II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3142 

To protect election workers and polling places. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 2, 2021 

Mr. OSSOFF introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To protect election workers and polling places. 

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 ‘‘Election Worker and 

5 Polling Place Protection Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ELECTION WORKER AND POLLING PLACE PROTEC7 TION. 

8 Section 11 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

9 U.S.C. 10307) is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(f)(1) Whoever, whether or not acting under color 

12 of law, by force or threat of force, or violence, or threat 


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1 of harm to any person or property, willfully intimidates 

2 or interferes with, or attempts to intimidate or interfere 

3 with, the ability of any person or any class of persons to 

4 vote or qualify to vote, or to qualify or act as a poll watch5 er, or any legally authorized election official, in any pri6 mary, special, or general election, or any person who is, 

7 or is employed by, an agent, contractor, or vendor of a 

8 legally authorized election official assisting in the adminis9 tration of any primary, special, or general election, shall 

10 be fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned not more 

11 than one year, or both; and if bodily injury results from 

12 the acts committed in violation of this paragraph or if 

13 such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened 

14 use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, shall be 

15 fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than 

16 5 years, or both. 

17 ‘‘(2) Whoever, whether or not acting under color of 

18 law, willfully physically damages or threatens to physically 

19 damage any physical property being used as a polling 

20 place or tabulation center or other election infrastructure, 

21 with the intent to interfere with the administration of an 

22 election or the tabulation or certification of votes, shall 

23 be fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned not more 

24 than one year, or both; and if bodily injury results from 

25 the acts committed in violation of this paragraph or if 


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1 such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened 

2 use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, shall be 

3 fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than 

4 5 years, or both. 

5 ‘‘(3) For purposes of this subsection, de minimus 

6 damage or threats of de minimus damage to physical prop7 erty shall not be considered a violation of this subsection. 

8 ‘‘(4) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘elec9 tion infrastructure’ means any office of an election official, 

10 staff, worker, or volunteer or any physical, mechanical, or 

11 electrical device, structure, or tangible item used in the 

12 process of creating, distributing, voting, returning, count13 ing, tabulating, auditing, storing, or other handling of 

14 voter registration or ballot information. 

15 ‘‘(g) No prosecution of any offense described in this 

16 subsection may be undertaken by the United States, ex17 cept under the certification in writing of the Attorney Gen18 eral, or a designee, that— 

19 ‘‘(1) the State does not have jurisdiction; 

20 ‘‘(2) the State has requested that the Federal 

21 Government assume jurisdiction; or 

22 ‘‘(3) a prosecution by the United States is in 

23 the public interest and necessary to secure substan24 tial justice.’’. 

Æ 


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