I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 107 

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 5, 2011 

Mr. CONYERS 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 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. VOTER CAGING AND OTHER QUESTIONABLE CHAL7 LENGES PROHIBITED. 

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

9 States Code is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘§ 612. Voter caging and other questionable chal2 lenges 

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

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

5 ‘‘(A) a nonforwardable document that is 

6 returned to the sender or a third party as unde7 livered or undeliverable despite an attempt to 

8 deliver such document to the address of a reg9 istered voter or applicant; or 

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

11 addressee that the document be returned to the 

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

13 despite an attempt to deliver such document to 

14 the address of a registered voter or applicant, 

15 unless at least two Federal election cycles have 

16 passed since the date of the attempted delivery; 

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

18 individuals compiled from voter caging documents; 

19 and 

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

21 list produced by matching the information of reg22 istered voters or applicants for voter registration to 

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

24 registrar’s jurisdiction, by virtue of death, convic25 tion, change of address, or otherwise; unless one of 

26 the pieces of information matched includes a signaVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:40 Jan 08, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H107.IH H107

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1 ture, photograph, or unique identifying number en2 suring that the information from each source refers 

3 to the same individual. 

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

5 State or local election official shall prevent an individual 

6 from registering or voting in any election for Federal of7 fice, or permit in connection with any election for Federal 

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

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

10 such decision is evidence consisting of— 

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

12 list; 

13 ‘‘(2) an unverified match list; 

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

15 paper relating to any application, registration, or 

16 other act requisite to voting, if such error or omis17 sion is not material to an individual’s eligibility to 

18 vote under section 2004 of the Revised Statutes, as 

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

20 ‘‘(4) any other evidence so designated for pur21 poses of this section by the Election Assistance Com22 mission, 

23 except that the election official may use such evidence if 

24 it is corroborated by independent evidence of the individ25 ual’s ineligibility to register or vote. 


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1 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR CHALLENGES BY PERSONS

2 OTHER THAN ELECTION OFFICIALS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) ATTESTATION OF FIRST-HAND KNOWL4 EDGE OF INELIGIBILITY.—No person, other than a 

5 State or local election official, shall submit a formal 

6 challenge to an individual’s eligibility to register to 

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

8 an election for Federal office unless that challenge 

9 is supported by personal, first-hand knowledge re10 garding the grounds for ineligibility which is— 

11 ‘‘(A) documented in writing; and 

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

13 under penalty of perjury that the individual 

14 who is the subject of the challenge is ineligible 

15 to register to vote or vote in that election. 

16 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITING CHALLENGES BASED ON

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

18 or local election official, shall submit a formal chal19 lenge to an individual’s eligibility to register to vote 

20 in an election for Federal office or to vote in an elec21 tion for Federal office if the basis for such challenge 

22 is evidence consisting of— 

23 ‘‘(A) a voter caging document or voter cag24 ing list; 

25 ‘‘(B) an unverified match list; 


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

2 paper relating to any application, registration, 

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

4 omission is not material to an individual’s eligi5 bility to vote under section 2004 of the Revised 

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

7 1971(a)(2)(B)); or 

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

9 purposes of this section by the Election Assist10 ance Commission. 

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

12 Whoever knowingly challenges the eligibility of one or 

13 more individuals to register or vote or knowingly causes 

14 the eligibility of such individuals to be challenged in viola15 tion of this section with the intent that one or more eligi16 ble voters be disqualified, shall be fined under this title 

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

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

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

20 this section is intended to override the protections of the 

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

22 1973gg et seq.) or to affect the Voting Rights Act of 1965 

23 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.).’’. 


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

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

3 by adding at the end the following: 

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

4 SEC. 3. SEVERABILITY. 

5 If any provision of this Act or any amendment made 

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

7 or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the re8 mainder of this Act and the amendments made by this 

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

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

Æ 


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