H.R. 4911 — POLL Act

This section states 14 congressional findings affirming the fundamental right to vote, the responsibility of state and federal governments to facilitate voter registration and ballot access, ongoing barriers to participation (particularly long polling place wait times disproportionately affecting communities of color, disabled, young, elderly, and low-income voters), supporting data (e.g., voters in predominantly Black neighborhoods waited 29% longer on average than in White neighborhoods per a 2019 study; long lines deterred 500,000-700,000 voters in 2012), the Presidential Commission on Election Administration's 30-minute wait time standard, and Congress's authority under Article I, section 4, of the Constitution and section 2 of the 15th Amendment.

This section requires each state, not later than 60 days before each election for Federal office, to submit to the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) and make publicly available a plan—developed with 30 days of prior public notice and comment—describing measures to ensure equitable waiting times for all voters, including those with disabilities, and waiting times of less than 30 minutes at any polling place. The section prohibits waiting times exceeding 30 minutes at any polling place in elections for Federal office.(1) After each Federal election, the EAC must review and publicly report on voter waiting times in each jurisdiction.(2) If the EAC finds substantial waits exceeding 60 minutes (including for voters with disabilities) or substantial violations of accessibility standards, the Attorney General must establish a remedial plan for resource allocation and wait time reduction, with EAC coordination and monitoring; such plans terminate after two consecutive general Federal elections with waits under 60 minutes.(3) The Attorney General must issue review and plan standards within 180 days of enactment, acting through the Civil Rights Division in consultation with the EAC.(4) The section authorizes $5 million annually for the EAC in each of FY2025 through FY2034 to carry out these reviews. The section requires polling places to provide emergency paper ballots—available in all relevant languages and listing Federal candidates—to voters affected by equipment failures or other unreasonable delays; such ballots are counted like regular ballots unless the voter would otherwise cast a provisional ballot.(Thus, voters facing delays receive an immediate alternative to wait.) The section establishes a private right of action in district court for persons aggrieved by violations of the 30-minute wait prohibition, overriding restrictions in HAVA §402. The section redesignates HAVA §§305 and 306 as §§306 and 307, respectively, and adds carrying out duties under new §305(c) to the EAC's role as national clearinghouse for election administration under 52 U.S.C. 20922.

This section amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) as follows: (1) Directs the Attorney General, acting through the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights and in consultation with the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), to issue within six months of enactment standards for the minimum number of voting systems (i.e., equipment to check voter eligibility, cast and count votes, and produce audit trails), poll workers, and other election resources required at each voting site (i.e., polling location) for federal elections and early voting days. The standards must ensure uniform, nondiscriminatory distribution based on factors including voting-age population, past turnout, registered voters, census data, educational and socio-economic status, needs of disabled voters and voters with limited English proficiency, and voting system type; aim to equalize wait times and prevent waits over 30 minutes; require one paper poll book per electronic poll book; and allow state deviations for unforeseen circumstances such as natural disasters. (2) Requires each state to provide those minimum resources at voting sites, effective January 1, 2027. (3) Makes conforming and clerical amendments, including adding to the EAC's clearinghouse duties under HAVA Section 202 the implementation of the new standards and inserting new subtitles C (additional requirements) and E (guidance and standards) into HAVA Titles III and II, respectively. (As background, HAVA established the EAC to serve as a national resource for election administration, including voluntary voting system guidelines, testing, studies, grants, and college voter programs.)

This section establishes a prohibition, effective for elections for Federal office held after January 1, 2027, on a chief State election administration official (i.e., the highest State official responsible for administering Federal elections under State law) taking an active part in political management or a political campaign for any such election the official oversees. Active part is defined to include (1) serving on an authorized committee of a Federal candidate, (2) using official authority or influence to interfere with or affect the election result, (3) soliciting, accepting, or receiving contributions on behalf of a Federal candidate, and (4) other acts prohibited for certain Federal employees under 5 U.S.C. §7323(b)(2)-(3) (excluding running for office). The prohibition does not apply if the official or an immediate family member (i.e., parent, child, sibling, spouse, father-in-law, or mother-in-law) is a candidate in the election, provided the official fully recuses from administering it and the replacement supervisor does not report to the official.

This section establishes payments from the Election Assistance Commission to eligible states under a new section of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA). An eligible state is one that submits a plan describing its intended use of funds for the applicable fiscal year to meet HAVA requirements under sections 305 (voting system standards) and 321 (poll worker training and election official procedures to minimize wait times); payments must be made not later than 30 days after enactment. Payments total the aggregate amount appropriated, allocated by formula as (1) a minimum of 0.5% of such amount to each state or the District of Columbia and 0.1% to Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, or the U.S. Virgin Islands; and (2) the remainder proportional to each state's voting-age population per the most recent decennial census. The section authorizes $500 million for each fiscal year, with funds available until expended.