America Votes Act of 2019
Latest action. Referred to the House Committee on House Administration.
America Votes Act of 2019
This bill permits an individual required to present identification as a condition of voting in a federal election to meet the requirement by presenting a sworn written statement attesting to the individual's identification and that he or she is registered to vote in the election. An individual desiring to vote by mail may submit such a statement with the ballot.
States with an identification requirement shall (1) prepare a preprinted version of the statement which includes a blank space for an individual to provide a name and signature, (2) make copies of the preprinted version available at polling places, (3) include a copy of the preprinted version with each ballot transmitted to an individual who desires to vote by mail, and (4) include the use of a sworn written statement in voting information posted at polling places.
A state is prohibited from requiring an individual who presents or submits such a sworn written statement to cast a provisional ballot in the election.
The bill does not apply to first-time voters registering by mail.
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 17, 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 17, 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?
RICK LARSEN (D-WA) introduced it on January 17, 2019, and 59 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 59 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 17, 2019, 2793 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2793 days ago, on January 17, 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