II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2626 

To enhance protections for election records. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 5, 2021 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. OSSOFF, and Mr. MERKLEY) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

To enhance protections for election records. 

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 ‘‘Protecting Election 

5 Administration from Interference Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ENHANCEMENT OF PROTECTIONS FOR ELECTION 

7 RECORDS, PAPERS, AND EQUIPMENT. 

8 (a) PRESERVATION OF RECORDS, PAPER, AND

9 EQUIPMENT.—Section 301 of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 

10 (52 U.S.C. 20701) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘Every officer’’ and inserting 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Every officer’’; 

4 (2) by striking ‘‘records and papers’’ and in5 serting ‘‘records (including electronic records), pa6 pers, and election equipment’’ each place the term 

7 appears; 

8 (3) by striking ‘‘record or paper’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘record (including electronic record), paper, or elec10 tion equipment’’; 

11 (4) by inserting ‘‘(but only under the direct ad12 ministrative supervision of an election officer). Not13 withstanding any other provision of this section, the 

14 paper record of a voter’s cast ballot shall remain the 

15 official record of the cast ballot for purposes of this 

16 title’’ after ‘‘upon such custodian’’; 

17 (5) by inserting ‘‘, or acts in reckless disregard 

18 of,’’ after ‘‘fails to comply with’’; and 

19 (6) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(b) ELECTION EQUIPMENT.—The requirement in 

22 subsection (a) to preserve election equipment shall not be 

23 construed to prevent the reuse of such equipment in any 

24 election that takes place within twenty-two months of a 

25 Federal election described in subsection (a), provided that 


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1 all electronic records, files, and data from such equipment 

2 related to such Federal election are retained and pre3 served. 

4 ‘‘(c) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 1 year after the 

5 date of the enactment of this subsection, the Director of 

6 the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency of 

7 the Department of Homeland Security, in consultation 

8 with the Election Assistance Commission and the Attorney 

9 General, shall issue guidance regarding compliance with 

10 subsections (a) and (b), including minimum standards and 

11 best practices for retaining and preserving records (includ12 ing electronic records), papers, and election equipment in 

13 compliance with subsections (a) and (b). Such guidance 

14 shall also include protocols for enabling the observation 

15 of the preservation, security, and transfer of records (in16 cluding electronic records), papers, and election equipment 

17 described in subsection (a) by the Attorney General and 

18 by a representative of each party, as defined by the Attor19 ney General.’’. 

20 (b) PENALTY.—Section 302 of the Civil Rights Act 

21 of 1960 (52 U.S.C. 20702) is amended— 

22 (1) by inserting ‘‘, or whose reckless disregard 

23 of section 301 results in the theft, destruction, con24 cealment, mutilation, or alteration of,’’ after ‘‘or al25 ters’’; and 


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1 (2) by striking ‘‘record or paper’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘record (including electronic record), paper, or elec3 tion equipment’’. 

4 (c) INSPECTION, REPRODUCTION, AND COPYING.— 

5 Section 303 of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 (52 U.S.C. 

6 20703) is amended by striking ‘‘record or paper’’ and in7 serting ‘‘record (including electronic record), paper, or 

8 election equipment’’ each place the term appears. 

9 (d) NONDISCLOSURE.—Section 304 of the Civil 

10 Rights Act of 1960 (52 U.S.C. 20704) is amended by 

11 striking ‘‘record or paper’’ and inserting ‘‘record (includ12 ing electronic record), paper, or election equipment’’. 

13 (e) JURISDICTION TO COMPEL PRODUCTION.—Sec14 tion 305 of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 (52 U.S.C. 

15 20705) is amended by striking ‘‘record or paper’’ and in16 serting ‘‘record (including electronic record), paper, or 

17 election equipment’’. 

18 SEC. 3. JUDICIAL REVIEW FOR ELECTION RECORDS. 

19 Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 (52 U.S.C. 

20 20701 et seq.), is amended— 

21 (1) by redesignating section 306 as section 307; 

22 and 

23 (2) by inserting after section 305 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 306. JUDICIAL REVIEW TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE. 

2 ‘‘(a) RIGHT OF ACTION.—The Attorney General, a 

3 representative of the Attorney General, or a candidate in 

4 a Federal election described in section 301 may bring an 

5 action in the district court of the United States for the 

6 judicial district in which a record or paper is located, or 

7 in the United States District Court for the District of Co8 lumbia, to compel compliance with the requirements of 

9 section 301. 

10 ‘‘(b) DUTY TO EXPEDITE.—It shall be the duty of 

11 the court to advance on the docket, and to expedite to 

12 the greatest possible extent the disposition of, the action 

13 and appeal under this section.’’. 

14 SEC. 4. CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR INTIMIDATION OF TAB15 ULATION, CANVASS, OR CERTIFICATION EF16 FORTS. 

17 Section 12(1) of the National Voter Registration Act 

18 of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20511(1)) is amended— 

19 (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

20 the end; and 

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

22 ‘‘(D) processing or scanning of ballots, or 

23 tabulating, canvassing, or certifying voting re24 sults; or’’. 

Æ 


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