Sec. 2. Requirements for Federal election contingency plans in response to natural disasters and emergencies
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Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, each State and each jurisdiction in a State which is responsible for administering elections for Federal office shall establish and make publicly available a contingency plan to enable individuals to vote in elections for Federal office during a state of emergency, public health emergency, or national emergency which has been declared for reasons including— a natural disaster; or an infectious disease. Each State and jurisdiction shall update the contingency plan established under this subsection not less frequently than every 5 years. The contingency plan established under subsection
(a)shall include initiatives to provide equipment and resources needed to protect the health and safety of poll workers and voters when voting in person. The contingency plan established under subsection
(a)shall include initiatives by the chief State election official and local election officials to recruit poll workers from resilient or unaffected populations, which may include— employees of other State and local government offices; and in the case in which an infectious disease poses significant increased health risks to elderly individuals, students of secondary schools and institutions of higher education in the State. The Attorney General may bring a civil action against any State or jurisdiction in an appropriate United States District Court for such declaratory and injunctive relief (including a temporary restraining order, a permanent or temporary injunction, or other order) as may be necessary to carry out the requirements of this section. In the case of a violation of this section, 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 subparagraph (A), 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. If the violation occurred within 5 days before the date of an election for Federal office, the aggrieved person need not provide notice to the chief election official of the State involved under subparagraph
(A)before bringing a civil action under subparagraph (B). For purposes of this section, the term election for Federal office means a general, special, primary, or runoff election for the office of President or Vice President, or of Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress. 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. This section shall apply with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for Federal office held in November 2020 and each succeeding election for Federal office.