IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 753 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 21, 2019 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

AN ACT 

To promote international exchanges on best election practices, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Global Electoral Ex3 change Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

5 It is the sense of Congress that— 

6 (1) recent elections globally have illustrated the 

7 urgent need for the promotion and exchange of 

8 international best election practices, particularly in 

9 the areas of cybersecurity, results transmission, 

10 transparency of electoral data, election dispute reso11 lution, and the elimination of discriminatory reg12 istration practices and other electoral irregularities; 

13 (2) the advancement of democracy worldwide 

14 promotes American interests, as stable democracies 

15 provide new market opportunities, improve global 

16 health outcomes, and promote economic freedom and 

17 regional security; 

18 (3) credible elections are the cornerstone of a 

19 healthy democracy and enable all persons to exercise 

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

21 are governed; 

22 (4) inclusive elections strengthen the credibility 

23 and stability of democracies more broadly; 

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

25 professionalism of the election management body 

26 and an empowered civil society; 


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1 (6) the development of local expertise via peer2 to-peer learning and exchanges promotes the inde3 pendence of such bodies from internal and external 

4 influence; and 

5 (7) supporting the efforts of peoples in democ6 ratizing societies to build more representative gov7 ernments in their respective countries is in the na8 tional interest of the United States. 

9 SEC. 3. GLOBAL ELECTORAL EXCHANGE. 

10 (a) GLOBAL ELECTORAL EXCHANGE.—The Sec11 retary of State is authorized to establish and administer 

12 a Global Electoral Exchange Program to promote the utili13 zation of sound election administration practices around 

14 the world. 

15 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Global Electoral 

16 Exchange Program described in subsection (a) shall in17 clude the promotion and exchange of international best 

18 election practices, including in the areas of— 

19 (1) cybersecurity; 

20 (2) results transmission; 

21 (3) transparency of electoral data; 

22 (4) election dispute resolution; 

23 (5) the elimination of discriminatory registra24 tion practices and electoral irregularities; 


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1 (6) equitable access to polling places, voter edu2 cation information, and voting mechanisms (includ3 ing by persons with disabilities); and 

4 (7) other sound election administration prac5 tices. 

6 (c) EXCHANGE OF ELECTORAL AUTHORITIES.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State may, 

8 in consultation, as appropriate, with the United 

9 States Agency for International Development, make 

10 grants to any United States-based organization de11 scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 

12 Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under section 

13 501(a) of such Code with experience in and a pri14 mary focus on foreign comparative election systems 

15 or subject matter expertise in the administration or 

16 integrity of such systems that submits an application 

17 in such form, and satisfying such requirements, as 

18 the Secretary may require. 

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

21 or more of the following purposes: 

22 (A) To design and implement programs 

23 bringing election administrators and officials, 

24 including government officials, poll workers, 

25 civil society representatives, members of the juVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 May 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H753.RFS H753

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1 diciary, and others who participate in the orga2 nization and administration of public elections 

3 in a foreign country that faces challenges to its 

4 electoral process to the United States to study 

5 election procedures in the United States for 

6 educational purposes. 

7 (B) To design and implement programs 

8 taking the United States or another country’s 

9 election administrators and officials, including 

10 government officials, poll workers, civil society 

11 representatives, members of the judiciary, and 

12 others who participate in the organization and 

13 administration of public elections to study and 

14 discuss election procedures for educational pur15 poses. 

16 (3) LIMITS ON ACTIVITIES.—Activities adminis17 tered under the Global Electoral Exchange Program 

18 may not— 

19 (A) include observation of an election for 

20 the purposes of assessing the validity or legit21 imacy of that election; 

22 (B) facilitate any advocacy for a certain 

23 electoral result by a grantee when participating 

24 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) FURTHER LIMITS.—A recipient of a grant 

12 under the Global Electoral Exchange Program may 

13 use such grant for only the purpose for which such 

14 grant was awarded, unless otherwise authorized by 

15 the Secretary of State. 

16 (6) NOT DUPLICATIVE.—Grants made under 

17 this subsection may not be duplicative of any other 

18 grants made under any other provision of law for 

19 similar or related purposes. 

20 SEC. 4. CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT. 

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

22 of this Act and in each of the following 2 years thereafter, 

23 the Secretary of State shall provide to the Committee on 

24 Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 

25 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a briefing 


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1 on the status of any activities carried out pursuant to this 

2 Act during the preceding year, which shall include, among 

3 other information, the following: 

4 (1) A summary of all exchanges conducted 

5 under the Global Electoral Exchange Program, in6 cluding information regarding grantees, participants, 

7 and the locations where program activities were held. 

8 (2) A description of the criteria used to select 

9 grantees under the Global Electoral Exchange Pro10 gram. 

11 (3) Any recommendations for the improvement 

12 of the Global Electoral Exchange Program, based on 

13 the purpose specified in section 3(b). 

14 SEC. 5. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED. 

15 No additional funds are authorized to be appro16 priated to carry out the requirements of this Act. Such 

17 requirements shall be carried out using amounts otherwise 

18 authorized to be appropriated. 

Passed the House of Representatives May 20, 2019. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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