I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 103 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prevent the election practice 

known as caging, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 6, 2009 

Mr. CONYERS (for himself, Mr. NADLER of New York, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of 

California, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. 

WEXLER, Mr. COHEN, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, and Mr. 

SCHIFF) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prevent the 

election practice known as caging, 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 ‘‘Caging Prohibition Act 

5 of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. VOTER CAGING AND OTHER QUESTIONABLE CHAL2 LENGES PROHIBITED. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 29 of title 18, United 

4 States Code is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘§ 618. Voter caging and other questionable chal7 lenges 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

9 ‘‘(1) the term ‘voter caging document’ means— 

10 ‘‘(A) a nonforwardable document that is 

11 returned to the sender or a third party as unde12 livered or undeliverable despite an attempt to 

13 deliver such document to the address of a reg14 istered voter or applicant; or 

15 ‘‘(B) any document with instructions to an 

16 addressee that the document be returned to the 

17 sender or a third party but is not so returned, 

18 despite an attempt to deliver such document to 

19 the address of a registered voter or applicant, 

20 unless at least two Federal election cycles have 

21 passed since the date of the attempted delivery; 

22 ‘‘(2) the term ‘voter caging list’ means a list of 

23 individuals compiled from voter caging documents; 

24 and 

25 ‘‘(3) the term ‘unverified match list’ means a 

26 list produced by matching the information of regVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:17 Jan 09, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H103.IH H103

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1 istered voters or applicants for voter registration to 

2 a list of individuals who are ineligible to vote in the 

3 registrar’s jurisdiction, by virtue of death, convic4 tion, change of address, or otherwise; unless one of 

5 the pieces of information matched includes a signa6 ture, photograph, or unique identifying number en7 suring that the information from each source refers 

8 to the same individual. 

9 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION AGAINST VOTER CAGING.—No 

10 State or local election official shall prevent an individual 

11 from registering or voting in any election for Federal of12 fice, or permit in connection with any election for Federal 

13 office a formal challenge under State law to an individual’s 

14 registration status or eligibility to vote, if the basis for 

15 such decision is evidence consisting of— 

16 ‘‘(1) a voter caging document or voter caging 

17 list; 

18 ‘‘(2) an unverified match list; 

19 ‘‘(3) an error or omission on any record or 

20 paper relating to any application, registration, or 

21 other act requisite to voting, if such error or omis22 sion is not material to an individual’s eligibility to 

23 vote under section 2004 of the Revised Statutes, as 

24 amended (42 U.S.C. 1971(a)(2)(B)); or 


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1 ‘‘(4) any other evidence so designated for pur2 poses of this section by the Election Assistance Com3 mission, 

4 except that the election official may use such evidence if 

5 it is corroborated by independent evidence of the individ6 ual’s ineligibility to register or vote. 

7 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR CHALLENGES BY PERSONS

8 OTHER THAN ELECTION OFFICIALS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) ATTESTATION OF FIRST-HAND KNOWL10 EDGE OF INELIGIBILITY.—No person, other than a 

11 State or local election official, shall submit a formal 

12 challenge to an individual’s eligibility to register to 

13 vote in an election for Federal office or to vote in 

14 an election for Federal office unless that challenge 

15 is supported by personal, first-hand knowledge re16 garding the grounds for ineligibility which is— 

17 ‘‘(A) documented in writing; and 

18 ‘‘(B) subject to an oath or attestation 

19 under penalty of perjury that the individual 

20 who is the subject of the challenge is ineligible 

21 to register to vote or vote in that election. 

22 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITING CHALLENGES BASED ON

23 CERTAIN EVIDENCE.—No person, other than a State 

24 or local election official, shall submit a formal chal25 lenge to an individual’s eligibility to register to vote 


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1 in an election for Federal office or to vote in an elec2 tion for Federal office if the basis for such challenge 

3 is evidence consisting of— 

4 ‘‘(A) a voter caging document or voter cag5 ing list; 

6 ‘‘(B) an unverified match list; 

7 ‘‘(C) an error or omission on any record or 

8 paper relating to any application, registration, 

9 or other act requisite to voting, if such error or 

10 omission is not material to an individual’s eligi11 bility to vote under section 2004 of the Revised 

12 Statutes, as amended (42 U.S.C. 

13 1971(a)(2)(B)); or 

14 ‘‘(D) any other evidence so designated for 

15 purposes of this section by the Election Assist16 ance Commission. 

17 ‘‘(d) PENALTIES FOR KNOWING MISCONDUCT.— 

18 Whoever knowingly challenges the eligibility of one or 

19 more individuals to register or vote or knowingly causes 

20 the eligibility of such individuals to be challenged in viola21 tion of this section with the intent that one or more eligi22 ble voters be disqualified, shall be fined under this title 

23 or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both, for each 

24 such violation. Each violation shall be a separate offense. 


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1 ‘‘(e) NO EFFECT ON RELATED LAWS.—Nothing in 

2 this section is intended to override the protections of the 

3 National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 

4 1973gg et seq.) or to affect the Voting Rights Act of 1965 

5 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.).’’. 

6 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

7 for chapter 29 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

8 by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘618. Voter caging and other questionable challenges.’’. 

9 SEC. 3. SEVERABILITY. 

10 If any provision of this Act or any amendment made 

11 by this Act, or the application of a provision to any person 

12 or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the re13 mainder of this Act and the amendments made by this 

14 Act, and the application of the provisions to any person 

15 or circumstance, shall not be affected by the holding. 

Æ 


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