119-hr4881

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4881 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 4881

 To direct the Election Assistance Commission to make grants to States 
for procuring and maintaining electronic pollbooks with the capability 
 of collecting and disseminating wait time information, and for other 
 purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 August 5, 2025

 Ms. Crockett (for herself, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Mr. Deluzio, Mr. 
Evans of Pennsylvania, Mr. Fields, Mr. Goldman of New York, Mr. Johnson 
of Georgia, Ms. Norton, and Mr. Thompson of Mississippi) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House 
 Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To direct the Election Assistance Commission to make grants to States 
for procuring and maintaining electronic pollbooks with the capability 
 of collecting and disseminating wait time information, and for other 
 purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Supplying Wait-time Information to 
Facilitate Timely Voting with Operational and Technology Enhancements 
Act'' or the ``SWIFT VOTE Act''.

SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR PROCURING AND MAINTAINING ELECTRONIC POLLBOOKS.

    (a) Grants.--

    (1) Authority to make grants.--Not later than 1 year after 
 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Election Assistance 
 Commission shall make a grant to each eligible jurisdiction in 
 a State for the purpose of--
        (A) procuring or maintaining electronic pollbooks 
 (hereafter referred to as ``e-pollbooks''); or
        (B) developing the capability of collecting and 
 disseminating wait time information for use in 
 elections for Federal office, whether through the use 
 of e-pollbooks with such capability or through other 
 means.

    (2) Prioritization of grants to procure e-pollbooks.--In 
 making grants to eligible jurisdictions under this section, the 
 Commission shall give priority to eligible jurisdictions 
 showing demonstrated need for new or additional e-pollbooks 
 which the jurisdiction will use to reduce wait times at polling 
 places on the dates of elections for Federal office, and give 
 priority to eligible jurisdictions that propose the development 
 of capability to report wait time information in accordance 
 with subsection
            (c) (2)
        (A) .

    (b) Eligibility.--An eligible jurisdiction is eligible to receive a 
grant under this section if the eligible jurisdiction submits to the 
Commission, at such time and in such form as the Commission may 
require, an application containing the information and assurances 
described in subsection
            (c) .
            (c) Information Described.--The information and assurances 
described in this subsection are, with respect to an eligible 
jurisdiction, the following:

    (1) For an eligible jurisdiction seeking funding for e-
 pollbooks, a description of the need of the eligible 
 jurisdiction for procuring or maintaining e-pollbooks.

    (2) For an eligible jurisdiction seeking funding for the 
 collection and dissemination of wait time information--
        (A) a certification that the chief election 
 official of the eligible jurisdiction shall publish on 
 the official public website of the chief election 
 official the most recent wait time information for each 
 polling place which is open for voters to vote in an 
 election for Federal office--
            (i) in the case of a polling place which is 
 open for 4 hours or fewer on such a day, on an 
 hourly basis on such a day; or
            (ii) in the case of a polling place which 
 is open for more than 4 hours on such a day, on 
 at least 4 regular intervals on such a day.
        (B) Following each election cycle, publish on the 
 official public website of the chief election official 
 of the eligible jurisdiction a report detailing wait 
 time information through that election cycle, including 
 on the date of the election as well as any dates on 
 which individuals were permitted to vote in person 
 prior to the date of the election, including wait times 
 throughout each such day of voting, to the extent such 
 information is available.

    (3) An assurance that--
        (A) the funds provided under this section will be 
 used to supplement and not supplant other funds used to 
 carry out the activities for which the funds are 
 provided; and
        (B) the chief election official of the eligible 
 jurisdiction shall provide regular reports to the 
 Commission containing information on the procurement 
 and maintenance of e-pollbooks with the funds provided 
 under this section.

    (4) An assurance that the eligible jurisdiction shall 
 develop procedures for certifying that the procurement and 
 maintenance of e-pollbooks with the funds provided under this 
 section is in compliance with the Commission's Voluntary 
 Electronic Poll Book Certification Program, or any similar or 
 successor program established by the Commission for e-pollbook 
 certification. Nothing in this paragraph may be construed to 
 prohibit a eligible jurisdiction in a State from receiving a 
 grant under this section on the grounds that the State has in 
 effect standards and procedures for the use of e-pollbooks 
 which are in addition to the standards and procedures required 
 by the Commission.

    (5) An assurance that the eligible jurisdiction will work 
 with experts in voting system technology and infrastructure to 
 develop and carry out training programs in the use of e-
 pollbooks by election officials, and that such programs will 
 train election officials in methods that will enable the 
 officials to meet the needs of individual voters, including 
 voters with limited English language proficiency and voters 
 with disabilities, without regard to age, gender, or sexual 
 orientation.

    (6) Such other information and assurances as the Commission 
 may require.
            (d) === Definitions. ===
-In this section, the following definitions apply:

    (1) The term ``Commission'' means the Election Assistance 
 Commission.

    (2) The term ``election cycle'' means the period beginning 
 on the day after the date of the most recent regularly 
 scheduled general election for Federal office and ending on the 
 date of the next such election.

    (3) The term ``eligible jurisdiction'' means a State or a 
 political subdivision of a State which is responsible for 
 carrying out an election for Federal office in the State.

    (4) The term ``e-pollbook'' means a device or technology 
 that may be used at a polling place in an election for Federal 
 office in place of a traditional paper poll book and that 
 partially automates the process of checking in voters, 
 assigning voters the correct ballot style, and tracking voters 
 who have been issued a ballot. An e-pollbook may be used at the 
 polling place together with a separate copy of the list of 
 registered voters or may be networked into a central voter 
 registration system which enables the election official at the 
 polling place to check and update voter records in real time.

    (5) The term ``State'' means each of the several States, 
 the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 
 American Samoa, Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, and the 
 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

    (6) The term ``wait time information'' means, with respect 
 to a polling place in an election for Federal office, the 
 length of time between when an individual arrives at the 
 polling place and completes the polling place's check-in 
 process, as well as the length of time between the completion 
 of that individual's check-in process and when that individual 
 receives a ballot or, if a physical ballot is not provided, 
 until the individual is directed to an electronic voting 
 machine.

    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $120,000,000, to remain 
available until expended.
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