S. 2994 — Voter Purge Protection Act

This section states the purposes of the Act: (1) prohibiting states from removing individuals from an official list of registered voters due to changes in residence; and (2) protecting the right to vote by allowing voters who are automatically registered or previously registered in a state to update their address through election day.

This section inserts new section 8A into the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) to establish conditions for states to remove voters from official lists of eligible voters in federal elections. (Thus, states may not remove a registrant without verifying ineligibility based on objective and reliable evidence; failure to vote, to respond to non-undeliverable election mail, or to take other voting actions does not qualify as such evidence, except as permitted under NVRA section 8(d) after notice; removals based on official records of death or permanent out-of-state moves are allowed with an opportunity for the voter to demonstrate eligibility and be reinstated.) New section 8A further requires states to send individualized notice of removal (including grounds and contest procedures) to affected voters within 48 hours (with exceptions for self-confirmed ineligibility or death) and to issue public notice after general list maintenance programs. This section also amends NVRA section 8(d) to prohibit states from sending change-of-residence notices unless based on objective and reliable evidence (per new section 8A(a)(2)) and makes NVRA section 8(a)(3)-(4) list maintenance activities subject to new section 8A. (NVRA section 8 requires states to conduct reasonable programs to remove ineligible voters—e.g., deceased or those who have moved—while prohibiting removals of eligible voters.) The section makes a conforming amendment to the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to reference new section 8A. The amendments take effect upon enactment.

This section revises the procedure under Section 8(e) of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) for voters who move within a state but fail to return a change-of-address confirmation notice prior to an election. It permits such voters, upon oral or written affirmation of the new address before an election official, to vote (at the voter's option) at the polling place of their current address or at a central location within the same registrar's jurisdiction. (As background, NVRA Section 8 requires states to maintain accurate voter rolls, including mailing address confirmation notices to apparent movers and restricting voting or updating registration for non-responders.)