II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1975 

To prohibit deceptive practices in Federal elections. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 8, 2005 

Mr. OBAMA introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

To prohibit deceptive practices in Federal elections. 

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 ‘‘Deceptive Practices 

5 and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DECEPTIVE PRACTICES IN ELECTIONS. 

7 (a) CIVIL ACTION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (b) of section 

9 2004 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1971(b)) is 

10 amended— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘No person’’ and inserting 

12 the following: 
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1 ‘‘(1) No person’’; and 

2 (B) by inserting at the end the following 

3 new paragraph: 

4 ‘‘(2) No person, whether acting under color of 

5 law or otherwise, shall knowingly deceive any other 

6 person regarding— 

7 ‘‘(A) the time, place, or manner of con8 ducting a general, primary, run-off, or special 

9 election for the office of President, Vice Presi10 dent, presidential elector, Member of the Sen11 ate, Member of the House of Representatives, 

12 or Delegate or Commissioner from a territory 

13 or possession; or 

14 ‘‘(B) the qualifications for or restrictions 

15 on voter eligibility for any election described in 

16 subparagraph (A).’’. 

17 (2) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (c) of sec19 tion 2004 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 

20 1971(c)) is amended— 

21 (i) by striking ‘‘Whenever any person’’ 

22 and inserting the following: 

23 ‘‘(1) Whenever any person’’; and 

24 (ii) by adding at the end the following 

25 new paragraph: 
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1 ‘‘(2) Any person aggrieved by a violation of 

2 subsection (b)(2) may institute a civil action or other 

3 proper proceeding for preventive relief, including an 

4 application in a United States district court for a 

5 permanent or temporary injunction, restraining 

6 order, or other order.’’. 

7 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

8 (i) Subsection (e) of section 2004 of 

9 the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1971(e)) 

10 is amended by striking ‘‘subsection (c)’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘subsection (c)(1)’’. 

12 (ii) Subsection (g) of section 2004 of 

13 the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1971(g)) 

14 is amended by striking ‘‘subsection (c)’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘subsection (c)(1)’’. 

16 (b) CRIMINAL PENALTY.—Section 594 of title 18, 

17 United States Code, is amended— 

18 (1) by striking ‘‘Whoever’’ and inserting the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(a) INTIMIDATION.—Whoever’’; and 

21 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(b) DECEPTIVE ACTS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful 

25 for any person to knowingly deceive another 
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1 person regarding the time, place, or manner of 

2 an election described in subparagraph (B), or 

3 the qualifications for or restrictions on voter eli4 gibility for any such election, with the intent to 

5 prevent such person from exercising the right to 

6 vote in such election. 

7 ‘‘(B) ELECTION.—An election described in 

8 this subparagraph is any general, primary, run9 off, or special election for the office of Presi10 dent, Vice President, presidential elector, Mem11 ber of the Senate, Member of the House of 

12 Representatives, Delegate of the District of Co13 lumbia, or Resident Commissioner. 

14 ‘‘(2) PENALTY.—Any person who violates para15 graph (1) shall be fined not more than $100,000, 

16 imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both.’’. 

17 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

18 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

19 of this Act. 

20 SEC. 3. REPORTING FALSE ELECTION INFORMATION. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any person may report to the As22 sistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division of 

23 the Department of Justice, or the designee of such Assist24 ant Attorney General, any act of deception regarding— 
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1 (1) the time, place, or manner of conducting a 

2 general, primary, run-off, or special election for Fed3 eral office; or 

4 (2) the qualifications for or restrictions on voter 

5 eligibility for any general, primary, run-off, or spe6 cial election for Federal office. 

7 (b) CORRECTIVE ACTION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para9 graph (2), not later than 48 hours after receiving a 

10 report under subsection (a), the Assistant Attorney 

11 General shall investigate such report and, if the As12 sistant Attorney General determines that an act of 

13 deception described in subsection (a) occurred, 

14 shall— 

15 (A) undertake all effective measures nec16 essary to provide correct information to voters 

17 affected by the deception, and 

18 (B) refer the matter to the appropriate 

19 Federal and State authorities for criminal pros20 ecution. 

21 (2) REPORTS WITHIN 72 HOURS OF AN ELEC22 TION.—If a report under subsection (a) is received 

23 within 72 hours before the election described in such 

24 subsection, the Assistant Attorney General shall im25 mediately investigate such report and, if the Assist-
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1 ant Attorney General determines that an act of de2 ception described in subsection (a) occurred, shall 

3 immediately undertake all effective measures nec4 essary to provide correct information to voters af5 fected by the deception. 

6 (3) REGULATIONS.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

8 shall promulgate regulations regarding the 

9 methods and means of corrective actions to be 

10 taken under paragraphs (1) and (2). Such regu11 lations shall be developed in consultation with 

12 the Election Assistance Commission, civil rights 

13 organizations, voting rights groups, State elec14 tion officials, voter protection groups, and other 

15 interested community organizations. 

16 (B) STUDY.— 

17 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney Gen18 eral, in consultation with the Federal Com19 munications Commission and the Election 

20 Assistance Commission, shall conduct a 

21 study on the feasibility of providing the 

22 corrective information under paragraphs 

23 (1) and (2) through public service an24 nouncements, the emergency alert system, 

25 or other forms of public broadcast. 
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1 (ii) REPORT.—Not later than 180 

2 days after the date of the enactment of 

3 this Act, the Attorney General shall submit 

4 to Congress a report detailing the results 

5 of the study conducted under clause (i). 

6 (c) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

8 any primary, general, or run-off election for Federal 

9 office, the Attorney General shall submit to the ap10 propriate committees of Congress a report compiling 

11 and detailing any allegations of deceptive practices 

12 submitted pursuant to subsection (a) and relating to 

13 such election. 

14 (2) CONTENTS.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each report submitted 

16 under paragraph (1) shall include— 

17 (i) detailed information on specific al18 legations of deceptive tactics; 

19 (ii) any corrective actions taken in re20 sponse to such allegations; 

21 (iii) the effectiveness of any such cor22 rective actions; 

23 (iv) any suit instituted under section 

24 2004(b)(2) of the Revised Statutes (42 
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1 U.S.C. 1971(b)(2)) in connection with such 

2 allegations; 

3 (v) statistical compilations of how 

4 many allegations were made and of what 

5 type; 

6 (vi) the geographic locations of and 

7 the populations affected by the alleged de8 ceptive information; and 

9 (vii) the status of the investigations of 

10 such allegations. 

11 (B) EXCEPTION.—The Attorney General 

12 may withhold any information that the Attorney 

13 General determines would unduly interfere with 

14 an on-going investigation. 

15 (3) REPORT MADE PUBLIC.—The Attorney 

16 General shall make the report required under para17 graph (1) publicly available through the Internet 

18 and other appropriate means. 

19 (d) FEDERAL OFFICE.—For purposes of this section, 

20 the term ‘‘Federal office’’ means the office of President, 

21 Vice President, presidential elector, Member of the Senate, 

22 Member of the House of Representatives, or Delegate or 

23 Commissioner from a territory or possession of the United 

24 States. 
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1 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General 

3 such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section. 

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