HR 8770 · 117th Congress 2021–2023, ended

Expanding the VOTE Act

Introduced Sep 2, 2022 Originated House Sponsor Nikema Williams D-GA

Latest action · Dec 21, 2022 Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 474.

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.

IntroducedSep 2, 2022
Passed HouseNot reached
Passed SenateNot reached
To the PresidentNot reached
Became lawNot reached

Summary

Expanding the Voluntary Opportunities for Translations in Elections Act or the Expanding the VOTE Act

This bill expands access to voting materials for individuals with limited proficiency in the English language, including by establishing incentive grants for states and political subdivisions to provide translated voting materials. Additionally, the bill directs the Government Accountability Office to study the impact of (1) reducing the threshold requirement under Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and (2) expanding the definition of language minorities to include native speakers of additional languages.

Cosponsors 154

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Sep 2, 2022 to Dec 13, 2022; 118 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.

Seat	Cosponsor		Signed on
D-VA	A. Donald McEachin	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CA	Adam B. Schiff	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-NY	Adriano Espaillat	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CA	Alan S. Lowenthal	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-NY	Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-NC	Alma S. Adams	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-IN	André Carson	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-MI	Andy Levin	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CA	Anna G. Eshoo	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-MD	Anthony G. Brown	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-MA	Ayanna Pressley	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CA	Barbara Lee	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-MN	Betty McCollum	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-NJ	Bonnie Watson Coleman	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-MI	Brenda L. Lawrence	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-PA	Brendan F. Boyle	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-MD	C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-GA	Carolyn Bourdeaux	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-ME	Chellie Pingree	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-MO	Cori Bush	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-IA	Cynthia Axne	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-IL	Danny K. Davis	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-FL	Darren Soto	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-MD	David J. Trone	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-RI	David N. Cicilline	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-GA	David Scott	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-MI	Debbie Dingell	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-FL	Debbie Wasserman Schultz	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-NC	Deborah K. Ross	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-WA	Derek Kilmer	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CO	Diana DeGette	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-NV	Dina Titus	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-NJ	Donald M. Payne, Jr.	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CA	Doris O. Matsui	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-PA	Dwight Evans	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-OR	Earl Blumenauer	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-TX	Eddie Bernice Johnson	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-DC	Eleanor Holmes Norton	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-MO	Emanuel Cleaver	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CA	Eric Swalwell	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-FL	Frederica S. Wilson	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-NC	G. K. Butterfield	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-VA	Gerald E. Connolly	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CA	Grace F. Napolitano	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-NY	Grace Meng	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-MP	Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-NY	Gregory W. Meeks	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-WI	Gwen Moore	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-MI	Haley M. Stevens	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-GA	Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr.	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-TX	Henry Cuellar	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CA	Jackie Speier	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CT	Jahana Hayes	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-MA	Jake Auchincloss	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-NY	Jamaal Bowman	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-IL	Janice D. Schakowsky	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CO	Jason Crow	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-NY	Jerrold Nadler	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CA	Jerry McNerney	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-IL	Jesús G. "Chuy" García	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-TN	Jim Cooper	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CA	Jimmy Gomez	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CA	Jimmy Panetta	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CO	Joe Neguse	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CT	John B. Larson	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-MD	John P. Sarbanes	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-OH	Joyce Beatty	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CA	Judy Chu	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-HI	Kaiali'i Kahele	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CA	Karen Bass	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-NC	Kathy E. Manning	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CA	Katie Porter	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-MD	Kweisi Mfume	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CA	Linda T. Sánchez	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-FL	Lois Frankel	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-GA	Lucy McBath	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-PA	Madeleine Dean	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-TX	Marc A. Veasey	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-IL	Marie Newman	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CA	Mark Takano	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-NM	Melanie A. Stansbury	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-GU	Michael F. Q. San Nicolas	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CA	Mike Levin	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-IL	Mike Quigley	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CA	Nanette Diaz Barragán	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-NY	Nydia M. Velázquez	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-NY	Paul Tonko	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-OR	Peter A. DeFazio	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-WA	Pramila Jayapal	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-MI	Rashida Tlaib	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-AZ	Raúl M. Grijalva	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CA	Raul Ruiz	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-WA	Rick Larsen	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CA	Ro Khanna	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-VA	Robert C. "Bobby" Scott	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-IL	Robin L. Kelly	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CA	Salud O. Carbajal	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CA	Sara Jacobs	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CA	Scott H. Peters	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-IL	Sean Casten	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-MA	Seth Moulton	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-KS	Sharice Davids	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-FL	Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-TX	Sheila Jackson Lee	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-OH	Shontel M. Brown	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-TN	Steve Cohen	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-NV	Steven Horsford	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-OR	Suzanne Bonamici	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-TX	Sylvia R. Garcia	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CA	Ted Lieu	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-NM	Teresa Leger Fernandez	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-AL	Terri A. Sewell	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-NY	Thomas R. Suozzi	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CA	Tony Cárdenas	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-LA	Troy A. Carter	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-FL	Val Butler Demings	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-NY	Yvette D. Clarke	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-CA	Zoe Lofgren	Original	Sep 2, 2022
D-IL	Bobby L. Rush		Sep 6, 2022
D-WA	Adam Smith		Sep 9, 2022
D-NY	Brian Higgins		Sep 9, 2022
D-NJ	Josh Gottheimer		Sep 9, 2022
D-MA	Katherine M. Clark		Sep 9, 2022
D-IL	Lauren Underwood		Sep 9, 2022
D-AZ	Ruben Gallego		Sep 9, 2022
D-NY	Carolyn B. Maloney		Sep 13, 2022
D-CA	Jim Costa		Sep 13, 2022
D-KY	John A. Yarmuth		Sep 13, 2022
D-CA	Mark DeSaulnier		Sep 13, 2022
D-WI	Mark Pocan		Sep 13, 2022
D-TX	Al Green		Sep 14, 2022
D-WA	Suzan K. DelBene		Sep 14, 2022
D-CA	Julia Brownley		Sep 15, 2022
D-TX	Lizzie Fletcher		Sep 15, 2022
D-PA	Mary Gay Scanlon		Sep 19, 2022
D-NY	Mondaire Jones		Sep 20, 2022
D-PA	Susan Wild		Sep 20, 2022
D-NY	Hakeem S. Jeffries		Sep 21, 2022
D-MA	James P. McGovern		Sep 21, 2022
D-CA	J. Luis Correa		Sep 22, 2022
D-TX	Lloyd Doggett		Sep 26, 2022
D-MD	Jamie Raskin		Sep 28, 2022
D-PA	Matt Cartwright		Sep 28, 2022
D-VI	Stacey E. Plaskett		Sep 29, 2022
D-IL	Bill Foster		Sep 30, 2022
D-CA	Pete Aguilar		Oct 7, 2022
D-DE	Lisa Blunt Rochester		Oct 14, 2022
D-MI	Daniel T. Kildee		Dec 7, 2022
D-WA	Marilyn Strickland		Dec 12, 2022
D-CA	Norma J. Torres		Dec 12, 2022
D-NY	Ritchie Torres		Dec 12, 2022
D-GA	Sanford D. Bishop, Jr.		Dec 12, 2022
D-TX	Veronica Escobar		Dec 12, 2022
D-MA	Lori Trahan		Dec 13, 2022

Committees 2

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

Chamber	Committee	What it did
House	Judiciary Committee	Referred Sep 2, 2022Markup Sep 21, 2022Reported Dec 21, 2022
House	Committee on House Administration	Referred Sep 2, 2022Discharged Dec 21, 2022

Actions 7

Everything that happened, newest first.

Dec 21, 2022Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Judiciary. H. Rept. 117-654, Part I.
Dec 21, 2022Committee on House Administration discharged.
Dec 21, 2022Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 474.
Sep 21, 2022Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Sep 21, 2022Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 22 - 11.

Show all 7 actions

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.

Committee report

H. Rept. 117-654

Congressional Budget Office cost estimate

Nov 10, 2022H.R. 8770, Expanding the VOTE ActAs ordered reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary on September 21, 2022

Constitutional authority

Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant to the following: Article I, Section 8, Clause 1

The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 168, no. 141, September 2, 2022, page H7736.

Related bills 2

Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.

Bill	Title	Relationship	Latest action
HR 5295	Expanding the VOTE Act	Reintroduced Bill	Aug 25, 2023
S 5326	Expanding the VOTE Act	Identical bill	Dec 20, 2022

Titles 5

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced: To modify certain notice requirements, to study certain election requirements, to clarify certain election requirements, and for other purposes.
Short Title(s) as Introduced: Expanding the Voluntary Opportunities for Translations in Elections Act; Expanding the VOTE Act
Short Title(s) as Reported to House: Expanding the VOTE Act; Expanding the Voluntary Opportunities for Translations in Elections Act

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Government Operations and Politics.

Text 2

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

Dec 21, 2022Reported in House
Sep 2, 2022Introduced in House

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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.