S. 955: Polling Place Protection Act of 2019

116th Congress · introduced 2019-03-28 · Government Operations and Politics · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2019-03-28 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
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

Polling Place Protection Act of 2019

Plain summary

Polling Place Protection Act of 2019 This bill requires states and jurisdictions responsible for administering elections to provide sufficient resources to ensure a reasonably uniform ratio of staff and voting systems to registered voters, a reasonably uniform geographic distribution of polling places, a fair and equitable waiting time for voters, and a wait of no longer than 30 minutes to cast a ballot at a polling place. These states and jurisdictions must develop an election administration plan that includes a contingency plan for additional resources to be deployed if there are wait times of over 30 minutes at any polling place on an election day. Contingency plans must be approved by the Federal Election Commission. This bill provides a private right of action for an individual aggrieved by a state or jurisdiction's violation of the voting wait time limit. A U.S. district court may extend polling hours to enforce these requirements.

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

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A “Yea” vote

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A “Nay” vote

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

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Polling Place Protection Act of 2019

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] · 0 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] reported raising $5.4 million (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 (2)

Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Jurisdiction: The area or the matters a government or court has authority over.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-116s955.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/116/s>

Record fed-us-cong116-s955 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong116 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong116