I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4736 

To amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 to clarify the coverage 

of political activities directed within the United States by agents of 

foreign principals outside of the United States, to amend the Federal 

Election Campaign Act of 1971 to clarify the application of disclaimer 

rules for political advertisements which are disseminated online and to 

reduce the incidence of illicit foreign money in elections, to amend the 

Help America Vote Act of 2002 to prohibit the collection and transmission of ballots by third parties in elections for Federal office and 

to prohibit the availability of funds under such Act to States which 

permit non-citizens to vote in elections for public office, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 18, 2019 

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois (for himself, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Miss 

GONZA ́LEZ-COLO ́N of Puerto Rico, Mr. BACON, Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER, 

Mr. POSEY, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. WALKER, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. 

STAUBER, and Mr. STEUBE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the 

Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined 

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 

to clarify the coverage of political activities directed within the United States by agents of foreign principals 

outside of the United States, to amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to clarify the application 

of disclaimer rules for political advertisements which are 


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disseminated online and to reduce the incidence of illicit 

foreign money in elections, to amend the Help America 

Vote Act of 2002 to prohibit the collection and transmission of ballots by third parties in elections for Federal 

office and to prohibit the availability of funds under 

such Act to States which permit non-citizens to vote 

in elections for public office, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Honest Elections Act’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—FOREIGN AGENTS REGISTRATION REFORM 

Sec. 101. Clarification of coverage of activities directed within the United 

States by agents outside of the United States. 

Sec. 102. Application of press exemption to other forms of media. 

Sec. 103. Treatment of activities to influence public opinion on elections as political activity. 

Sec. 104. Effective date. 

TITLE II—DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS FOR ONLINE POLITICAL 

ADVERTISEMENTS 

Sec. 201. Clarifying disclaimer requirements for online political advertisements. 

TITLE III—REDUCING ILLICIT FOREIGN MONEY IN ELECTIONS 

Sec. 301. Report on illicit foreign money in Federal elections. 

Sec. 302. Prohibition on contributions and donations by foreign nationals in 

connection with ballot initiatives and referenda. 

TITLE IV—PROHIBITING PAYMENT OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE 

FUNDS TO STATES ALLOWING BALLOT HARVESTING 

Sec. 401. Prohibition on payments to States allowing collection and transmission of ballots by certain third parties. 


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TITLE V—PROHIBITING PAYMENT OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE 

FUNDS TO STATES ALLOWING VOTING BY NON-CITIZENS 

Sec. 501. Prohibition on payments to States allowing voting by non-citizens. 

1 TITLE I—FOREIGN AGENTS 

2 REGISTRATION REFORM 

3 SEC. 101. CLARIFICATION OF COVERAGE OF ACTIVITIES DI4 RECTED WITHIN THE UNITED STATES BY 

5 AGENTS OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES. 

6 (a) TREATMENT OF AGENTS ENGAGED IN ACTIVI7 TIES AS AGENTS OF FOREIGN PRINCIPALS.—Section 

8 1(c)(1) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, 

9 as amended (22 U.S.C. 611(c)(1)), is amended— 

10 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (iii); 

11 (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause (iv) 

12 and inserting ‘‘or’’; and 

13 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

14 clause: 

15 ‘‘(v) engages outside the United States in 

16 political activities for or in the interests of such 

17 foreign principal which are directed at persons 

18 within the United States, including activities 

19 consisting of communications disseminated 

20 within the United States through telecommuni21 cations or computer equipment or services, the 

22 Internet, broadcast, cable, satellite, print, or 

23 mail; and’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 9 of such 

2 Act (22 U.S.C. 619) is amended by striking the period 

3 at the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, and shall be ap4 plicable outside the United States to the extent described 

5 in section 1(c)(1)(v).’’. 

6 SEC. 102. APPLICATION OF PRESS EXEMPTION TO OTHER 

7 FORMS OF MEDIA. 

8 (a) APPLICATION.—Section 1(d) of the Foreign 

9 Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 

10 611(d)(1)), is amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘(d) The term ‘agent of a foreign principal’ does not 

12 include any bona fide media outlet organized under the 

13 laws of the United States or of any State or other place 

14 subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, or any 

15 bona fide media outlet for which there is on file with the 

16 United States Postal Service information in compliance 

17 with section 3685 of title 39, United States Code, pub18 lished in the United States, solely by virtue of any bona 

19 fide news or journalistic activities, including the solicita20 tion or acceptance of paid advertisements, subscriptions, 

21 free social media access which is made available to the 

22 general public, or other compensation therefor, so long as 

23 it is at least 80 per centum beneficially owned by, and 

24 its officers and directors, if any, are citizens of the United 

25 States, and such media outlet is not owned, directed, suVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:17 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4736.IH H4736

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1 pervised, controlled, subsidized, or financed, and none of 

2 its policies are determined by, any foreign principal de3 fined in subsection (b), or by any agent of a foreign prin4 cipal required to register under this Act.’’. 

5 (b) DEFINITION.—Section 1 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 

6 611) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

7 subsection: 

8 ‘‘(q) The term ‘media outlet’ means any of the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(1) Any newspaper, magazine, or periodical. 

11 ‘‘(2) Any broadcast, satellite or cable television 

12 or radio station. 

13 ‘‘(3) Any Internet-based website, application, or 

14 platform.’’. 

15 SEC. 103. TREATMENT OF ACTIVITIES TO INFLUENCE PUB16 LIC OPINION ON ELECTIONS AS POLITICAL 

17 ACTIVITY. 

18 Section 1(o) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act 

19 of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 611(o)), is amended by 

20 striking the semicolon at the end and inserting the fol21 lowing: ‘‘, or with reference to public opinion about public 

22 officials, candidates, or elections of the United States.’’. 


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1 SEC. 104. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 The amendments made by this title shall apply with 

3 respect to activities carried out on or after the date of 

4 the enactment of this Act. 

5 TITLE II—DISCLAIMER RE6 QUIREMENTS FOR ONLINE 

7 POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENTS 

8 SEC. 201. CLARIFYING DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS FOR 

9 ONLINE POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENTS. 

10 (a) CLARIFICATION.—Section 318 of the Federal 

11 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30120) is 

12 amended by adding at the end the following new sub13 section: 

14 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION OF REQUIREMENTS TO ONLINE

15 COMMUNICATIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) METHOD OF PROVISION OF INFORMA17 TION.—Except as provided in paragraph (2) or 

18 paragraph (3), a covered Internet communication 

19 shall provide the information required under this 

20 section on the face of the communication. 

21 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZING USE OF ALTERNATIVE

22 MECHANISMS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a cov24 ered Internet communication described in sub25 paragraph (C) of paragraph (4), the commu26 nication may provide the information required 


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1 under this section through the use of a techno2 logical mechanism described in subparagraph 

3 (B), so long as the communication presents an 

4 indicator described in subparagraph (C). 

5 ‘‘(B) TECHNOLOGICAL MECHANISM DE6 SCRIBED.—A technological mechanism de7 scribed in this subparagraph is, with respect to 

8 a communication, any technology which enables 

9 the individual reading, observing, or listening to 

10 the communication to read, observe, or listen to 

11 the information required under this section 

12 without navigating more than one step away 

13 from the communication itself. Such mechanism 

14 may take any form, including hover-over, 

15 mouse-over, voice-over, rollover, pop-up screen, 

16 scrolling text, rotating panels, or click-through 

17 or hyperlink to a landing page. 

18 ‘‘(C) INDICATOR DESCRIBED.—An indi19 cator described in this subparagraph is, with re20 spect to a communication, any clear and con21 spicuous visible or audible element of the com22 munication that gives notice to the individual 

23 reading, observing, or listening to the commu24 nication that the individual may read, observe, 

25 or listen to the information required under this 


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1 section through a technological mechanism. An 

2 indicator may take any form, including words 

3 such as ‘Paid for by’, ‘Paid by’, ‘Sponsored by’, 

4 or ‘Ad by’, a website URL, an image, a sound, 

5 a symbol, or an icon. 

6 ‘‘(3) WAIVER.—A disclaimer shall not be re7 quired for any covered Internet communication that 

8 cannot provide a clear and conspicuous statement of 

9 the information required under this section either on 

10 the face of communication or through the use of a 

11 technological mechanism under paragraph (2). 

12 ‘‘(4) COVERED INTERNET COMMUNICATION DE13 FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘covered Inter14 net communication’ means any communication which 

15 is required to include information under this section 

16 and which is any of the following: 

17 ‘‘(A) Any electronic mailing of more than 

18 500 substantially similar communications which 

19 is disseminated by a political committee. 

20 ‘‘(B) Any communication disseminated on 

21 a publicly available website of a political com22 mittee. 

23 ‘‘(C) Any communication placed for a fee 

24 on another person’s website or Internet-based 

25 application or platform.’’. 


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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall apply with respect to communications 

3 made after the expiration of the 30-day period which be4 gins on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

5 TITLE III—REDUCING ILLICIT 

6 FOREIGN MONEY IN ELECTIONS 

7 SEC. 301. REPORT ON ILLICIT FOREIGN MONEY IN FED8 ERAL ELECTIONS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Federal Election 

10 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) is 

11 amended by inserting after section 319 the following new 

12 section: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 319A. REPORT ON PRESENCE OF ILLICIT FOREIGN 

14 MONEY. 

15 ‘‘(a) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the end 

16 of each Federal election cycle, the Commission shall sub17 mit to Congress a report containing— 

18 ‘‘(1) an analysis of the presence of illicit foreign 

19 money in such cycle; and 

20 ‘‘(2) recommendations to address the presence 

21 of illicit foreign money in elections, as appropriate. 

22 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section: 

23 ‘‘(1) The term ‘Federal election cycle’ means 

24 the period which begins on the day after the date of 

25 a regularly scheduled general election for Federal ofVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:17 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4736.IH H4736

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1 fice and which ends on the date of the first regularly 

2 scheduled general election for Federal office held 

3 after such date. 

4 ‘‘(2) The term ‘illicit foreign money’ means any 

5 disbursement by a foreign national (as defined in 

6 section 319(b)) prohibited under such section.’’. 

7 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

8 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to the Federal elec9 tion cycle that began during November 2018, and each 

10 succeeding Federal election cycle. 

11 SEC. 302. PROHIBITION ON CONTRIBUTIONS AND DONA12 TIONS BY FOREIGN NATIONALS IN CONNEC13 TION WITH BALLOT INITIATIVES AND 

14 REFERENDA. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 319(a)(1)(A) of the Fed16 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 

17 30121(a)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘election’’ and in18 serting the following: ‘‘election, including a State or local 

19 ballot initiative or referendum’’. 

20 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

21 this section shall apply with respect to elections held in 

22 2020 or any succeeding year. 


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1 TITLE IV—PROHIBITING PAY2 MENT OF ELECTION ASSIST3 ANCE FUNDS TO STATES AL4 LOWING BALLOT HAR5 VESTING 

6 SEC. 401. PROHIBITION ON PAYMENTS TO STATES ALLOW7 ING COLLECTION AND TRANSMISSION OF 

8 BALLOTS BY CERTAIN THIRD PARTIES. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title II of the Help 

10 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21001 et seq.) is 

11 amended by adding at the end the following new part: 

12 ‘‘PART 7—PROHIBITION ON PAYMENTS TO 

13 STATES ALLOWING COLLECTION AND 

14 TRANSMISSION OF BALLOTS BY CERTAIN 

15 THIRD PARTIES 

16 ‘‘SEC. 297. ELIGIBILITY FOR PAYMENTS OF STATES ALLOW17 ING COLLECTION AND TRANSMISSION OF 

18 BALLOTS BY CERTAIN THIRD PARTIES. 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State is not eligible to receive 

20 funds under this Act unless the State has in effect a law 

21 that prohibits an individual from the knowing collection 

22 and transmission of a ballot in an election for Federal of23 fice that was mailed to another person, other than an indi24 vidual described as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(1) An election official while engaged in offi2 cial duties as authorized by law. 

3 ‘‘(2) An employee of the United States Postal 

4 Service while engaged in official duties as authorized 

5 by law. 

6 ‘‘(3) Any other individual who is allowed by law 

7 to collect and transmit United States mail, while en8 gaged in official duties as authorized by law. 

9 ‘‘(4) A family member, household member, or 

10 caregiver of the person to whom the ballot was 

11 mailed. 

12 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, 

13 with respect to a person to whom the ballot was mailed: 

14 ‘‘(1) The term ‘caregiver’ means an individual 

15 who provides medical or health care assistance to 

16 such person in a residence, nursing care institution, 

17 hospice facility, assisted living center, assisted living 

18 facility, assisted living home, residential care institu19 tion, adult day health care facility, or adult foster 

20 care home. 

21 ‘‘(2) The term ‘family member’ means an indi22 vidual who is related to such person by blood, mar23 riage, adoption or legal guardianship. 


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1 ‘‘(3) The term ‘household member’ means an 

2 individual who resides at the same residence as such 

3 person.’’. 

4 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

5 of such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating 

6 to section 296 the following new item: 

‘‘PART 7—PROHIBITION ON PAYMENTS TO STATES ALLOWING COLLECTION

AND TRANSMISSION OF BALLOTS BY CERTAIN THIRD PARTIES

‘‘Sec. 297. Eligibility for payments of States allowing collection and transmission of ballots by certain third parties.’’. 

7 TITLE V—PROHIBITING PAY8 MENT OF ELECTION ASSIST9 ANCE FUNDS TO STATES AL10 LOWING VOTING BY NON-CITI11 ZENS 

12 SEC. 501. PROHIBITION ON PAYMENTS TO STATES ALLOW13 ING VOTING BY NON-CITIZENS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title II of the Help 

15 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21001 et seq.), as 

16 amended by section 401, is further amended by adding 

17 at the end the following new part: 

18 ‘‘PART 8—PROHIBITION ON PAYMENTS TO 

19 STATES ALLOWING VOTING BY NON-CITIZENS 

20 ‘‘SEC. 298. ELIGIBILITY FOR PAYMENTS OF STATES ALLOW21 ING VOTING BY NON-CITIZENS. 

22 ‘‘A State is not eligible to receive funds under this 

23 Act if the State allows an individual who is not a citizen 


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1 of the United States to vote in an election for public of2 fice.’’. 

3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

4 for such Act, as amended by section 401, is further 

5 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

6 297 the following new item: 

‘‘PART 8—PROHIBITION ON PAYMENTS TO STATES ALLOWING VOTING BY

NON-CITIZENS

‘‘Sec. 298. Eligibility for payments of States allowing voting by non-citizens.’’. 

Æ 


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