II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4714 

To prohibit the distribution of false AI-generated election media and to 

amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to prohibit the 

removal of names from voting rolls using unverified voter challenge 

databases. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 11 (legislative day, JULY 10), 2024 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. PADILLA, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. WELCH, and Mr. 

WHITEHOUSE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

To prohibit the distribution of false AI-generated election 

media and to amend the National Voter Registration 

Act of 1993 to prohibit the removal of names from 

voting rolls using unverified voter challenge databases. 

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 ‘‘Fraudulent Artificial 

5 Intelligence Regulations (FAIR) Elections Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON FALSE AI-GENERATED ELECTION 

2 MEDIA. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) APPLICABLE FEDERAL ELECTION.—The 

5 term ‘‘applicable Federal election’’ means any gen6 eral, primary, runoff, or special election held solely 

7 or in part for the purpose of nominating or electing 

8 a candidate for the office of President, Vice Presi9 dent, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, 

10 Member of the House of Representatives, or Dele11 gate or Commissioner from a Territory or posses12 sion. 

13 (2) ELECTION OFFICIAL.—The term ‘‘election 

14 official’’ means any individual legally authorized to 

15 perform duties in connection with an applicable Fed16 eral election, including workers, volunteers, poll 

17 workers, and authorized poll observers. 

18 (3) FALSE AI-GENERATED ELECTION MEDIA.— 

19 The term ‘‘false AI-generated election media’’ means 

20 text. image, audio, or video that— 

21 (A) is the product of a computational proc22 ess that uses machine learning, natural lan23 guage processing, artificial intelligence tech24 niques, or other computational processing tech25 niques of similar or greater complexity; and 

26 (B) either— 


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1 (i) contains materially false informa2 tion relating to— 

3 (I) the time, place, or manner of 

4 holding any applicable Federal elec5 tion; or 

6 (II) the qualifications for or re7 strictions on voter eligibility for any 

8 such election; or 

9 (ii) falsely depicts an election official. 

10 (b) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in subsection 

11 (c), a person may not— 

12 (1) knowingly distribute false AI-generated elec13 tion media described in subsection (a)(3)(B)(i) if 

14 such person— 

15 (A) knows such media contains materially 

16 false information described in such subsection; 

17 and 

18 (B) has the purpose of impeding or pre19 venting another person from exercising the 

20 right to vote in an applicable Federal election; 

21 or 

22 (2) knowingly distribute false AI-generated elec23 tion media described in subsection (a)(3)(B)(ii) if 

24 such person— 


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1 (A) knows the depiction of the election of2 ficial in such media is materially false; and 

3 (B) has the intent to— 

4 (i) intimidate or harass an election of5 ficial; or 

6 (ii) deter another person from exer7 cising the right to vote in an applicable 

8 Federal election. 

9 (c) INAPPLICABILITY TO CERTAIN ENTITIES.—This 

10 section shall not apply to the following: 

11 (1) A radio or television broadcasting station, a 

12 cable or satellite television operator, programmer, or 

13 producer, or a streaming service that broadcasts 

14 false AI-generated election media prohibited by this 

15 section as part of a bona fide newscast, news inter16 view, news documentary, or on-the-spot coverage of 

17 bona fide news events, if the broadcast clearly ac18 knowledges through content or a disclosure, in a 

19 manner that can be easily heard or read by the aver20 age listener or viewer, that the information con21 tained in the media and described in subsection 

22 (a)(2)(B) is false. 

23 (2) A regularly published newspaper, magazine, 

24 or other periodical of general circulation, including 

25 an internet or electronic publication, that routinely 


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1 carries news and commentary of general interest, 

2 and that publishes false AI-generated election media 

3 prohibited under this section, if the publication 

4 clearly states that the information contained in the 

5 media and described in subsection (a)(2)(B) is false. 

6 (d) ENFORCEMENT.—The Attorney General may 

7 bring a civil action against any person who violates sub8 section (b) in an appropriate United States District Court 

9 for such declaratory and injunctive relief (including a tem10 porary restraining order, a permanent or temporary in11 junction, or other order). 

12 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON REMOVAL OF NAMES FROM VOT13 ING ROLLS USING UNVERIFIED VOTER CHAL14 LENGE DATABASES. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The National Voter Registration 

16 Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.) is amended by in17 serting after section 8 the following new section: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 8A. RESTRICTIONS ON REMOVAL OF VOTERS FROM 

19 OFFICIAL LISTS OF VOTERS. 

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State may not remove the 

21 name of any registrant from the official list of voters eligi22 ble to vote in elections for Federal office or take any action 

23 with respect to a voter eligibility challenge unless the reg24 istrant or voter is determined to be ineligible to vote based 

25 on— 


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1 ‘‘(1) source information received from govern2 mental entities and obtained by such entities in the 

3 course of carrying out official actions or duties; and 

4 ‘‘(2) source information approved by the Attor5 ney General as sufficient to protect the integrity and 

6 completeness of voter registration lists. 

7 ‘‘(b) APPROVAL OF VOTER INFORMATION DATA.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, in 

9 consultation with the Director of the National Insti10 tute of Standards and Technology and the members 

11 of the Election Assistance Commission, may approve 

12 source information under subsection (a)(3) if such 

13 information meets the following requirements: 

14 ‘‘(A) The source information contains 

15 qualifying data sets that allow the State match 

16 the individual identified by the source informa17 tion with an individual on the official list of vot18 ers eligible to vote in elections for Federal of19 fice. 

20 ‘‘(B) The source information is updated 

21 not less than a monthly. 

22 ‘‘(C) The source information was not ob23 tained in violation of section 1030 of title 18, 

24 United States Code (commonly known as the 

25 ‘Computer Fraud and Abuse Act’). 


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1 ‘‘(2) QUALIFYING DATA SETS.—For purposes of 

2 paragraph (1)(A), the term ‘qualifying data sets’ 

3 means the following sets of data with respect to an 

4 individual: 

5 ‘‘(A) Last name, first name, and full social 

6 security number. 

7 ‘‘(B) Last name, first name, and driver’s 

8 license or other unique identifying number as9 signed by the State. 

10 ‘‘(C) Last name, first name, last four dig11 its of a social security number, and date of 

12 birth. 

13 ‘‘(D) Last name, full social security num14 ber, and date of birth. 

15 ‘‘(c) COORDINATION WITH OTHER METHODS.— 

16 Nothing in this section be construed to preclude— 

17 ‘‘(1) the removal of names from official lists of 

18 voters on a basis described in paragraph (3) (A) or 

19 (B) or (4)(A) of section 8(a); 

20 ‘‘(2) the removal of names from official lists of 

21 voters on a basis described in section 8(c); or 

22 ‘‘(3) correction of registration records pursuant 

23 to this Act.’’. 

24 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 8(a) of 

25 such Act (52 U.S.C. 20507(a)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘provide’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘subject to section 8A, provide’’; and 

3 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘conduct’’ and 

4 inserting ‘‘subject to section 8A, conduct’’. 

5 SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY. 

6 If any provision of this Act, or an amendment made 

7 by this Act, or the application of such provision to any 

8 person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remain9 der of this Act, or an amendment made by this Act, or 

10 the application of such provision to other persons or cir11 cumstances, shall not be affected. 

Æ 


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