Sec. 3. Requirement to allow no-excuse absentee voting during certain periods
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Title III of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 ( 52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new subtitle: Notwithstanding section 6(c) of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 ( 52 U.S.C. 20505(c) ), in the case of any election for Federal office occurring during any period described in subsection (b), each State and jurisdiction shall— permit any eligible voter to use absentee registration procedures and to vote by absentee ballot; and comply with the requirements of subsection (d). For purposes of this subsection, an election shall be considered to occur during a period described in subsection
(b)if votes may be cast in such election (through absentee balloting, early voting, or otherwise) on any day during such period. A period described in this subsection is a period— subject to paragraph (2), that begins with the date that is 30 days after the date on which at least 25 percent of States have declared an emergency (under the laws of the State) with respect to any single natural disaster or infectious disease (including the coronavirus disease 2019 (referred to in this section as COVID–19 )); and that ends with— in the case of a State that did not declare an emergency with respect to the single natural disaster or infectious disease described in subparagraph (A), 180 days after the first date on which less than 25 percent of States have an emergency declaration in effect with respect to such natural disaster or disease; and in the case of a State that did declare an emergency with respect to such natural disaster or infectious disease, the later of— 180 days after the date on which the State declares that the emergency is no longer in effect; and the date described in clause (i). If, as of the date of enactment of this section, at least 25 percent of States have declared an emergency (under the laws of the State) with respect to any single natural disaster or infectious disease (including COVID–19), then a period described in this subsection shall begin on the date that is 30 days after the date of enactment of this section. For purposes of this subsection, a State shall be deemed to have declared an emergency under the laws of the State with respect to a natural disaster or infectious disease (including COVID–19) if an emergency is declared with respect to such disaster or infectious disease by a city, county, parish, or other political subdivision of the State that has a population that is greater than 1,000,000. Notwithstanding section 6(c) of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 ( 52 U.S.C. 20505(c) ), if the Governor of a State has declared an emergency voting period with respect to the State in accordance with paragraph (2), the State and any jurisdiction in the State, with respect to any election for Federal office occurring during such period, shall— permit any eligible voter to use absentee registration procedures and to vote by absentee ballot; and comply with the requirements of subsection (d). For purposes of this paragraph, an election shall be considered to occur during an emergency voting period if votes may be cast in such election (through absentee balloting, early voting, or otherwise) on any day during such period. The Governor of a State may declare an emergency voting period in the State by— stating that a natural disaster or infectious disease (including COVID–19) has resulted in emergency conditions in the State; and invoking the authority provided under this subsection to apply the absentee registration procedures and absentee voting requirements described in paragraph
(1)to the State. An emergency voting period declared by a Governor of a State under subparagraph (A)— shall begin on the date that is 30 days after the Governor declares the emergency voting period in accordance with subparagraph (A); and shall end on the later of— 180 days after the date on which the Governor declares that emergency conditions no longer exist in the State; and if applicable, the date on which the period described in subsection
(b)ends. The requirements described in this subsection are the following: If a ballot submitted by an individual by mail with respect to an election for Federal office in the State is postmarked on or before the date of the election, the State may not refuse to accept or process the ballot on the grounds that the individual did not meet a deadline for returning the ballot to the appropriate State or local election official. The State shall— permit any eligible voter to submit an online request for an absentee ballot to vote in an election for Federal office in the State; send an absentee ballot to vote in an election for Federal office in the State by mail to any eligible voter that submits a request for such a ballot on or before the date that is 5 days before the date of such election; and on or before the date that is 1 day before the date of an election for Federal office in the State, permit any eligible voter that submits a request for an absentee ballot to vote in such election to download or receive via electronic mail a version of such ballot that the voter may print out and mail in. The State shall not require that an eligible voter provide a reason in order to vote by absentee ballot or request to receive an absentee ballot. Any absentee ballot for an election for Federal office in the State that is provided to an eligible voter pursuant to paragraph
(2)shall include the name of each candidate for such office. For purposes of this section, the term State includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. In the case of a violation of this section, section 402 shall not apply and any person who is aggrieved by such violation may provide written notice of the violation to the chief election official of the State involved. If the violation is not corrected within 20 days after receipt of a notice under paragraph (1), or within 5 days after receipt of the notice if the violation occurred within 120 days before the date of an election for Federal office, the aggrieved person may, in a civil action, obtain declaratory or injunctive relief with respect to the violation. . Section 401 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 ( 52 U.S.C. 21111 ) is amended by striking and 303 and inserting 303, and 321 . The table of contents of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 312 the following: Subtitle C—Other Requirements Sec. 321. No-excuse absentee voting during national emergencies. .
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Sec. 3
Requirement to allow no-excuse absentee voting during certain periods
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