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[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1975 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Deceptive Practices and Voter 
Intimidation Prevention Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. DECEPTIVE PRACTICES IN ELECTIONS.

    (a) Civil Action.--
            (1) In general.--Subsection (b) of section 2004 of the 
        Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1971(b)) is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``No person'' and inserting the 
                following:
            ``(1) No person''; and
                    (B) by inserting at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(2) No person, whether acting under color of law or 
        otherwise, shall knowingly deceive any other person regarding--
                    ``(A) the time, place, or manner of conducting a 
                general, primary, run-off, or special election for the 
                office of President, Vice President, presidential 
                elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of 
                Representatives, or Delegate or Commissioner from a 
                territory or possession; or
                    ``(B) the qualifications for or restrictions on 
                voter eligibility for any election described in 
                subparagraph (A).''.
            (2) Private right of action.--
                    (A) In general.--Subsection (c) of section 2004 of 
                the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1971(c)) is amended--
                            (i) by striking ``Whenever any person'' and 
                        inserting the following:
            ``(1) Whenever any person''; and
                            (ii) by adding at the end the following new 
                        paragraph:
            ``(2) Any person aggrieved by a violation of subsection 
        (b)(2) may institute a civil action or other proper proceeding 
        for preventive relief, including an application in a United 
        States district court for a permanent or temporary injunction, 
        restraining order, or other order.''.
                    (B) Conforming amendments.--
                            (i) Subsection (e) of section 2004 of the 
                        Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1971(e)) is amended 
                        by striking ``subsection (c)'' and inserting 
                        ``subsection (c)(1)''.
                            (ii) Subsection (g) of section 2004 of the 
                        Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1971(g)) is amended 
                        by striking ``subsection (c)'' and inserting 
                        ``subsection (c)(1)''.
    (b) Criminal Penalty.--Section 594 of title 18, United States Code, 
is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Whoever'' and inserting the following:
    ``(a) Intimidation.--Whoever''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Deceptive Acts.--
            ``(1) Prohibition.--
                    ``(A) In general.--It shall be unlawful for any 
                person to knowingly deceive another person regarding 
                the time, place, or manner of an election described in 
                subparagraph (B), or the qualifications for or 
                restrictions on voter eligibility for any such 
                election, with the intent to prevent such person from 
                exercising the right to vote in such election.
                    ``(B) Election.--An election described in this 
                subparagraph is any general, primary, run-off, or 
                special election for the office of President, Vice 
                President, presidential elector, Member of the Senate, 
                Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate of the 
                District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner.
            ``(2) Penalty.--Any person who violates paragraph (1) shall 
        be fined not more than $100,000, imprisoned not more than 1 
        year, or both.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. REPORTING FALSE ELECTION INFORMATION.

    (a) In General.--Any person may report to the Assistant Attorney 
General of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, or 
the designee of such Assistant Attorney General, any act of deception 
regarding--
            (1) the time, place, or manner of conducting a general, 
        primary, run-off, or special election for Federal office; or
            (2) the qualifications for or restrictions on voter 
        eligibility for any general, primary, run-off, or special 
        election for Federal office.
    (b) Corrective Action.--
            (1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), not 
        later than 48 hours after receiving a report under subsection 
        (a), the Assistant Attorney General shall investigate such 
        report and, if the Assistant Attorney General determines that 
        an act of deception described in subsection (a) occurred, 
        shall--
                    (A) undertake all effective measures necessary to 
                provide correct information to voters affected by the 
                deception, and
                    (B) refer the matter to the appropriate Federal and 
                State authorities for criminal prosecution.
            (2) Reports within 72 hours of an election.--If a report 
        under subsection (a) is received within 72 hours before the 
        election described in such subsection, the Assistant Attorney 
        General shall immediately investigate such report and, if the 
        Assistant Attorney General determines that an act of deception 
        described in subsection (a) occurred, shall immediately 
        undertake all effective measures necessary to provide correct 
        information to voters affected by the deception.
            (3) Regulations.--
                    (A) In general.--The Attorney General shall 
                promulgate regulations regarding the methods and means 
                of corrective actions to be taken under paragraphs (1) 
                and (2). Such regulations shall be developed in 
                consultation with the Election Assistance Commission, 
                civil rights organizations, voting rights groups, State 
                election officials, voter protection groups, and other 
                interested community organizations.
                    (B) Study.--
                            (i) In general.--The Attorney General, in 
                        consultation with the Federal Communications 
                        Commission and the Election Assistance 
                        Commission, shall conduct a study on the 
                        feasibility of providing the corrective 
                        information under paragraphs (1) and (2) 
                        through public service announcements, the 
                        emergency alert system, or other forms of 
                        public broadcast.
                            (ii) Report.--Not later than 180 days after 
                        the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
                        Attorney General shall submit to Congress a 
                        report detailing the results of the study 
                        conducted under clause (i).
    (c) Reports to Congress.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after any primary, 
        general, or run-off election for Federal office, the Attorney 
        General shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress 
        a report compiling and detailing any allegations of deceptive 
        practices submitted pursuant to subsection (a) and relating to 
        such election.
            (2) Contents.--
                    (A) In general.--Each report submitted under 
                paragraph (1) shall include--
                            (i) detailed information on specific 
                        allegations of deceptive tactics;
                            (ii) any corrective actions taken in 
                        response to such allegations;
                            (iii) the effectiveness of any such 
                        corrective actions;
                            (iv) any suit instituted under section 
                        2004(b)(2) of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 
                        1971(b)(2)) in connection with such 
                        allegations;
                            (v) statistical compilations of how many 
                        allegations were made and of what type;
                            (vi) the geographic locations of and the 
                        populations affected by the alleged deceptive 
                        information; and
                            (vii) the status of the investigations of 
                        such allegations.
                    (B) Exception.--The Attorney General may withhold 
                any information that the Attorney General determines 
                would unduly interfere with an on-going investigation.
            (3) Report made public.--The Attorney General shall make 
        the report required under paragraph (1) publicly available 
        through the Internet and other appropriate means.
    (d) Federal Office.--For purposes of this section, the term 
``Federal office'' means the office of President, Vice President, 
presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of 
Representatives, or Delegate or Commissioner from a territory or 
possession of the United States.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Attorney General such sums as may be necessary to 
carry out this section.
                                 <all>
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