PSI Sci
New here? Follow the money and the votes · Not sure of your district? Find your U.S. House member · Find your state legislators

H.R. 411: Streamlined and Improved Methods at Polling Locations and Early (SIMPLE) Voting Act of 2015

Before you vote › Federal bills

H.R. 411: Streamlined and Improved Methods at Polling Locations and Early (SIMPLE) Voting Act of 2015

114th Congress · introduced 2015-01-20 · Government Operations and Politics · Latest: Referred to the House Committee on House Administration.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

  1. Where it came from: introduced 2015-01-20 · official record
  2. Who proposed it: Rep. Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9] · what a sponsor is
  3. What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
  4. Where it stands now: Referred to the House Committee on House Administration. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
  5. If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Streamlined and Improved Methods at Polling Locations and Early (SIMPLE) Voting Act of 2015

Plain summary

Streamlined and Improved Methods at Polling Locations and Early (SIMPLE) Voting Act of 2015 Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) to require each state to allow individuals to vote in a federal election on each day during the 15-day period ending on the second day immediately preceding the election date in the same manner as voting is allowed on election day. Requires a state to 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. Requires the Election Assistance Commission to issue standards for the administration of early voting in a federal election. Requires each state to provide a sufficient number of voting systems, poll workers, and other election resources (including physical resources) at a polling place used in a federal election to ensure: (1) a fair and equitable waiting time for all voters in the state, and (2) that no individual will be required to wait longer than one hour to cast a ballot at the polling place. Requires each state to develop, and implement to the greatest extent practicable, a contingency plan under which it shall provide any polling place on a federal election day whose waiting times exceed one hour with additional poll workers, machines, ballots, and other equipment and supplies, including a polling place at which individuals may cast ballots before the election date. Requires the Commission to report to Congress biennially on the impact of this Act's early voting and waiting time provisions on the administration of elections for federal office. Prescribes requirements for the counting of provisional ballots that will be treated as votes. Allows civil money penalties, intervention by aggrieved parties, and private actions to address HAVA violations by a state or jurisdiction.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Streamlined and Improved Methods at Polling Locations and Early (SIMPLE) Voting Act of 2015

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)

AI explanation – may be wrong, check the official text

No AI explanation yet. It takes up to a minute to write and is then saved for everyone.

Limited to a few requests an hour per person.

The strongest published arguments

Arguments for (supporters)

Needs sources: no published arguments on this side yet. We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

Arguments against (opponents)

Needs sources: no published arguments on this side yet. We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

Alternatives

Needs sources: no published alternatives yet (for example a different bill, a law instead of an amendment, or keeping current law). We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9] · 30 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Mark Pocan (D-WI), James A. Himes (D-CT), John B. Larson (D-CT), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), James P. McGovern (D-MA), Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY), Mark Takano (D-CA), John Garamendi (D-CA), Judy Chu (D-CA), André Carson (D-IN), Marc A. Veasey (D-TX), Frederica S. Wilson (D-FL), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Gwen Moore (D-WI)

Sponsor's campaign money: Rep. Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9] reported raising $785,039 (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (1)
Jurisdiction
The area or the matters a government or court has authority over.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Record fed-us-cong114-hr411 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong114 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong114