I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9968 

To protect election workers and polling places. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 11, 2024 

Mr. GOTTHEIMER (for himself and Mr. BACON) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To protect election workers and polling places. 

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 ‘‘Election Worker and 

5 Polling Place Protection Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON INTERFERENCE AND INTIMIDA7 TION. 

8 Section 11 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

9 U.S.C. 10307) is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(f)(1)(A) Whoever, whether or not acting under 

12 color of law, by force or threat of force, or by violence 


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1 or threat of violence to any person or property, willfully 

2 interferes with or attempts to interfere with, the ability 

3 of any person or any class of persons to vote or qualify 

4 to vote, or to qualify or act as a poll watcher or as any 

5 legally authorized election official, in any primary, special, 

6 or general election, or any person who is, or is employed 

7 by, an agent, contractor, or vendor of a legally authorized 

8 election official assisting in the administration of any pri9 mary, special, or general election to assist in that adminis10 tration, shall be fined not more than $2,500, or impris11 oned not more than 6 months, or both. 

12 ‘‘(B) Whoever, whether or not acting under color of 

13 law, by force or threat of force, or by violence or threat 

14 of violence to any person or property, willfully intimidates 

15 or attempts to intimidate, any person or any class of per16 sons seeking to vote or qualify to vote, or to qualify or 

17 act as a poll watcher or as any legally authorized election 

18 official, in any primary, special, or general election, or any 

19 person who is, or is employed by, an agent, contractor, 

20 or vendor of a legally authorized election official assisting 

21 in the administration of any primary, special, or general 

22 election, shall be fined not more than $2,500, or impris23 oned not more than 6 months, or both. 

24 ‘‘(C) If bodily injury results from an act committed 

25 in violation of this paragraph or if such act includes the 


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1 use, attempted use, or threatened use of a dangerous 

2 weapon, an explosive, or fire, then, in lieu of the remedy 

3 described in subparagraph (A) or (B), the violator shall 

4 be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more 

5 than 1 year, or both. 

6 ‘‘(2)(A) Whoever, whether or not acting under color 

7 of law, willfully physically damages or threatens to phys8 ically damage any physical property being used as a poll9 ing place or tabulation center or other election infrastruc10 ture, with the intent to interfere with the administration 

11 of a primary, general, or special election or the tabulation 

12 or certification of votes for such an election, shall be fined 

13 not more than $2,500, or imprisoned not more than 6 

14 months, or both. 

15 ‘‘(B) If bodily injury results from an act committed 

16 in violation of this paragraph or if such act includes the 

17 use, attempted use, or threatened use of a dangerous 

18 weapon, an explosive, or fire, then, in lieu of the remedy 

19 described in subparagraph (A), the violator shall be fined 

20 not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than 1 year, 

21 or both. 

22 ‘‘(3) For purposes of this subsection, de minimus 

23 damage or a threat of de minimus damage to physical 

24 property shall not be considered a violation of this sub25 section. 


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1 ‘‘(4) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘elec2 tion infrastructure’ means any office of a legally author3 ized election official, or a staffer, worker, or volunteer, as4 sisting such an election official or any physical, mechan5 ical, or electrical device, structure, or tangible item, used 

6 in the process of creating, distributing, voting, returning, 

7 counting, tabulating, auditing, storing, or other handling 

8 of voter registration or ballot information. 

9 ‘‘(g) No prosecution of any offense described in sub10 section (f) may be undertaken by the United States, ex11 cept under the certification in writing of the Attorney Gen12 eral, or a designee, that— 

13 ‘‘(1) the State does not have jurisdiction; 

14 ‘‘(2) the State has requested that the Federal 

15 Government assume jurisdiction; or 

16 ‘‘(3) a prosecution by the United States is in 

17 the public interest and necessary to secure substan18 tial justice.’’. 

Æ 


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