of voters so long as the individual remains eligible to vote in that jurisdiction ”57 This situation could arise because voters did not realize their information required an update or because of technical or bureaucratic mistakes in processing a registrant’s updated application A voter whose residence was formerly covered by one polling place but whose residence is currently covered by another polling place in the same jurisdiction must be allowed to update his or her voting records and vote either at the voter’s former polling place current polling place or at a central location within the jurisdiction 58 Criminal Penalties Section 12 of NVRA establishes criminal penalties for federal election fraud and voter intimidation No individual may “knowingly and willfully” attempt to intimidate threaten or coerce anyone who is attempting to register to vote assisting with voter registration voting or exercising any right under NVRA Individuals may also be charged for attempting to deprive state residents of a “fair and impartially conducted election process” by procuring or submitting voter registration applications or ballots that are known to be fraudulent according to state law 51 52 U S C §20507 d 52 U S C §20507 d For an analysis of the recent U S Supreme Court case Husted v A Philip Randolph Institute see CRS Legal Sidebar LSB10175 Supreme Court Rules Ohio Voter Roll Law Comports with National Voter Registration Act 53 52 U S C §20507 b 1 54 52 U S C §20507 c 1 55 52 U S C §20507 c 2 A 56 52 U S C §20507 e 2 57 U S Congress House Committee on House Administration National Voter Registration Act of 1993 report to accompany H R 2 103rd Cong 1st sess February 2 1993 H Rept 103-9 Washington GPO 1993 p 18 58 52 U S C §20507 e 2 A State law may set forth which of these options are available but at least one must be provided 52 Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 8 Federal Role in Voter Registration Individuals committing these acts could be fined in accordance with Title 18 of the U S Code and or imprisoned for up to five years 59 Records and Reporting Requirements Under NVRA states are required to keep records pertaining to voter registration list maintenance and to make these records publicly available 60 NVRA also required the FEC to produce a biennial report “assessing the impact of this Act on the administration of elections for federal office including recommendations for improvements in Federal and State procedures forms and other matters affected by this Act ”61 Since 2003 these NVRA reports have been produced by the EAC 62 The biennial NVRA reports are submitted to Congress by June 30 of each oddnumbered year 63 No further instructions on the content of the reports were provided by NVRA in practice the FEC EAC has chosen to conduct surveys of the states to collect information that it deems necessary to carry out its statutory requirement 64 The biennial NVRA reports provide statistics and detailed discussion on the voter registration activities of the states for the preceding two-year period under study 65 This includes information on the total number of registered voters new registrants and sources of registrations covered by NVRA i e motor vehicle agencies in-person by mail or other designated state office The NVRA reports also provide information on the removal of voters from registration lists and reasons for removals Issues with list maintenance have at times been discussed in these reports as have recommendations for improvements Initial NVRA Implementation Many of NVRA’s requirements were designed to be implemented through state-level policy changes if existing state laws were not already in compliance with its provisions Six states were exempt from NVRA at the time of its enactment because they either had no voter registration requirement or provided voter registration at polling places on Election Day 66 The other 44 states were tasked with implementing NVRA by January 1 1995 however if something in a state’s 59 52 U S C §20511 52 U S C §20507 i 61 52 U S C §20508 a 3 62 HAVA transferred this responsibility from the FEC to the EAC in 2002 See P L 107-252 title VII §802 a October 29 2002 116 Stat 1726 42 U S C §15532 63 52 U S C §20508 a 3 64 U S Federal Election Commission The Impact of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 on the Administration of Elections for Federal Office 1995-1996 report to the 105th Congress Washington DC June 30 1997 at https www eac gov assets 1 6 The%20Impact%20of%20the%20National%20Voter%20Registration%20Act%20on%20Federal%20Elections%20199 5-1996 pdf p 5 hereinafter 1995-1996 NVRA Report 2016 EAVS Comprehensive Report p 3 65 The first biennial report covering 1993-1994 did not contain this information 66 For the exemption requirements see 52 U S C §20503 b North Dakota had no voter registration requirement when NVRA was enacted Minnesota Wisconsin and Wyoming enabled voters to register at polling places on Election Day prior to March 11 1993 the date specified in the original enacted text of NVRA This cut-off date was changed to August 1 1994 P L 104-91 title I §101 a January 6 1996 110 Stat 11 as amended P L 104-99 title II §211 January 26 1996 110 Stat 37 Under this new date Idaho and New Hampshire were also exempt from NVRA requirements See also 1993-1994 NVRA Report p 7 These states remain exempt see 2015-2016 NVRA Report p 17 60 Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 9 Federal Role in Voter Registration constitution precluded compliance NVRA allowed for a later enactment date to allow for the state’s constitutional amendment process 67 NVRA provided no federal funding to the states to carry out any of its prescribed requirements States are however eligible to use reduced mailing rates from USPS for voter registration mailings 68 Each state was required to designate a state officer or employee to serve as the chief state election official and coordinate state responsibilities related to NVRA 69 NVRA also created specific roles for the FEC and made the Department of Justice DOJ responsible for civil enforcement of its provisions 70 The FEC was responsible for providing information to states about their responsibilities under NVRA developing a mail-based federal voter registration form and producing a biennial report to Congress in consultation with states’ chief election officers 71 Within the FEC the Office of Election Administration OEA carried out its NVRA responsibilities until the passage of HAVA in 2002 transferred these responsibilities to the EAC 72 The initial NVRA report from the FEC noted that “ NVRA is something of an experiment in governance in that the federal responsibilities for its proper implementation are divided between two separate federal agencies ” meaning the FEC and DOJ 73 In early guidance to states regarding NVRA implementation the FEC stated it “does not have legal authority either to interpret the Act or to determine whether this or that procedure meets the requirements of the Act ” noting that such activities would fall under the DOJ’s civil enforcement responsibilities 74 While NVRA was under consideration by Congress some were concerned about the costs it could impose upon states since the bill contained a number of requirements for state election officials and other state agencies but no funding to carry them out 75 As states began to implement NVRA however costs were not cited in the FEC reports as a significant impediment and implementation generally proceeded without many reported complications 76 In the 1995-1996 §13 The enactment date for states with constitutional conflicts was January 1 1996 or “the date that is 120 days after the date by which…it would be legally possible to adopt and place into effect any amendments to the constitution of the States that are necessary to permit such compliance with this Act without requiring a special election ” Arkansas Vermont and Virginia required constitutional amendments in order to implement NVRA See 1993-1994 NVRA Report p 7 68 P L 103-31 §8 h 39 U S C §§2401 3627 3629 69 52 U S C §20509 70 52 U S C §20510 71 P L 103-31 §9 a 52 U S C §20508 a 72 U S Election Assistance Commission “History of the National Clearinghouse on Election Administration ” at https www eac gov assets 1 28 History%20of%20the%20National%20Clearinghouse%20on%20Election%20Administration pdf 1993-1994 NVRA Report pp 5-6 73 Ibid p 4 74 National Clearinghouse on Election Administration U S Federal Election Commission Implementing the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 Requirements Issues Approaches and Examples Washington DC January 1 1994 p 1 75 U S Congress Senate Committee on Rules and Administration National Voter Registration Act of 1993 report to accompany S 460 103rd Cong 1st sess February 25 1993 S Rept 103-6 Washington GPO 1993 pp 50-51 Sen Paul Coverdell “Unfunded Federal Mandates” Congressional Record vol 140 March 10 1994 pp 4480-4482 Alan Greenblat “Court Rejects ‘Motor Voter’ Case But the Battle Isn’t Over ” Congressional Quarterly weekly report vol 54 January 27 1996 p 232 76 California Illinois Pennsylvania and South Carolina however were each engaged in litigation regarding NVRA implementation at the time the first FEC report was issued See 1993-1994 NVRA Report p 7 67 Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 10 Federal Role in Voter Registration NVRA report for example the FEC said that the motor vehicle provisions “appeared to be the easiest for States to implement ” and that states reported “relatively few problems” with implementing the mail registration provisions The FEC attributed this in part to the fact that 26 of the 43 states responding to the survey had already enacted some form of motor voter registration prior to NVRA and that 25 of the responding states already had voter registration by mail prior to NVRA 77 Voter registration rates did increase in the years following the passage of NVRA as compared to the years immediately preceding its passage 78 Some have suggested however that it is difficult to isolate the particular effect NVRA had on this increase due to a number of other factors that could lead voters to register or to not register 79 In its 1993-1994 NVRA report the FEC noted that statewide computerization of voter registration “greatly facilitates the implementation of NVRA ” and that “even larger networks linking motor vehicle public assistance vital statistics and courts to the voter registration system” could further assist with intake and verification of voter records At the time FEC found varying degrees of computerized record systems across states and noted that in some states the record systems used by different local jurisdictions were incompatible with one another 80 States were granted some latitude to comply with other provisions in NVRA that were not as strictly specified by the legislation such as the designation of voter registration agencies and state procedures for voter list maintenance as a result the ways in which they approached these provisions varied As one example for NVRA’s requirement that states designate other offices as voter registration agencies the FEC’s 1995-1996 report found four states had not designated any agencies and the 21 other states that responded had selected “a wide variety of agencies ” Regarding voter list maintenance the FEC stated that “ a s one might expect the States covered by this report approached the rather technical and detailed problems of list maintenance quite differently and unevenly ”81 Help America Vote Act HAVA of 2002 The Help America Vote Act HAVA 82 was enacted in 2002 and serves as another key piece of federal election policy addressing a number of election administration elements in light of issues revealed during the 2000 presidential election This section focuses only on the parts of HAVA that affected NVRA or voter registration in federal elections namely the computerization of state voter lists changes to the federal mail-based voter registration form and transferring the FEC’s role to a newly created Election Assistance Commission EAC HAVA has many additional components however and more comprehensive information on it can be found in CRS Report RS20898 The Help America Vote Act and Election Administration Overview and Selected Issues for the 2016 Election 771995-1996 NVRA Report pp 1-5 The 1995-1996 report is cited here instead of the preliminary 1993-1994 report because it provides a more comprehensive account of NVRA’s early implementation The 1993-1994 report was released only six months after the earliest effective date for state NVRA implementation and only 37 states and the District of Columbia participated in the survey 78 See for example voter registration data reported in 1995-1996 NVRA Report p 11 79 Benjamin Highton and Raymond E Wolfinger “Estimating the Effects of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 ” Political Behavior vol 20 no 2 June 1998 pp 79-104 80 1993-1994 NVRA Report p 7 81 1995-1996 NVRA Report p 2 82 P L 107-252 116 Stat 1666 October 29 2002 52 U S C §§20901 et seq Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 11 Federal Role in Voter Registration In the years preceding HAVA the FEC’s biennial NVRA reports contained a number of recommendations related to the voter registration and list maintenance requirements set forth by NVRA HAVA incorporated several of these recommendations some as its own provisions and others as amendments to NVRA Notably HAVA established requirements for states to utilize computerized statewide voter registration lists 83 which the FEC had frequently suggested in its NVRA reports HAVA also provided funding to help states carry out this requirement and its other objectives many of which were related to modernizing voting equipment and generally improving federal election administration across all the states 84 HAVA required four specific additions to the NVRA mail-based voter registration form 1 a question asking whether the registrant was a citizen with corresponding answer check boxes 2 a question asking whether the registrant would be 18 years of age or older by the next election with corresponding answer check boxes 3 a statement that if the registrant had answered “no” to either of the preceding questions that he or she was to stop filling out the form and not register and 4 a statement alerting the registrant to submit copies of appropriate documentation with his or her application if he or she is a first-time registrant and the completed forms are submitted through the mail or else he or she may be required to provide such documentation when voting for the first time 85 Prior to HAVA the FEC’s Office of Election Administration OEA carried out federal activities related to election administration HAVA created the Election Assistance Commission an independent bipartisan agency which absorbed the OEA’s responsibilities in addition to carrying out other new requirements 86 The EAC’s responsibilities included carrying out payment and grant programs related to federal elections testing and certifying voting systems studying election issues and issuing guidelines and other guidance related to voting systems and implementation of HAVA’s requirements in consultation with election officials and other stakeholders Biennial Report Recommendations Since HAVA Since the passage of HAVA in 2002 the biennial EAC reports have often contained further recommendations related to voter registration and election administration Many of these recent recommendations pertain to modernizing data collection and improving data sharing practices within and among states The recommendations are typically broad-based and use generalized language they serve only as suggestions to the states or possibly to Congress since the EAC lacks the authority to require states to take any action related to voter registration Table 2 presents a summary of NVRA recommendations contained in the EAC reports since 2004 83 52 U S C §21083 52 U S C §20901 85 Individuals who fall into this category and are unable to provide documentation when voting for the first time may cast a provisional ballot See 52 U S C §21083 b 2 B 86 52 U S C §§20921 et seq 84 Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 12 Federal Role in Voter Registration Table 2 Summary of NVRA Recommendations from EAC Biennial Reports EAC’s Recommendation In Report Year s Implement electronic transmission of state agency records to state election officials 2003-2004 Check federal databases electronically for state voter list maintenance 2003-2004 “Continue to modernize” election systems 2006-2007 2007-2008 Create statewide databases to track individual voter activity and voter registration history 2003-2004 2005-2006 Standardize data collection practices across states for data used in the biennial NVRA reports 2005-2006 Coordinate local election jurisdictions to provide voter registration data to the states 2007-2008 Have states provide EAC with best practices on data collection 2007-2008 Use technology to alleviate workloads in election offices 2007-2008 Encourage state agencies to remind voters to update their registration 2007-2008 Make modernization a priority 2013-2014 Review advances in voter registration and list maintenance 2013-2014 Source U S Election Assistance Commission The Impact of the National Voter Registration Act on the Administration of Elections for Federal Office 2003-2004 a report to the 109th Congress June 30 2005 pp 13-15 U S Election Assistance Commission The Impact of the National Voter Registration Act on the Administration of Elections for Federal Office 2005-2006 a report to the 110th Congress June 30 2007 pp 13-14 U S Election Assistance Commission The Impact of the National Voter Registration Act on the Administration of Elections for Federal Office 2007-2008 a report to the 111th Congress June 30 2009 pp 8-9 U S Election Assistance Commission The 2014 EAC Election Administration and Voting Survey Comprehensive Report a report to the 114th Congress June 30 2015 p 24 Notes Recommendations in this table are paraphrased from EAC report language No recommendations were included in the EAC reports for 2009-2010 2011-2012 or 2015-2016 Reports for each year are available at https www eac gov voters national-voter-registration-act-studies Voter Registration Sources Since NVRA Table 1 earlier in report provides information on the sources of voter registration applications for states covered by NVRA during 1995-1996 2005-2006 and 2015-2016 These data include new voter registration applications and applications requesting an update or modification for an existing registered voter Nationwide DMV offices have remained the most common source among those covered by NVRA for voter registration applications received by state election officials Mail-based forms are consistently the second-most common source for voter registration applications 87 The EAC notes that online voter registration has grown in recent years accounting for 17 4% of new voter registration applications for the 2016 election For the 2014 election 6 5% of voter registration applications were submitted online and for the 2012 election 5 3% of voter registration applications were submitted online 88 87 These findings are consistent across each biennial NVRA report although only a selection of years is presented in Table 1 88 2016 EAVS Comprehensive Report p 7 Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 13 Federal Role in Voter Registration Legislative Proposals Regarding Voter Registration Bills that address voter registration are routinely introduced in Congress Table A-1 in the Appendix lists 66 pieces of legislation that were introduced in the 115th Congress related to voter registration or to other elements of election administration covered by NVRA 89 Often these bills sought to expand the ways in which individuals can register to vote or to update the technologies states use to share and store voter registration data Some of these bills were narrowly tailored to address a particular part of voter registration whereas other bills proposed broader policies affecting a number of components of election administration The sections below categorize some of the common types of policy proposals related to NVRA and federal voter registration 90 Given the variety and quantity of measures typically before Congress this is not meant to be a comprehensive discussion of all available voter registration policy options Automatic Voter Registration Legislation “Opt-Out” Under NVRA federal voter registration opportunities are made available at a number of state and local government offices and are presented alongside state driver’s license applications Currently an individual must indicate that he or she wishes to register to vote when applying for a driver’s license or complete a separate voter registration form at other agencies Some have proposed changing this to an “opt-out” system where an individual is automatically registered to vote when submitting a driver’s license application or other eligible agency form rather than being given the opportunity to opt in to register to vote through an additional selection An option for declining to register to vote could be presented on the form itself or provided to the individual at a later time through a notice mailed by election officials Automatic voter registration currently occurs in 17 states and the District of Columbia 91 Proponents argue that automatic voter registration could increase the number of registered voters particularly among demographic groups that are less likely to be registered and decrease registration costs 92 Others have raised concerns that the government should not require citizens to register to vote and that “opt-out” forms if sent by mail may not sufficiently ensure that an individual who wishes not to register can decline registration Similarly automatic registration may require more work for state election officials who must sort out eligible and ineligible voter 89 Table A-1 only highlights provisions from these bills that would affect voter registration or would affect a related component of election administration covered by NVRA It does not provide a comprehensive summary of each piece of legislation and may omit key provisions of these bills that address additional elements of election administration that are beyond the scope of this report Other election administration bills like those introducing voting by mail might also have an indirect effect on an element of voter registration policy the effects of these bills may not be fully captured in this table 90 Some voter registration bills introduced in the 115th Congress fall outside of these categories but they are included in Table A-1 91 Oregon became the first state to adopt automatic voter registration in 2015 The other states with automatic voter registration processes are Alaska California Colorado Connecticut Georgia Illinois Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Nevada New Jersey New Mexico Rhode Island Vermont Washington and West Virginia See Brennan Center for Justice “History of AVR Implementation Dates ” November 7 2018 at http www brennancenter org analysis history-avr-implementation-dates and Wendy Underhill Automatic Voter Registration National Conference of State Legislatures Washington DC December 3 2018 at http www ncsl org research elections-and-campaigns automatic-voter-registration aspx 92 Robert Griffin and Paul Gronke “More States are Registering Voters Automatically Here’s How that Affects Voting ” Washington Post Monkey Cage blog June 16 2017 at https www washingtonpost com news monkeycage wp 2017 06 16 more-states-are-registering-voters-automatically-heres-how-that-affects-voting Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 14 Federal Role in Voter Registration registration applicants 93 In the 115th Congress 14 bills proposed some form of automatic voter registration requirement Another bill would have provided grants to states for implementing automatic voter registration Same-Day Voter Registration Nine bills introduced in the 115th Congress would have required states to provide for same-day voter registration which would enable a qualified individual to register to vote and cast a ballot simultaneously at a designated polling place Seventeen states and the District of Columbia currently have some form of same-day voter registration 94 By combining these two steps proponents believe same-day voter registration simplifies the process for citizens and can increase registration rates and turnout 95 The month before an election is often a peak time for political campaigning but unregistered individuals who are mobilized to participate during this period may be unable to vote if the voter registration deadline has passed in many jurisdictions the registration cut-off can be 30 days before Election Day 96 Others believe that preelection registration deadlines remain necessary for state election officials to sufficiently process individuals’ applications 97 In some places with same-day registration voters who register on Election Day cast provisional ballots until their information can be verified but this may create a delay in determining election results Online or Electronic Voter Registration A number of government forms and applications can be submitted on the internet and some have proposed a federal requirement for online or electronic voter registration applications Currently 38 states and the District of Columbia allow for online voter registration 98 Seven bills introduced in the 115th Congress proposed requiring nationwide availability of online voter registration for federal elections Proponents believe that online voter registration could increase 93 See Wendy Underhill Automatic Voter Registration National Conference of State Legislatures Washington DC August 31 2017 at http www ncsl org research elections-and-campaigns automatic-voter-registration aspx 94 California Colorado Connecticut District of Columbia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Iowa Maine Michigan Minnesota Montana New Hampshire Vermont Wisconsin and Wyoming allow same-day voter registration on Election Day Maryland and North Carolina allow same-day voter registration during early voting periods as do California Colorado Hawaii Illinois Iowa Michigan and Vermont Washington has passed same-day registration legislation but is still in the process of implementation See Same Day Voter Registration National Conference of State Legislatures Washington DC January 17 2018 at http www ncsl org research elections-and-campaigns same-dayregistration aspx 95 Stephen Knack and James White “Election-Day Registration and Turnout Inequality ” Political Behavior vol 22 no 1 March 2000 pp 29-44 Raymond E Wolfinger and Steven J Rosenstone Who Votes New Haven CT Yale University Press 1980 pp 37-80 96 Rep John Conyers “Voter Suppression in America ” extension of remarks Congressional Record vol 157 part 168 November 4 2011 p E2016 Rep Martin Olav Sabo “Introducing Same Day Voter Registration Legislation ” extension of remarks Congressional Record vol 151 part 8 February 1 2005 p E114 97 Rep Alcee L Hastings “Introducing the Voter Outreach and Turnout Expansion Act of 2003 ” extension of remarks Congressional Record vol 149 part 51 February 1 2005 p E621 98 Alabama Alaska Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Massachusetts Minnesota Missouri Nebraska Nevada New Mexico New York Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina Tennessee Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia and Wisconsin are the states that allow online voter registration Oklahoma has enacted legislation but has not yet implemented its online registration policies See Wendy Underhill Online Voter Registration National Conference of State Legislatures October 10 2018 at http www ncsl org research electionsand-campaigns electronic-or-online-voter-registration aspx Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 15 Federal Role in Voter Registration registration rates particularly among younger voters and could serve as an extension of existing accessibility accommodations for individuals with disabilities Proponents note that online forms can include required fields which could reduce the number of errors on submitted voter registration applications Although there are some upfront costs to implement online registration proponents believe it may be a relatively inexpensive way for state election officials to maintain up-to-date and accurate voter lists 99 Others however have concerns about the ability to confirm applicants’ identities and the overall security of online voter registration systems Without accurate checks on the voter registration process some believe that it could be easier for individuals to vote illegally 100 Outreach or Preregistration for Teenagers Under the Twenty-sixth Amendment individuals must be 18 years old to vote in federal elections but some proposals related to voter registration seek to reach younger teenagers usually 16 or 17 years old Five bills introduced in the 115th Congress for example proposed a preregistration program in which younger individuals could submit in advance an application to register to vote five bills also proposed voter education or participation outreach programs for minors Currently each state that requires voter registration and the District of Columbia let individuals under 18 preregister to vote using a variety of age criteria 101 Proponents consider these measures a means to help improve the turnout rate for younger voters which is typically lower than for older voters 102 By encouraging 18-year-olds to vote in the first election in which they are eligible some believe that there will be longer-term effects of these policies on voter turnout as voting becomes a lifelong habit for these individuals 103 Others however are concerned that preregistered individuals are likely to move between the time of their application and the first election they are qualified to vote in which could render a number of the preregistrations invalid This could cause some young voters who have moved to mistakenly believe they are eligible to Michelle Kanter Cohen “Online Voter Registration ” Issues in Election Administration policy paper Project Vote May 2013 at http www projectvote org wp-content uploads Policy-Paper-Online-Voter-Registration pdf Iseul Choi Josef Dvorak Steven Kulig et al Cost-Benefit Analysis of Implementing an Online Voter Registration System in Wisconsin Wisconsin Government Accountability Board December 20 2013 at http elections wi gov publications other CBA_projects 100 Latanya Sweeney Ji Su Yoo and Jinyan Zang “Voter Identity Theft Submitting Changes to Voter Registrations Online to Disrupt Elections ” Journal of Technology Science September 6 2017 at https techscience org a 2017090601 101 California Colorado District of Columbia Delaware Florida Hawaii Louisiana Maryland Massachusetts North Carolina Oregon Rhode Island Utah and Washington allow 16-year-olds to preregister Iowa Maine Nebraska New Jersey Nevada and West Virginia allow 17-year-olds to preregister Georgia Iowa and Mississippi allow individuals who are 17 years and 6 months old to preregister Alaska allows individuals who are within 90 days of their 18 th birthdays to preregister and Texas allows individuals who are 17 years and 10 months old to preregister Alabama Arizona Arkansas Connecticut Idaho Illinois Indiana Kansas Kentucky Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Montana Nebraska New Hampshire New Mexico New York Ohio Oklahoma Pennsylvania South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Vermont Virginia Wisconsin and Wyoming typically allow individuals to preregister if they will turn 18 by the next general election See Wendy Underhill Preregistration for Young Voters National Conference of State Legislatures March 28 2018 at http www ncsl org research elections-and-campaigns preregistration-foryoung-voters aspx 102 Michael P McDonald and Matthew Thornburg “Registering the Youth Through Voter Preregistration ” Legislation and Public Policy vol 13 no 3 2010 pp 551-572 103 Alan S Gerber Donald P Green and Ron Shachar “Voting May Be Habit-Forming Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment ” American Journal of Political Science vol 47 no 3 July 2003 pp 540-550 Richard A Brody and Paul M Sniderman “From Life Space to Polling Place ” British Journal of Political Science vol 7 no 1 July 1977 pp 347-349 99 Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 16 Federal Role in Voter Registration vote in their new jurisdiction without updating their registration information or create extra costs for state election officials as they seek to update these individuals’ records and maintain accurate voter lists 104 Protecting Voter Information and Voter List Integrity Verification of voter registration data is a continual challenge for state election officials seeking to prevent fraudulent voting An initial check on a prospective voter’s identity occurs when election officials confirm the identity and eligibility of an individual at the time he or she first submits a voter registration application based on criteria set by state law Laws requiring individuals to show a form of identification when voting exist in a number of states to prevent ineligible individuals from voting individuals voting twice or other forms of voting fraud 105 Some have proposed requiring photo identification earlier in the process at the time of a voter’s application for registration to help verify the individual’s identity One bill introduced in the 115th Congress for example proposed that photo identification must accompany any voter registration application Others believe that voter identification laws may prevent some individuals who are otherwise qualified to vote from participating in elections if these individuals cannot or do not wish to obtain the necessary identification 106 A different bill introduced in the 115th Congress would have prohibited states from requiring photo identification when an individual submits a voter registration application After an individual’s initial application there are a number of reasons why his or her voter registration information may subsequently change These reasons may include a name change moving to a new address a criminal conviction mental incapacity or death NVRA sets out some processes states must follow for performing voter list maintenance and one bill introduced in the 115th Congress would have added criteria to NVRA’s voter removal requirements In the years since NVRA’s passage technological advancements have made it possible for agencies and officials to share and cross-reference records which can help improve list accuracy but has also raised some concerns about protecting voters’ personal information Three bills in the 115th Congress for example addressed how voter registration information can be used one of these bills would have also required a record of all requests submitted to voter registration databases Personally identifiable information such as full names addresses and birthdays is commonly stored in state voter registration databases and in related state or federal databases that election officials use to help update their voter registration records within the state Interstate information sharing systems such as the Electronic Registration Information Center ERIC or the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program Crosscheck are used by some states to compare voter 104 See Wendy Underhill Preregistration for Young Voters National Conference of State Legislatures March 28 2018 at http www ncsl org research elections-and-campaigns preregistration-for-young-voters aspx 105 See CRS Report R42806 State Voter Identification Requirements Analysis Legal Issues and Policy Considerations Wendy Underhill Voter Identification Requirements National Conference of State Legislatures June 5 2017 at http www ncsl org research elections-and-campaigns voter-id aspx 106 Marjorie Randon Hershey “What We Know About Voter-ID Laws Registration and Turnout PS Political Science Politics January 2009 pp 87-91 Matt A Barreto Stephen Nuño and Gabriel R Sanchez “The Disproportionate Impact of Voter-ID Requirements on the Electorate—New Evidence from Indiana ” PS Political Science Politics January 2009 pp 111-116 Jason D Mycoff Michael W Wagner and David C Wilson “The Empirical Effects of Voter-ID Laws Present or Absent ” PS Political Science Politics January 2009 pp 121-126 Nicholas Loffredo “Voter ID Laws are Discriminatory Efforts to Disenfranchise Courts Rule ” Newsweek July 30 2016 at http www newsweek com voter-id-laws-discriminatory-disenfranchise-485708 Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 17 Federal Role in Voter Registration registration records with one another These systems proponents argue can help states identify ineligible voters or individuals who are registered in more than one state 107 These data-sharing practices however raise concerns among some about information security and appropriate use of voters’ data 108 particularly if states choose to use matching systems as the basis for their voter removal processes Some of the cross-referencing systems states use to identify and remove voters from their registration lists have been criticized for the methodologies they use to create matches Matches created using voters’ names and birthdays for example may falsely identify multiple unique individuals as a single voter registered in different states 109 ERIC and Crosscheck however both request additional data from voter registration files that if available states could utilize to better ensure that duplicate registrants are accurately identified Technology Improvements The enactment of HAVA in 2002 led to a number of election technology upgrades for states but in many of its subsequent reports the EAC has continued to recommend that states further modernize and improve the ways in which they collect voter data and maintain their registered voter lists as summarized in Table 2 States increasingly use electronic methods to register voters maintain voter lists administer voting and track election results making cybersecurity an important consideration for election officials Some considerations involve protecting the personal information of applicants and registered voters from those who seek to use it for other purposes Additional considerations involve ensuring system reliability during periods of high usage or near critical statutory deadlines for voter registration or Election Day vote counting These are familiar cybersecurity concerns similar to those faced by any government agencies businesses or other organizations that store individuals’ personal data Other considerations however are more specific to election integrity such as the concern that voter databases or other election systems may be targeted in attempts to manipulate election results 110 The Department of Homeland Security DHS designated federal election infrastructure as a component of U S critical infrastructure in January 2017 following a series of cyberattacks on state and local election systems prior to the 2016 election After evidence of these cyberattacks 107 Research by the Pew Center on the States in 2012 revealed that approximately 24 million voter registrations in the United States may be invalid or significantly inaccurate and that approximately 2 75 million individuals are registered in more than one state Registration in multiple states is not illegal under federal law but can create costs for state election officials for example with regard to voter list maintenance estimating voter turnout and allocating the appropriate level of resources for elections and or communications with eligible voters Use of multiple registrations to vote in multiple jurisdictions during the same federal election would be illegal See Pew Center on the States Inaccurate Costly and Inefficient issue brief February 2012 at http www pewtrusts org media legacy uploadedfiles pcs_assets 2012 pewupgradingvoterregistrationpdf pdf 108 For examples see Meta S Brown “Voter Data What’s Public What’s Private ” Forbes December 28 2015 at https www forbes com sites metabrown 2015 12 28 voter-data-whats-public-whats-private Alex Howard “Publishing Voter Registration Data Must Balance Privacy with Transparency ” Sunlight Foundation June 16 2017 Information on state laws regarding voter list availability and uses is available from United States Election Project Voter List Information at http voterlist electproject org 109 Michael P McDonald and Justin Levitt “Seeing Double Voting An Extension of the Birthday Problem ” Election Law Journal vol 7 no 2 Spring 2008 pp 111-122 Sharad Goel Marc Meredith Michael Morse et al “One Person One Vote Estimating the Prevalence of Double Voting in U S Presidential Elections ” working paper October 30 2017 available at https scholar harvard edu morse publications one-person-one-vote-estimating-prevalencedouble-voting-us-presidential-elections 110 For an overview of some of these concerns see R Michael Alvarez “How Secure Are State Voter Registration Databases ” Election Updates blog California Institute of Technology October 12 2016 at https electionupdates caltech edu 2016 10 12 how-secure-are-state-voter-registration-databases Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 18 Federal Role in Voter Registration was discovered in August 2016 DHS and the EAC provided some assistance to state election officials to address security concerns 111 In September 2017 the Department of Homeland Security notified 21 states that hackers had targeted their election systems ahead of the 2016 election In many cases the systems may have been targeted but not successfully breached Some observers however have raised concerns that a successful hack may be difficult to detect 112 Several bills during the 115th Congress included measures to protect election systems including voter registration websites and databases from hackers or foreign interference Often legislative proposals in this area involve technology or cybersecurity upgrades to the software or equipment used by state election officials For voter registration these upgrades could involve the websites used for online applications the databases and or servers used to store voter list data and the means by which voter applicant data are shared between agencies or jurisdictions Establishing best practices or required standards for equipment and data systems used in federal elections are possible ways to initiate technology improvements The decentralized nature of election administration and the variety of software and database systems in use may present challenges if uniform federal requirements are introduced 113 Twelve bills introduced in the 115th Congress proposed improvements to the technology systems states use for voter registration and records Some proposals included grant programs or other funding to help offset costs to states for implementing these upgrades Concluding Observations Voter registration has remained a subject of interest to Congress in the years since the enactment of NVRA Many proposals addressing federal voter registration have been introduced in Congress but federal policies have remained largely unchanged with the notable exception of revisions made by HAVA in 2002 Many individuals believe that providing widespread access to voter registration opportunities is a worthy objective and in keeping with protecting the constitutional right to vote In addition to providing voters with access to registration state election officials face the continuing challenges of updating and maintaining accurate voter registration lists Technological advancements in the years since NVRA have made it somewhat easier for election officials to keep up-to-date voter records but the increased reliance on computer systems has also introduced new challenges regarding data security Some individuals may also question whether it is necessary to expand existing federal voter registration requirements for states believing that existing provisions are sufficient or that the perceived benefits of voter registration policy changes must be weighed against other considerations It can be challenging for example to impose uniform regulations across states which have each developed their own system of election laws Many federal policy proposals regarding voter registration tend to mirror initiatives that have already been enacted across 111 For more information see CRS In Focus IF10677 The Designation of Election Systems as Critical Infrastructure by Eric A Fischer 112 Associated Press “U S Tells 21 States That Hackers Targeted Their Voting Systems ” New York Times September 22 2017 at https www nytimes com 2017 09 22 us politics us-tells-21-states-that-hackers-targeted-their-votingsystems html Callum Borchers “What We Know About the 21 States Targeted by Russian Hackers ” Washington Post The Fix blog September 23 2017 at https www washingtonpost com news the-fix wp 2017 09 23 what-we-knowabout-the-21-states-targeted-by-russian-hackers Pam Fessler “If Voting Machines Were Hacked Would Anyone Know ” Morning Edition NPR June 14 2017 at http www npr org 2017 06 14 532824432 if-voting-machineswere-hacked-would-anyone-know 113 Pam Fessler “State and Local Officials Wary of Federal Government’s Election Security Efforts ” Morning Edition NPR April 5 2017 NPR at http www npr org 2017 04 05 522732036 state-and-local-officials-wary-of-federalgovernments-election-security-efforts Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 19 Federal Role in Voter Registration several states which may provide lessons for broader implementation if enacted Other proposals may prioritize measures to protect election integrity or other areas of election administration outside of voter registration Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 20 Federal Role in Voter Registration Appendix Legislation Table A-1 Overview of Legislation Related to Voter Registration in the 115th Congress Bill Number Bill Name Provisions Related to Voter Registration Committee s of Referral Latest Action H R 126 Students Voicing Opinions in Today’s Elections VOTE Act Would have provided voter registration information for 12th grade students House Administration 01 03 17 Referred to Committee on House Administration 01 03 17 H J Res 28 Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to protect the voting rights of the citizens of the United States Would have required automatic voter registration for 18-year-olds House Judiciary 01 13 17 Referred to Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice 01 31 17 H R 607 Voter Access Protection Act of 2017 Would have prohibited state local election officials from requiring photo identification for voter registration House Administration 01 23 17 Referred to Committee on House Administration 01 23 17 H R 634 Election Assistance Commission Termination Act Would have amended HAVA to terminate the EAC and return EAC’s NVRA responsibilities to the FEC House Administration 01 24 17 Ordered to be reported by Committee on House Administration 02 07 17 H R 794 EAC Reauthorization Act of 2017 Would have provided funding to states to improve voter registration technology and cybersecurity House Administration Science Space and Technology 02 01 17 Referred to Committee on Science Space and Technology Subcommittee on Research and Technology 04 25 17 H R 893 21st Century Voting Act Would have required automatic voter registration restoration of voting rights following felony sentence portable voter registration across states localities House Administration Rules 02 06 17 Referred to Committees on House Administration Rules 02 06 17 S 360 Same Day Registration Act Would have required states to offer same-day voter registration on any day voting is permitted Senate Rules and Administration 02 13 17 Read twice and referred to Committee on Rules and Administration 02 13 17 Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 21 Federal Role in Voter Registration Bill Number Bill Name Provisions Related to Voter Registration Committee s of Referral Latest Action H R 1044 Same Day Registration Act of 2017 Same as above House Administration 02 14 17 Referred to Committee on House Administration 02 14 17 H R 1398 Fair Accurate Secure and Timely FAST Voting Act of 2017 Would have authorized grants for states to improve voter registration technology and cybersecurity grants to states for implementing automatic voter registration House Administration 03 07 17 Referred to Committee on House Administration 03 07 17 H R 1562 Secure America’s Future Elections SAFE Act Would have authorized funding for states to improve voter registration technology and cybersecurity House Administration Science Space and Technology 03 16 17 Referred to Committee on Science Space and Technology Subcommittee on Research and Technology 04 25 17 H R 2090 Election Integrity Act of 2017 Would have required photo identification with voter registration applications House Administration 04 12 17 Referred to Committee on House Administration 04 12 17 H R 2669 Vote By Mail Act of 2017 Would have required automatic voter registration and voting by mail House Oversight and Government Affairs House Administration 05 25 17 Referred to Committees on Oversight and Government Reform House Administration 05 25 17 H R 2694 To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to enhance protections regarding voter registration and for other purposes Would have specified that federal voter registration in a state where servicemembers are on military ordered assignment does not alone establish residency or domicile in that state for other purposes House Veterans’ Affairs 05 25 17 Referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity 05 25 17 S 1231 Vote By Mail Act of 2017 Would have required automatic voter registration and voting by mail Senate Rules and Administration 05 25 17 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration 05 25 17 H R 2840 Automatic Voter Registration Act Would have required automatic voter registration House Administration 06 08 17 Referred to Committee on House Administration 06 08 17 Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 22 Federal Role in Voter Registration Bill Number Bill Name Provisions Related to Voter Registration Committee s of Referral Latest Action H R 2876 Automatic Voter Registration Act of 2017 Would have required automatic voter registration and online voter registration would have prohibited use of voter registration information for other uses House Administration House Science Space and Technology 06 12 17 Referred to Committee on Science Space and Technology Subcommittee on Research and Technology 05 22 2018 S 1353 Automatic Voter Registration Act of 2017 Same as above Senate Rules and Administration 06 14 17 Read twice and referred to Committee on Rules and Administration 06 14 17 H R 2978 Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2017 Would have allowed representative officials of Indian tribes to request that tribal government service offices serve as voter registration agencies under NVRA §7 House Judiciary 06 21 17 Sponsor introductory remarks on measure 07 17 17 S 1419 Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2017 Same as above Senate Judiciary 06 22 17 Read twice and referred to Committee on Judiciary 06 22 17 H R 12 Voter Empowerment Act of 2017 Would have provided for online voter registration automatic voter registration voter list maintenance and technology security same-day voter registration teen preregistration reporting requirements criminal penalty for interference registration access for individuals with disabilities restoration of voting rights following felony sentence voting by mail universities as voter registration agencies House Administration Judiciary Science Space and Technology Veterans’ Affairs Oversight and Government Reform Education and the Workforce 06 23 17 Referred to Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice 07 14 17 S 1437 Voter Empowerment Act of 2017 Same as above Senate Rules and Administration 06 26 17 Read twice and referred to Committee on Rules and Administration 06 26 17 H R 3091 Voter Roll Integrity Act Would have specified criteria for state election officials to use if using interstate crosscheck systems to update voter registration lists House Administration 06 28 17 Referred to Committee on House Administration 06 28 17 Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 23 Federal Role in Voter Registration Bill Number Bill Name Provisions Related to Voter Registration Committee s of Referral Latest Action H R 3113 Citizenship Empowerment Act Would have required state election officials in coordination with Department of Homeland Security to provide voter registration forms at certain naturalization proceedings House Administration 06 29 17 Referred to Committee on House Administration 06 29 17 H R 3132 Restoring Confidence in America’s Elections Act Would have added due process requirements to NVRA §8 for removing individuals from state voter lists including posting names and addresses to be removed online and giving individuals an opportunity to correct records before removal House Administration Science Space and Technology Judiciary 06 29 17 Referred to Committee on Science Space and Technology Subcommittee on Research and Technology 05 22 2018 S 1510 Helping State and Local Governments Prevent Cyber Attacks HACK Act Would have created an online version of the mail-based federal voter registration form would have specified federal voter registration form may not require full Social Security number would have provided for EAC study of election cybersecurity and election technology improvement grants to states Senate Rules and Administration 06 29 17 Read twice and referred to Committee on Rules and Administration 06 29 17 H R 3343 Servicemember Voting Protection Act Would have used UOCAVA voter registration and absentee ballot requests for multiple elections House Administration 07 20 17 Referred to Committee on House Administration 07 20 17 H R 3537 We the People Act of 2017 Would have required same-day voter registration House Administration Judiciary Oversight and Government Reform Financial Services Ways and Means 07 28 17 Referred to Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justices 09 06 17 S 1761 Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 Would have specified cybersecurity standards for voter registration databases and networks used to transmit data Senate Intelligence 08 18 17 S Rept 115-151 Filed 09 07 17 H R 3684 Pre-Registration of Voters Everywhere PROVE Act Would have provided for preregistration of 16-year-olds EAC grants to encourage involvement of minors in election activities House Administration 09 06 17 Referred to Committee on House Administration 09 06 17 S 1783 Pre-Registration of Voters Everywhere PROVE Act Same as above Senate Rules and Administration 09 07 17 Read twice and referred to Committee on Rules and Administration 09 07 17 Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 24 Federal Role in Voter Registration Bill Number Bill Name Provisions Related to Voter Registration Committee s of Referral H R 3751 Protecting the American Process for Election Results PAPER Act Would have authorized multiagency study of election cybersecurity election technology improvement grants to states House Administration Intelligence 09 12 17 Referred to Committees on House Administration Intelligence 09 12 17 H R 3848 We the People Democracy Reform Act of 2017 Would have required automatic voter registration ability to update records at polling place online voter registration same-day voter registration House Administration Judiciary Ways and Means Financial Services Oversight and Government Reform Science Space and Technology 09 27 17 Referred to Committee on Science Space and Technology Subcommittee on Research and Technology 05 22 2018 S 1880 We the People Democracy Reform Act of 2017 Same as above Senate Committee on Finance 09 27 2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 09 27 2017 S 2035 Securing America’s Voting Equipment SAVE Act of 2017 Would have designated voting systems as critical infrastructure would have provided grants to states to improve voter registration database security would have created an annual competition Cooperative Hack the Election Program to discover potential vulnerabilities in state voter registration systems for computer hackers Senate Rules and Administration 10 31 17 Read twice and referred to Committee on Rules and Administration 10 31 17 H R 4276 Safeguarding Election Infrastructure Act of 2017 Would have provided grants to states to keep offline backups of voter registration lists to provide a secure voter registration database that logs requests to the database or to enact and enforce use limits and safeguards for personal information contained in voter registration data would have required Secretary of Homeland Security to notify Congress and state election officials within 30 days if a voter registration database has been breached or is being investigated for a possible breach House Administration Science Space and Technology 11 07 17 Referred to Committee on Science Space and Technology Subcommittee on Research and Technology 05 22 2018 Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED Latest Action 25 Federal Role in Voter Registration Bill Number Bill Name Provisions Related to Voter Registration Committee s of Referral Latest Action S 2106 Register America to Vote Act Would have required automatic voter registration for 18-year-olds same-day voter registration would have provided grants to states for implementing same-day registration and voter registration system security enhancements would have enabled voters who move within a state without updating registration address to vote on Election Day Senate Rules and Administration 11 08 17 Read twice and referred to Committee on Rules and Administration 11 08 17 H R 4508 Promoting Real Opportunity Success and Prosperity through Education Reform PROSPER Act Would have updated language regarding distribution of voter registration forms by higher education institutions that operate from NVRA-exempt states to include electronic transmission as a means by which school officials make a good faith effort to distribute voter registration materials to students House Education and the Workforce 12 01 2017 Ordered to be Reported Amended by the Yeas and Nays 12 13 2017 S 2240 Students Voicing Opinions in Today’s Elections Students VOTE Act Would have directed EAC to create a pilot program for providing funds to local educational agencies in order to provide voter registration information to 12th grade students Senate Rules and Administration 12 14 2017 Read twice and referred to Committee on Rules and Administration 12 14 2017 S 2261 Secure Elections Act Would have specified improvements related to cybersecurity of election systems including voter registration systems would have authorized grants to states for technology improvement and modernization Senate Rules and Administration 12 21 2017 Hearings held 06 20 2018 Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 26 Federal Role in Voter Registration Bill Number Bill Name Provisions Related to Voter Registration Committee s of Referral Latest Action S 2313 Defending Elections from Threats by Establishing Redlines Act of 2018 Would have required the Director of National Intelligence to determine within 30 days of an election if a foreign government interfered with election infrastructure including voter registration databases and would have directed the President to impose sanctions on Russia if it is found to have interfered with a U S election Senate Banking Housing and Urban Affairs 01 16 2018 Hearings held 08 21 2018 09 06 2018 09 12 2018 H R 5011 Election Security Act Would have specified improvements to cybersecurity of election systems including protection of computerized voter registration lists would have authorized grants to states House Administration Homeland Security Intelligence Judiciary Foreign Affairs 02 14 2018 Referred to the Committee on Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection 02 28 2018 S 2593 Secure Elections Act Would have established an advisory panel on election cybersecurity including voter registration systems and would have provided grants to states for improvements Senate Rules and Administration 03 22 2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration 03 22 2018 S 2699 Help Students Vote Act Would have required higher education institutions participating under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to distribute voter registration forms to students and would have provided grants from Department of Education Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions 04 18 2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health Education Labor and Pensions 04 18 2018 H R 5564 Help Students Vote Act Same as above House Education and the Workforce 04 18 2018 Sponsor introductory remarks 04 24 2018 Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 27 Federal Role in Voter Registration Bill Number Bill Name Provisions Related to Voter Registration Committee s of Referral Latest Action H R 5785 Jobs and Justice Act of 2018 Would have amended NVRA to require states provide online voter registration would have added an email address contact option to the federal mail-in registration application would have clarified requirements of a “valid voter registration form” would have required automatic voter registration same day voter registration and preregistration of 16-year-olds would have designated universities as voter registration agencies House Judiciary Oversight and Government Reform Financial Services Transportation and Infrastructure Ways and Means Energy and Commerce Budget Education and the Workforce Science Space and Technology Veterans’ Affairs Homeland Security Armed Services Small Business House Administration Agriculture 05 11 2018 Referred to Committee on Armed Services Subcommittees on Military Personnel Readiness Referred to Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittees on Aviation Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Economic Development Public Buildings and Emergency Management Highways and Transit Railroads Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Water Resources and Environment 05 14 2018 H R 6122 Save Voters Act Would have amended NVRA to prohibit using nonvoting as the basis to initiate a state’s voter registration list maintenance process House Administration 06 15 2018 Referred to the Committee on House Administration 06 15 2018 S 3090 Save Voters Act Same as above Senate Rules and Administration 06 19 2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration 06 19 2018 H R 6188 Prevent Election Hacking Act of 2018 Would have directed Department of Homeland Security to establish a program to improve election system cybersecurity including voter registration websites and databases House Administration 06 21 2018 Referred to the Committee on House Administration 06 21 2018 H R 6293 Right to Petition Congress Act Would have directed the Office of the Clerk and Secretary of the Senate to provide links on their websites to federal voter registration information for each state House Administration Rules 06 28 2018 Referred to the Committee on House Administration Rules 06 28 2018 Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 28 Federal Role in Voter Registration Bill Number Bill Name Provisions Related to Voter Registration Committee s of Referral Latest Action H R 6298 High School Voter Empowerment Act of 2018 Would have amended NVRA to designate public high schools as voter registration agencies and provide voter registration drives for students with costs reimbursed by grants from the Department of Education House Administration Education and the Workforce 06 28 2018 Referred to the Committee on House Administration Education and the Workforce 06 28 2018 S 3153 Matthew Young Pollard Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2018 and 2019 Would have required Department of Homeland Security to issue a report on cyberattacks or attempted attacks on election systems including voter registration databases and would have required Director of National Intelligence to create a strategy to counter Russian cyber threats to election systems and appoint a counterintelligence official for election security Senate Select Committee on Intelligence 06 28 2018 S Rept 115-298 filed 07 11 2018 H R 6435 Election Vendor Security Act Would have amended HAVA to require domestic ownership and cybersecurity best practices for election system vendors including voter registration databases House Administration 07 18 2018 Referred to the Committee on House Administration 07 18 2018 S 3279 Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2018 Would have prohibited providing false information within 60 days before an election regarding a voter’s registration status or eligibility with the intention of impeding an individual’s ability to vote in a federal election Senate Committee on the Judiciary 07 26 2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 07 26 2018 H R 6663 Secure Elections Act Same as S 2261 House Administration Oversight and Government Reform Intelligence 08 10 2018 Referred to the Committees on House Administration Oversight and Government Reform Intelligence 08 10 2018 H R 6607 Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2018 Same as S 3279 House Committee on the Judiciary 07 26 2018 Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice Crime Terrorism Homeland Security and Investigations 10 01 2018 Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 29 Federal Role in Voter Registration Bill Number Bill Name Provisions Related to Voter Registration Committee s of Referral Latest Action S 3288 International Cybercrime Prevention Act Would have made aggravated damage to a critical infrastructure computer or related technology includes voter registration databases a felony Senate Committee on the Judiciary 07 26 2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 07 26 2018 H R 6543 Aim Higher Act Would have expanded distribution of voter registration forms to additional higher education institutions under the Higher Education Act of 1965 House Education and the Workforce 07 26 2018 Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce 07 26 2018 H R 6564 Voting Innovation Prize Act of 2018 Would have created a challenge prize competition under the EAC for innovations in voter registration technology House Administration 07 26 2018 Referred to the House Committee on House Administration 07 26 2018 S 3336 Defending American Security from Kremlin Aggression Act of 2018 Would have made aggravated damage to a critical infrastructure computer or related technology includes voter registration databases a felony would have authorized funds from Countering Russian Influence Fund to protect critical infrastructure Senate Foreign Relations 08 01 2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 08 01 2018 H R 6723 Ensuring American Voters Act of 2018 Would have amended NVRA to prohibit states from registering individuals to vote in federal elections unless the individual provides documentary proof of U S citizenship House Administration 09 06 2018 Sponsor introductory remarks 09 26 2018 S 3543 Native American Voting Rights Act of 2018 Would have authorized grants from Department of Justice for state Native American Voting Task Forces to increase voter registration among Native American communities would have amended NVRA to add voter registration sites at the request of an Indian Tribe at federally funded facilities on Indian lands or primarily providing services to Indian Tribes would have required states to accept Tribal identification for purposes of voter registration Senate Committee on the Judiciary 10 03 2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 10 03 2018 Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 30 Federal Role in Voter Registration Bill Number Bill Name Provisions Related to Voter Registration Committee s of Referral Latest Action H R 7040 Ex-Offender Voter Registration Act of 2018 Would have required Bureau of Prisons to provide prisoners with information on restoring felon voting rights and a voter registration form for the state where the prisoner will reside upon release House Committee on the Judiciary 10 05 2018 Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime Terrorism Homeland Security and Investigations 10 05 2018 S 3572 Election Systems Integrity Act ESIA Would have required disclosure regarding foreign national ownership of election service providers including voter registration systems Senate Rules and Administration 10 11 2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration 10 11 2018 S 3573 Protect our Elections Act Would have required domestic ownership and qualification standards for election system providers including voter registration systems Senate Rules and Administration 10 11 2018 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration 10 11 2018 H R 7127 Native American Voting Rights Act of 2018 Same as S 3543 House Administration Judiciary 11 14 2018 Referred to the Committee on House Administration and the Judiciary 11 14 2018 H R 7359 Voter Information and Access Act of 2018 Would have authorized grants from Department of Justice to provide information on voting restoration and voter registration to persons in prisons jails and juvenile facilities House Judiciary 12 20 2018 Referred to Committee on the Judiciary 12 20 2018 Source CRS compilation of current legislative information available at http www congress gov as of January 12 2018 Notes This table highlights only the provisions in these bills that would affect voter registration or would affect a related component of election administration covered by the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 It is not meant to provide a comprehensive summary of each piece of legislation and may omit key provisions of these bills as many of them do address additional elements of election administration that are beyond the scope of this report Bills are listed chronologically by the date they were introduced Author Information Sarah J Eckman Analyst in American National Government Acknowledgments Raymond T Williams research assistant with the Government and Finance Division contributed to the legislative research for this report Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 31 Federal Role in Voter Registration Disclaimer This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service CRS CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role CRS Reports as a work of the United States Government are not subject to copyright protection in the United States Any CRS Report may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety without permission from CRS However as a CRS Report may include copyrighted images or material from a third party you may need to obtain the permission of the copyright holder if you wish to copy or otherwise use copyrighted material Congressional Research Service R45030 · VERSION 7 · UPDATED 32