Streamlined and Improved Methods at Polling Locations and Early (SIMPLE) Voting Act of 2019
Latest action. Referred to the House Committee on House Administration.
Streamlined and Improved Methods at Polling Locations and Early (SIMPLE) Voting Act of 2019
This bill allows for early voting in elections for federal office and for reduced waiting times for voters at polling places used in such elections.
States must
allow early voting in a federal election each day during the 15-day period ending on the second day before election day in the same manner as voting is allowed on election day;
ensure that each polling place that allows early voting in a federal election is located within reasonable walking distance of a stop on a public transportation route;
provide a sufficient number of voting systems, poll workers, and other election resources at polling places used in a federal election to ensure an equitable waiting time, not longer than one hour, for all voters in the state;
plan to provide polling places whose waiting times exceed one hour on election day with additional poll workers, machines, ballots, and other equipment and supplies.
The Election Assistance Commission shall issue standards for the administration of early voting in a federal election.
The bill establishes requirements for the counting of provisional ballots that will be treated as votes.
The bill allows civil money penalties, intervention by aggrieved parties, and private actions to address Help America Vote Act of 2002 violations by a state or jurisdiction.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on January 3, 2019. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on January 3, 2019: Referred to the House Committee on House Administration.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 116th Congress (2019-20), 344 of the 14,345 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Steve Cohen (D-TN) introduced it on January 3, 2019, and 18 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 18 Democrats.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on January 3, 2019, 2807 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2807 days ago, on January 3, 2019.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 116th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2021 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers