I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 102

To encourage increased voter registration for Federal, State, and local

elections, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 5, 1993

Mr. MICHEL (for himself and Mr. ROBERTS) introduced the following bill;

which was referred jointly to the Committees on House Administration

and the Judiciary

A BILL

To encourage increased voter registration for Federal, State,

and local elections, 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Voter Reg5 istration Enhancement Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

8 (1) the right to vote is a fundamental right;

9 (2) all citizens of the United States are entitled

10 to be protected from vote fraud and from voter reg-
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1 istration lists that contain the names of ineligible or

2 nonexistent voters, which dilute the worth of quali3 fied votes honestly cast; and

4 (3) all citizens of the United States are entitled

5 to be governed by elected and appointed public offi6 cers who are responsible to them and who govern in

7 the public interest without corruption, self-dealing,

8 or favoritism.

9 (b) PURPOSES.— The purposes of this Act are—

10 (1) to increase registration of citizens as voters

11 in elections for Federal office;

12 (2) to make it possible for Federal, State, and

13 local governments to enhance voter participation in

14 elections for Federal office;

15 (3) to protect the integrity of the electoral

16 process;

17 (4) to ensure the maintenance of accurate and

18 current official voter registration lists; and

19 (5) to guarantee to the States, and to their citi20 zens, a republican form of government, including

21 elections conducted free of fraud, and governmental

22 processes conducted free of corruption, self-dealing,

23 or favoritism.
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1 TITLE I—VOTER REGISTRATION

2 ENHANCEMENT

3 SEC. 101. FEDERAL COORDINATION AND BIENNIAL ASSESS4 MENT.

5 The Attorney General—

6 (1) shall be responsible for coordination of Fed7 eral functions under this Act;

8 (2) shall provide information to the States with

9 respect to State responsibilities under this Act; and

10 (3) shall, not later than June 30 of each even11 numbered year, submit to the Congress a report as12 sessing the impact of this Act on the administration

13 of elections for Federal office during the preceding

14 2 calendar years and providing recommendations for

15 improvements in Federal and State procedures,

16 forms, and other matters affected by this Act.

17 SEC. 102. RESPONSIBILITY OF CHIEF STATE ELECTION OF18 FICIAL.

19 The chief State election official of each State shall

20 be responsible for coordination of State functions under

21 this title.
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1 SEC. 103. VOTER REGISTRATION ENHANCEMENT BLOCK

2 GRANTS.

3 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

4 are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney Gen5 eral—

6 (1) for making grants under this section for fis7 cal years 1993, 1994, and 1995, a total of

8 $25,000,000; and

9 (2) such additional sums as may be necessary

10 for administrative expenses of the Attorney General

11 in carrying out this title.

12 (b) BLOCK GRANTS.—(1) From the amounts appro13 priated under subsection (a) for any fiscal year, the Attor14 ney General shall make grants to States, through chief

15 State election officials, for the purposes of supporting, fa16 cilitating, and enhancing voter registration.

17 (2) To qualify for a grant under paragraph (1), a

18 State shall match any amount of Federal funds dollar for

19 dollar with State funds for voter registration enhancement

20 activities, such as, but not limited to—

21 (A) providing for voter registration for elections

22 for Federal office at State departments of motor

23 vehicles; and

24 (B) providing for uniform and nondiscrim25 inatory programs to ensure that official voter reg-
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1 istration lists are accurate and current in each

2 State.

3 (c) ALLOCATION OF GRANTS.—(1) The Attorney

4 General shall by regulation establish criteria for allocation

5 of grants among States based on—

6 (A) the number of residents of each State;

7 (B) the percentage of eligible voters in each

8 State not registered to vote; and

9 (C) other appropriate factors.

10 (2) In promulgating criteria pursuant to paragraph

11 (1), the Attorney General shall give special consideration

12 to State-sponsored programs designed to improve registra13 tion in counties with voter registration percentages signifi14 cantly lower than that for the State as a whole.

15 (d) ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS.—(1) The At16 torney General shall by regulation establish administrative

17 requirements necessary to carry out this section.

18 (2) To be eligible to receive a grant under this sec19 tion, a State shall certify that the State—

20 (A) has in place legislative authority and a plan

21 to implement procedures to promote and facilitate,

22 to an extent and in such manner as the Attorney

23 General may deem adequate to carry out the pur24 poses of this title, voter registration for Federal elec-
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1 tions in connection with applications for driver’s li2 censes;

3 (B) agrees to use any amount received from a

4 grant under this section in accordance with the re5 quirements of this section;

6 (C) agrees that any amount received through a

7 grant under this section for any period will be used

8 to supplement and increase any State, local, or other

9 non-Federal funds that would, in the absence of the

10 grant, be made available for the programs and ac11 tivities for which grants are provided under this sec12 tion and will in no event supplant such State, local,

13 and other non-Federal funds; and

14 (D) has established fiscal control and fund ac15 counting procedures to ensure the proper disburse16 ment of, and accounting for, grants made to the

17 State under this section.

18 (3) The Attorney General may not prescribe for a

19 State the manner of compliance with the requirements of

20 this subsection.

21 (e) REPORTS.—(1) The chief State election official

22 of a State that receives a grant under this section shall

23 submit to the Attorney General annual reports on its ac24 tivities under this section.
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1 (2) A report required by paragraph (1) shall be in

2 such form and contain such information as the Attorney

3 General, after consultation with chief State election offi4 cials, determines to be necessary to—

5 (A) determine whether grant amounts were ex6 pended in accordance with this section;

7 (B) describe activities under this section; and

8 (C) provide a record of the progress made to9 ward achieving the purposes for which the block

10 grants were provided.

11 SEC. 104. DEFINITIONS.

12 For the purpose of this title—

13 (1) the term ‘‘chief State election official’’

14 means, with respect to a State, the officer, employee,

15 or entity with authority, under State law, for elec16 tion administration in the State;

17 (2) the term ‘‘election’’ has the meaning stated

18 in section 301(1) of the Federal Election Campaign

19 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(1));

20 (3) the term ‘‘Federal office’’ has the meaning

21 stated in section 301(3) of the Federal Election

22 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(3)); and

23 (4) the term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning stated in

24 section 301(12) of the Federal Election Campaign

25 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(12)).
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1 TITLE II—PUBLIC CORRUPTION

2 SEC. 201. ELECTION FRAUD AND OTHER PUBLIC CORRUP3 TION.

4 (a) AMENDMENT OF TITLE 18 OF THE UNITED

5 STATES CODE.—Chapter 11 of title 18, United States

6 Code, is amended by adding at the end thereof the follow7 ing new section:

8 ‘‘§ 226. Public corruption

9 ‘‘(a) Whoever, in a circumstance described in sub10 section (d), defrauds, or endeavors to defraud, by any

11 scheme or artifice, the inhabitants of the United States,

12 a State, a political subdivision of a State, or Indian coun13 try of the honest services of an official or employee of the

14 United States or the State, political subdivision, or Indian

15 tribal government shall be fined under this title, impris16 oned for not more than 20 years, or both.

17 ‘‘(b) Whoever, in a circumstance described in sub18 section (d), defrauds, or endeavors to defraud, by any

19 scheme or artifice, the inhabitants of the United States,

20 a State, a political subdivision of a State, or Indian coun21 try of a fair and impartially conducted election process

22 in any primary, runoff, special, or general election—

23 ‘‘(1) through the procurement, casting, or tab24 ulation of ballots that are materially false, fictitious,
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1 or fraudulent or that are invalid, under the laws of

2 the jurisdiction in which the election is held;

3 ‘‘(2) through paying or offering to pay any per4 son for voting;

5 ‘‘(3) through the procurement or submission of

6 voter registrations that contain false material infor7 mation, or omit material information; or

8 ‘‘(4) through the filing of any report required

9 to be filed under State law regarding an election

10 campaign that contains false material information or

11 omits material information,

12 shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for not more

13 than 20 years, or both.

14 ‘‘(c) Whoever, being a public official or an official or

15 employee of the United States, a State, a political subdivi16 sion of a State, or an Indian tribal government, in a cir17 cumstance described in subsection (d), defrauds or endeav18 ors to defraud, by any scheme or artifice, the inhabitants

19 of the United States, a State, a political subdivision of

20 a State, or Indian country of the right to have the affairs

21 of the United States, the State, political subdivision, or

22 Indian tribal government conducted on the basis of com23 plete, true, and accurate material information, shall be

24 fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than 20

25 years, or both.
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1 ‘‘(d) The circumstances referred to in subsections (a),

2 (b), and (c) are that—

3 ‘‘(1) for the purpose of executing or concealing

4 such scheme or artifice or attempting to do so, the

5 person so doing—

6 ‘‘(A) places in any post office or authorized

7 depository for mail matter, any matter or thing

8 whatever to be sent or delivered by the Postal

9 Service, or takes or receives therefrom, any

10 such matter or thing, or knowingly causes to be

11 delivered by mail according to the direction

12 thereon, or at the place at which it is directed

13 to be delivered by the person to whom it is ad14 dressed, any such matter or thing;

15 ‘‘(B) transmits or causes to be transmitted

16 by means of wire, radio, or television commu17 nication in interstate or foreign commerce any

18 writings, signs, signals, pictures, or sounds;

19 ‘‘(C) transports or causes to be trans20 ported any person or thing, or induces any per21 son to travel in or to be transported in, inter22 state or foreign commerce; or

23 ‘‘(D) in connection with intrastate, inter24 state, or foreign commerce, engages the use of

25 a facility of interstate or foreign commerce;
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1 ‘‘(2) the scheme or artifice affects or constitutes

2 an attempt to affect in any manner or degree, or

3 would if executed or concealed so affect, interstate

4 or foreign commerce; or

5 ‘‘(3) as applied to an offense under subsection

6 (b), an objective of the scheme or artifice is to se7 cure the election of an official who, if elected, would

8 have some authority over the administration of

9 funds derived from an Act of Congress totaling

10 $10,000 or more during the 12-month period imme11 diately preceding or following the election or date of

12 the offense.

13 ‘‘(e) Whoever defrauds or endeavors to defraud, by

14 any scheme or artifice, the inhabitants of the United

15 States of the honest services of a public official or person

16 who has been selected to be a public official shall be fined

17 under this title, imprisoned for not more than 20 years,

18 or both.

19 ‘‘(f) Whoever, being an official, public official, or per20 son who has been selected to be a public official, directly

21 or indirectly discharges, demotes, suspends, threatens,

22 harasses, or in any manner discriminates against an em23 ployee or official of the United States, a State, a political

24 subdivision of a State, or an Indian tribal government, or

25 endeavors to do so, in order to carry out or to conceal
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1 any scheme or artifice described in this section, shall be

2 fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than 5

3 years, or both.

4 ‘‘(g) For the purposes of this section—

5 ‘‘(1) the term ‘official’ includes—

6 ‘‘(A) any person employed by, exercising

7 any authority derived from, or holding any posi8 tion in an Indian tribal government or the gov9 ernment of a State or any subdivision of the ex10 ecutive, legislative, judicial, or other branch of

11 government thereof, including a department,

12 independent establishment, commission, admin13 istration, authority, board, and bureau, and a

14 corporation or other legal entity established and

15 subject to control by a government or govern16 ments for the execution of a governmental or

17 intergovernmental program;

18 ‘‘(B) any person acting or pretending to

19 act under color of official authority; and

20 ‘‘(C) any person who has been nominated,

21 appointed, or selected to be an official or who

22 has been officially informed that such person

23 will be so nominated, appointed, or selected;

24 ‘‘(2) the terms ‘public official’ and ‘person who

25 has been selected to be a public official’ have the
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1 meanings stated in section 201(a) and shall also in2 clude any person acting or pretending to act under

3 color of official authority;

4 ‘‘(3) the term ‘State’ means a State of the

5 United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto

6 Rico, and any other commonwealth, territory, or

7 possession of the United States; and

8 ‘‘(4) the term ‘under color of official authority’

9 includes any person who represents that such person

10 controls, is an agent of, or otherwise acts on behalf

11 of an official, a public official, or a person who has

12 been selected to be a public official.’’.

13 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—(1) The table of sec14 tions for chapter 11 of title 18, United States Code, is

15 amended by adding at the end thereof the following item:

‘‘226. Public corruption.’’.

16 (2) Section 1961(1) of title 18, United States Code,

17 is amended by inserting ‘‘section 226 (relating to public

18 corruption),’’ after ‘‘section 224 (relating to sports brib19 ery),’’.

20 (3) Section 2516(1)(c) of title 18, United States

21 Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘section 226 (relating to

22 public corruption),’’ after ‘‘section 224 (bribery in sport23 ing contests),’’.
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1 SEC. 202. FRAUD IN INTERSTATE COMMERCE.

2 (a) AMENDMENT OF TITLE 18 OF THE UNITED

3 STATES CODE.—Section 1343 of title 18, United States

4 Code, is amended—

5 (1) by striking ‘‘transmits or causes to be

6 transmitted by means of wire, radio, or television

7 communication in interstate or foreign commerce,

8 any writings, signs, signals, pictures, or sounds’’ and

9 inserting ‘‘in connection with intrastate, interstate,

10 or foreign commerce, engages the use of a facility of

11 interstate or foreign commerce’’; and

12 (2) by inserting ‘‘or attempting to do so’’ after

13 ‘‘for the purpose of executing such scheme or arti14 fice’’.

15 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—(1) The heading of

16 section 1343 of title 18, United States Code, is amended

17 to read as follows:

18 ‘‘§ 1343. Fraud by use of facility of interstate com19 merce’’.

20 (2) The chapter analysis for chapter 63 of title 18,

21 United States Code, is amended by striking the analysis

22 for section 1343 and inserting the following:

‘‘1343. Fraud by use of facility of interstate commerce.’’.
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1 SEC. 203. PRESERVATION OF THE EFFECT OF STATE LAW

2 THAT PROVIDES GREATER PROTECTION

3 AGAINST VOTE FRAUD.

4 In the case of any conflict between the provisions of

5 this Act and any provision of the civil or criminal law of

6 any State, the law of the State shall prevail to the extent

7 that such State law provides for more stringent suppres8 sion of vote fraud than this Act.

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