H. R. 6513 

One Hundred Eighteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and twenty-four 

An Act 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to confirm the requirement that 

States allow access to designated congressional election observers to observe the 

election administration procedures in congressional elections. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Confirmation Of Congressional 

Observer Access Act of 2024’’ or the ‘‘COCOA Act of 2024’’. 

SEC. 2. ACCESS FOR CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION OBSERVERS. 

(a) ACCESS REQUIRED.—Title III of the Help America Vote 

Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended— 

(1) by redesignating section 304 and 305 as sections 305 

and 306; and 

(2) by inserting after section 303 the following new section: 

‘‘SEC. 304. ACCESS FOR CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION OBSERVERS. 

‘‘(a) FINDING OF CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY.—Congress finds 

that, regardless of legislative action, it has the authority to send 

congressional election observers to observe polling locations, any 

location where processing, scanning, tabulating, canvassing, 

recounting, auditing, or certifying voting results is occurring, or 

any other part of the process associated with elections for Federal 

office under the authorities granted under article 1, section 5, 

clause 1 and article 1, section 4, clause 1 of the Constitution 

of the United States. Procedures described herein do not establish 

any new authorities or procedures with respect to Congress’ constitutional authority to observe congressional elections but are provided simply to permit a convenient statutory reference for existing 

congressional authority and activity. 

‘‘(b) REQUIRING STATES TO PROVIDE ACCESS FOR OBSERVERS.— 

‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—A State shall provide each individual 

who is acting as a designated congressional election observer 

for an election for Federal office with full access to clearly 

observe all elements of election administration procedures, 

including, but not limited to, access to any area in which 

a ballot is cast, processed, scanned, tabulated, canvassed, 

recounted, audited, or certified, including during pre- and postelection procedures. 

‘‘(2) RESTRICTIONS ON ACTIVITIES OF OBSERVERS.—No designated congressional election observer may handle a ballot 

or election equipment (whether voting or nonvoting or whether 
H. R. 6513—2 

tabulating or nontabulating), advocate for any position or candidate, take any action to reduce ballot secrecy or voter privacy, 

take any action to interfere with the ability of a voter to 

cast a ballot or an election administrator to carry the administrator’s duties, or otherwise interfere with the election administration process. 

‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall 

prohibit a designated congressional election observer from 

asking questions of an election administrator, election official, 

or election worker, or any other State or local official. 

‘‘(c) CONDUCT OF OBSERVERS.— 

‘‘(1) REMOVAL.— 

‘‘(A) AUTHORIZATION REMOVAL BY ELECTION OFFICIAL.— 

If a State or local election official has a reasonable basis 

to believe that a designated congressional election observer 

has engaged in or imminently will engage in intimidation 

or deceptive practices prohibited by Federal law, or in 

the disruption of voting, processing, scanning, tabulating, 

canvassing, or recounting of ballots, or the certification 

of results, a State or local election official may remove 

that observer from the area involved. 

‘‘(B) NOTICE TO COMMITTEE.—If a designated congressional election observer is removed from an area under 

subparagraph (A), the election official shall, within 24 

hours of the observer’s removal— 

‘‘(i) inform the chair and ranking minority member 

of the Committee on House Administration of the 

House of Representatives or the Committee on Rules 

and Administration of the Senate, as applicable; and 

‘‘(ii) provide written notice detailing the reason 

or reasons the designated congressional election 

observer was removed. 

‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of this subsection, the mere presence of a designated congressional election 

observer during an observation of election administration procedures, without any additional indicia supporting a reasonable 

basis for removal, is not a sufficient reason for removal under 

paragraph (1)(A). 

‘‘(3) RIGHT TO REPLACE OBSERVER.—If a designated congressional election observer is properly removed under paragraph 

(1)(A), the chair or ranking minority member of the Committee 

on House Administration of the House of Representatives or 

the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate, 

as appropriate, may send another designated congressional election observer as a replacement for the remaining duration 

of the observation of election administration procedures. 

‘‘(d) DESIGNATED CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION OBSERVER

DESCRIBED.—In this section, a ‘designated congressional election 

observer’ is a House or Senate employee who is designated in 

writing by the chair or ranking minority member of the Committee 

on House Administration of the House of Representatives or the 

Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate, or a successor committee, to gather information with respect to an election, 

including in the event that the election is contested in the House 

of Representatives or the Senate and for other purposes permitted 

by article 1, section 5, clause 1 and article 1, section 4, clause 

1 of the Constitution of the United States. 
H. R. 6513—3 

‘‘(e) STATE DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘State’ means 

each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 

of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American 

Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.’’. 

(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO ENFORCEMENT.— 

Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) is amended by striking 

‘‘and 303’’ and inserting ‘‘303, and 304’’. 

(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents of such Act 

is amended— 

(1) by redesignating the items relating to sections 304 

and 305 as relating to sections 305 and 306; and 

(2) by inserting after the item relating to section 303 the 

following: 

‘‘Sec. 304. Confirming access for congressional election observers.’’. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.