The Universal Right to Vote by Mail Act is a proposed bill that would "Amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to prohibit a state from imposing additional conditions or requirements on the eligibility of an individual to cast a vote in federal elections by mail, except to the extent that it imposes a deadline for requesting the ballot and returning it to the appropriate state or local election official.". The bill would remove restrictions in 22 states that require specific reasons, such as doctors notes, for voting absentee by mail.

Background

In the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, an absentee ballot is a ballot

Ballot

A ballot is a device used to record choices made by voters. Each voter uses one ballot, and ballots are not shared. In the simplest elections, a ballot may be a simple scrap of paper on which each voter writes in the name of a candidate, but governmental elections use pre-printed to protect the...

 that the voter records and casts other than at a designated polling station on Election Day. Typically these ballots are mail

Mail

Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...

ed, though some states provide provisions for email

Email

Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...

ing ballots, fax

Fax

Fax , sometimes called telecopying, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material , normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device...

ing ballots, or delivering them in person to a designated location. Typically a voter must request an absentee ballot at least a week before the election occurs. Each State's Secretary of State or Director of Elections is in charge of the election process, including voter registration and absentee ballot requests. Balloting materials may be sent via the United States Postal Service without prepayment of postage for members of the Armed Forces, members of the U.S. Merchant Marine and U.S. citizens residing outside the territorial limits of the United States and the District of Columbia and their spouses.

Absentee voting by mail is allowed with no excuse in 28 states, and with an excuse in 22. No-excuse permanent absentee voting is allowed in 4 states. Early voting in person is allowed with no excuse required in 31 U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

s, with an excuse in 3, and not at all in 16. The District of Columbia requires an excuse for both early voting and absentee voting.

Provisions

• Allows all eligible voters nationwide to vote by mail for any reason in federal elections.
• Removes the doctor’s note, notary and privacy information requirements imposed by some states.

House

The bill was originally introduced on January 5th, 2007 during the 110th congress by Susan Davis. However, it never got past the committee phase in the House.

The bill was again introduced by Rep. Susan Davis (D-California) on March 19, 2009. It currently has 50 co-sponsors. The bill cleared the The House Administration Committee on June 10th. The next step is a vote on the House floor.

Senate

An identical copy of the bill was introduced in the Senate during the 111th congress on May 5, 2010 by Senator Ron Wyden

Ron Wyden

Ronald Lee "Ron" Wyden is the senior U.S. Senator for Oregon, serving since 1996, and a member of the Democratic Party. He previously served in the United States House of Representatives from 1981 to 1996....

 (D-Oregon). It was read twice and referred to the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration.

Related Bills

The bill is essentially part of a package with two other bills also authored by Congresswoman Davis. The other two, which both passed committee the same day as the main bill are the...

• The Absentee Ballot Track, Receive and Confirm (TRAC) Act which gives states grant money to set up a system to track absentee ballots. Through the system, a voter will be able to find out if a ballot was mailed, if their completed ballot was received, and if their ballot was counted.

• The Federal Election Integrity Act prohibits the chief elections official of a state from serving on federal campaign committees or engaging in other political activity, such as fundraising, on behalf of federal candidates in any election over which the official has supervisory authority."