II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 542 

To promote international exchanges on best election practices, to cultivate 

more secure democratic institutions around the world, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 2 (legislative day, MARCH 1), 2021 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself and Mr. SULLIVAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To promote international exchanges on best election practices, to cultivate more secure democratic institutions 

around the world, 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Global Electoral Ex5 change Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that— 

8 (1) recent elections globally have illustrated the 

9 urgent need for the promotion and exchange of 

10 international best election practices, particularly in 


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1 the areas of cybersecurity, results transmission, 

2 transparency of electoral data, election dispute reso3 lution, and the elimination of discriminatory reg4 istration practices and other electoral irregularities; 

5 (2) the advancement of democracy worldwide 

6 promotes United States interests, as stable democ7 racies provide new market opportunities, improve 

8 global health outcomes, and promote economic free9 dom and regional security; 

10 (3) credible elections are the cornerstone of a 

11 healthy democracy and enable all persons to exercise 

12 their basic human right to have a say in how they 

13 are governed; 

14 (4) inclusive elections strengthen the credibility 

15 and stability of democracies more broadly; 

16 (5) at the heart of a strong election cycle is the 

17 professionalism of the election management body 

18 and an empowered civil society; 

19 (6) the development of local expertise via peer20 to-peer learning and exchanges promotes the inde21 pendence of such bodies from internal and external 

22 influence; and 

23 (7) supporting the efforts of peoples in democ24 ratizing societies to build more representative govVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S542.IS S542

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1 ernments in their respective countries is in the na2 tional interest of the United States. 

3 SEC. 3. GLOBAL ELECTORAL EXCHANGE. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State is author5 ized to establish and administer a Global Electoral Ex6 change Program (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Pro7 gram’’) to promote the utilization of sound election admin8 istration practices around the world. 

9 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Program shall in10 clude the promotion and exchange of international best 

11 election practices, including in the areas of— 

12 (1) cybersecurity; 

13 (2) the protection of election systems against 

14 influence campaigns; 

15 (3) results transmission; 

16 (4) transparency of electoral data; 

17 (5) election dispute resolution; 

18 (6) the elimination of discriminatory registra19 tion practices and electoral irregularities; 

20 (7) inclusive and equitable promotion of can21 didate participation; 

22 (8) equitable access to polling places, voter edu23 cation information, and voting mechanisms (includ24 ing by persons with disabilities); and 


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1 (9) other sound election administration prac2 tices. 

3 (c) EXCHANGE OF ELECTORAL AUTHORITIES.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in 

5 consultation, as appropriate, with the United States 

6 Agency for International Development, may award 

7 grants to any United States-based organization 

8 that— 

9 (A) is described in section 501(c)(3) of the 

10 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt 

11 from tax under section 501(a) of such Code; 

12 (B) has experience in, and a primary focus 

13 on, foreign comparative election systems or sub14 ject matter expertise in the administration or 

15 integrity of such systems; and 

16 (C) submits an application in such form, 

17 and satisfying such requirements, as the Sec18 retary may require. 

19 (2) TYPES OF GRANTS.—An organization de20 scribed in paragraph (1) may receive a grant under 

21 this subsection to design and implement programs 

22 that— 

23 (A) bring to the United States election ad24 ministrators and officials, including government 

25 officials, poll workers, civil society representaVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S542.IS S542

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1 tives, members of the judiciary, and others who 

2 participate in the organization and administra3 tion of public elections in a foreign country that 

4 faces challenges to its electoral process to study 

5 election procedures in the United States for 

6 educational purposes; or 

7 (B) take election administrators and offi8 cials of the United States or of another country, 

9 including government officials, poll workers, 

10 civil society representatives, members of the ju11 diciary, and others who participate in the orga12 nization and administration of public elections 

13 to another country to study and discuss election 

14 procedures in such country for educational pur15 poses. 

16 (3) LIMITS ON ACTIVITIES.—Activities adminis17 tered under the Program may not— 

18 (A) include observation of an election for 

19 the purposes of assessing the validity or legit20 imacy of that election; 

21 (B) facilitate any advocacy for a certain 

22 electoral result by a grantee when participating 

23 in the Program; or 


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1 (C) be carried out without proper consulta2 tion with State and local authorities in the 

3 United States that administer elections. 

4 (4) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

5 Congress that the Secretary of State should estab6 lish and maintain a network of Global Electoral Ex7 change Program alumni, to promote communication 

8 and further exchange of information regarding 

9 sound election administration practices among cur10 rent and former Program participants. 

11 (5) LIMITATION.—A recipient of a grant under 

12 the Program may only use such grant for the pur13 pose for which such grant was awarded, unless oth14 erwise authorized by the Secretary of State. 

15 (6) NONDUPLICATIVE.—Grants made under 

16 this subsection may not be duplicative of any other 

17 grants made under any other provision of law for 

18 similar or related purposes. 

19 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

20 authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 for each of the 

21 fiscal years 2022 through 2026 to carry out this section. 

22 SEC. 4. CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT. 

23 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

24 of this Act and annually thereafter for the following 2 

25 years, the Secretary of State shall provide a briefing to 


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1 the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and 

2 the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep3 resentatives regarding the status of any activities carried 

4 out under section 3 during the preceding year, which shall 

5 include— 

6 (1) a summary of all exchanges conducted 

7 under the Global Electoral Exchange Program, in8 cluding information regarding grantees, participants, 

9 and the locations where program activities were held; 

10 (2) a description of the criteria used to select 

11 grantees under the Global Electoral Exchange Pro12 gram; and 

13 (3) recommendations for the improvement of 

14 the Global Electoral Exchange Program in further15 ance of the purpose specified in section 3(b). 

Æ 


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