[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8462 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8462
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to support State and local
governments making a transition to ranked choice voting.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 17, 2024
Mr. Phillips (for himself, Ms. Craig, Mr. Raskin, and Mr. Beyer)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
House Administration
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A BILL
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to support State and local
governments making a transition to ranked choice voting.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Voter Choice Act''.
SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE FOR TRANSITION TO RANKED CHOICE VOTING.
(a) In General.--Title V of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52
U.S.C. 21121 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Subtitle B--Ranked Choice Voting Program
``SEC. 511. RANKED CHOICE VOTING PROGRAM.
``(a) Definition of Ranked Choice Voting System.--For purposes of
this subtitle, the term `ranked choice voting system' means a set of
election methods which allow each voter to rank contest options in
order of the voter's preference, in which votes are counted in rounds
using a series of runoff tabulations to defeat contest options with the
fewest votes, and which elects a winner with a majority of final round
votes in a single-winner contest and provides proportional
representation in multi-winner contests.
``(b) Program.--The Commission shall establish a program under
which the Commission--
``(1) provides technical assistance to State and local
governments that are considering whether to make, or that are
in the process of making, a transition to a ranked choice
voting system for Federal, State, or local elections; and
``(2) awards grants to States and local government to
support the transition to a ranked choice voting system,
including through the acquisition of voting equipment and
tabulation software, appropriate ballot design, the development
and publication of educational materials, and voter outreach.
``(c) Rules for Grants.--
``(1) Selection of grant recipients.--To the extent
possible, the Commission shall award grants under subsection
(b)(2) to areas that represent a diversity of jurisdictions
with respect to geography, population characteristics, and
population density.
``(2) Award limitation.--The amount of any grant awarded
under subsection (b)(2) shall not exceed 50 percent of the cost
of the activities covered by the grant.
``SEC. 512. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
``(a) In General.--In addition to any funds authorized to be
appropriated to the Commission under section 210, there are authorized
to be appropriated to carry out this subtitle $40,000,000 for fiscal
year 2025.
``(b) Availability of Funds.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to the
authorization under this section shall remain available, without fiscal
year limitation, until expended.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Section 202(6) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52
U.S.C. 20922) is amended by striking ``the Help America Vote
College Program under title V'' and inserting ``the programs
under title V''.
(2) Title V of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C.
21121 et seq.) is amended by striking the matter preceding
section 501 and inserting the following:
``TITLE V--ELECTION ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
``Subtitle A--Help America Vote College Program''.
(3) Section 503 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21123) is amended by
striking ``title'' and inserting ``subtitle''.
(4) The table of sections of the Help America Vote Act of
2002 is amended--
(A) by striking the item relating to title V and
inserting the following:
``TITLE V--ELECTION ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
``Subtitle A--Help America Vote College Program'';
and
(B) by inserting after the item relating to section
503 the following:
``Subtitle B--Ranked Choice Voting Program
``Sec. 511. Ranked choice voting program.
``Sec. 512. Authorization of appropriations.''.
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