119-hr738

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 738 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 738

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to allow all eligible voters 
 to vote by mail in Federal elections.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 January 24, 2025

 Ms. Salinas (for herself, Ms. Norton, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Vargas, Mrs. 
Dingell, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Tlaib, and Mr. Pocan) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
 House Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to allow all eligible voters 
 to vote by mail in Federal elections.

 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 ``Universal Right To Vote by Mail Act 
of 2025''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds the following:

    (1) An inequity of voting rights exists in the United 
 States because voters in some States have the universal right 
 to vote by mail while voters in other States do not.

    (2) Many voters often have work, family, or other 
 commitments that make getting to polls on the date of an 
 election difficult or impossible. Under current State laws, 
 many of these voters are not permitted to vote by mail.

    (3) 36 States and the District of Columbia currently allow 
 universal absentee voting (also known as ``no-excuse'' absentee 
 voting), which permits any voter to request a mail-in ballot 
 without providing a reason for the request, and no State which 
 has implemented no-excuse absentee voting has switched back.

    (4) Voting by mail gives voters more time to consider their 
 choices, which is especially important as many ballots contain 
 greater numbers of questions about complex issues than in the 
 past due to the expanded use of the initiative and referendum 
 process in many States.

    (5) Allowing all voters the option to vote by mail can lead 
 to increased voter participation.

    (6) Allowing all voters the option to vote by mail can 
 reduce waiting times for those voters who choose to vote at the 
 polls.

    (7) Voting by mail is preferable to many voters as an 
 alternative to going to the polls. Voting by mail has become 
 increasingly popular with voters who want to be certain that 
 they are able to vote no matter what comes up on Election Day.

    (8) No evidence exists suggesting the potential for fraud 
 in absentee balloting is greater than the potential for fraud 
 by any other method of voting.

    (9) Many of the reasons which voters in many States are 
 required to provide in order to vote by mail require the 
 revelation of personal information about health, travel plans, 
 or religious activities, which violate voters' privacy while 
 doing nothing to prevent voter fraud.

    (10) State laws which require voters to obtain a notary 
 signature to vote by mail only add cost and inconvenience to 
 voters without increasing security.

SEC. 3. PROMOTING ABILITY OF VOTERS TO VOTE BY MAIL IN FEDERAL 
 ELECTIONS.

    (a) In General.--Subtitle A of title III of the Help America Vote 
Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

section 303 the following new section:

``

SEC. 303A. PROMOTING ABILITY OF VOTERS TO VOTE BY MAIL.

 ``

    (a) In General.--If an individual in a State is eligible to cast 
a vote in an election for Federal office, the State may not impose any 
additional conditions or requirements on the eligibility of the 
individual to cast the vote in such election by mail, except to the 
extent that the State imposes a deadline for requesting the ballot and 
related voting materials from the appropriate State or local election 
official and for returning the ballot to the appropriate State or local 
election official.
 ``

    (b) Notice and Opportunity To Cure Discrepancy or Defect.--
 ``

    (1) Notice and opportunity to cure discrepancy in 
 signatures.--If an individual submits a mail-in ballot or an 
 absentee ballot and the appropriate State or local election 
 official determines that a discrepancy exists between the 
 signature on such ballot and the signature of such individual 
 on the official list of registered voters in the State or other 
 official record or document used by the State to verify the 
 signatures of voters, such election official, prior to making a 
 final determination as to the validity of such ballot, shall--
 ``
        (A) as soon as practical, but not later than the 
 next business day after such determination is made, 
 make a good faith effort to notify the individual by 
 mail, telephone, and (if available) text message and 
 electronic mail that--
 ``
            (i) a discrepancy exists between the 
 signature on such ballot and the signature of 
 the individual on the official list of 
 registered voters in the State or other 
 official record or document used by the State 
 to verify the signatures of voters; and
 ``
            (ii) if such discrepancy is not cured 
 prior to the expiration of the third day 
 following the State's deadline for receiving 
 mail-in ballots or absentee ballots, such 
 ballot will not be counted; and
 ``
        (B) cure such discrepancy and count the ballot 
 if, prior to the expiration of the third day following 
 the State's deadline for receiving mail-in ballots or 
 absentee ballots, the individual provides the official 
 with information to cure such discrepancy, either in 
 person, by telephone, or by electronic methods.
 ``

    (2) Notice and opportunity to cure missing signature or 
 other defect.--If an individual submits a mail-in ballot or an 
 absentee ballot without a signature or submits a mail-in ballot 
 or an absentee ballot with another defect which, if left 
 uncured, would cause the ballot to not be counted, the 
 appropriate State or local election official, prior to making a 
 final determination as to the validity of the ballot, shall--
 ``
        (A) as soon as practical, but not later than the 
 next business day after such determination is made, 
 make a good faith effort to notify the individual by 
 mail, telephone, and (if available) text message and 
 electronic mail that--
 ``
            (i) the ballot did not include a 
 signature or has some other defect; and
 ``
            (ii) if the individual does not provide 
 the missing signature or cure the other defect 
 prior to the expiration of the third day 
 following the State's deadline for receiving 
 mail-in ballots or absentee ballots, such 
 ballot will not be counted; and
 ``
        (B) count the ballot if, prior to the expiration 
 of the third day following the State's deadline for 
 receiving mail-in ballots or absentee ballots, the 
 individual provides the official with the missing 
 signature on a form proscribed by the State or cures 
 the other defect.
 This paragraph does not apply with respect to a defect 
 consisting of the failure of a ballot to meet the applicable 
 deadline for the acceptance of the ballot under State law.
 ``
            (c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to affect the authority of States to conduct elections for 
Federal office through the use of polling places at which individuals 
cast ballots on the date of the election.
 ``
            (d) Effective Date.--A State shall be required to comply with the 
requirements of this section with respect to elections for Federal 
office held in years beginning with 2026.''.

    (b) Conforming Amendment Relating to Enforcement.--

Section 401 of 
such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) is amended by striking ``and 304'' and 
inserting ``303A, and 304''.
            (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for such Act is 
amended by inserting after the item relating to 

section 303 the 
following new item:

``

Sec. 303A. Promoting ability of voters to vote by mail.''.
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