Natural Disaster and Emergency Ballot Act of 2020
Latest action · Mar 18, 2020 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMar 18, 2020
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Natural Disaster and Emergency Ballot Act of 2020
This bill revises and establishes voting procedures for federal elections.
Specifically, the bill requires each state and jurisdiction to, within 30 days, establish and publish a contingency plan to enable voters to vote in federal elections during an emergency. Such plan must (1) include initiatives related to the safety and recruitment of poll workers, and (2) permit registered voters to submit online requests for absentee ballots and vote by mail or by drop-off location.
Additionally, for all federal elections, a state must
- ensure that voters have 20 days to vote through early in-person voting or by mail;
- begin processing ballots cast during early voting or by mail at least 14 days before the date of the election;
- provide self-sealing return envelopes with prepaid postage for voter registration applications, absentee-ballot applications, and blank absentee ballots;
- allow voters to cure certain signature discrepancies;
- accept voter registration applications at least 21 days before the date of the election; and
- provide certain accommodations to voters residing on Indian lands.
The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) must create a uniform domestic downloadable and printable absentee ballot for use in federal elections. Until the EAC creates such a ballot, states must permit certain voters to use those ballots provided to overseas and military voters.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency must create an update service to inform voters of their voter registration applications, absentee-ballot applications, and absentee ballots.
States must be reimbursed for implementing the provisions of the bill.
Cosponsors 36
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Mar 18, 2020 to May 13, 2020; 25 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| I-VT | Bernard Sanders | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-MD | Chris Van Hollen | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-DE | Christopher A. Coons | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-CT | Christopher Murphy | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-NJ | Cory A. Booker | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-MI | Debbie Stabenow | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-CA | Dianne Feinstein | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-AL | Doug Jones | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-MA | Edward J. Markey | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-MA | Elizabeth Warren | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-MI | Gary C. Peters | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-OR | Jeff Merkley | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-CA | Kamala D. Harris | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-WA | Maria Cantwell | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-VA | Mark R. Warner | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-NM | Martin Heinrich | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-HI | Mazie K. Hirono | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-WA | Patty Murray | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-CT | Richard Blumenthal | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-IL | Richard J. Durbin | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-OR | Ron Wyden | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-WI | Tammy Baldwin | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-IL | Tammy Duckworth | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-MN | Tina Smith | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-NM | Tom Udall | Original | Mar 18, 2020 |
| D-NJ | Robert Menendez | Mar 19, 2020 | |
| D-MD | Benjamin L. Cardin | May 13, 2020 | |
| D-HI | Brian Schatz | May 13, 2020 | |
| D-NV | Catherine Cortez Masto | May 13, 2020 | |
| D-NV | Jacky Rosen | May 13, 2020 | |
| D-NY | Kirsten E. Gillibrand | May 13, 2020 | |
| D-VT | Patrick J. Leahy | May 13, 2020 | |
| D-PA | Robert P. Casey Jr. | May 13, 2020 | |
| D-OH | Sherrod Brown | May 13, 2020 | |
| D-DE | Thomas R. Carper | May 13, 2020 | |
| D-VA | Tim Kaine | May 13, 2020 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Senate | Rules and Administration Committee | Referred Mar 18, 2020 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Mar 18, 2020Introduced in Senate
- Mar 18, 2020Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
CRS reports 3
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 3
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| R46455 | COVID-19 and Other Election Emergencies: Frequently Asked Questions and Recent Policy Developments Archived | Report | Jul 16, 2020 |
| R46407 | COVID-19: Remote Voting Trends and the Election Infrastructure Subsector Archived | Report | Jun 10, 2020 |
| IF11456 | Disrupted Federal Elections: Policy Issues for Congress Archived | Resource | Mar 27, 2020 |
Related bills 2
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 1397 | A bill to amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to provide for a national Federal write-in absentee ballot for domestic use. | Related bill | May 9, 2019 |
| S 4033 | Natural Disaster and Emergency Ballot Act of 2020 | Related bill | Jun 22, 2020 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- A bill to require States to establish contingency plans for the conduct of elections for Federal office in response to national disasters and emergencies, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Natural Disaster and Emergency Ballot Act of 2020
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Government Operations and Politics.
- Civil actions and liability
- Congressional oversight
- Diplomacy, foreign officials, Americans abroad
- Disaster relief and insurance
- Election Assistance Commission
- Elections, voting, political campaign regulation
- Emergency medical services and trauma care
- Executive agency funding and structure
- Foreign language and bilingual programs
- Government information and archives
- Government Operations and Politics
- Indian lands and resources rights
- Infectious and parasitic diseases
- Intergovernmental relations
- Military personnel and dependents
- Natural disasters
- Postal service
- State and local finance
- State and local government operations
- Worker safety and health
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Mar 18, 2020Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
