I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1 

To expand Americans’ access to the ballot box, reduce the influence of 

big money in politics, and strengthen ethics rules for public servants, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 3, 2019 

Mr. SARBANES (for himself and Ms. PELOSI) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in 

addition to the Committees on Intelligence (Permanent Select), the Judiciary, Oversight and Reform, Science, Space, and Technology, Education 

and Labor, Ways and Means, Financial Services, Ethics, and Homeland 

Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To expand Americans’ access to the ballot box, reduce the 

influence of big money in politics, and strengthen ethics 

rules for public servants, 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 ‘‘For the People Act 

5 of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ORGANIZATION OF ACT INTO DIVISIONS; TABLE OF 

2 CONTENTS. 

3 (a) DIVISIONS.—This Act is organized into 3 divi4 sions as follows: 

5 (1) Division A—Voting. 

6 (2) Division B—Campaign Finance. 

7 (3) Division C—Ethics. 

8 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

9 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Organization of Act into divisions; table of contents 

DIVISION A—VOTING 

TITLE I—ELECTION ACCESS 

Sec. 1000. Short title; statement of policy. 

Subtitle A—Voter Registration Modernization 

Sec. 1000A. Short title. 

PART 1—PROMOTING INTERNET REGISTRATION

Sec. 1001. Requiring availability of internet for voter registration. 

Sec. 1002. Use of internet to update registration information. 

Sec. 1003. Provision of election information by electronic mail to individuals 

registered to vote. 

Sec. 1004. Clarification of requirement regarding necessary information to 

show eligibility to vote. 

Sec. 1005. Effective date. 

PART 2—AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION

Sec. 1011. Short title; findings and purpose. 

Sec. 1012. Automatic registration of eligible individuals. 

Sec. 1013. Contributing agency assistance in registration. 

Sec. 1014. One-time contributing agency assistance in registration of eligible 

voters in existing records. 

Sec. 1015. Voter protection and security in automatic registration. 

Sec. 1016. Registration portability and correction. 

Sec. 1017. Payments and grants. 

Sec. 1018. Treatment of exempt States. 

Sec. 1019. Miscellaneous provisions. 

Sec. 1020. Definitions. 

Sec. 1021. Effective date. 


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PART 3—SAME-DAY VOTER REGISTRATION

Sec. 1031. Same-day registration. 

PART 4—CONDITIONS ON REMOVAL ON BASIS OF INTERSTATE CROSSCHECKS

Sec. 1041. Conditions on removal of registrants from official list of eligible voters on basis of interstate cross-checks. 

PART 5—OTHER INITIATIVES TO PROMOTE VOTER REGISTRATION

Sec. 1051. Annual reports on voter registration statistics. 

PART 6—AVAILABILITY OF HAVA REQUIREMENTS PAYMENTS

Sec. 1061. Availability of requirements payments under HAVA to cover costs 

of compliance with new requirements. 

PART 7—PROHIBITING INTERFERENCE WITH VOTER REGISTRATION

Sec. 1071. Prohibiting hindering, interfering with, or preventing voter registration. 

Sec. 1072. Establishment of best practices. 

Subtitle B—Access to Voting for Individuals With Disabilities 

Sec. 1101. Requirements for States to promote access to voter registration and 

voting for individuals with disabilities. 

Sec. 1102. Pilot programs for enabling individuals with disabilities to register 

to vote and vote privately and independently at residences. 

Sec. 1103. Expansion and reauthorization of grant program to assure voting 

access for individuals with disabilities. 

Subtitle C—Prohibiting Voter Caging 

Sec. 1201. Voter caging and other questionable challenges prohibited. 

Sec. 1202. Development and adoption of best practices for preventing voter 

caging. 

Subtitle D—Prohibiting Deceptive Practices and Preventing Voter 

Intimidation 

Sec. 1301. Short title. 

Sec. 1302. Prohibition on deceptive practices in Federal elections. 

Sec. 1303. Corrective action. 

Sec. 1304. Reports to Congress. 

Subtitle E—Democracy Restoration 

Sec. 1401. Short title. 

Sec. 1402. Rights of citizens. 

Sec. 1403. Enforcement. 

Sec. 1404. Notification of restoration of voting rights. 

Sec. 1405. Definitions. 

Sec. 1406. Relation to other laws. 

Sec. 1407. Federal prison funds. 

Sec. 1408. Effective date. 


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Subtitle F—Promoting Accuracy, Integrity, and Security Through VoterVerified Permanent Paper Ballot 

Sec. 1501. Short title. 

Sec. 1502. Paper ballot and manual counting requirements. 

Sec. 1503. Accessibility and ballot verification for individuals with disabilities. 

Sec. 1504. Durability and readability requirements for ballots. 

Sec. 1505. Effective date for new requirements. 

Subtitle G—Provisional Ballots 

Sec. 1601. Requirements for counting provisional ballots; establishment of uniform and nondiscriminatory standards. 

Subtitle H—Early Voting 

Sec. 1611. Early voting. 

Subtitle I—Voting by Mail 

Sec. 1621. Voting by mail. 

Subtitle J—Absent Uniformed Services Voters and Overseas Voters 

Sec. 1701. Pre-election reports on availability and transmission of absentee ballots. 

Sec. 1702. Enforcement. 

Sec. 1703. Revisions to 45-day absentee ballot transmission rule. 

Sec. 1704. Use of single absentee ballot application for subsequent elections. 

Sec. 1705. Effective date. 

Subtitle K—Poll Worker Recruitment and Training 

Sec. 1801. Leave to serve as a poll worker for Federal employees. 

Sec. 1802. Grants to States for poll worker recruitment and training. 

Sec. 1803. State defined. 

Subtitle L—Enhancement of Enforcement 

Sec. 1811. Enhancement of enforcement of Help America Vote Act of 2002. 

Subtitle M—Federal Election Integrity 

Sec. 1821. Prohibition on campaign activities by chief State election administration officials. 

Subtitle N—Promoting Voter Access Through Election Administration 

Improvements 

PART 1—PROMOTING VOTER ACCESS

Sec. 1901. Treatment of universities as voter registration agencies. 

Sec. 1902. Minimum notification requirements for voters affected by polling 

place changes. 

Sec. 1903. Election Day holiday. 

Sec. 1904. Permitting use of sworn written statement to meet identification requirements for voting. 

Sec. 1905. Postage-free ballots. 


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Sec. 1906. Reimbursement for costs incurred by States in establishing program 

to track and confirm receipt of absentee ballots. 

Sec. 1907. Voter information response systems and hotline. 

PART 2—IMPROVEMENTS IN OPERATION OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE

COMMISSION

Sec. 1911. Reauthorization of Election Assistance Commission. 

Sec. 1913. Requiring States to participate in post-general election surveys. 

Sec. 1914. Reports by National Institute of Standards and Technology on use 

of funds transferred from Election Assistance Commission. 

Sec. 1915. Recommendations to improve operations of Election Assistance 

Commission. 

Sec. 1916. Repeal of exemption of Election Assistance Commission from certain 

government contracting requirements. 

PART 3—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Sec. 1921. Application of laws to Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands. 

Sec. 1922. No effect on other laws. 

Subtitle O—Severability 

Sec. 1931. Severability. 

TITLE II—ELECTION INTEGRITY 

Subtitle A—Findings Reaffirming Commitment of Congress To Restore the 

Voting Rights Act 

Sec. 2001. Findings reaffirming commitment of Congress to restore the Voting 

Rights Act. 

Subtitle B—Findings Relating to Native American Voting Rights 

Sec. 2101. Findings relating to Native American voting rights. 

Subtitle C—Findings Relating to District of Columbia Statehood 

Sec. 2201. Findings relating to District of Columbia statehood. 

Subtitle D—Findings Relating to Territorial Voting Rights 

Sec. 2301. Findings relating to territorial voting rights. 

Subtitle E—Redistricting Reform 

Sec. 2400. Short title; finding of constitutional authority. 

PART 1—REQUIREMENTS FOR CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING

Sec. 2401. Limit on congressional redistricting after an apportionment. 

Sec. 2402. Requiring congressional redistricting to be conducted through plan 

of independent State commission. 

PART 2—INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING COMMISSIONS

Sec. 2411. Independent redistricting commission. 

Sec. 2412. Establishment of selection pool of individuals eligible to serve as 

members of commission. 


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Sec. 2413. Criteria for redistricting plan by independent commission; public notice and input. 

Sec. 2414. Establishment of related entities. 

PART 3—ROLE OF COURTS IN DEVELOPMENT OF REDISTRICTING PLANS

Sec. 2421. Enactment of plan developed by 3-judge court. 

Sec. 2422. Special rule for redistricting conducted under order of Federal 

court. 

PART 4—ADMINISTRATIVE AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Sec. 2431. Payments to States for carrying out redistricting. 

Sec. 2432. Civil enforcement. 

Sec. 2433. State apportionment notice defined. 

Sec. 2434. No effect on elections for State and local office. 

Sec. 2435. Effective date. 

Subtitle F—Saving Voters From Voter Purging 

Sec. 2501. Short title. 

Sec. 2502. Conditions for removal of voters from list of registered voters. 

Subtitle G—Severability 

Sec. 2601. Severability. 

TITLE III—ELECTION SECURITY 

Sec. 3000. Short title; sense of Congress. 

Subtitle A—Financial Support for Election Infrastructure 

PART 1—VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY IMPROVEMENT GRANTS

Sec. 3001. Grants for obtaining compliant paper ballot voting systems and carrying out voting system security improvements. 

Sec. 3002. Coordination of voting system security activities with use of requirements payments and election administration requirements 

under Help America Vote Act of 2002. 

Sec. 3003. Incorporation of definitions. 

PART 2—GRANTS FOR RISK-LIMITING AUDITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS

Sec. 3011. Grants to States for conducting risk-limiting audits of results of 

elections. 

Sec. 3012. GAO analysis of effects of audits. 

PART 3—ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION GRANT PROGRAM

Sec. 3021. Election infrastructure innovation grant program. 

Subtitle B—Security Measures 

Sec. 3101. Election infrastructure designation. 

Sec. 3102. Timely threat information. 

Sec. 3103. Security clearance assistance for election officials. 

Sec. 3104. Security risk and vulnerability assessments. 

Sec. 3105. Annual reports. 


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Subtitle C—Enhancing Protections for United States Democratic Institutions 

Sec. 3201. National strategy to protect United States democratic institutions. 

Sec. 3202. National Commission to Protect United States Democratic Institutions. 

Subtitle D—Promoting Cybersecurity Through Improvements in Election 

Administration 

Sec. 3301. Testing of existing voting systems to ensure compliance with election 

cybersecurity guidelines and other guidelines. 

Sec. 3302. Treatment of electronic poll books as part of voting systems. 

Sec. 3303. Pre-election reports on voting system usage. 

Sec. 3304. Streamlining collection of election information. 

Subtitle E—Preventing Election Hacking 

Sec. 3401. Short title. 

Sec. 3402. Election Security Bug Bounty Program. 

Sec. 3403. Definitions. 

Subtitle F—Miscellaneous Provisions 

Sec. 3501. Definitions. 

Sec. 3502. Initial report on adequacy of resources available for implementation. 

Subtitle G—Severability 

Sec. 3601. Severability. 

DIVISION B—CAMPAIGN FINANCE 

TITLE IV—CAMPAIGN FINANCE TRANSPARENCY 

Subtitle A—Findings Relating to Illicit Money Undermining Our Democracy 

Sec. 4001. Findings relating to illicit money undermining our democracy. 

Subtitle B—DISCLOSE Act 

Sec. 4100. Short title. 

PART 1—REGULATION OF CERTAIN POLITICAL SPENDING

Sec. 4101. Application of ban on contributions and expenditures by foreign nationals to domestic corporations, limited liability corporations, 

and partnerships that are foreign-controlled, foreign-influenced, 

and foreign-owned. 

Sec. 4102. Clarification of application of foreign money ban to certain disbursements and activities. 

PART 2—REPORTING OF CAMPAIGN-RELATED DISBURSEMENTS

Sec. 4111. Reporting of campaign-related disbursements. 

Sec. 4112. Application of foreign money ban to disbursements for campaign-related disbursements consisting of covered transfers. 

Sec. 4113. Effective date. 

PART 3—OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS


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Sec. 4121. Petition for certiorari. 

Sec. 4122. Judicial review of actions related to campaign finance laws. 

Subtitle C—Honest Ads 

Sec. 4201. Short title. 

Sec. 4202. Purpose. 

Sec. 4203. Findings. 

Sec. 4204. Sense of Congress. 

Sec. 4205. Expansion of definition of public communication. 

Sec. 4206. Expansion of definition of electioneering communication. 

Sec. 4207. Application of disclaimer statements to online communications. 

Sec. 4208. Political record requirements for online platforms. 

Sec. 4209. Preventing contributions, expenditures, independent expenditures, 

and disbursements for electioneering communications by foreign nationals in the form of online advertising. 

Subtitle D—Stand By Every Ad 

Sec. 4301. Short title. 

Sec. 4302. Stand By Every Ad. 

Sec. 4303. Disclaimer requirements for communications made through 

prerecorded telephone calls. 

Sec. 4304. No expansion of persons subject to disclaimer requirements on internet communications. 

Sec. 4305. Effective date. 

Subtitle E—Secret Money Transparency 

Sec. 4401. Repeal of restriction of use of funds by Internal Revenue Service to 

bring transparency to political activity of certain nonprofit organizations. 

Subtitle F—Shareholder Right-To-Know 

Sec. 4501. Repeal of restriction on use of funds by Securities and Exchange 

Commission to ensure shareholders of corporations have knowledge of corporation political activity. 

Subtitle G—Disclosure of Political Spending by Government Contractors 

Sec. 4601. Repeal of restriction on use of funds to require disclosure of political 

spending by government contractors. 

Subtitle H—Limitation and Disclosure Requirements for Presidential 

Inaugural Committees 

Sec. 4701. Short title. 

Sec. 4702. Limitations and disclosure of certain donations to, and disbursements by, inaugural committees. 

Subtitle I—Severability 

Sec. 4801. Severability. 

TITLE V—CAMPAIGN FINANCE EMPOWERMENT 

Subtitle A—Findings Relating to Citizens United Decision 


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Sec. 5001. Findings relating to Citizens United decision. 

Subtitle B—Congressional Elections 

Sec. 5100. Short title. 

PART 1—MY VOICE VOUCHER PILOT PROGRAM

Sec. 5101. Establishment of pilot program. 

Sec. 5102. Voucher program described. 

Sec. 5103. Reports. 

Sec. 5104. Definitions. 

PART 2—SMALL DOLLAR FINANCING OF CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION

CAMPAIGNS

Sec. 5111. Benefits and eligibility requirements for candidates. 

‘‘TITLE V—SMALL DOLLAR FINANCING OF CONGRESSIONAL 

ELECTION CAMPAIGNS 

‘‘Subtitle A—Benefits 

‘‘Sec. 501. Benefits for participating candidates. 

‘‘Sec. 502. Procedures for making payments. 

‘‘Sec. 503. Use of funds. 

‘‘Sec. 504. Qualified small dollar contributions described. 

‘‘Subtitle B—Eligibility and Certification 

‘‘Sec. 511. Eligibility. 

‘‘Sec. 512. Qualifying requirements. 

‘‘Sec. 513. Certification. 

‘‘Subtitle C—Requirements for Candidates Certified as Participating 

Candidates 

‘‘Sec. 521. Contribution and expenditure requirements. 

‘‘Sec. 522. Administration of campaign. 

‘‘Sec. 523. Preventing unnecessary spending of public funds. 

‘‘Sec. 524. Remitting unspent funds after election. 

‘‘Subtitle D—Enhanced Match Support 

‘‘Sec. 531. Enhanced support for general election. 

‘‘Sec. 532. Eligibility. 

‘‘Sec. 533. Amount. 

‘‘Sec. 534. Waiver of authority to retain portion of unspent funds after 

election. 

‘‘Subtitle E—Administrative Provisions 

‘‘Sec. 541. Freedom From Influence Fund. 

‘‘Sec. 542. Reviews and reports by Government Accountability Office. 

‘‘Sec. 543. Administration by Commission. 

‘‘Sec. 544. Violations and penalties. 

‘‘Sec. 545. Appeals process. 

‘‘Sec. 546. Indexing of amounts. 

‘‘Sec. 547. Election cycle defined. 


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Sec. 5112. Contributions and expenditures by multicandidate and political 

party committees on behalf of participating candidates. 

Sec. 5113. Prohibiting use of contributions by participating candidates for purposes other than campaign for election. 

Sec. 5114. Effective date. 

Subtitle C—Presidential Elections 

Sec. 5200. Short title. 

PART 1—PRIMARY ELECTIONS

Sec. 5201. Increase in and modifications to matching payments. 

Sec. 5202. Eligibility requirements for matching payments. 

Sec. 5203. Repeal of expenditure limitations. 

Sec. 5204. Period of availability of matching payments. 

Sec. 5205. Examination and audits of matchable contributions. 

Sec. 5206. Modification to limitation on contributions for Presidential primary 

candidates. 

PART 2—GENERAL ELECTIONS

Sec. 5211. Modification of eligibility requirements for public financing. 

Sec. 5212. Repeal of expenditure limitations and use of qualified campaign contributions. 

Sec. 5213. Matching payments and other modifications to payment amounts. 

Sec. 5214. Increase in limit on coordinated party expenditures. 

Sec. 5215. Establishment of uniform date for release of payments. 

Sec. 5216. Amounts in Presidential Election Campaign Fund. 

Sec. 5217. Use of general election payments for general election legal and accounting compliance. 

PART 3—EFFECTIVE DATE

Sec. 5221. Effective date. 

Subtitle D—Personal Use Services as Authorized Campaign Expenditures 

Sec. 5301. Short title. 

Sec. 5302. Treatment of payments for child care and other personal use services as authorized campaign expenditure. 

Subtitle E—Severability 

Sec. 5401. Severability. 

TITLE VI—CAMPAIGN FINANCE OVERSIGHT 

Subtitle A—Restoring Integrity to America’s Elections 

Sec. 6001. Short title. 

Sec. 6002. Membership of Federal Election Commission. 

Sec. 6003. Assignment of powers to Chair of Federal Election Commission. 

Sec. 6004. Revision to enforcement process. 

Sec. 6005. Permitting appearance at hearings on requests for advisory opinions 

by persons opposing the requests. 

Sec. 6006. Permanent extension of administrative penalty authority. 

Sec. 6007. Effective date; transition. 


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Subtitle B—Stopping Super PAC-Candidate Coordination 

Sec. 6101. Short title. 

Sec. 6102. Clarification of treatment of coordinated expenditures as contributions to candidates. 

Sec. 6103. Clarification of ban on fundraising for super PACs by Federal candidates and officeholders. 

Subtitle C—Severability 

Sec. 6201. Severability. 

DIVISION C—ETHICS 

TITLE VII—ETHICAL STANDARDS 

Subtitle A—Supreme Court Ethics 

Sec. 7001. Code of conduct for Federal judges. 

Subtitle B—Foreign Agents Registration 

Sec. 7101. Establishment of FARA investigation and enforcement unit within 

Department of Justice. 

Sec. 7102. Authority to impose civil money penalties. 

Sec. 7103. Disclosure of transactions involving things of financial value conferred on officeholders. 

Subtitle C—Lobbying Disclosure Reform 

Sec. 7201. Expanding scope of individuals and activities subject to requirements of Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995. 

Subtitle D—Recusal of Presidential Appointees 

Sec. 7301. Recusal of appointees. 

Subtitle E—Severability 

Sec. 7401. Severability. 

TITLE VIII—ETHICS REFORMS FOR THE PRESIDENT, VICE 

PRESIDENT, AND FEDERAL OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES 

Subtitle A—Executive Branch Conflict of Interest 

Sec. 8001. Short title. 

Sec. 8002. Restrictions on private sector payment for government service. 

Sec. 8003. Requirements relating to slowing the revolving door. 

Sec. 8004. Prohibition of procurement officers accepting employment from government contractors. 

Sec. 8005. Revolving door restrictions on employees moving into the private 

sector. 

Subtitle B—Presidential Conflicts of Interest 

Sec. 8011. Short title. 

Sec. 8012. Divestiture of personal financial interests of the President and Vice 

President that pose a potential conflict of interest. 

Sec. 8013. Initial financial disclosure. 


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Sec. 8014. Contracts by the President or Vice President. 

Subtitle C—White House Ethics Transparency 

Sec. 8021. Short title. 

Sec. 8022. Procedure for waivers and authorizations relating to ethics requirements. 

Subtitle D—Executive Branch Ethics Enforcement 

Sec. 8031. Short title. 

Sec. 8032. Reauthorization of the Office of Government Ethics. 

Sec. 8033. Tenure of the Director of the Office of Government Ethics. 

Sec. 8034. Duties of Director of the Office of Government Ethics. 

Sec. 8035. Agency ethics officials training and duties. 

Subtitle E—Conflicts From Political Fundraising 

Sec. 8041. Short title. 

Sec. 8042. Disclosure of certain types of contributions. 

Subtitle F—Transition Team Ethics 

Sec. 8051. Short title. 

Sec. 8052. Presidential transition ethics programs. 

Subtitle G—Ethics Pledge for Senior Executive Branch Employees 

Sec. 8061. Short title. 

Sec. 8062. Ethics pledge requirement for senior executive branch employees. 

Subtitle H—Severability 

Sec. 8071. Severability. 

TITLE IX—CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS REFORM 

Subtitle A—Requiring Members of Congress To Reimburse Treasury for 

Amounts Paid as Settlements and Awards Under Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 

Sec. 9001. Requiring Members of Congress to reimburse Treasury for amounts 

paid as settlements and awards under Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 in all cases of employment discrimination 

acts by Members. 

Subtitle B—Conflicts of Interests 

Sec. 9101. Prohibiting Members of House of Representatives from serving on 

boards of for-profit entities. 

Sec. 9102. Conflict of interest rules for Members of Congress and congressional 

staff. 

Sec. 9103. Exercise of rulemaking powers. 

Subtitle C—Campaign Finance and Lobbying Disclosure 

Sec. 9201. Short title. 

Sec. 9202. Requiring disclosure in certain reports filed with Federal Election 

Commission of persons who are registered lobbyists. 

Sec. 9203. Effective date. 


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Subtitle D—Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports 

Sec. 9301. Short title. 

Sec. 9302. Definitions. 

Sec. 9303. Establishment of online portal for congressionally mandated reports. 

Sec. 9304. Federal agency responsibilities. 

Sec. 9305. Removing and altering reports. 

Sec. 9306. Relationship to the Freedom of Information Act. 

Sec. 9307. Implementation. 

Subtitle E—Severability 

Sec. 9401. Severability. 

TITLE X—PRESIDENTIAL AND VICE PRESIDENTIAL TAX 

TRANSPARENCY 

Sec. 10001. Presidential and Vice Presidential tax transparency. 

1 DIVISION A—VOTING 

2 TITLE I—ELECTION ACCESS 

Sec. 1000. Short title; statement of policy. 

Subtitle A—Voter Registration Modernization 

Sec. 1000A. Short title. 

PART 1—PROMOTING INTERNET REGISTRATION

Sec. 1001. Requiring availability of internet for voter registration. 

Sec. 1002. Use of internet to update registration information. 

Sec. 1003. Provision of election information by electronic mail to individuals 

registered to vote. 

Sec. 1004. Clarification of requirement regarding necessary information to 

show eligibility to vote. 

Sec. 1005. Effective date. 

PART 2—AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION

Sec. 1011. Short title; findings and purpose. 

Sec. 1012. Automatic registration of eligible individuals. 

Sec. 1013. Contributing agency assistance in registration. 

Sec. 1014. One-time contributing agency assistance in registration of eligible 

voters in existing records. 

Sec. 1015. Voter protection and security in automatic registration. 

Sec. 1016. Registration portability and correction. 

Sec. 1017. Payments and grants. 

Sec. 1018. Treatment of exempt States. 

Sec. 1019. Miscellaneous provisions. 

Sec. 1020. Definitions. 

Sec. 1021. Effective date. 

PART 3—SAME-DAY VOTER REGISTRATION

Sec. 1031. Same-day registration. 


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PART 4—CONDITIONS ON REMOVAL ON BASIS OF INTERSTATE CROSSCHECKS

Sec. 1041. Conditions on removal of registrants from official list of eligible voters on basis of interstate cross-checks. 

PART 5—OTHER INITIATIVES TO PROMOTE VOTER REGISTRATION

Sec. 1051. Annual reports on voter registration statistics. 

PART 6—AVAILABILITY OF HAVA REQUIREMENTS PAYMENTS

Sec. 1061. Availability of requirements payments under HAVA to cover costs 

of compliance with new requirements. 

PART 7—PROHIBITING INTERFERENCE WITH VOTER REGISTRATION

Sec. 1071. Prohibiting hindering, interfering with, or preventing voter registration. 

Sec. 1072. Establishment of best practices. 

Subtitle B—Access to Voting for Individuals With Disabilities 

Sec. 1101. Requirements for States to promote access to voter registration and 

voting for individuals with disabilities. 

Sec. 1102. Pilot programs for enabling individuals with disabilities to register 

to vote and vote privately and independently at residences. 

Sec. 1103. Expansion and reauthorization of grant program to assure voting 

access for individuals with disabilities. 

Subtitle C—Prohibiting Voter Caging 

Sec. 1201. Voter caging and other questionable challenges prohibited. 

Sec. 1202. Development and adoption of best practices for preventing voter 

caging. 

Subtitle D—Prohibiting Deceptive Practices and Preventing Voter 

Intimidation 

Sec. 1301. Short title. 

Sec. 1302. Prohibition on deceptive practices in Federal elections. 

Sec. 1303. Corrective action. 

Sec. 1304. Reports to Congress. 

Subtitle E—Democracy Restoration 

Sec. 1401. Short title. 

Sec. 1402. Rights of citizens. 

Sec. 1403. Enforcement. 

Sec. 1404. Notification of restoration of voting rights. 

Sec. 1405. Definitions. 

Sec. 1406. Relation to other laws. 

Sec. 1407. Federal prison funds. 

Sec. 1408. Effective date. 

Subtitle F—Promoting Accuracy, Integrity, and Security Through VoterVerified Permanent Paper Ballot 

Sec. 1501. Short title. 


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Sec. 1502. Paper ballot and manual counting requirements. 

Sec. 1503. Accessibility and ballot verification for individuals with disabilities. 

Sec. 1504. Durability and readability requirements for ballots. 

Sec. 1505. Effective date for new requirements. 

Subtitle G—Provisional Ballots 

Sec. 1601. Requirements for counting provisional ballots; establishment of uniform and nondiscriminatory standards. 

Subtitle H—Early Voting 

Sec. 1611. Early voting. 

Subtitle I—Voting by Mail 

Sec. 1621. Voting by mail. 

Subtitle J—Absent Uniformed Services Voters and Overseas Voters 

Sec. 1701. Pre-election reports on availability and transmission of absentee ballots. 

Sec. 1702. Enforcement. 

Sec. 1703. Revisions to 45-day absentee ballot transmission rule. 

Sec. 1704. Use of single absentee ballot application for subsequent elections. 

Sec. 1705. Effective date. 

Subtitle K—Poll Worker Recruitment and Training 

Sec. 1801. Leave to serve as a poll worker for Federal employees. 

Sec. 1802. Grants to States for poll worker recruitment and training. 

Sec. 1803. State defined. 

Subtitle L—Enhancement of Enforcement 

Sec. 1811. Enhancement of enforcement of Help America Vote Act of 2002. 

Subtitle M—Federal Election Integrity 

Sec. 1821. Prohibition on campaign activities by chief State election administration officials. 

Subtitle N—Promoting Voter Access Through Election Administration 

Improvements 

PART 1—PROMOTING VOTER ACCESS

Sec. 1901. Treatment of universities as voter registration agencies. 

Sec. 1902. Minimum notification requirements for voters affected by polling 

place changes. 

Sec. 1903. Election Day holiday. 

Sec. 1904. Permitting use of sworn written statement to meet identification requirements for voting. 

Sec. 1905. Postage-free ballots. 

Sec. 1906. Reimbursement for costs incurred by States in establishing program 

to track and confirm receipt of absentee ballots. 

Sec. 1907. Voter information response systems and hotline. 


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PART 2—IMPROVEMENTS IN OPERATION OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE

COMMISSION

Sec. 1911. Reauthorization of Election Assistance Commission. 

Sec. 1913. Requiring States to participate in post-general election surveys. 

Sec. 1914. Reports by National Institute of Standards and Technology on use 

of funds transferred from Election Assistance Commission. 

Sec. 1915. Recommendations to improve operations of Election Assistance 

Commission. 

Sec. 1916. Repeal of exemption of Election Assistance Commission from certain 

government contracting requirements. 

PART 3—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Sec. 1921. Application of laws to Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands. 

Sec. 1922. No effect on other laws. 

Subtitle O—Severability 

Sec. 1931. Severability. 

1 SEC. 1000. SHORT TITLE; STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This title may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Voter Empowerment Act of 2019’’. 

4 (b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 

5 United States that— 

6 (1) all eligible citizens of the United States 

7 should access and exercise their constitutional right 

8 to vote in a free, fair, and timely manner; and 

9 (2) the integrity, security, and accountability of 

10 the voting process must be vigilantly protected, 

11 maintained, and enhanced in order to protect and 

12 preserve electoral and participatory democracy in the 

13 United States. 


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1 Subtitle A—Voter Registration 

2 Modernization 

3 SEC. 1000A. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Voter Registration 

5 Modernization Act of 2019’’. 

6 PART 1—PROMOTING INTERNET REGISTRATION 

7 SEC. 1001. REQUIRING AVAILABILITY OF INTERNET FOR 

8 VOTER REGISTRATION. 

9 (a) REQUIRING AVAILABILITY OF INTERNET FOR

10 REGISTRATION.—The National Voter Registration Act of 

11 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

12 after section 6 the following new section: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 6A. INTERNET REGISTRATION. 

14 ‘‘(a) REQUIRING AVAILABILITY OF INTERNET FOR

15 ONLINE REGISTRATION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) AVAILABILITY OF ONLINE REGISTRA17 TION.—Each State, acting through the chief State 

18 election official, shall ensure that the following serv19 ices are available to the public at any time on the 

20 official public websites of the appropriate State and 

21 local election officials in the State, in the same man22 ner and subject to the same terms and conditions as 

23 the services provided by voter registration agencies 

24 under section 7(a): 


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1 ‘‘(A) Online application for voter registra2 tion. 

3 ‘‘(B) Online assistance to applicants in ap4 plying to register to vote. 

5 ‘‘(C) Online completion and submission by 

6 applicants of the mail voter registration applica7 tion form prescribed by the Election Assistance 

8 Commission pursuant to section 9(a)(2), includ9 ing assistance with providing a signature as re10 quired under subsection (c). 

11 ‘‘(D) Online receipt of completed voter reg12 istration applications. 

13 ‘‘(b) ACCEPTANCE OF COMPLETED APPLICATIONS.— 

14 A State shall accept an online voter registration applica15 tion provided by an individual under this section, and en16 sure that the individual is registered to vote in the State, 

17 if— 

18 ‘‘(1) the individual meets the same voter reg19 istration requirements applicable to individuals who 

20 register to vote by mail in accordance with section 

21 6(a)(1) using the mail voter registration application 

22 form prescribed by the Election Assistance Commis23 sion pursuant to section 9(a)(2); and 

24 ‘‘(2) the individual meets the requirements of 

25 subsection (c) to provide a signature in electronic 


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1 form (but only in the case of applications submitted 

2 during or after the second year in which this section 

3 is in effect in the State). 

4 ‘‘(c) SIGNATURE REQUIREMENTS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec6 tion, an individual meets the requirements of this 

7 subsection as follows: 

8 ‘‘(A) In the case of an individual who has 

9 a signature on file with a State agency, includ10 ing the State motor vehicle authority, that is 

11 required to provide voter registration services 

12 under this Act or any other law, the individual 

13 consents to the transfer of that electronic signa14 ture. 

15 ‘‘(B) If subparagraph (A) does not apply, 

16 the individual submits with the application an 

17 electronic copy of the individual’s handwritten 

18 signature through electronic means. 

19 ‘‘(C) If subparagraph (A) and subpara20 graph (B) do not apply, the individual executes 

21 a computerized mark in the signature field on 

22 an online voter registration application, in ac23 cordance with reasonable security measures es24 tablished by the State, but only if the State ac25 cepts such mark from the individual. 


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1 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF INDIVIDUALS UNABLE TO

2 MEET REQUIREMENT.—If an individual is unable to 

3 meet the requirements of paragraph (1), the State 

4 shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) permit the individual to complete all 

6 other elements of the online voter registration 

7 application; 

8 ‘‘(B) permit the individual to provide a sig9 nature at the time the individual requests a bal10 lot in an election (whether the individual re11 quests the ballot at a polling place or requests 

12 the ballot by mail); and 

13 ‘‘(C) if the individual carries out the steps 

14 described in subparagraph (A) and subpara15 graph (B), ensure that the individual is reg16 istered to vote in the State. 

17 ‘‘(3) NOTICE.—The State shall ensure that in18 dividuals applying to register to vote online are noti19 fied of the requirements of paragraph (1) and of the 

20 treatment of individuals unable to meet such re21 quirements, as described in paragraph (2). 

22 ‘‘(d) CONFIRMATION AND DISPOSITION.— 

23 ‘‘(1) CONFIRMATION OF RECEIPT.—Upon the 

24 online submission of a completed voter registration 

25 application by an individual under this section, the 


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1 appropriate State or local election official shall send 

2 the individual a notice confirming the State’s receipt 

3 of the application and providing instructions on how 

4 the individual may check the status of the applica5 tion. 

6 ‘‘(2) NOTICE OF DISPOSITION.—As soon as the 

7 appropriate State or local election official has ap8 proved or rejected an application submitted by an in9 dividual under this section, the official shall send the 

10 individual a notice of the disposition of the applica11 tion. 

12 ‘‘(3) METHOD OF NOTIFICATION.—The appro13 priate State or local election official shall send the 

14 notices required under this subsection by regular 

15 mail, and, in the case of an individual who has re16 quested that the State provide voter registration and 

17 voting information through electronic mail, by both 

18 electronic mail and regular mail. 

19 ‘‘(e) PROVISION OF SERVICES IN NONPARTISAN

20 MANNER.—The services made available under subsection 

21 (a) shall be provided in a manner that ensures that, con22 sistent with section 7(a)(5)— 

23 ‘‘(1) the online application does not seek to in24 fluence an applicant’s political preference or party 

25 registration; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) there is no display on the website pro2 moting any political preference or party allegiance, 

3 except that nothing in this paragraph may be con4 strued to prohibit an applicant from registering to 

5 vote as a member of a political party. 

6 ‘‘(f) PROTECTION OF SECURITY OF INFORMATION.— 

7 In meeting the requirements of this section, the State shall 

8 establish appropriate technological security measures to 

9 prevent to the greatest extent practicable any unauthor10 ized access to information provided by individuals using 

11 the services made available under subsection (a). 

12 ‘‘(g) USE OF ADDITIONAL TELEPHONE-BASED SYS13 TEM.—A State shall make the services made available on14 line under subsection (a) available through the use of an 

15 automated telephone-based system, subject to the same 

16 terms and conditions applicable under this section to the 

17 services made available online, in addition to making the 

18 services available online in accordance with the require19 ments of this section. 

20 ‘‘(h) NONDISCRIMINATION AMONG REGISTERED

21 VOTERS USING MAIL AND ONLINE REGISTRATION.—In 

22 carrying out this Act, the Help America Vote Act of 2002, 

23 or any other Federal, State, or local law governing the 

24 treatment of registered voters in the State or the adminis25 tration of elections for public office in the State, a State 


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1 shall treat a registered voter who registered to vote online 

2 in accordance with this section in the same manner as the 

3 State treats a registered voter who registered to vote by 

4 mail.’’. 

5 (b) SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR INDIVIDUALS

6 USING ONLINE REGISTRATION.— 

7 (1) TREATMENT AS INDIVIDUALS REGISTERING

8 TO VOTE BY MAIL FOR PURPOSES OF FIRST-TIME

9 VOTER IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

10 303(b)(1)(A) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

11 (52 U.S.C. 21083(b)(1)(A)) is amended by striking 

12 ‘‘by mail’’ and inserting ‘‘by mail or online under 

13 section 6A of the National Voter Registration Act of 

14 1993’’. 

15 (2) REQUIRING SIGNATURE FOR FIRST-TIME

16 VOTERS IN JURISDICTION.—Section 303(b) of such 

17 Act (52 U.S.C. 21083(b)) is amended— 

18 (A) by redesignating paragraph (5) as 

19 paragraph (6); and 

20 (B) by inserting after paragraph (4) the 

21 following new paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(5) SIGNATURE REQUIREMENTS FOR FIRST23 TIME VOTERS USING ONLINE REGISTRATION.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State shall, in a 

25 uniform and nondiscriminatory manner, require 


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1 an individual to meet the requirements of sub2 paragraph (B) if— 

3 ‘‘(i) the individual registered to vote 

4 in the State online under section 6A of the 

5 National Voter Registration Act of 1993; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(ii) the individual has not previously 

8 voted in an election for Federal office in 

9 the State. 

10 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—An individual 

11 meets the requirements of this subparagraph 

12 if— 

13 ‘‘(i) in the case of an individual who 

14 votes in person, the individual provides the 

15 appropriate State or local election official 

16 with a handwritten signature; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an individual who 

18 votes by mail, the individual submits with 

19 the ballot a handwritten signature. 

20 ‘‘(C) INAPPLICABILITY.—Subparagraph 

21 (A) does not apply in the case of an individual 

22 who is— 

23 ‘‘(i) entitled to vote by absentee ballot 

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1 zens Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 

2 20302 et seq.); 

3 ‘‘(ii) provided the right to vote other4 wise than in person under section 

5 3(b)(2)(B)(ii) of the Voting Accessibility 

6 for the Elderly and Handicapped Act (52 

7 U.S.C. 20102(b)(2)(B)(ii)); or 

8 ‘‘(iii) entitled to vote otherwise than 

9 in person under any other Federal law.’’. 

10 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

11 EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 303(d)(2)(A) of such 

12 Act (52 U.S.C. 21083(d)(2)(A)) is amended by 

13 striking ‘‘Each State’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as pro14 vided in subsection (b)(5), each State’’. 

15 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

16 (1) TIMING OF REGISTRATION.—Section 8(a)(1) 

17 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 

18 U.S.C. 20507(a)(1)) is amended— 

19 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub20 paragraph (C); 

21 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as 

22 subparagraph (E); and 

23 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (C) 

24 the following new subparagraph: 


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1 ‘‘(D) in the case of online registration 

2 through the official public website of an election 

3 official under section 6A, if the valid voter reg4 istration application is submitted online not 

5 later than the lesser of 30 days, or the period 

6 provided by State law, before the date of the 

7 election (as determined by treating the date on 

8 which the application is sent electronically as 

9 the date on which it is submitted); and’’. 

10 (2) INFORMING APPLICANTS OF ELIGIBILITY

11 REQUIREMENTS AND PENALTIES.—Section 8(a)(5) 

12 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20507(a)(5)) is amended by 

13 striking ‘‘and 7’’ and inserting ‘‘6A, and 7’’. 

14 SEC. 1002. USE OF INTERNET TO UPDATE REGISTRATION 

15 INFORMATION. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

17 (1) UPDATES TO INFORMATION CONTAINED ON

18 COMPUTERIZED STATEWIDE VOTER REGISTRATION

19 LIST.—Section 303(a) of the Help America Vote Act 

20 of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21083(a)) is amended by adding 

21 at the end the following new paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(6) USE OF INTERNET BY REGISTERED VOT23 ERS TO UPDATE INFORMATION.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The appropriate State 

25 or local election official shall ensure that any 


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1 registered voter on the computerized list may at 

2 any time update the voter’s registration infor3 mation, including the voter’s address and elec4 tronic mail address, online through the official 

5 public website of the election official responsible 

6 for the maintenance of the list, so long as the 

7 voter attests to the contents of the update by 

8 providing a signature in electronic form in the 

9 same manner required under section 6A(c) of 

10 the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. 

11 ‘‘(B) PROCESSING OF UPDATED INFORMA12 TION BY ELECTION OFFICIALS.—If a registered 

13 voter updates registration information under 

14 subparagraph (A), the appropriate State or 

15 local election official shall— 

16 ‘‘(i) revise any information on the 

17 computerized list to reflect the update 

18 made by the voter; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) if the updated registration infor20 mation affects the voter’s eligibility to vote 

21 in an election for Federal office, ensure 

22 that the information is processed with re23 spect to the election if the voter updates 

24 the information not later than the lesser of 


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1 7 days, or the period provided by State 

2 law, before the date of the election. 

3 ‘‘(C) CONFIRMATION AND DISPOSITION.— 

4 ‘‘(i) CONFIRMATION OF RECEIPT.— 

5 Upon the online submission of updated 

6 registration information by an individual 

7 under this paragraph, the appropriate 

8 State or local election official shall send 

9 the individual a notice confirming the 

10 State’s receipt of the updated information 

11 and providing instructions on how the indi12 vidual may check the status of the update. 

13 ‘‘(ii) NOTICE OF DISPOSITION.—As 

14 soon as the appropriate State or local elec15 tion official has accepted or rejected up16 dated information submitted by an indi17 vidual under this paragraph, the official 

18 shall send the individual a notice of the 

19 disposition of the update. 

20 ‘‘(iii) METHOD OF NOTIFICATION.— 

21 The appropriate State or local election offi22 cial shall send the notices required under 

23 this subparagraph by regular mail, and, in 

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1 istration and voting information through 

2 electronic mail, by both electronic mail and 

3 regular mail.’’. 

4 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

5 EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 303(d)(1)(A) of such 

6 Act (52 U.S.C. 21083(d)(1)(A)) is amended by 

7 striking ‘‘subparagraph (B)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub8 paragraph (B) and subsection (a)(6)’’. 

9 (b) ABILITY OF REGISTRANT TO USE ONLINE UP10 DATE TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ON RESIDENCE.—Sec11 tion 8(d)(2)(A) of the National Voter Registration Act of 

12 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20507(d)(2)(A)) is amended— 

13 (1) in the first sentence, by inserting after ‘‘re14 turn the card’’ the following: ‘‘or update the reg15 istrant’s information on the computerized Statewide 

16 voter registration list using the online method pro17 vided under section 303(a)(6) of the Help America 

18 Vote Act of 2002’’; and 

19 (2) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘re20 turned,’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘returned or if 

21 the registrant does not update the registrant’s infor22 mation on the computerized Statewide voter reg23 istration list using such online method,’’. 


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1 SEC. 1003. PROVISION OF ELECTION INFORMATION BY 

2 ELECTRONIC MAIL TO INDIVIDUALS REG3 ISTERED TO VOTE. 

4 (a) INCLUDING OPTION ON VOTER REGISTRATION

5 APPLICATION TO PROVIDE EMAIL ADDRESS AND RE6 CEIVE INFORMATION.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 9(b) of the National 

8 Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

9 20508(b)) is amended— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para11 graph (3); 

12 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

13 paragraph (4) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

14 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

15 paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(5) shall include a space for the applicant to 

17 provide (at the applicant’s option) an electronic mail 

18 address, together with a statement that, if the appli19 cant so requests, instead of using regular mail the 

20 appropriate State and local election officials shall 

21 provide to the applicant, through electronic mail sent 

22 to that address, the same voting information (as de23 fined in section 302(b)(2) of the Help America Vote 

24 Act of 2002) which the officials would provide to the 

25 applicant through regular mail.’’. 


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1 (2) PROHIBITING USE FOR PURPOSES UNRE2 LATED TO OFFICIAL DUTIES OF ELECTION OFFI3 CIALS.—Section 9 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20508) is 

4 amended by adding at the end the following new 

5 subsection: 

6 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITING USE OF ELECTRONIC MAIL AD7 DRESSES FOR OTHER THAN OFFICIAL PURPOSES.—The 

8 chief State election official shall ensure that any electronic 

9 mail address provided by an applicant under subsection 

10 (b)(5) is used only for purposes of carrying out official 

11 duties of election officials and is not transmitted by any 

12 State or local election official (or any agent of such an 

13 official, including a contractor) to any person who does 

14 not require the address to carry out such official duties 

15 and who is not under the direct supervision and control 

16 of a State or local election official.’’. 

17 (b) REQUIRING PROVISION OF INFORMATION BY

18 ELECTION OFFICIALS.—Section 302(b) of the Help Amer19 ica Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21082(b)) is amended 

20 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(3) PROVISION OF OTHER INFORMATION BY

22 ELECTRONIC MAIL.—If an individual who is a reg23 istered voter has provided the State or local election 

24 official with an electronic mail address for the pur25 pose of receiving voting information (as described in 


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1 section 9(b)(5) of the National Voter Registration 

2 Act of 1993), the appropriate State or local election 

3 official, through electronic mail transmitted not later 

4 than 7 days before the date of the election involved, 

5 shall provide the individual with information on how 

6 to obtain the following information by electronic 

7 means: 

8 ‘‘(A) The name and address of the polling 

9 place at which the individual is assigned to vote 

10 in the election. 

11 ‘‘(B) The hours of operation for the polling 

12 place. 

13 ‘‘(C) A description of any identification or 

14 other information the individual may be re15 quired to present at the polling place.’’. 

16 SEC. 1004. CLARIFICATION OF REQUIREMENT REGARDING 

17 NECESSARY INFORMATION TO SHOW ELIGI18 BILITY TO VOTE. 

19 Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act of 

20 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20507) is amended— 

21 (1) by redesignating subsection (j) as sub22 section (k); and 

23 (2) by inserting after subsection (i) the fol24 lowing new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(j) REQUIREMENT FOR STATE TO REGISTER APPLI2 CANTS PROVIDING NECESSARY INFORMATION TO SHOW

3 ELIGIBILITY TO VOTE.—For purposes meeting the re4 quirement of subsection (a)(1) that an eligible applicant 

5 is registered to vote in an election for Federal office within 

6 the deadlines required under such subsection, the State 

7 shall consider an applicant to have provided a ‘valid voter 

8 registration form’ if— 

9 ‘‘(1) the applicant has accurately completed the 

10 application form and attested to the statement re11 quired by section 9(b)(2); and 

12 ‘‘(2) in the case of an applicant who registers 

13 to vote online in accordance with section 6A, the ap14 plicant provides a signature in accordance with sub15 section (c) of such section.’’. 

16 SEC. 1005. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

18 (b), the amendments made by this part (other than the 

19 amendments made by section 1004) shall take effect Jan20 uary 1, 2020. 

21 (b) WAIVER.—Subject to the approval of the Election 

22 Assistance Commission, if a State certifies to the Election 

23 Assistance Commission that the State will not meet the 

24 deadline referred to in subsection (a) because of extraor25 dinary circumstances and includes in the certification the 


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1 reasons for the failure to meet the deadline, subsection 

2 (a) shall apply to the State as if the reference in such 

3 subsection to ‘‘January 1, 2020’’ were a reference to 

4 ‘‘January 1, 2022’’. 

5 PART 2—AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION 

6 SEC. 1011. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This part may be cited as the 

8 ‘‘Automatic Voter Registration Act of 2019’’. 

9 (b) FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.— 

10 (1) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

11 (A) the right to vote is a fundamental 

12 right of citizens of the United States; 

13 (B) it is the responsibility of the State and 

14 Federal Governments to ensure that every eligi15 ble citizen is registered to vote; 

16 (C) existing voter registration systems can 

17 be inaccurate, costly, inaccessible and con18 fusing, with damaging effects on voter partici19 pation in elections and disproportionate impacts 

20 on young people, persons with disabilities, and 

21 racial and ethnic minorities; and 

22 (D) voter registration systems must be up23 dated with 21st-century technologies and proce24 dures to maintain their security. 

25 (2) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this part— 


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1 (A) to establish that it is the responsibility 

2 of government at every level to ensure that all 

3 eligible citizens are registered to vote; 

4 (B) to enable the State and Federal Gov5 ernments to register all eligible citizens to vote 

6 with accurate, cost-efficient, and up-to-date pro7 cedures; 

8 (C) to modernize voter registration and list 

9 maintenance procedures with electronic and 

10 internet capabilities; and 

11 (D) to protect and enhance the integrity, 

12 accuracy, efficiency, and accessibility of the 

13 electoral process for all eligible citizens. 

14 SEC. 1012. AUTOMATIC REGISTRATION OF ELIGIBLE INDI15 VIDUALS. 

16 (a) REQUIRING STATES TO ESTABLISH AND OPER17 ATE AUTOMATIC REGISTRATION SYSTEM.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The chief State election offi19 cial of each State shall establish and operate a sys20 tem of automatic registration for the registration of 

21 eligible individuals to vote for elections for Federal 

22 office in the State, in accordance with the provisions 

23 of this part. 

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1 vidual to vote in elections for Federal office in a 

2 State, if eligible, by electronically transferring the 

3 information necessary for registration from govern4 ment agencies to election officials of the State so 

5 that, unless the individual affirmatively declines to 

6 be registered, the individual will be registered to vote 

7 in such elections. 

8 (b) REGISTRATION OF VOTERS BASED ON NEW

9 AGENCY RECORDS.—The chief State election official 

10 shall— 

11 (1) not later than 15 days after a contributing 

12 agency has transmitted information with respect to 

13 an individual pursuant to section 1013, ensure that 

14 the individual is registered to vote in elections for 

15 Federal office in the State if the individual is eligible 

16 to be registered to vote in such elections; and 

17 (2) send written notice to the individual, in ad18 dition to other means of notice established by this 

19 part, of the individual’s voter registration status. 

20 (c) ONE-TIME REGISTRATION OF VOTERS BASED ON

21 EXISTING CONTRIBUTING AGENCY RECORDS.—The chief 

22 State election official shall— 

23 (1) identify all individuals whose information is 

24 transmitted by a contributing agency pursuant to 


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1 section 1014 and who are eligible to be, but are not 

2 currently, registered to vote in that State; 

3 (2) promptly send each such individual written 

4 notice, in addition to other means of notice estab5 lished by this part, which shall not identify the con6 tributing agency that transmitted the information 

7 but shall include— 

8 (A) an explanation that voter registration 

9 is voluntary, but if the individual does not de10 cline registration, the individual will be reg11 istered to vote; 

12 (B) a statement offering the opportunity to 

13 decline voter registration through means con14 sistent with the requirements of this part; 

15 (C) in the case of a State in which affili16 ation or enrollment with a political party is re17 quired in order to participate in an election to 

18 select the party’s candidate in an election for 

19 Federal office, a statement offering the indi20 vidual the opportunity to affiliate or enroll with 

21 a political party or to decline to affiliate or en22 roll with a political party, through means con23 sistent with the requirements of this part; 

24 (D) the substantive qualifications of an 

25 elector in the State as listed in the mail voter 


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1 registration application form for elections for 

2 Federal office prescribed pursuant to section 9 

3 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, 

4 the consequences of false registration, and a 

5 statement that the individual should decline to 

6 register if the individual does not meet all those 

7 qualifications; 

8 (E) instructions for correcting any erro9 neous information; and 

10 (F) instructions for providing any addi11 tional information which is listed in the mail 

12 voter registration application form for elections 

13 for Federal office prescribed pursuant to section 

14 9 of the National Voter Registration Act of 

15 1993; 

16 (3) ensure that each such individual who is eli17 gible to register to vote in elections for Federal of18 fice in the State is promptly registered to vote not 

19 later than 45 days after the official sends the indi20 vidual the written notice under paragraph (2), un21 less, during the 30-day period which begins on the 

22 date the election official sends the individual such 

23 written notice, the individual declines registration in 

24 writing, through a communication made over the 


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1 internet, or by an officially logged telephone commu2 nication; and 

3 (4) send written notice to each such individual, 

4 in addition to other means of notice established by 

5 this part, of the individual’s voter registration sta6 tus. 

7 (d) TREATMENT OF INDIVIDUALS UNDER 18 YEARS

8 OF AGE.—A State may not refuse to treat an individual 

9 as an eligible individual for purposes of this part on the 

10 grounds that the individual is less than 18 years of age 

11 at the time a contributing agency receives information 

12 with respect to the individual, so long as the individual 

13 is at least 16 years of age at such time. 

14 (e) CONTRIBUTING AGENCY DEFINED.—In this part, 

15 the term ‘‘contributing agency’’ means, with respect to a 

16 State, an agency listed in section 1013(e). 

17 SEC. 1013. CONTRIBUTING AGENCY ASSISTANCE IN REG18 ISTRATION. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with this part, each 

20 contributing agency in a State shall assist the State’s chief 

21 election official in registering to vote all eligible individuals 

22 served by that agency. 

23 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR CONTRIBUTING AGEN24 CIES.— 


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1 (1) INSTRUCTIONS ON AUTOMATIC REGISTRA2 TION.—With each application for service or assist3 ance, and with each related recertification, renewal, 

4 or change of address, or, in the case of an institu5 tion of higher education, with each registration of a 

6 student for enrollment in a course of study, each 

7 contributing agency that (in the normal course of its 

8 operations) requests individuals to affirm United 

9 States citizenship (either directly or as part of the 

10 overall application for service or assistance) shall in11 form each such individual who is a citizen of the 

12 United States of the following: 

13 (A) Unless that individual declines to reg14 ister to vote, or is found ineligible to vote, the 

15 individual will be registered to vote or, if appli16 cable, the individual’s registration will be up17 dated. 

18 (B) The substantive qualifications of an 

19 elector in the State as listed in the mail voter 

20 registration application form for elections for 

21 Federal office prescribed pursuant to section 9 

22 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, 

23 the consequences of false registration, and the 

24 individual should decline to register if the indi25 vidual does not meet all those qualifications. 


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1 (C) In the case of a State in which affili2 ation or enrollment with a political party is re3 quired in order to participate in an election to 

4 select the party’s candidate in an election for 

5 Federal office, the requirement that the indi6 vidual must affiliate or enroll with a political 

7 party in order to participate in such an election. 

8 (D) Voter registration is voluntary, and 

9 neither registering nor declining to register to 

10 vote will in any way affect the availability of 

11 services or benefits, nor be used for other pur12 poses. 

13 (2) OPPORTUNITY TO DECLINE REGISTRATION

14 REQUIRED.—Each contributing agency shall ensure 

15 that each application for service or assistance, and 

16 each related recertification, renewal, or change of 

17 address, or, in the case of an institution of higher 

18 education, each registration of a student for enroll19 ment in a course of study, cannot be completed until 

20 the individual is given the opportunity to decline to 

21 be registered to vote. 

22 (3) INFORMATION TRANSMITTAL.—Upon the 

23 expiration of the 30-day period which begins on the 

24 date the contributing agency informs the individual 

25 of the information described in paragraph (1), each 


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1 contributing agency shall electronically transmit to 

2 the appropriate State election official, in a format 

3 compatible with the Statewide voter database main4 tained under section 303 of the Help America Vote 

5 Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21083), the following infor6 mation, unless during such 30-day period the indi7 vidual declined to be registered to vote: 

8 (A) The individual’s given name(s) and 

9 surname(s). 

10 (B) The individual’s date of birth. 

11 (C) The individual’s residential address. 

12 (D) Information showing that the indi13 vidual is a citizen of the United States. 

14 (E) The date on which information per15 taining to that individual was collected or last 

16 updated. 

17 (F) If available, the individual’s signature 

18 in electronic form. 

19 (G) Information regarding the individual’s 

20 affiliation or enrollment with a political party, 

21 if the individual provides such information. 

22 (H) Any additional information listed in 

23 the mail voter registration application form for 

24 elections for Federal office prescribed pursuant 

25 to section 9 of the National Voter Registration 


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1 Act of 1993, including any valid driver’s license 

2 number or the last 4 digits of the individual’s 

3 social security number, if the individual pro4 vided such information. 

5 (c) ALTERNATE PROCEDURE FOR CERTAIN CON6 TRIBUTING AGENCIES.—With each application for service 

7 or assistance, and with each related recertification, re8 newal, or change of address, or in the case of an institu9 tion of higher education, with each registration of a stu10 dent for enrollment in a course of study, any contributing 

11 agency that in the normal course of its operations does 

12 not request individuals applying for service or assistance 

13 to affirm United States citizenship (either directly or as 

14 part of the overall application for service or assistance) 

15 shall— 

16 (1) complete the requirements of section 7(a)(6) 

17 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 

18 U.S.C. 20506(a)(6)); 

19 (2) ensure that each applicant’s transaction 

20 with the agency cannot be completed until the appli21 cant has indicated whether the applicant wishes to 

22 register to vote or declines to register to vote in elec23 tions for Federal office held in the State; and 


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1 (3) for each individual who wishes to register to 

2 vote, transmit that individual’s information in ac3 cordance with subsection (b)(3). 

4 (d) REQUIRED AVAILABILITY OF AUTOMATIC REG5 ISTRATION OPPORTUNITY WITH EACH APPLICATION FOR

6 SERVICE OR ASSISTANCE.—Each contributing agency 

7 shall offer each individual, with each application for serv8 ice or assistance, and with each related recertification, re9 newal, or change of address, or in the case of an institu10 tion of higher education, with each registration of a stu11 dent for enrollment in a course of study, the opportunity 

12 to register to vote as prescribed by this section without 

13 regard to whether the individual previously declined a reg14 istration opportunity. 

15 (e) CONTRIBUTING AGENCIES.— 

16 (1) STATE AGENCIES.—In each State, each of 

17 the following agencies shall be treated as a contrib18 uting agency: 

19 (A) Each agency in a State that is re20 quired by Federal law to provide voter registra21 tion services, including the State motor vehicle 

22 authority and other voter registration agencies 

23 under the National Voter Registration Act of 

24 1993. 


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1 (B) Each agency in a State that admin2 isters a program pursuant to title III of the So3 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 501 et seq.), title 

4 XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 

5 et seq.), or the Patient Protection and Afford6 able Care Act (Public Law 111–148). 

7 (C) Each State agency primarily respon8 sible for regulating the private possession of 

9 firearms. 

10 (D) Each State agency primarily respon11 sible for maintaining identifying information for 

12 students enrolled at public secondary schools, 

13 including, where applicable, the State agency 

14 responsible for maintaining the education data 

15 system described in section 6201(e)(2) of the 

16 America COMPETES Act (20 U.S.C. 

17 9871(e)(2)). 

18 (E) In the case of a State in which an in19 dividual disenfranchised by a criminal convic20 tion may become eligible to vote upon comple21 tion of a criminal sentence or any part thereof, 

22 or upon formal restoration of rights, the State 

23 agency responsible for administering that sen24 tence, or part thereof, or that restoration of 

25 rights. 


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1 (F) Any other agency of the State which is 

2 designated by the State as a contributing agen3 cy. 

4 (2) FEDERAL AGENCIES.—In each State, each 

5 of the following agencies of the Federal Government 

6 shall be treated as a contributing agency with re7 spect to individuals who are residents of that State 

8 (except as provided in subparagraph (C)): 

9 (A) The Social Security Administration, 

10 the Department of Veterans Affairs, the De11 fense Manpower Data Center of the Depart12 ment of Defense, the Employee and Training 

13 Administration of the Department of Labor, 

14 and the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Serv15 ices of the Department of Health and Human 

16 Services. 

17 (B) The Bureau of Citizenship and Immi18 gration Services, but only with respect to indi19 viduals who have completed the naturalization 

20 process. 

21 (C) In the case of an individual who is a 

22 resident of a State in which an individual 

23 disenfranchised by a criminal conviction under 

24 Federal law may become eligible to vote upon 

25 completion of a criminal sentence or any part 


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1 thereof, or upon formal restoration of rights, 

2 the Federal agency responsible for admin3 istering that sentence or part thereof (without 

4 regard to whether the agency is located in the 

5 same State in which the individual is a resi6 dent), but only with respect to individuals who 

7 have completed the criminal sentence or any 

8 part thereof. 

9 (D) Any other agency of the Federal Gov10 ernment which the State designates as a con11 tributing agency, but only if the State and the 

12 head of the agency determine that the agency 

13 collects information sufficient to carry out the 

14 responsibilities of a contributing agency under 

15 this section. 

16 (3) INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

17 Each institution of higher education that receives 

18 Federal funds shall be treated as a contributing 

19 agency in the State in which it is located, but only 

20 with respect to students of the institution (including 

21 students who attend classes online) who reside in the 

22 State. An institution of higher education described 

23 in the previous sentence shall be exempt from the 

24 voter registration requirements of section 487(a)(23) 

25 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 


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1 1094(a)(23)) if the institution is in compliance with 

2 the applicable requirements of this part. 

3 (4) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 180 days 

4 prior to the date of each election for Federal office 

5 held in the State, the chief State election official 

6 shall publish on the public website of the official an 

7 updated list of all contributing agencies in that 

8 State. 

9 (5) PUBLIC EDUCATION.—The chief State elec10 tion official of each State, in collaboration with each 

11 contributing agency, shall take appropriate measures 

12 to educate the public about voter registration under 

13 this section. 

14 SEC. 1014. ONE-TIME CONTRIBUTING AGENCY ASSISTANCE 

15 IN REGISTRATION OF ELIGIBLE VOTERS IN 

16 EXISTING RECORDS. 

17 (a) INITIAL TRANSMITTAL OF INFORMATION.—For 

18 each individual already listed in a contributing agency’s 

19 records as of the date of enactment of this Act, and for 

20 whom the agency has the information listed in section 

21 1013(b)(3), the agency shall promptly transmit that infor22 mation to the appropriate State election official in accord23 ance with section 1013(b)(3) not later than the effective 

24 date described in section 1011(a). 


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1 (b) TRANSITION.—For each individual listed in a con2 tributing agency’s records as of the effective date de3 scribed in section 1011(a) (but who was not listed in a 

4 contributing agency’s records as of the date of enactment 

5 of this Act), and for whom the agency has the information 

6 listed in section 1013(b)(3), the Agency shall promptly 

7 transmit that information to the appropriate State election 

8 official in accordance with section 1013(b)(3) not later 

9 than 6 months after the effective date described in section 

10 1011(a). 

11 SEC. 1015. VOTER PROTECTION AND SECURITY IN AUTO12 MATIC REGISTRATION. 

13 (a) PROTECTIONS FOR ERRORS IN REGISTRATION.— 

14 An individual shall not be prosecuted under any Federal 

15 law, adversely affected in any civil adjudication concerning 

16 immigration status or naturalization, or subject to an alle17 gation in any legal proceeding that the individual is not 

18 a citizen of the United States on any of the following 

19 grounds: 

20 (1) The individual notified an election office of 

21 the individual’s automatic registration to vote under 

22 this part. 

23 (2) The individual is not eligible to vote in elec24 tions for Federal office but was automatically reg25 istered to vote under this part. 


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1 (3) The individual was automatically registered 

2 to vote under this part at an incorrect address. 

3 (4) The individual declined the opportunity to 

4 register to vote or did not make an affirmation of 

5 citizenship, including through automatic registration, 

6 under this part. 

7 (b) LIMITS ON USE OF AUTOMATIC REGISTRA8 TION.—The automatic registration of any individual or the 

9 fact that an individual declined the opportunity to register 

10 to vote or did not make an affirmation of citizenship (in11 cluding through automatic registration) under this part 

12 may not be used as evidence against that individual in any 

13 State or Federal law enforcement proceeding, and an indi14 vidual’s lack of knowledge or willfulness of such registra15 tion may be demonstrated by the individual’s testimony 

16 alone. 

17 (c) PROTECTION OF ELECTION INTEGRITY.—Noth18 ing in subsection (a) or (b) may be construed to prohibit 

19 or restrict any action under color of law against an indi20 vidual who— 

21 (1) knowingly and willfully makes a false state22 ment to effectuate or perpetuate automatic voter 

23 registration by any individual; or 

24 (2) casts a ballot knowingly and willfully in vio25 lation of State law or the laws of the United States. 


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1 (d) CONTRIBUTING AGENCIES’ PROTECTION OF IN2 FORMATION.—Nothing in this part authorizes a contrib3 uting agency to collect, retain, transmit, or publicly dis4 close any of the following: 

5 (1) An individual’s decision to decline to reg6 ister to vote or not to register to vote. 

7 (2) An individual’s decision not to affirm his or 

8 her citizenship. 

9 (3) Any information that a contributing agency 

10 transmits pursuant to section 1013(b)(3), except in 

11 pursuing the agency’s ordinary course of business. 

12 (e) ELECTION OFFICIALS’ PROTECTION OF INFOR13 MATION.— 

14 (1) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE PROHIBITED.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara16 graph (B), with respect to any individual for 

17 whom any State election official receives infor18 mation from a contributing agency, the State 

19 election officials shall not publicly disclose any 

20 of the following: 

21 (i) The identity of the contributing 

22 agency. 

23 (ii) Any information not necessary to 

24 voter registration. 


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1 (iii) Any voter information otherwise 

2 shielded from disclosure under State law or 

3 section 8(a) of the National Voter Reg4 istration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

5 20507(a)). 

6 (iv) Any portion of the individual’s so7 cial security number. 

8 (v) Any portion of the individual’s 

9 motor vehicle driver’s license number. 

10 (vi) The individual’s signature. 

11 (vii) The individual’s telephone num12 ber. 

13 (viii) The individual’s email address. 

14 (B) SPECIAL RULE FOR INDIVIDUALS REG15 ISTERED TO VOTE.—With respect to any indi16 vidual for whom any State election official re17 ceives information from a contributing agency 

18 and who, on the basis of such information, is 

19 registered to vote in the State under this part, 

20 the State election officials shall not publicly dis21 close any of the following: 

22 (i) The identity of the contributing 

23 agency. 

24 (ii) Any information not necessary to 

25 voter registration. 


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1 (iii) Any voter information otherwise 

2 shielded from disclosure under State law or 

3 section 8(a) of the National Voter Reg4 istration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

5 20507(a)). 

6 (iv) Any portion of the individual’s so7 cial security number. 

8 (v) Any portion of the individual’s 

9 motor vehicle driver’s license number. 

10 (vi) The individual’s signature. 

11 (2) VOTER RECORD CHANGES.—Each State 

12 shall maintain for at least 2 years and shall make 

13 available for public inspection and, where available, 

14 photocopying at a reasonable cost, all records of 

15 changes to voter records, including removals and up16 dates. 

17 (3) DATABASE MANAGEMENT STANDARDS.— 

18 The Director of the National Institute of Standards 

19 and Technology shall, after providing the public with 

20 notice and the opportunity to comment— 

21 (A) establish standards governing the com22 parison of data for voter registration list main23 tenance purposes, identifying as part of such 

24 standards the specific data elements, the 

25 matching rules used, and how a State may use 


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1 the data to determine and deem that an indi2 vidual is ineligible under State law to vote in an 

3 election, or to deem a record to be a duplicate 

4 or outdated; 

5 (B) ensure that the standards developed 

6 pursuant to this paragraph are uniform and 

7 nondiscriminatory and are applied in a uniform 

8 and nondiscriminatory manner; and 

9 (C) publish the standards developed pursu10 ant to this paragraph on the Director’s website 

11 and make those standards available in written 

12 form upon request. 

13 (4) SECURITY POLICY.—The Director of the 

14 National Institute of Standards and Technology 

15 shall, after providing the public with notice and the 

16 opportunity to comment, publish privacy and secu17 rity standards for voter registration information. 

18 The standards shall require the chief State election 

19 official of each State to adopt a policy that shall 

20 specify— 

21 (A) each class of users who shall have au22 thorized access to the computerized Statewide 

23 voter registration list, specifying for each class 

24 the permission and levels of access to be grant25 ed, and setting forth other safeguards to proVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jan 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00054 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1.IH H1

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1 tect the privacy, security, and accuracy of the 

2 information on the list; and 

3 (B) security safeguards to protect personal 

4 information transmitted through the informa5 tion transmittal processes of section 1013 or 

6 section 1014, the online system used pursuant 

7 to section 1017, any telephone interface, the 

8 maintenance of the voter registration database, 

9 and any audit procedure to track access to the 

10 system. 

11 (5) STATE COMPLIANCE WITH NATIONAL

12 STANDARDS.— 

13 (A) CERTIFICATION.—The chief executive 

14 officer of the State shall annually file with the 

15 Election Assistance Commission a statement 

16 certifying to the Director of the National Insti17 tute of Standards and Technology that the 

18 State is in compliance with the standards re19 ferred to in paragraphs (4) and (5). A State 

20 may meet the requirement of the previous sen21 tence by filing with the Commission a statement 

22 which reads as follows: ‘‘lllll hereby 

23 certifies that it is in compliance with the stand24 ards referred to in paragraphs (4) and (5) of 

25 section 1015(e) of the Automatic Voter RegVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jan 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00055 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1.IH H1

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1 istration Act of 2019.’’ (with the blank to be 

2 filled in with the name of the State involved). 

3 (B) PUBLICATION OF POLICIES AND PRO4 CEDURES.—The chief State election official of a 

5 State shall publish on the official’s website the 

6 policies and procedures established under this 

7 section, and shall make those policies and pro8 cedures available in written form upon public 

9 request. 

10 (C) FUNDING DEPENDENT ON CERTIFI11 CATION.—If a State does not timely file the cer12 tification required under this paragraph, it shall 

13 not receive any payment under this part for the 

14 upcoming fiscal year. 

15 (D) COMPLIANCE OF STATES THAT RE16 QUIRE CHANGES TO STATE LAW.—In the case 

17 of a State that requires State legislation to 

18 carry out an activity covered by any certifi19 cation submitted under this paragraph, for a 

20 period of not more than 2 years the State shall 

21 be permitted to make the certification notwith22 standing that the legislation has not been en23 acted at the time the certification is submitted, 

24 and such State shall submit an additional cer25 tification once such legislation is enacted. 


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1 (f) RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF INFORMATION.—No 

2 person acting under color of law may discriminate against 

3 any individual based on, or use for any purpose other than 

4 voter registration, election administration, or enforcement 

5 relating to election crimes, any of the following: 

6 (1) Voter registration records. 

7 (2) An individual’s declination to register to 

8 vote or complete an affirmation of citizenship under 

9 section 1013(b). 

10 (3) An individual’s voter registration status. 

11 (g) PROHIBITION ON THE USE OF VOTER REGISTRA12 TION INFORMATION FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES.—In13 formation collected under this part shall not be used for 

14 commercial purposes. Nothing in this subsection may be 

15 construed to prohibit the transmission, exchange, or dis16 semination of information for political purposes, including 

17 the support of campaigns for election for Federal, State, 

18 or local public office or the activities of political commit19 tees (including committees of political parties) under the 

20 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. 

21 SEC. 1016. REGISTRATION PORTABILITY AND CORRECTION. 

22 (a) CORRECTING REGISTRATION INFORMATION AT

23 POLLING PLACE.—Notwithstanding section 302(a) of the 

24 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21082(a)), if 

25 an individual is registered to vote in elections for Federal 


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1 office held in a State, the appropriate election official at 

2 the polling pace for any such election (including a location 

3 used as a polling place on a date other than the date of 

4 the election) shall permit the individual to— 

5 (1) update the individual’s address for purposes 

6 of the records of the election official; 

7 (2) correct any incorrect information relating to 

8 the individual, including the individual’s name and 

9 political party affiliation, in the records of the elec10 tion official; and 

11 (3) cast a ballot in the election on the basis of 

12 the updated address or corrected information, and to 

13 have the ballot treated as a regular ballot and not 

14 as a provisional ballot under section 302(a) of such 

15 Act. 

16 (b) UPDATES TO COMPUTERIZED STATEWIDE VOTER

17 REGISTRATION LISTS.—If an election official at the poll18 ing place receives an updated address or corrected infor19 mation from an individual under subsection (a), the offi20 cial shall ensure that the address or information is 

21 promptly entered into the computerized Statewide voter 

22 registration list in accordance with section 

23 303(a)(1)(A)(vi) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

24 (52 U.S.C. 21083(a)(1)(A)(vi)). 


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1 SEC. 1017. PAYMENTS AND GRANTS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Election Assistance Commis3 sion shall make grants to each eligible State to assist the 

4 State in implementing the requirements of this part (or, 

5 in the case of an exempt State, in implementing its exist6 ing automatic voter registration program). 

7 (b) ELIGIBILITY; APPLICATION.—A State is eligible 

8 to receive a grant under this section if the State submits 

9 to the Commission, at such time and in such form as the 

10 Commission may require, an application containing— 

11 (1) a description of the activities the State will 

12 carry out with the grant; 

13 (2) an assurance that the State shall carry out 

14 such activities without partisan bias and without 

15 promoting any particular point of view regarding 

16 any issue; and 

17 (3) such other information and assurances as 

18 the Commission may require. 

19 (c) AMOUNT OF GRANT; PRIORITIES.—The Commis20 sion shall determine the amount of a grant made to an 

21 eligible State under this section. In determining the 

22 amounts of the grants, the Commission shall give priority 

23 to providing funds for those activities which are most like24 ly to accelerate compliance with the requirements of this 

25 part (or, in the case of an exempt State, which are most 

26 likely to enhance the ability of the State to automatically 


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1 register individuals to vote through its existing automatic 

2 voter registration program), including— 

3 (1) investments supporting electronic informa4 tion transfer, including electronic collection and 

5 transfer of signatures, between contributing agencies 

6 and the appropriate State election officials; 

7 (2) updates to online or electronic voter reg8 istration systems already operating as of the date of 

9 the enactment of this Act; 

10 (3) introduction of online voter registration sys11 tems in jurisdictions in which those systems did not 

12 previously exist; and 

13 (4) public education on the availability of new 

14 methods of registering to vote, updating registration, 

15 and correcting registration. 

16 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

17 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to 

18 be appropriated to carry out this section— 

19 (A) $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2019; and 

20 (B) such sums as may be necessary for 

21 each succeeding fiscal year. 

22 (2) CONTINUING AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.— 

23 Any amounts appropriated pursuant to the authority 

24 of this subsection shall remain available without fis25 cal year limitation until expended. 


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1 SEC. 1018. TREATMENT OF EXEMPT STATES. 

2 (a) WAIVER OF REQUIREMENTS.—Except as pro3 vided in subsection (b), this part does not apply with re4 spect to an exempt State. 

5 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—The following provisions of this 

6 part apply with respect to an exempt State: 

7 (1) Section 1016 (relating to registration port8 ability and correction). 

9 (2) Section 1017 (relating to payments and 

10 grants). 

11 (3) Section 1019(e) (relating to enforcement). 

12 (4) Section 1019(f) (relating to relation to 

13 other laws). 

14 SEC. 1019. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 

15 (a) ACCESSIBILITY OF REGISTRATION SERVICES.— 

16 Each contributing agency shall ensure that the services 

17 it provides under this part are made available to individ18 uals with disabilities to the same extent as services are 

19 made available to all other individuals. 

20 (b) TRANSMISSION THROUGH SECURE THIRD PARTY

21 PERMITTED.—Nothing in this part shall be construed to 

22 prevent a contributing agency from contracting with a 

23 third party to assist the agency in meeting the information 

24 transmittal requirements of this part, so long as the data 

25 transmittal complies with the applicable requirements of 


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1 this part, including the privacy and security provisions of 

2 section 1015. 

3 (c) NONPARTISAN, NONDISCRIMINATORY PROVISION

4 OF SERVICES.—The services made available by contrib5 uting agencies under this part and by the State under sec6 tions 1006 and 1007 shall be made in a manner consistent 

7 with paragraphs (4), (5), and (6)(C) of section 7(a) of 

8 the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

9 20506(a)). 

10 (d) NOTICES.—Each State may send notices under 

11 this part via electronic mail if the individual has provided 

12 an electronic mail address and consented to electronic mail 

13 communications for election-related materials. All notices 

14 sent pursuant to this part that require a response must 

15 offer the individual notified the opportunity to respond at 

16 no cost to the individual. 

17 (e) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 11 of the National 

18 Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20510), relat19 ing to civil enforcement and the availability of private 

20 rights of action, shall apply with respect to this part in 

21 the same manner as such section applies to such Act. 

22 (f) RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.—Except as pro23 vided, nothing in this part may be construed to authorize 

24 or require conduct prohibited under, or to supersede, re25 strict, or limit the application of any of the following: 


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1 (1) The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 

2 10301 et seq.). 

3 (2) The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Ab4 sentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20301 et seq.). 

5 (3) The National Voter Registration Act of 

6 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.). 

7 (4) The Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 

8 U.S.C. 20901 et seq.). 

9 SEC. 1020. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this part, the following definitions apply: 

11 (1) The term ‘‘chief State election official’’ 

12 means, with respect to a State, the individual des13 ignated by the State under section 10 of the Na14 tional Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

15 20509) to be responsible for coordination of the 

16 State’s responsibilities under such Act. 

17 (2) The term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Election 

18 Assistance Commission. 

19 (3) The term ‘‘exempt State’’ means a State 

20 which, under law which is in effect continuously on 

21 and after the date of the enactment of this Act, op22 erates an automatic voter registration program 

23 under which an individual is automatically registered 

24 to vote in elections for Federal office in the State if 

25 the individual provides the motor vehicle authority of 


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1 the State with such identifying information as the 

2 State may require. 

3 (4) The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several 

4 States and the District of Columbia. 

5 SEC. 1021. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

7 (b), this part and the amendments made by this part shall 

8 apply with respect to a State beginning January 1, 2021. 

9 (b) WAIVER.—Subject to the approval of the Com10 mission, if a State certifies to the Commission that the 

11 State will not meet the deadline referred to in subsection 

12 (a) because of extraordinary circumstances and includes 

13 in the certification the reasons for the failure to meet the 

14 deadline, subsection (a) shall apply to the State as if the 

15 reference in such subsection to ‘‘January 1, 2021’’ were 

16 a reference to ‘‘January 1, 2023’’. 

17 PART 3—SAME-DAY VOTER REGISTRATION 

18 SEC. 1031. SAME-DAY REGISTRATION. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help America 

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

21 (1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as 

22 sections 305 and 306; and 

23 (2) by inserting after section 303 the following 

24 new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 304. SAME-DAY REGISTRATION. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

3 ‘‘(1) REGISTRATION.—Notwithstanding section 

4 8(a)(1)(D) of the National Voter Registration Act of 

5 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20507(a)(1)(D)), each State shall 

6 permit any eligible individual on the day of a Fed7 eral election and on any day when voting, including 

8 early voting, is permitted for a Federal election— 

9 ‘‘(A) to register to vote in such election at 

10 the polling place using a form that meets the 

11 requirements under section 9(b) of the National 

12 Voter Registration Act of 1993 (or, if the indi13 vidual is already registered to vote, to revise 

14 any of the individual’s voter registration infor15 mation); and 

16 ‘‘(B) to cast a vote in such election. 

17 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—The requirements under 

18 paragraph (1) shall not apply to a State in which, 

19 under a State law in effect continuously on and after 

20 the date of the enactment of this section, there is no 

21 voter registration requirement for individuals in the 

22 State with respect to elections for Federal office. 

23 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of this 

24 section, the term ‘eligible individual’ means, with respect 

25 to any election for Federal office, an individual who is oth26 erwise qualified to vote in that election. 


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1 ‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Each State shall be re2 quired to comply with the requirements of subsection (a) 

3 for the regularly scheduled general election for Federal of4 fice occurring in November 2020 and for any subsequent 

5 election for Federal office.’’. 

6 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN7 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 

8 is amended by striking ‘‘sections 301, 302, and 303’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘subtitle A of title III’’. 

10 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

11 of such Act is amended— 

12 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec13 tions 304 and 305 as relating to sections 305 and 

14 306; and 

15 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec16 tion 303 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 304. Same-day registration.’’. 

17 PART 4—CONDITIONS ON REMOVAL ON BASIS OF 

18 INTERSTATE CROSS-CHECKS 

19 SEC. 1041. CONDITIONS ON REMOVAL OF REGISTRANTS 

20 FROM OFFICIAL LIST OF ELIGIBLE VOTERS 

21 ON BASIS OF INTERSTATE CROSS-CHECKS. 

22 (a) MINIMUM INFORMATION REQUIRED FOR RE23 MOVAL UNDER CROSS-CHECK.—Section 8(c)(2) of the 

24 National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

25 20507(c)(2)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as sub2 paragraph (D); and 

3 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol4 lowing new subparagraphs: 

5 ‘‘(B) To the extent that the program carried out by 

6 a State under subparagraph (A) to systematically remove 

7 the names of ineligible voters from the official lists of eligi8 ble voters uses information obtained in an interstate cross9 check, the State may not remove the name of the voter 

10 from such a list unless— 

11 ‘‘(i) the State obtained the voter’s full name 

12 (including the voter’s middle name, if any) and date 

13 of birth, and the last 4 digits of the voter’s social 

14 security number, in the interstate cross-check; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) the State obtained documentation from the 

16 ERIC system that the voter is no longer a resident 

17 of the State. 

18 ‘‘(C) In this paragraph— 

19 ‘‘(i) the term ‘interstate cross-check’ means the 

20 transmission of information from an election official 

21 in one State to an election official of another State; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘ERIC system’ means the system 

24 operated by the Electronic Registration Information 

25 Center to share voter registration information and 


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1 voter identification information among participating 

2 States.’’. 

3 (b) REQUIRING COMPLETION OF CROSS-CHECKS

4 NOT LATER THAN 6 MONTHS PRIOR TO ELECTION.— 

5 Subparagraph (A) of section 8(c)(2) of such Act (52 

6 U.S.C. 20507(c)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘not later 

7 than 90 days’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘not later than 

8 90 days (or, in the case of a program in which the State 

9 uses interstate cross-checks, not later than 6 months)’’. 

10 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subparagraph (F) 

11 of section 8(c)(2) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20507(c)(2)) is 

12 amended by striking ‘‘Subparagraph (A)’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘This paragraph’’. 

14 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

15 this Act shall apply with respect to elections held on or 

16 after the expiration of the 6-month period which begins 

17 on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

18 PART 5—OTHER INITIATIVES TO PROMOTE 

19 VOTER REGISTRATION 

20 SEC. 1051. ANNUAL REPORTS ON VOTER REGISTRATION 

21 STATISTICS. 

22 (a) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after 

23 the end of each year, each State shall submit to the Elec24 tion Assistance Commission and Congress a report conVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jan 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00068 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1.IH H1

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1 taining the following categories of information for the 

2 year: 

3 (1) The number of individuals who were reg4 istered under part 2. 

5 (2) The number of voter registration applica6 tion forms completed by individuals that were trans7 mitted by motor vehicle authorities in the State 

8 (pursuant to section 5(d) of the National Voter Reg9 istration Act of 1993) and voter registration agen10 cies in the State (as designated under section 7 of 

11 such Act) to the chief State election official of the 

12 State, broken down by each such authority and 

13 agency. 

14 (3) The number of such individuals whose voter 

15 registration application forms were accepted and 

16 who were registered to vote in the State and the 

17 number of such individuals whose forms were re18 jected and who were not registered to vote in the 

19 State, broken down by each such authority and 

20 agency. 

21 (4) The number of change of address forms and 

22 other forms of information indicating that an indi23 vidual’s identifying information has been changed 

24 that were transmitted by such motor vehicle authori25 ties and voter registration agencies to the chief State 


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1 election official of the State, broken down by each 

2 such authority and agency and the type of form 

3 transmitted. 

4 (5) The number of individuals on the Statewide 

5 computerized voter registration list (as established 

6 and maintained under section 303 of the Help 

7 America Vote Act of 2002) whose voter registration 

8 information was revised by the chief State election 

9 official as a result of the forms transmitted to the 

10 official by such motor vehicle authorities and voter 

11 registration agencies (as described in paragraph 

12 (3)), broken down by each such authority and agen13 cy and the type of form transmitted. 

14 (6) The number of individuals who requested 

15 the chief State election official to revise voter reg16 istration information on such list, and the number of 

17 individuals whose information was revised as a result 

18 of such a request. 

19 (b) BREAKDOWN OF INFORMATION BY RACE AND

20 ETHNICITY OF INDIVIDUALS.—In preparing the report 

21 under this section, the State shall, for each category of 

22 information described in subsection (a), include a break23 down by race and ethnicity of the individuals whose infor24 mation is included in the category, to the extent that inforVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jan 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00070 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1.IH H1

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1 mation on the race and ethnicity of such individuals is 

2 available to the State. 

3 (c) CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION.—In pre4 paring and submitting a report under this section, the 

5 chief State election official shall ensure that no informa6 tion regarding the identification of any individual is re7 vealed. 

8 (d) STATE DEFINED.—In this section, a ‘‘State’’ in9 cludes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 

10 Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, 

11 American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern 

12 Mariana Islands, but does not include any State in which, 

13 under a State law in effect continuously on and after the 

14 date of the enactment of this Act, there is no voter reg15 istration requirement for individuals in the State with re16 spect to elections for Federal office. 

17 PART 6—AVAILABILITY OF HAVA REQUIREMENTS 

18 PAYMENTS 

19 SEC. 1061. AVAILABILITY OF REQUIREMENTS PAYMENTS 

20 UNDER HAVA TO COVER COSTS OF COMPLI21 ANCE WITH NEW REQUIREMENTS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 251(b) of the Help Amer23 ica Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21001(b)) is amended— 

24 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘(2) and (3)’’ 

25 and inserting ‘‘(2), (3), and (4)’’; and 


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1 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

2 paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(4) CERTAIN VOTER REGISTRATION ACTIVI4 TIES.—A State may use a requirements payment to 

5 carry out any of the requirements of the Voter Reg6 istration Modernization Act of 2019, including the 

7 requirements of the National Voter Registration Act 

8 of 1993 which are imposed pursuant to the amend9 ments made to such Act by the Voter Registration 

10 Modernization Act of 2019.’’. 

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 254(a)(1) 

12 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21004(a)(1)) is amended by strik13 ing ‘‘section 251(a)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

14 251(b)(2)’’. 

15 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

16 this section shall apply with respect to fiscal year 2018 

17 and each succeeding fiscal year. 

18 PART 7—PROHIBITING INTERFERENCE WITH 

19 VOTER REGISTRATION 

20 SEC. 1071. PROHIBITING HINDERING, INTERFERING WITH, 

21 OR PREVENTING VOTER REGISTRATION. 

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

23 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol24 lowing new section: 


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1 ‘‘§ 612. Hindering, interfering with, or preventing 

2 registering to vote 

3 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful for any per4 son, whether acting under color of law or otherwise, to 

5 corruptly hinder, interfere with, or prevent another person 

6 from registering to vote or to corruptly hinder, interfere 

7 with, or prevent another person from aiding another per8 son in registering to vote. 

9 ‘‘(b) ATTEMPT.—Any person who attempts to commit 

10 any offense described in subsection (a) shall be subject to 

11 the same penalties as those prescribed for the offense that 

12 the person attempted to commit. 

13 ‘‘(c) PENALTY.—Any person who violates subsection 

14 (a) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more 

15 than 5 years, or both.’’. 

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

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

18 by adding at the end the following new item: 

‘‘612. Hindering, interfering with, or preventing registering to vote.’’. 

19 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

20 this section shall apply with respect to elections held on 

21 or after the date of the enactment of this Act, except that 

22 no person may be found to have violated section 612 of 

23 title 18, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)), 

24 on the basis of any act occurring prior to the date of the 

25 enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 1072. ESTABLISHMENT OF BEST PRACTICES. 

2 (a) BEST PRACTICES.—Not later than 180 days after 

3 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Election Assist4 ance Commission shall develop and publish recommenda5 tions for best practices for States to use to deter and pre6 vent violations of section 612 of title 18, United States 

7 Code (as added by section 1071), and section 12 of the 

8 National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

9 20511) (relating to the unlawful interference with reg10 istering to vote, or voting, or attempting to register to vote 

11 or vote), including practices to provide for the posting of 

12 relevant information at polling places and voter registra13 tion agencies under such Act, the training of poll workers 

14 and election officials, and relevant educational materials. 

15 For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘‘State’’ includes 

16 the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 

17 Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin 

18 Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

19 Islands. 

20 (b) INCLUSION IN VOTER INFORMATION REQUIRE21 MENTS.—Section 302(b)(2) of the Help America Vote Act 

22 of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21082(b)(2)) is amended— 

23 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara24 graph (E); 

25 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub26 paragraph (F) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 


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1 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub2 paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(G) information relating to the prohibi4 tions of section 612 of title 18, United States 

5 Code, and section 12 of the National Voter 

6 Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20511) 

7 (relating to the unlawful interference with reg8 istering to vote, or voting, or attempting to reg9 ister to vote or vote), including information on 

10 how individuals may report allegations of viola11 tions of such prohibitions.’’. 

12 Subtitle B—Access to Voting for 

13 Individuals With Disabilities 

14 SEC. 1101. REQUIREMENTS FOR STATES TO PROMOTE AC15 CESS TO VOTER REGISTRATION AND VOTING 

16 FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. 

17 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—Subtitle A of title III of the 

18 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.), 

19 as amended by section 1031(a), is amended— 

20 (1) by redesignating sections 305 and 306 as 

21 sections 306 and 307; and 

22 (2) by inserting after section 304 the following 

23 new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 305. ACCESS TO VOTER REGISTRATION AND VOTING 

2 FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. 

3 ‘‘(a) TREATMENT OF APPLICATIONS AND BAL4 LOTS.—Each State shall— 

5 ‘‘(1) permit individuals with disabilities to use 

6 absentee registration procedures and to vote by ab7 sentee ballot in elections for Federal office; 

8 ‘‘(2) accept and process, with respect to any 

9 election for Federal office, any otherwise valid voter 

10 registration application and absentee ballot applica11 tion from an individual with a disability if the appli12 cation is received by the appropriate State election 

13 official not less than 30 days before the election; 

14 ‘‘(3) in addition to any other method of reg15 istering to vote or applying for an absentee ballot in 

16 the State, establish procedures— 

17 ‘‘(A) for individuals with disabilities to re18 quest by mail and electronically voter registra19 tion applications and absentee ballot applica20 tions with respect to elections for Federal office 

21 in accordance with subsection (c); 

22 ‘‘(B) for States to send by mail and elec23 tronically (in accordance with the preferred 

24 method of transmission designated by the indi25 vidual under subparagraph (C)) voter registra26 tion applications and absentee ballot applicaVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jan 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00076 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1.IH H1

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1 tions requested under subparagraph (A) in ac2 cordance with subsection (c); and 

3 ‘‘(C) by which such an individual can des4 ignate whether the individual prefers that such 

5 voter registration application or absentee ballot 

6 application be transmitted by mail or electroni7 cally; 

8 ‘‘(4) in addition to any other method of trans9 mitting blank absentee ballots in the State, establish 

10 procedures for transmitting by mail and electroni11 cally blank absentee ballots to individuals with dis12 abilities with respect to elections for Federal office 

13 in accordance with subsection (d); 

14 ‘‘(5) transmit a validly requested absentee bal15 lot to an individual with a disability— 

16 ‘‘(A) except as provided in subsection (e), 

17 in the case in which the request is received at 

18 least 45 days before an election for Federal of19 fice, not later than 45 days before the election; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(B) in the case in which the request is re22 ceived less than 45 days before an election for 

23 Federal office— 

24 ‘‘(i) in accordance with State law; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) if practicable and as determined 

2 appropriate by the State, in a manner that 

3 expedites the transmission of such absen4 tee ballot; and 

5 ‘‘(6) if the State declares or otherwise holds a 

6 runoff election for Federal office, establish a written 

7 plan that provides absentee ballots are made avail8 able to individuals with disabilities in a manner that 

9 gives them sufficient time to vote in the runoff elec10 tion. 

11 ‘‘(b) DESIGNATION OF SINGLE STATE OFFICE TO

12 PROVIDE INFORMATION ON REGISTRATION AND ABSEN13 TEE BALLOT PROCEDURES FOR ALL DISABLED VOTERS

14 IN STATE.—Each State shall designate a single office 

15 which shall be responsible for providing information re16 garding voter registration procedures and absentee ballot 

17 procedures to be used by individuals with disabilities with 

18 respect to elections for Federal office to all individuals 

19 with disabilities who wish to register to vote or vote in 

20 any jurisdiction in the State. 

21 ‘‘(c) DESIGNATION OF MEANS OF ELECTRONIC COM22 MUNICATION FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES TO

23 REQUEST AND FOR STATES TO SEND VOTER REGISTRA24 TION APPLICATIONS AND ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICAVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jan 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00078 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1.IH H1

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1 TIONS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES RELATED TO VOTING

2 INFORMATION.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall, in addi4 tion to the designation of a single State office under 

5 subsection (b), designate not less than 1 means of 

6 electronic communication— 

7 ‘‘(A) for use by individuals with disabilities 

8 who wish to register to vote or vote in any ju9 risdiction in the State to request voter registra10 tion applications and absentee ballot applica11 tions under subsection (a)(3); 

12 ‘‘(B) for use by States to send voter reg13 istration applications and absentee ballot appli14 cations requested under such subsection; and 

15 ‘‘(C) for the purpose of providing related 

16 voting, balloting, and election information to in17 dividuals with disabilities. 

18 ‘‘(2) CLARIFICATION REGARDING PROVISION OF

19 MULTIPLE MEANS OF ELECTRONIC COMMUNICA20 TION.—A State may, in addition to the means of 

21 electronic communication so designated, provide 

22 multiple means of electronic communication to indi23 viduals with disabilities, including a means of elec24 tronic communication for the appropriate jurisdic25 tion of the State. 


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1 ‘‘(3) INCLUSION OF DESIGNATED MEANS OF

2 ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION WITH INFORMA3 TIONAL AND INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS THAT AC4 COMPANY BALLOTING MATERIALS.—Each State shall 

5 include a means of electronic communication so des6 ignated with all informational and instructional ma7 terials that accompany balloting materials sent by 

8 the State to individuals with disabilities. 

9 ‘‘(4) TRANSMISSION IF NO PREFERENCE INDI10 CATED.—In the case where an individual with a dis11 ability does not designate a preference under sub12 section (a)(3)(C), the State shall transmit the voter 

13 registration application or absentee ballot application 

14 by any delivery method allowable in accordance with 

15 applicable State law, or if there is no applicable 

16 State law, by mail. 

17 ‘‘(d) TRANSMISSION OF BLANK ABSENTEE BALLOTS

18 BY MAIL AND ELECTRONICALLY.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall establish 

20 procedures— 

21 ‘‘(A) to securely transmit blank absentee 

22 ballots by mail and electronically (in accordance 

23 with the preferred method of transmission des24 ignated by the individual with a disability under 


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1 subparagraph (B)) to individuals with disabil2 ities for an election for Federal office; and 

3 ‘‘(B) by which the individual with a dis4 ability can designate whether the individual pre5 fers that such blank absentee ballot be trans6 mitted by mail or electronically. 

7 ‘‘(2) TRANSMISSION IF NO PREFERENCE INDI8 CATED.—In the case where an individual with a dis9 ability does not designate a preference under para10 graph (1)(B), the State shall transmit the ballot by 

11 any delivery method allowable in accordance with ap12 plicable State law, or if there is no applicable State 

13 law, by mail. 

14 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION OF METHODS TO TRACK DE15 LIVERY TO AND RETURN OF BALLOT BY INDIVIDUAL

16 REQUESTING BALLOT.—Under the procedures estab17 lished under paragraph (1), the State shall apply 

18 such methods as the State considers appropriate, 

19 such as assigning a unique identifier to the ballot, 

20 to ensure that if an individual with a disability re21 quests the State to transmit a blank absentee ballot 

22 to the individual in accordance with this subsection, 

23 the voted absentee ballot which is returned by the 

24 individual is the same blank absentee ballot which 

25 the State transmitted to the individual. 


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1 ‘‘(e) HARDSHIP EXEMPTION.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the chief State election 

3 official determines that the State is unable to meet 

4 the requirement under subsection (a)(5)(A) with re5 spect to an election for Federal office due to an 

6 undue hardship described in paragraph (2)(B), the 

7 chief State election official shall request that the At8 torney General grant a waiver to the State of the 

9 application of such subsection. Such request shall in10 clude— 

11 ‘‘(A) a recognition that the purpose of 

12 such subsection is to individuals with disabil13 ities enough time to vote in an election for Fed14 eral office; 

15 ‘‘(B) an explanation of the hardship that 

16 indicates why the State is unable to transmit 

17 such individuals an absentee ballot in accord18 ance with such subsection; 

19 ‘‘(C) the number of days prior to the elec20 tion for Federal office that the State requires 

21 absentee ballots be transmitted to such individ22 uals; and 

23 ‘‘(D) a comprehensive plan to ensure that 

24 such individuals are able to receive absentee 

25 ballots which they have requested and submit 


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1 marked absentee ballots to the appropriate 

2 State election official in time to have that ballot 

3 counted in the election for Federal office, which 

4 includes— 

5 ‘‘(i) the steps the State will undertake 

6 to ensure that such individuals have time 

7 to receive, mark, and submit their ballots 

8 in time to have those ballots counted in the 

9 election; 

10 ‘‘(ii) why the plan provides such indi11 viduals sufficient time to vote as a sub12 stitute for the requirements under such 

13 subsection; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) the underlying factual informa15 tion which explains how the plan provides 

16 such sufficient time to vote as a substitute 

17 for such requirements. 

18 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL OF WAIVER REQUEST.—The 

19 Attorney General shall approve a waiver request 

20 under paragraph (1) if the Attorney General deter21 mines each of the following requirements are met: 

22 ‘‘(A) The comprehensive plan under sub23 paragraph (D) of such paragraph provides indi24 viduals with disabilities sufficient time to re25 ceive absentee ballots they have requested and 


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1 submit marked absentee ballots to the appro2 priate State election official in time to have that 

3 ballot counted in the election for Federal office. 

4 ‘‘(B) One or more of the following issues 

5 creates an undue hardship for the State: 

6 ‘‘(i) The State’s primary election date 

7 prohibits the State from complying with 

8 subsection (a)(5)(A). 

9 ‘‘(ii) The State has suffered a delay in 

10 generating ballots due to a legal contest. 

11 ‘‘(iii) The State Constitution prohibits 

12 the State from complying with such sub13 section. 

14 ‘‘(3) TIMING OF WAIVER.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

16 under subparagraph (B), a State that requests 

17 a waiver under paragraph (1) shall submit to 

18 the Attorney General the written waiver request 

19 not later than 90 days before the election for 

20 Federal office with respect to which the request 

21 is submitted. The Attorney General shall ap22 prove or deny the waiver request not later than 

23 65 days before such election. 

24 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—If a State requests a 

25 waiver under paragraph (1) as the result of an 


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1 undue hardship described in paragraph 

2 (2)(B)(ii), the State shall submit to the Attor3 ney General the written waiver request as soon 

4 as practicable. The Attorney General shall ap5 prove or deny the waiver request not later than 

6 5 business days after the date on which the re7 quest is received. 

8 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION OF WAIVER.—A waiver ap9 proved under paragraph (2) shall only apply with re10 spect to the election for Federal office for which the 

11 request was submitted. For each subsequent election 

12 for Federal office, the Attorney General shall only 

13 approve a waiver if the State has submitted a re14 quest under paragraph (1) with respect to such elec15 tion. 

16 ‘‘(f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec17 tion may be construed to allow the marking or casting of 

18 ballots over the internet. 

19 ‘‘(g) INDIVIDUAL WITH A DISABILITY DEFINED.— 

20 In this section, an ‘individual with a disability’ means an 

21 individual with an impairment that substantially limits 

22 any major life activities and who is otherwise qualified to 

23 vote in elections for Federal office. 


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1 ‘‘(h) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

2 with respect to elections for Federal office held on or after 

3 January 1, 2020.’’. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

5 ISSUANCE OF VOLUNTARY GUIDANCE BY ELECTION AS6 SISTANCE COMMISSION.—Section 311(b) of such Act (52 

7 U.S.C. 21101(b)) is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

9 (2); 

10 (2) by striking the period at the end of para11 graph (3) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

12 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

13 paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(4) in the case of the recommendations with 

15 respect to section 305, January 1, 2020.’’. 

16 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

17 of such Act, as amended by section 1031(c), is amended— 

18 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec19 tions 305 and 306 as relating to sections 306 and 

20 307; and 

21 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec22 tion 304 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 305. Access to voter registration and voting for individuals with disabilities.’’. 


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1 SEC. 1102. PILOT PROGRAMS FOR ENABLING INDIVIDUALS 

2 WITH DISABILITIES TO REGISTER TO VOTE 

3 AND VOTE PRIVATELY AND INDEPENDENTLY 

4 AT RESIDENCES. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAMS.—The 

6 Election Assistance Commission (hereafter referred to as 

7 the ‘‘Commission’’) shall make grants to eligible States to 

8 conduct pilot programs under which— 

9 (1) individuals with disabilities may use elec10 tronic means (including the internet and telephones 

11 utilizing assistive devices) to register to vote and to 

12 request and receive absentee ballots, in a manner 

13 which permits such individuals to do so privately 

14 and independently at their own residences; and 

15 (2) individuals with disabilities may use the 

16 telephone to cast ballots electronically from their 

17 own residences, but only if the telephone used is not 

18 connected to the internet. 

19 (b) REPORTS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State receiving a grant for 

21 a year under this section shall submit a report to the 

22 Commission on the pilot programs the State carried 

23 out with the grant with respect to elections for pub24 lic office held in the State during the year. 

25 (2) DEADLINE.—A State shall submit a report 

26 under paragraph (1) not later than 90 days after 


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1 the last election for public office held in the State 

2 during the year. 

3 (c) ELIGIBILITY.—A State is eligible to receive a 

4 grant under this section if the State submits to the Com5 mission, at such time and in such form as the Commission 

6 may require, an application containing such information 

7 and assurances as the Commission may require. 

8 (d) TIMING.—The Commission shall make the first 

9 grants under this section for pilot programs which will be 

10 in effect with respect to elections for Federal office held 

11 in 2020, or, at the option of a State, with respect to other 

12 elections for public office held in the State in 2020. 

13 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

14 authorized to be appropriated for grants for pilot pro15 grams under this section $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 

16 and each succeeding fiscal year. 

17 (f) STATE DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

18 ‘‘State’’ includes the District of Columbia, the Common19 wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the 

20 United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of 

21 the Northern Mariana Islands. 


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1 SEC. 1103. EXPANSION AND REAUTHORIZATION OF GRANT 

2 PROGRAM TO ASSURE VOTING ACCESS FOR 

3 INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. 

4 (a) PURPOSES OF PAYMENTS.—Section 261(b) of the 

5 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21021(b)) is 

6 amended by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) and inserting 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘(1) making absentee voting and voting at 

9 home accessible to individuals with the full range of 

10 disabilities (including impairments involving vision, 

11 hearing, mobility, or dexterity) through the imple12 mentation of accessible absentee voting systems that 

13 work in conjunction with assistive technologies for 

14 which individuals have access at their homes, inde15 pendent living centers, or other facilities; 

16 ‘‘(2) making polling places, including the path 

17 of travel, entrances, exits, and voting areas of each 

18 polling facility, accessible to individuals with disabil19 ities, including the blind and visually impaired, in a 

20 manner that provides the same opportunity for ac21 cess and participation (including privacy and inde22 pendence) as for other voters; and 

23 ‘‘(3) providing solutions to problems of access 

24 to voting and elections for individuals with disabil25 ities that are universally designed and provide the 


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1 same opportunities for individuals with and without 

2 disabilities.’’. 

3 (b) REAUTHORIZATION.—Section 264(a) of such Act 

4 (52 U.S.C. 21024(a)) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following new paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(4) For fiscal year 2020 and each succeeding 

7 fiscal year, such sums as may be necessary to carry 

8 out this part.’’. 

9 (c) PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Section 

10 264 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21024) is amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘Any 

12 amounts’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in sub13 section (b), any amounts’’; and 

14 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub15 section: 

16 ‘‘(c) RETURN AND TRANSFER OF CERTAIN FUNDS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) DEADLINE FOR OBLIGATION AND EXPEND18 ITURE.—In the case of any amounts appropriated 

19 pursuant to the authority of subsection (a) for a 

20 payment to a State or unit of local government for 

21 fiscal year 2020 or any succeeding fiscal year, any 

22 portion of such amounts which have not been obli23 gated or expended by the State or unit of local gov24 ernment prior to the expiration of the 4-year period 

25 which begins on the date the State or unit of local 


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1 government first received the amounts shall be 

2 transferred to the Commission. 

3 ‘‘(2) REALLOCATION OF TRANSFERRED

4 AMOUNTS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

6 use the amounts transferred under paragraph 

7 (1) to make payments on a pro rata basis to 

8 each covered payment recipient described in 

9 subparagraph (B), which may obligate and ex10 pend such payment for the purposes described 

11 in section 261(b) during the 1-year period 

12 which begins on the date of receipt. 

13 ‘‘(B) COVERED PAYMENT RECIPIENTS DE14 SCRIBED.—In subparagraph (A), a ‘covered 

15 payment recipient’ is a State or unit of local 

16 government with respect to which— 

17 ‘‘(i) amounts were appropriated pur18 suant to the authority of subsection (a); 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(ii) no amounts were transferred to 

21 the Commission under paragraph (1).’’. 


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1 Subtitle C—Prohibiting Voter 

2 Caging 

3 SEC. 1201. VOTER CAGING AND OTHER QUESTIONABLE 

4 CHALLENGES PROHIBITED. 

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

6 States Code, as amended by section 1071(a), is amended 

7 by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘§ 613. Voter caging and other questionable chal9 lenges 

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

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

12 ‘‘(A) a nonforwardable document that is 

13 returned to the sender or a third party as unde14 livered or undeliverable despite an attempt to 

15 deliver such document to the address of a reg16 istered voter or applicant; or 

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

18 addressee that the document be returned to the 

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

20 despite an attempt to deliver such document to 

21 the address of a registered voter or applicant, 

22 unless at least two Federal election cycles have 

23 passed since the date of the attempted delivery; 


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

2 individuals compiled from voter caging documents; 

3 and 

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

5 list produced by matching the information of reg6 istered voters or applicants for voter registration to 

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

8 registrar’s jurisdiction, by virtue of death, convic9 tion, change of address, or otherwise; unless one of 

10 the pieces of information matched includes a signa11 ture, photograph, or unique identifying number en12 suring that the information from each source refers 

13 to the same individual. 

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

15 State or local election official shall prevent an individual 

16 from registering or voting in any election for Federal of17 fice, or permit in connection with any election for Federal 

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

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

20 such decision is evidence consisting of— 

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

22 list; 

23 ‘‘(2) an unverified match list; 

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

25 paper relating to any application, registration, or 


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1 other act requisite to voting, if such error or omis2 sion is not material to an individual’s eligibility to 

3 vote under section 2004 of the Revised Statutes, as 

4 amended (52 U.S.C. 10101(a)(2)(B)); or 

5 ‘‘(4) any other evidence so designated for pur6 poses of this section by the Election Assistance Com7 mission, 

8 except that the election official may use such evidence if 

9 it is corroborated by independent evidence of the individ10 ual’s ineligibility to register or vote. 

11 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR CHALLENGES BY PERSONS

12 OTHER THAN ELECTION OFFICIALS.—No person, other 

13 than a State or local election official, shall submit a formal 

14 challenge to an individual’s eligibility to register to vote 

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

16 for Federal office unless that challenge is supported by 

17 personal knowledge regarding the grounds for ineligibility 

18 which is— 

19 ‘‘(1) documented in writing; and 

20 ‘‘(2) subject to an oath or attestation under 

21 penalty of perjury that the challenger has a good 

22 faith factual basis to believe that the individual who 

23 is the subject of the challenge is ineligible to register 

24 to vote or vote in that election, except a challenge 

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1 gin of the individual who is the subject of the chal2 lenge may not be considered to have a good faith 

3 factual basis for purposes of this paragraph. 

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

5 Whoever knowingly challenges the eligibility of one or 

6 more individuals to register or vote or knowingly causes 

7 the eligibility of such individuals to be challenged in viola8 tion of this section with the intent that one or more eligi9 ble voters be disqualified, shall be fined under this title 

10 or imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both, for each such 

11 violation. Each violation shall be a separate offense. 

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

13 this section is intended to override the protections of the 

14 National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

15 20501 et seq.) or to affect the Voting Rights Act of 1965 

16 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.).’’. 

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

18 for chapter 29 of title 18, United States Code, as amended 

19 by section 1071(b), is amended by adding at the end the 

20 following: 

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

21 SEC. 1202. DEVELOPMENT AND ADOPTION OF BEST PRAC22 TICES FOR PREVENTING VOTER CAGING. 

23 (a) BEST PRACTICES.—Not later than 180 days after 

24 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Election Assist25 ance Commission shall develop and publish for the use of 


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1 States recommendations for best practices to deter and 

2 prevent violations of section 613 of title 18, United States 

3 Code, as added by section 1201(a), including practices to 

4 provide for the posting of relevant information at polling 

5 places and voter registration agencies, the training of poll 

6 workers and election officials, and relevant educational 

7 measures. For purposes of this subsection, the term 

8 ‘‘State’’ includes the District of Columbia, the Common9 wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the 

10 United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of 

11 the Northern Mariana Islands. 

12 (b) INCLUSION IN VOTING INFORMATION REQUIRE13 MENTS.—Section 302(b)(2) of the Help America Vote Act 

14 of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21082(b)(2)), as amended by section 

15 1072(b), is amended— 

16 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara17 graph (F); 

18 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub19 paragraph (G) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

20 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub21 paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(H) information relating to the prohibi23 tion against voter caging and other questionable 

24 challenges (as set forth in section 613 of title 

25 18, United States Code), including information 


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1 on how individuals may report allegations of 

2 violations of such prohibition.’’. 

3 Subtitle D—Prohibiting Deceptive 

4 Practices and Preventing Voter 

5 Intimidation 

6 SEC. 1301. SHORT TITLE. 

7 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Deceptive Prac8 tices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2019’’. 

9 SEC. 1302. PROHIBITION ON DECEPTIVE PRACTICES IN 

10 FEDERAL ELECTIONS. 

11 (a) PROHIBITION.—Subsection (b) of section 2004 of 

12 the Revised Statutes (52 U.S.C. 10101(b)) is amended— 

13 (1) by striking ‘‘No person’’ and inserting the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No person’’; and 

16 (2) by inserting at the end the following new 

17 paragraphs: 

18 ‘‘(2) FALSE STATEMENTS REGARDING FEDERAL

19 ELECTIONS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION.—No person, whether 

21 acting under color of law or otherwise, shall, 

22 within 60 days before an election described in 

23 paragraph (5), by any means, including by 

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1 municated information described in subpara2 graph (B), or produce information described in 

3 subparagraph (B) with the intent that such in4 formation be communicated, if such person— 

5 ‘‘(i) knows such information to be ma6 terially false; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) has the intent to impede or pre8 vent another person from exercising the 

9 right to vote in an election described in 

10 paragraph (5). 

11 ‘‘(B) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—Infor12 mation is described in this subparagraph if such 

13 information is regarding— 

14 ‘‘(i) the time, place, or manner of 

15 holding any election described in para16 graph (5); or 

17 ‘‘(ii) the qualifications for or restric18 tions on voter eligibility for any such elec19 tion, including— 

20 ‘‘(I) any criminal penalties asso21 ciated with voting in any such elec22 tion; or 

23 ‘‘(II) information regarding a 

24 voter’s registration status or eligi25 bility. 


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1 ‘‘(3) FALSE STATEMENTS REGARDING PUBLIC

2 ENDORSEMENTS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION.—No person, whether 

4 acting under color of law or otherwise, shall, 

5 within 60 days before an election described in 

6 paragraph (5), by any means, including by 

7 means of written, electronic, or telephonic com8 munications, communicate, or cause to be com9 municated, a materially false statement about 

10 an endorsement, if such person— 

11 ‘‘(i) knows such statement to be false; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(ii) has the intent to impede or pre14 vent another person from exercising the 

15 right to vote in an election described in 

16 paragraph (5). 

17 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION OF ‘MATERIALLY

18 FALSE’.—For purposes of subparagraph (A), a 

19 statement about an endorsement is ‘materially 

20 false’ if, with respect to an upcoming election 

21 described in paragraph (5)— 

22 ‘‘(i) the statement states that a spe23 cifically named person, political party, or 

24 organization has endorsed the election of a 


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1 specific candidate for a Federal office de2 scribed in such paragraph; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) such person, political party, or 

4 organization has not endorsed the election 

5 of such candidate. 

6 ‘‘(4) HINDERING, INTERFERING WITH, OR PRE7 VENTING VOTING OR REGISTERING TO VOTE.—No 

8 person, whether acting under color of law or other9 wise, shall intentionally hinder, interfere with, or 

10 prevent another person from voting, registering to 

11 vote, or aiding another person to vote or register to 

12 vote in an election described in paragraph (5). 

13 ‘‘(5) ELECTION DESCRIBED.—An election de14 scribed in this paragraph is any general, primary, 

15 run-off, or special election held solely or in part for 

16 the purpose of nominating or electing a candidate 

17 for the office of President, Vice President, Presi18 dential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of 

19 the House of Representatives, or Delegate or Com20 missioner from a Territory or possession.’’. 

21 (b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (c) of section 

23 2004 of the Revised Statutes (52 U.S.C. 10101(c)) 

24 is amended— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘Whenever any person’’ 

2 and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) Whenever any person’’; and 

4 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

5 paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(2) Any person aggrieved by a violation of 

7 subsection (b)(2), (b)(3), or (b)(4) may institute a 

8 civil action for preventive relief, including an appli9 cation in a United States district court for a perma10 nent or temporary injunction, restraining order, or 

11 other order. In any such action, the court, in its dis12 cretion, may allow the prevailing party a reasonable 

13 attorney’s fee as part of the costs.’’. 

14 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

15 (A) Subsection (e) of section 2004 of the 

16 Revised Statutes (52 U.S.C. 10101(e)) is 

17 amended by striking ‘‘subsection (c)’’ and in18 serting ‘‘subsection (c)(1)’’. 

19 (B) Subsection (g) of section 2004 of the 

20 Revised Statutes (52 U.S.C. 10101(g)) is 

21 amended by striking ‘‘subsection (c)’’ and in22 serting ‘‘subsection (c)(1)’’. 

23 (c) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.— 

24 (1) DECEPTIVE ACTS.—Section 594 of title 18, 

25 United States Code, is amended— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘Whoever’’ and inserting 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(a) INTIMIDATION.—Whoever’’; 

4 (B) in subsection (a), as inserted by sub5 paragraph (A), by striking ‘‘at any election’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘at any general, primary, run-off, 

7 or special election’’; and 

8 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

9 subsections: 

10 ‘‘(b) DECEPTIVE ACTS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) FALSE STATEMENTS REGARDING FEDERAL

12 ELECTIONS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful 

14 for any person, whether acting under color of 

15 law or otherwise, within 60 days before an elec16 tion described in subsection (e), by any means, 

17 including by means of written, electronic, or tel18 ephonic communications, to communicate or 

19 cause to be communicated information de20 scribed in subparagraph (B), or produce infor21 mation described in subparagraph (B) with the 

22 intent that such information be communicated, 

23 if such person— 

24 ‘‘(i) knows such information to be ma25 terially false; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) has the intent to mislead voters, 

2 or the intent to impede or prevent another 

3 person from exercising the right to vote in 

4 an election described in subsection (e). 

5 ‘‘(B) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—Infor6 mation is described in this subparagraph if such 

7 information is regarding— 

8 ‘‘(i) the time or place of holding any 

9 election described in subsection (e); or 

10 ‘‘(ii) the qualifications for or restric11 tions on voter eligibility for any such elec12 tion, including— 

13 ‘‘(I) any criminal penalties asso14 ciated with voting in any such elec15 tion; or 

16 ‘‘(II) information regarding a 

17 voter’s registration status or eligi18 bility. 

19 ‘‘(2) PENALTY.—Any person who violates para20 graph (1) shall be fined not more than $100,000, 

21 imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both. 

22 ‘‘(c) HINDERING, INTERFERING WITH, OR PRE23 VENTING VOTING OR REGISTERING TO VOTE.— 

24 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful for 

25 any person, whether acting under color of law or 


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1 otherwise, to corruptly hinder, interfere with, or pre2 vent another person from voting, registering to vote, 

3 or aiding another person to vote or register to vote 

4 in an election described in subsection (e). 

5 ‘‘(2) PENALTY.—Any person who violates para6 graph (1) shall be fined not more than $100,000, 

7 imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both. 

8 ‘‘(d) ATTEMPT.—Any person who attempts to commit 

9 any offense described in subsection (a), (b)(1), or (c)(1) 

10 shall be subject to the same penalties as those prescribed 

11 for the offense that the person attempted to commit. 

12 ‘‘(e) ELECTION DESCRIBED.—An election described 

13 in this subsection is any general, primary, run-off, or spe14 cial election held solely or in part for the purpose of nomi15 nating or electing a candidate for the office of President, 

16 Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Sen17 ate, Member of the House of Representatives, or Delegate 

18 or Commissioner from a Territory or possession.’’. 

19 (2) MODIFICATION OF PENALTY FOR VOTER IN20 TIMIDATION.—Section 594(a) of title 18, United 

21 States Code, as amended by paragraph (1), is 

22 amended by striking ‘‘fined under this title or im23 prisoned not more than one year’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘fined not more than $100,000, imprisoned for not 

25 more than 5 years’’. 


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1 (3) SENTENCING GUIDELINES.— 

2 (A) REVIEW AND AMENDMENT.—Not later 

3 than 180 days after the date of enactment of 

4 this Act, the United States Sentencing Commis5 sion, pursuant to its authority under section 

6 994 of title 28, United States Code, and in ac7 cordance with this section, shall review and, if 

8 appropriate, amend the Federal sentencing 

9 guidelines and policy statements applicable to 

10 persons convicted of any offense under section 

11 594 of title 18, United States Code, as amend12 ed by this section. 

13 (B) AUTHORIZATION.—The United States 

14 Sentencing Commission may amend the Federal 

15 Sentencing Guidelines in accordance with the 

16 procedures set forth in section 21(a) of the Sen17 tencing Act of 1987 (28 U.S.C. 994 note) as 

18 though the authority under that section had not 

19 expired. 

20 (4) PAYMENTS FOR REFRAINING FROM VOT21 ING.—Subsection (c) of section 11 of the Voting 

22 Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10307) is amended 

23 by striking ‘‘either for registration to vote or for vot24 ing’’ and inserting ‘‘for registration to vote, for vot25 ing, or for not voting’’. 


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1 SEC. 1303. CORRECTIVE ACTION. 

2 (a) CORRECTIVE ACTION.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Attorney General re4 ceives a credible report that materially false informa5 tion has been or is being communicated in violation 

6 of paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 2004(b) of the 

7 Revised Statutes (52 U.S.C. 10101(b)), as added by 

8 section 1302(a), and if the Attorney General deter9 mines that State and local election officials have not 

10 taken adequate steps to promptly communicate accu11 rate information to correct the materially false infor12 mation, the Attorney General shall, pursuant to the 

13 written procedures and standards under subsection 

14 (b), communicate to the public, by any means, in15 cluding by means of written, electronic, or telephonic 

16 communications, accurate information designed to 

17 correct the materially false information. 

18 (2) COMMUNICATION OF CORRECTIVE INFORMA19 TION.—Any information communicated by the Attor20 ney General under paragraph (1)— 

21 (A) shall— 

22 (i) be accurate and objective; 

23 (ii) consist of only the information 

24 necessary to correct the materially false in25 formation that has been or is being com26 municated; and 


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1 (iii) to the extent practicable, be by a 

2 means that the Attorney General deter3 mines will reach the persons to whom the 

4 materially false information has been or is 

5 being communicated; and 

6 (B) shall not be designed to favor or dis7 favor any particular candidate, organization, or 

8 political party. 

9 (b) WRITTEN PROCEDURES AND STANDARDS FOR

10 TAKING CORRECTIVE ACTION.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

12 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney 

13 General shall publish written procedures and stand14 ards for determining when and how corrective action 

15 will be taken under this section. 

16 (2) INCLUSION OF APPROPRIATE DEADLINES.— 

17 The procedures and standards under paragraph (1) 

18 shall include appropriate deadlines, based in part on 

19 the number of days remaining before the upcoming 

20 election. 

21 (3) CONSULTATION.—In developing the proce22 dures and standards under paragraph (1), the Attor23 ney General shall consult with the Election Assist24 ance Commission, State and local election officials, 

25 civil rights organizations, voting rights groups, voter 


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1 protection groups, and other interested community 

2 organizations. 

3 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General 

5 such sums as may be necessary to carry out this subtitle. 

6 SEC. 1304. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after 

8 each general election for Federal office, the Attorney Gen9 eral shall submit to Congress a report compiling all allega10 tions received by the Attorney General of deceptive prac11 tices described in paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of section 

12 2004(b) of the Revised Statutes (52 U.S.C. 10101(b)), as 

13 added by section 1302(a), relating to the general election 

14 for Federal office and any primary, run-off, or a special 

15 election for Federal office held in the 2 years preceding 

16 the general election. 

17 (b) CONTENTS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each report submitted 

19 under subsection (a) shall include— 

20 (A) a description of each allegation of a 

21 deceptive practice described in subsection (a), 

22 including the geographic location, racial and 

23 ethnic composition, and language minority24 group membership of the persons toward whom 

25 the alleged deceptive practice was directed; 


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1 (B) the status of the investigation of each 

2 allegation described in subparagraph (A); 

3 (C) a description of each corrective action 

4 taken by the Attorney General under section 

5 4(a) in response to an allegation described in 

6 subparagraph (A); 

7 (D) a description of each referral of an al8 legation described in subparagraph (A) to other 

9 Federal, State, or local agencies; 

10 (E) to the extent information is available, 

11 a description of any civil action instituted under 

12 section 2004(c)(2) of the Revised Statutes (52 

13 U.S.C. 10101(c)(2)), as added by section 

14 1302(b), in connection with an allegation de15 scribed in subparagraph (A); and 

16 (F) a description of any criminal prosecu17 tion instituted under section 594 of title 18, 

18 United States Code, as amended by section 

19 3(c), in connection with the receipt of an allega20 tion described in subparagraph (A) by the At21 torney General. 

22 (2) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN INFORMATION.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

24 shall not include in a report submitted under 

25 subsection (a) any information protected from 


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1 disclosure by rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of 

2 Criminal Procedure or any Federal criminal 

3 statute. 

4 (B) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN OTHER IN5 FORMATION.—The Attorney General may deter6 mine that the following information shall not be 

7 included in a report submitted under subsection 

8 (a): 

9 (i) Any information that is privileged. 

10 (ii) Any information concerning an 

11 ongoing investigation. 

12 (iii) Any information concerning a 

13 criminal or civil proceeding conducted 

14 under seal. 

15 (iv) Any other nonpublic information 

16 that the Attorney General determines the 

17 disclosure of which could reasonably be ex18 pected to infringe on the rights of any in19 dividual or adversely affect the integrity of 

20 a pending or future criminal investigation. 

21 (c) REPORT MADE PUBLIC.—On the date that the 

22 Attorney General submits the report under subsection (a), 

23 the Attorney General shall also make the report publicly 

24 available through the internet and other appropriate 

25 means. 


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1 Subtitle E—Democracy Restoration 

2 SEC. 1401. SHORT TITLE. 

3 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Democracy Res4 toration Act of 2019’’. 

5 SEC. 1402. RIGHTS OF CITIZENS. 

6 The right of an individual who is a citizen of the 

7 United States to vote in any election for Federal office 

8 shall not be denied or abridged because that individual has 

9 been convicted of a criminal offense unless such individual 

10 is serving a felony sentence in a correctional institution 

11 or facility at the time of the election. 

12 SEC. 1403. ENFORCEMENT. 

13 (a) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

14 may, in a civil action, obtain such declaratory or injunctive 

15 relief as is necessary to remedy a violation of this subtitle. 

16 (b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—A person who is aggrieved 

18 by a violation of this subtitle may provide written 

19 notice of the violation to the chief election official of 

20 the State involved. 

21 (2) RELIEF.—Except as provided in paragraph 

22 (3), if the violation is not corrected within 90 days 

23 after receipt of a notice under paragraph (1), or 

24 within 20 days after receipt of the notice if the viola25 tion occurred within 120 days before the date of an 


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1 election for Federal office, the aggrieved person 

2 may, in a civil action, obtain declaratory or injunc3 tive relief with respect to the violation. 

4 (3) EXCEPTION.—If the violation occurred 

5 within 30 days before the date of an election for 

6 Federal office, the aggrieved person need not provide 

7 notice to the chief election official of the State under 

8 paragraph (1) before bringing a civil action to obtain 

9 declaratory or injunctive relief with respect to the 

10 violation. 

11 SEC. 1404. NOTIFICATION OF RESTORATION OF VOTING 

12 RIGHTS. 

13 (a) STATE NOTIFICATION.— 

14 (1) NOTIFICATION.—On the date determined 

15 under paragraph (2), each State shall notify in writ16 ing any individual who has been convicted of a 

17 criminal offense under the law of that State that 

18 such individual has the right to vote in an election 

19 for Federal office pursuant to the Democracy Res20 toration Act of 2019 and may register to vote in any 

21 such election. 

22 (2) DATE OF NOTIFICATION.— 

23 (A) FELONY CONVICTION.—In the case of 

24 such an individual who has been convicted of a 

25 felony, the notification required under paraVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jan 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00112 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1.IH H1

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1 graph (1) shall be given on the date on which 

2 the individual— 

3 (i) is sentenced to serve only a term 

4 of probation; or 

5 (ii) is released from the custody of 

6 that State (other than to the custody of 

7 another State or the Federal Government 

8 to serve a term of imprisonment for a fel9 ony conviction). 

10 (B) MISDEMEANOR CONVICTION.—In the 

11 case of such an individual who has been con12 victed of a misdemeanor, the notification re13 quired under paragraph (1) shall be given on 

14 the date on which such individual is sentenced 

15 by a State court. 

16 (b) FEDERAL NOTIFICATION.— 

17 (1) NOTIFICATION.—Any individual who has 

18 been convicted of a criminal offense under Federal 

19 law shall be notified in accordance with paragraph 

20 (2) that such individual has the right to vote in an 

21 election for Federal office pursuant to the Democ22 racy Restoration Act of 2019 and may register to 

23 vote in any such election. 

24 (2) DATE OF NOTIFICATION.— 


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1 (A) FELONY CONVICTION.—In the case of 

2 such an individual who has been convicted of a 

3 felony, the notification required under para4 graph (1) shall be given— 

5 (i) in the case of an individual who is 

6 sentenced to serve only a term of proba7 tion, by the Assistant Director for the Of8 fice of Probation and Pretrial Services of 

9 the Administrative Office of the United 

10 States Courts on the date on which the in11 dividual is sentenced; or 

12 (ii) in the case of any individual com13 mitted to the custody of the Bureau of 

14 Prisons, by the Director of the Bureau of 

15 Prisons, during the period beginning on 

16 the date that is 6 months before such indi17 vidual is released and ending on the date 

18 such individual is released from the cus19 tody of the Bureau of Prisons. 

20 (B) MISDEMEANOR CONVICTION.—In the 

21 case of such an individual who has been con22 victed of a misdemeanor, the notification re23 quired under paragraph (1) shall be given on 

24 the date on which such individual is sentenced 

25 by a court established by an Act of Congress. 


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1 SEC. 1405. DEFINITIONS. 

2 For purposes of this subtitle: 

3 (1) CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION OR FACIL4 ITY.—The term ‘‘correctional institution or facility’’ 

5 means any prison, penitentiary, jail, or other institu6 tion or facility for the confinement of individuals 

7 convicted of criminal offenses, whether publicly or 

8 privately operated, except that such term does not 

9 include any residential community treatment center 

10 (or similar public or private facility). 

11 (2) ELECTION.—The term ‘‘election’’ means— 

12 (A) a general, special, primary, or runoff 

13 election; 

14 (B) a convention or caucus of a political 

15 party held to nominate a candidate; 

16 (C) a primary election held for the selec17 tion of delegates to a national nominating con18 vention of a political party; or 

19 (D) a primary election held for the expres20 sion of a preference for the nomination of per21 sons for election to the office of President. 

22 (3) FEDERAL OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Federal of23 fice’’ means the office of President or Vice President 

24 of the United States, or of Senator or Representa25 tive in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, 

26 the Congress of the United States. 


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1 (4) PROBATION.—The term ‘‘probation’’ means 

2 probation, imposed by a Federal, State, or local 

3 court, with or without a condition on the individual 

4 involved concerning— 

5 (A) the individual’s freedom of movement; 

6 (B) the payment of damages by the indi7 vidual; 

8 (C) periodic reporting by the individual to 

9 an officer of the court; or 

10 (D) supervision of the individual by an of11 ficer of the court. 

12 SEC. 1406. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS. 

13 (a) STATE LAWS RELATING TO VOTING RIGHTS.— 

14 Nothing in this subtitle be construed to prohibit the States 

15 from enacting any State law which affords the right to 

16 vote in any election for Federal office on terms less restric17 tive than those established by this subtitle. 

18 (b) CERTAIN FEDERAL ACTS.—The rights and rem19 edies established by this subtitle are in addition to all 

20 other rights and remedies provided by law, and neither 

21 rights and remedies established by this Act shall super22 sede, restrict, or limit the application of the Voting Rights 

23 Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.) or the National 

24 Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.). 


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1 SEC. 1407. FEDERAL PRISON FUNDS. 

2 No State, unit of local government, or other person 

3 may receive or use, to construct or otherwise improve a 

4 prison, jail, or other place of incarceration, any Federal 

5 funds unless that person has in effect a program under 

6 which each individual incarcerated in that person’s juris7 diction who is a citizen of the United States is notified, 

8 upon release from such incarceration, of that individual’s 

9 rights under section 1402. 

10 SEC. 1408. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

11 This subtitle shall apply to citizens of the United 

12 States voting in any election for Federal office held after 

13 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

14 Subtitle F—Promoting Accuracy, 

15 Integrity, and Security Through 

16 Voter-Verified Permanent Paper 

17 Ballot 

18 SEC. 1501. SHORT TITLE. 

19 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Voter Confidence 

20 and Increased Accessibility Act of 2019’’. 

21 SEC. 1502. PAPER BALLOT AND MANUAL COUNTING RE22 QUIREMENTS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 301(a)(2) of the Help 

24 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)(2)) is 

25 amended to read as follows: 

26 ‘‘(2) PAPER BALLOT REQUIREMENT.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) VOTER-VERIFIED PAPER BALLOTS.— 

2 ‘‘(i) PAPER BALLOT REQUIREMENT.— 

3 (I) The voting system shall require the use 

4 of an individual, durable, voter-verified, 

5 paper ballot of the voter’s vote that shall 

6 be marked and made available for inspec7 tion and verification by the voter before 

8 the voter’s vote is cast and counted, and 

9 which shall be counted by hand or read by 

10 an optical character recognition device or 

11 other counting device. For purposes of this 

12 subclause, the term ‘individual, durable, 

13 voter-verified, paper ballot’ means a paper 

14 ballot marked by the voter by hand or a 

15 paper ballot marked through the use of a 

16 nontabulating ballot marking device or sys17 tem, so long as the voter shall have the op18 tion to mark his or her ballot by hand. 

19 ‘‘(II) The voting system shall provide 

20 the voter with an opportunity to correct 

21 any error on the paper ballot before the 

22 permanent voter-verified paper ballot is 

23 preserved in accordance with clause (ii). 

24 ‘‘(III) The voting system shall not 

25 preserve the voter-verified paper ballots in 


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1 any manner that makes it possible, at any 

2 time after the ballot has been cast, to asso3 ciate a voter with the record of the voter’s 

4 vote without the voter’s consent. 

5 ‘‘(ii) PRESERVATION AS OFFICIAL

6 RECORD.—The individual, durable, voter7 verified, paper ballot used in accordance 

8 with clause (i) shall constitute the official 

9 ballot and shall be preserved and used as 

10 the official ballot for purposes of any re11 count or audit conducted with respect to 

12 any election for Federal office in which the 

13 voting system is used. 

14 ‘‘(iii) MANUAL COUNTING REQUIRE15 MENTS FOR RECOUNTS AND AUDITS.—(I) 

16 Each paper ballot used pursuant to clause 

17 (i) shall be suitable for a manual audit, 

18 and shall be counted by hand in any re19 count or audit conducted with respect to 

20 any election for Federal office. 

21 ‘‘(II) In the event of any inconsist22 encies or irregularities between any elec23 tronic vote tallies and the vote tallies de24 termined by counting by hand the indi25 vidual, durable, voter-verified, paper ballots 


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1 used pursuant to clause (i), and subject to 

2 subparagraph (B), the individual, durable, 

3 voter-verified, paper ballots shall be the 

4 true and correct record of the votes cast. 

5 ‘‘(iv) APPLICATION TO ALL BAL6 LOTS.—The requirements of this subpara7 graph shall apply to all ballots cast in elec8 tions for Federal office, including ballots 

9 cast by absent uniformed services voters 

10 and overseas voters under the Uniformed 

11 and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act 

12 and other absentee voters. 

13 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR TREATMENT OF

14 DISPUTES WHEN PAPER BALLOTS HAVE BEEN

15 SHOWN TO BE COMPROMISED.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the event 

17 that— 

18 ‘‘(I) there is any inconsistency 

19 between any electronic vote tallies and 

20 the vote tallies determined by count21 ing by hand the individual, durable, 

22 voter-verified, paper ballots used pur23 suant to subparagraph (A)(i) with re24 spect to any election for Federal of25 fice; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) it is demonstrated by clear 

2 and convincing evidence (as deter3 mined in accordance with the applica4 ble standards in the jurisdiction in5 volved) in any recount, audit, or con6 test of the result of the election that 

7 the paper ballots have been com8 promised (by damage or mischief or 

9 otherwise) and that a sufficient num10 ber of the ballots have been so com11 promised that the result of the elec12 tion could be changed, 

13 the determination of the appropriate rem14 edy with respect to the election shall be 

15 made in accordance with applicable State 

16 law, except that the electronic tally shall 

17 not be used as the exclusive basis for de18 termining the official certified result. 

19 ‘‘(ii) RULE FOR CONSIDERATION OF

20 BALLOTS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH VOTING

21 MACHINE.—For purposes of clause (i), 

22 only the paper ballots deemed com23 promised, if any, shall be considered in the 

24 calculation of whether or not the result of 


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1 the election could be changed due to the 

2 compromised paper ballots.’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT CLARIFYING APPLI4 CABILITY OF ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGE ACCESSIBILITY.— 

5 Section 301(a)(4) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)(4)) 

6 is amended by inserting ‘‘(including the paper ballots re7 quired to be used under paragraph (2))’’ after ‘‘voting sys8 tem’’. 

9 (c) OTHER CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

10 301(a)(1) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)(1)) is amend11 ed— 

12 (1) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking ‘‘count13 ed’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in accordance with 

14 paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; 

15 (2) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking ‘‘count16 ed’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in accordance with 

17 paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; 

18 (3) in subparagraph (A)(iii), by striking ‘‘count19 ed’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘counted, in 

20 accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; and 

21 (4) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ‘‘count22 ed’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in accordance with 

23 paragraphs (2) and (3)’’. 


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1 SEC. 1503. ACCESSIBILITY AND BALLOT VERIFICATION FOR 

2 INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 301(a)(3)(B) of the Help 

4 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)(3)(B)) is 

5 amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(B)(i) ensure that individuals with dis7 abilities and others are given an equivalent op8 portunity to vote, including with privacy and 

9 independence, in a manner that produces a 

10 voter-verified paper ballot as for other voters; 

11 ‘‘(ii) satisfy the requirement of subpara12 graph (A) through the use of at least one voting 

13 system equipped for individuals with disabil14 ities, including nonvisual and enhanced visual 

15 accessibility for the blind and visually impaired, 

16 and nonmanual and enhanced manual accessi17 bility for the mobility and dexterity impaired, at 

18 each polling place; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) meet the requirements of subpara20 graph (A) and paragraph (2)(A) by using a sys21 tem that— 

22 ‘‘(I) allows the voter to privately and 

23 independently verify the permanent paper 

24 ballot through the presentation, in acces25 sible form, of the printed or marked vote 

26 selections from the same printed or 


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1 marked information that would be used for 

2 any vote counting or auditing; and 

3 ‘‘(II) allows the voter to privately and 

4 independently verify and cast the perma5 nent paper ballot without requiring the 

6 voter to manually handle the paper bal7 lot.’’. 

8 (b) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT OF STUDY, TESTING, 

9 AND DEVELOPMENT OF ACCESSIBLE PAPER BALLOT

10 VERIFICATION MECHANISMS.— 

11 (1) STUDY AND REPORTING.—Subtitle C of 

12 title II of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is 

13 amended— 

14 (A) by redesignating section 247 as section 

15 248; and 

16 (B) by inserting after section 246 the fol17 lowing new section: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 247. STUDY AND REPORT ON ACCESSIBLE PAPER 

19 BALLOT VERIFICATION MECHANISMS. 

20 ‘‘(a) STUDY AND REPORT.—The Director of the Na21 tional Science Foundation shall make grants to not fewer 

22 than 3 eligible entities to study, test, and develop acces23 sible paper ballot voting, verification, and casting mecha24 nisms and devices and best practices to enhance the acces25 sibility of paper ballot voting and verification mechanisms 


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1 for individuals with disabilities, for voters whose primary 

2 language is not English, and for voters with difficulties 

3 in literacy, including best practices for the mechanisms 

4 themselves and the processes through which the mecha5 nisms are used. 

6 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—An entity is eligible to receive a 

7 grant under this part if it submits to the Director (at such 

8 time and in such form as the Director may require) an 

9 application containing— 

10 ‘‘(1) certifications that the entity shall specifi11 cally investigate enhanced methods or devices, in12 cluding non-electronic devices, that will assist such 

13 individuals and voters in marking voter-verified 

14 paper ballots and presenting or transmitting the in15 formation printed or marked on such ballots back to 

16 such individuals and voters, and casting such ballots; 

17 ‘‘(2) a certification that the entity shall com18 plete the activities carried out with the grant not 

19 later than December 31, 2020; and 

20 ‘‘(3) such other information and certifications 

21 as the Director may require. 

22 ‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY OF TECHNOLOGY.—Any tech23 nology developed with the grants made under this section 

24 shall be treated as non-proprietary and shall be made 


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1 available to the public, including to manufacturers of vot2 ing systems. 

3 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION WITH GRANTS FOR TECH4 NOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS.—The Director shall carry out 

5 this section so that the activities carried out with the 

6 grants made under subsection (a) are coordinated with the 

7 research conducted under the grant program carried out 

8 by the Commission under section 271, to the extent that 

9 the Director and Commission determine necessary to pro10 vide for the advancement of accessible voting technology. 

11 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

12 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out subsection 

13 (a) $5,000,000, to remain available until expended.’’. 

14 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con15 tents of such Act is amended— 

16 (A) by redesignating the item relating to 

17 section 247 as relating to section 248; and 

18 (B) by inserting after the item relating to 

19 section 246 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 247. Study and report on accessible paper ballot verification mechanisms.’’. 

20 (c) CLARIFICATION OF ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS

21 UNDER VOLUNTARY VOTING SYSTEM GUIDANCE.—In 

22 adopting any voluntary guidance under subtitle B of title 

23 III of the Help America Vote Act with respect to the ac24 cessibility of the paper ballot verification requirements for 


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1 individuals with disabilities, the Election Assistance Com2 mission shall include and apply the same accessibility 

3 standards applicable under the voluntary guidance adopt4 ed for accessible voting systems under such subtitle. 

5 (d) PERMITTING USE OF FUNDS FOR PROTECTION

6 AND ADVOCACY SYSTEMS TO SUPPORT ACTIONS TO EN7 FORCE ELECTION-RELATED DISABILITY ACCESS.—Sec8 tion 292(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 

9 U.S.C. 21062(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘; except that’’ 

10 and all that follows and inserting a period. 

11 SEC. 1504. DURABILITY AND READABILITY REQUIREMENTS 

12 FOR BALLOTS. 

13 Section 301(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

14 (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)) is amended by adding at the end 

15 the following new paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(7) DURABILITY AND READABILITY REQUIRE17 MENTS FOR BALLOTS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) DURABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR

19 PAPER BALLOTS.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—All voter-verified 

21 paper ballots required to be used under 

22 this Act shall be marked or printed on du23 rable paper. 

24 ‘‘(ii) DEFINITION.—For purposes of 

25 this Act, paper is ‘durable’ if it is capable 


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1 of withstanding multiple counts and re2 counts by hand without compromising the 

3 fundamental integrity of the ballots, and 

4 capable of retaining the information 

5 marked or printed on them for the full du6 ration of a retention and preservation pe7 riod of 22 months. 

8 ‘‘(B) READABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR

9 PAPER BALLOTS MARKED BY BALLOT MARKING

10 DEVICE.—All voter-verified paper ballots com11 pleted by the voter through the use of a ballot 

12 marking device shall be clearly readable by the 

13 voter without assistance (other than eyeglasses 

14 or other personal vision enhancing devices) and 

15 by an optical character recognition device or 

16 other device equipped for individuals with dis17 abilities.’’. 

18 SEC. 1505. EFFECTIVE DATE FOR NEW REQUIREMENTS. 

19 Section 301(d) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

20 (52 U.S.C. 21081(d)) is amended to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para23 graph (2), each State and jurisdiction shall be re24 quired to comply with the requirements of this sec25 tion on and after January 1, 2006. 


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1 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN REQUIRE2 MENTS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

4 subparagraphs (B) and (C), the requirements of 

5 this section which are first imposed on a State 

6 and jurisdiction pursuant to the amendments 

7 made by the Voter Confidence and Increased 

8 Accessibility Act of 2019 shall apply with re9 spect to voting systems used for any election for 

10 Federal office held in 2022 or any succeeding 

11 year. 

12 ‘‘(B) DELAY FOR JURISDICTIONS USING

13 CERTAIN PAPER RECORD PRINTERS OR CERTAIN

14 SYSTEMS USING OR PRODUCING VOTER15 VERIFIABLE PAPER RECORDS IN 2020.— 

16 ‘‘(i) DELAY.—In the case of a juris17 diction described in clause (ii), subpara18 graph (A) shall apply to a voting system in 

19 the jurisdiction as if the reference in such 

20 subparagraph to ‘2022’ were a reference to 

21 ‘2024’, but only with respect to the fol22 lowing requirements of this section: 

23 ‘‘(I) Paragraph (2)(A)(i)(I) of 

24 subsection (a) (relating to the use of 

25 voter-marked paper ballots). 


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1 ‘‘(II) Paragraph (3)(B)(ii)(I) and 

2 (II) of subsection (a) (relating to ac3 cess to verification from and casting 

4 of the durable paper ballot). 

5 ‘‘(III) Paragraph (7) of sub6 section (a) (relating to durability and 

7 readability requirements for ballots). 

8 ‘‘(ii) JURISDICTIONS DESCRIBED.—A 

9 jurisdiction described in this clause is a ju10 risdiction— 

11 ‘‘(I) which used voter verifiable 

12 paper record printers attached to di13 rect recording electronic voting ma14 chines, or which used other voting 

15 systems that used or produced paper 

16 records of the vote verifiable by voters 

17 but that are not in compliance with 

18 paragraphs (2)(A)(i)(I), (3)(B)(iii)(I) 

19 and (II), and (7) of subsection (a) (as 

20 amended or added by the Voter Con21 fidence and Increased Accessibility 

22 Act of 2019), for the administration 

23 of the regularly scheduled general 

24 election for Federal office held in No25 vember 2020; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) which will continue to use 

2 such printers or systems for the ad3 ministration of elections for Federal 

4 office held in years before 2022. 

5 ‘‘(iii) MANDATORY AVAILABILITY OF

6 PAPER BALLOTS AT POLLING PLACES

7 USING GRANDFATHERED PRINTERS AND

8 SYSTEMS.— 

9 ‘‘(I) REQUIRING BALLOTS TO BE

10 OFFERED AND PROVIDED.—The ap11 propriate election official at each poll12 ing place that uses a printer or sys13 tem described in clause (ii)(I) for the 

14 administration of elections for Federal 

15 office shall offer each individual who 

16 is eligible to cast a vote in the election 

17 at the polling place the opportunity to 

18 cast the vote using a blank pre-print19 ed paper ballot which the individual 

20 may mark by hand and which is not 

21 produced by the direct recording elec22 tronic voting machine or other such 

23 system. The official shall provide the 

24 individual with the ballot and the sup25 plies necessary to mark the ballot, and 


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1 shall ensure (to the greatest extent 

2 practicable) that the waiting period 

3 for the individual to cast a vote is the 

4 lesser of 30 minutes or the average 

5 waiting period for an individual who 

6 does not agree to cast the vote using 

7 such a paper ballot under this clause. 

8 ‘‘(II) TREATMENT OF BALLOT.— 

9 Any paper ballot which is cast by an 

10 individual under this clause shall be 

11 counted and otherwise treated as a 

12 regular ballot for all purposes (includ13 ing by incorporating it into the final 

14 unofficial vote count (as defined by 

15 the State) for the precinct) and not as 

16 a provisional ballot, unless the indi17 vidual casting the ballot would have 

18 otherwise been required to cast a pro19 visional ballot. 

20 ‘‘(III) POSTING OF NOTICE.— 

21 The appropriate election official shall 

22 ensure there is prominently displayed 

23 at each polling place a notice that de24 scribes the obligation of the official to 

25 offer individuals the opportunity to 


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1 cast votes using a pre-printed blank 

2 paper ballot. 

3 ‘‘(IV) TRAINING OF ELECTION

4 OFFICIALS.—The chief State election 

5 official shall ensure that election offi6 cials at polling places in the State are 

7 aware of the requirements of this 

8 clause, including the requirement to 

9 display a notice under subclause (III), 

10 and are aware that it is a violation of 

11 the requirements of this title for an 

12 election official to fail to offer an indi13 vidual the opportunity to cast a vote 

14 using a blank pre-printed paper ballot. 

15 ‘‘(V) PERIOD OF APPLICA16 BILITY.—The requirements of this 

17 clause apply only during the period in 

18 which the delay is in effect under 

19 clause (i). 

20 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULE FOR JURISDICTIONS

21 USING CERTAIN NONTABULATING BALLOT

22 MARKING DEVICES.—In the case of a jurisdic23 tion which uses a nontabulating ballot marking 

24 device which automatically deposits the ballot 

25 into a privacy sleeve, subparagraph (A) shall 


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1 apply to a voting system in the jurisdiction as 

2 if the reference in such subparagraph to ‘any 

3 election for Federal office held in 2022 or any 

4 succeeding year’ were a reference to ‘elections 

5 for Federal office occurring held in 2024 or 

6 each succeeding year’, but only with respect to 

7 paragraph (3)(B)(iii)(II) of subsection (a) (re8 lating to nonmanual casting of the durable 

9 paper ballot).’’. 

10 Subtitle G—Provisional Ballots 

11 SEC. 1601. REQUIREMENTS FOR COUNTING PROVISIONAL 

12 BALLOTS; ESTABLISHMENT OF UNIFORM AND 

13 NONDISCRIMINATORY STANDARDS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 302 of the Help America 

15 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21082) is amended— 

16 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub17 section (f); and 

18 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol19 lowing new subsections: 

20 ‘‘(d) STATEWIDE COUNTING OF PROVISIONAL BAL21 LOTS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of subsection 

23 (a)(4), notwithstanding the precinct or polling place 

24 at which a provisional ballot is cast within the State, 

25 the appropriate election official shall count each vote 


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1 on such ballot for each election in which the indi2 vidual who cast such ballot is eligible to vote. 

3 ‘‘(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall 

4 apply with respect to elections held on or after Janu5 ary 1, 2020. 

6 ‘‘(e) UNIFORM AND NONDISCRIMINATORY STAND7 ARDS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Consistent with the re9 quirements of this section, each State shall establish 

10 uniform and nondiscriminatory standards for the 

11 issuance, handling, and counting of provisional bal12 lots. 

13 ‘‘(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall 

14 apply with respect to elections held on or after Janu15 ary 1, 2020.’’. 

16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 302(f) of 

17 such Act (52 U.S.C. 21082(f)), as redesignated by sub18 section (a), is amended by striking ‘‘Each State’’ and in19 serting ‘‘Except as provided in subsections (d)(2) and 

20 (e)(2), each State’’. 

21 Subtitle H—Early Voting 

22 SEC. 1611. EARLY VOTING. 

23 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—Subtitle A of title III of the 

24 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.), 


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1 as amended by section 1031(a) and section 1101(a), is 

2 amended— 

3 (1) by redesignating sections 306 and 307 as 

4 sections 307 and 308; and 

5 (2) by inserting after section 305 the following 

6 new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 306. EARLY VOTING. 

8 ‘‘(a) REQUIRING VOTING PRIOR TO DATE OF ELEC9 TION.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall allow indi11 viduals to vote in an election for Federal office dur12 ing an early voting period which occurs prior to the 

13 date of the election, in the same manner as voting 

14 is allowed on such date. 

15 ‘‘(2) LENGTH OF PERIOD.—The early voting 

16 period required under this subsection with respect to 

17 an election shall consist of a period of consecutive 

18 days (including weekends) which begins on the 15th 

19 day before the date of the election (or, at the option 

20 of the State, on a day prior to the 15th day before 

21 the date of the election) and ends on the date of the 

22 election. 

23 ‘‘(b) MINIMUM EARLY VOTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

24 Each polling place which allows voting during an early vot25 ing period under subsection (a) shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) allow such voting for no less than 4 hours 

2 on each day, except that the polling place may allow 

3 such voting for fewer than 4 hours on Sundays; and 

4 ‘‘(2) have uniform hours each day for which 

5 such voting occurs. 

6 ‘‘(c) LOCATION OF POLLING PLACES NEAR PUBLIC

7 TRANSPORTATION.—To the greatest extent practicable, a 

8 State shall ensure that each polling place which allows vot9 ing during an early voting period under subsection (a) is 

10 located within walking distance of a stop on a public trans11 portation route. 

12 ‘‘(d) STANDARDS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall issue 

14 standards for the administration of voting prior to 

15 the day scheduled for a Federal election. Such 

16 standards shall include the nondiscriminatory geo17 graphic placement of polling places at which such 

18 voting occurs. 

19 ‘‘(2) DEVIATION.—The standards described in 

20 paragraph (1) shall permit States, upon providing 

21 adequate public notice, to deviate from any require22 ment in the case of unforeseen circumstances such 

23 as a natural disaster, terrorist attack, or a change 

24 in voter turnout. 


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1 ‘‘(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

2 with respect to elections held on or after January 1, 

3 2020.’’. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

5 ISSUANCE OF VOLUNTARY GUIDANCE BY ELECTION AS6 SISTANCE COMMISSION.—Section 311(b) of such Act (52 

7 U.S.C. 21101(b)), as amended by section 1101(b), is 

8 amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

10 (3); 

11 (2) by striking the period at the end of para12 graph (4) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

13 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

14 paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(5) in the case of the recommendations with 

16 respect to section 306, June 30, 2020.’’. 

17 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

18 of such Act, as amended by section 1031(c) and section 

19 1101(d), is amended— 

20 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec21 tions 306 and 307 as relating to sections 307 and 

22 308; and 

23 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec24 tion 305 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 306. Early voting.’’. 


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1 Subtitle I—Voting by Mail 

2 SEC. 1621. VOTING BY MAIL. 

3 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—Subtitle A of title III of the 

4 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.), 

5 as amended by section 1031(a), section 1101(a), and sec6 tion 1611(a), is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating sections 307 and 308 as 

8 sections 308 and 309; and 

9 (2) by inserting after section 306 the following 

10 new section: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 307. PROMOTING ABILITY OF VOTERS TO VOTE BY 

12 MAIL. 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If an individual in a State is eli14 gible to cast a vote in an election for Federal office, the 

15 State may not impose any additional conditions or require16 ments on the eligibility of the individual to cast the vote 

17 in such election by absentee ballot by mail, except as re18 quired under subsection (b) and except to the extent that 

19 the State imposes a deadline for requesting the ballot and 

20 related voting materials from the appropriate State or 

21 local election official and for returning the ballot to the 

22 appropriate State or local election official. 

23 ‘‘(b) REQUIRING SIGNATURE VERIFICATION.—A 

24 State may not accept and process an absentee ballot sub25 mitted by any individual with respect to an election for 


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1 Federal office unless the State verifies the identification 

2 of the individual by comparing the individual’s signature 

3 on the absentee ballot with the individual’s signature on 

4 the official list of registered voters in the State, in accord5 ance with such procedures as the State may adopt. 

6 ‘‘(c) DEADLINE FOR PROVIDING BALLOTING MATE7 RIALS.—If an individual requests to vote by absentee bal8 lot in an election for Federal office, the appropriate State 

9 or local election official shall ensure that the ballot and 

10 relating voting materials are transmitted to the indi11 vidual— 

12 ‘‘(1) not later than 2 weeks before the date of 

13 the election; or 

14 ‘‘(2) in the case of a State which imposes a 

15 deadline for requesting an absentee ballot and re16 lated voting materials which is less than 2 weeks be17 fore the date of the election, as expeditiously as pos18 sible. 

19 ‘‘(d) ACCESSIBILITY FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DIS20 ABILITIES.—Consistent with section 305, the State shall 

21 ensure that all absentee ballots and related voting mate22 rials in elections for Federal office are accessible to indi23 viduals with disabilities in a manner that provides the 

24 same opportunity for access and participation (including 

25 with privacy and independence) as for other voters. 


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1 ‘‘(e) UNIFORM DEADLINE FOR ACCEPTANCE OF

2 MAILED BALLOTS.—If a ballot submitted by an individual 

3 by mail with respect to an election for Federal office in 

4 a State is postmarked on or before the date of the election, 

5 the State may not refuse to accept or process the ballot 

6 on the grounds that the individual did not meet a deadline 

7 for returning the ballot to the appropriate State or local 

8 election official. 

9 ‘‘(f) NO EFFECT ON BALLOTS SUBMITTED BY AB10 SENT MILITARY AND OVERSEAS VOTERS.—Nothing in 

11 this section may be construed to affect the treatment of 

12 any ballot submitted by an individual who is entitled to 

13 vote by absentee ballot under the Uniformed and Overseas 

14 Citizens Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20301 et seq.). 

15 ‘‘(g) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

16 with respect to elections held on or after January 1, 

17 2020.’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

19 ISSUANCE OF VOLUNTARY GUIDANCE BY ELECTION AS20 SISTANCE COMMISSION.—Section 311(b) of such Act (52 

21 U.S.C. 21101(b)), as amended by section 1101(b) and sec22 tion 1611(b), is amended— 

23 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

24 (4); 


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1 (2) by striking the period at the end of para2 graph (5) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

4 paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(6) in the case of the recommendations with 

6 respect to section 307, June 30, 2020.’’. 

7 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

8 of such Act, as amended by section 1031(c), section 

9 1101(d), and section 1611(c), is amended— 

10 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec11 tions 307 and 308 as relating to sections 308 and 

12 309; and 

13 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec14 tion 306 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 307. Promoting ability of voters to vote by mail.’’. 

15 Subtitle J—Absent Uniformed 

16 Services Voters and Overseas 

17 Voters 

18 SEC. 1701. PRE-ELECTION REPORTS ON AVAILABILITY AND 

19 TRANSMISSION OF ABSENTEE BALLOTS. 

20 Section 102(c) of the Uniformed and Overseas Citi21 zens Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20302(c)) is amend22 ed to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(c) REPORTS ON AVAILABILITY, TRANSMISSION, 

24 AND RECEIPT OF ABSENTEE BALLOTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) PRE-ELECTION REPORT ON ABSENTEE

2 BALLOT AVAILABILITY.—Not later than 55 days be3 fore any regularly scheduled general election for 

4 Federal office, each State shall submit a report to 

5 the Attorney General, the Election Assistance Com6 mission (hereafter in this subsection referred to as 

7 the ‘Commission’), and the Presidential Designee, 

8 and make that report publicly available that same 

9 day, certifying that absentee ballots for the election 

10 are or will be available for transmission to absent 

11 uniformed services voters and overseas voters by not 

12 later than 45 days before the election. The report 

13 shall be in a form prescribed jointly by the Attorney 

14 General and the Commission and shall require the 

15 State to certify specific information about ballot 

16 availability from each unit of local government which 

17 will administer the election. 

18 ‘‘(2) PRE-ELECTION REPORT ON ABSENTEE

19 BALLOT TRANSMISSION.—Not later than 43 days be20 fore any regularly scheduled general election for 

21 Federal office, each State shall submit a report to 

22 the Attorney General, the Commission, and the 

23 Presidential Designee, and make that report publicly 

24 available that same day, certifying whether all ab25 sentee ballots have been transmitted by not later 


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1 than 45 days before the election to all qualified ab2 sent uniformed services and overseas voters whose 

3 requests were received at least 45 days before the 

4 election. The report shall be in a form prescribed 

5 jointly by the Attorney General and the Commission, 

6 and shall require the State to certify specific infor7 mation about ballot transmission, including the total 

8 numbers of ballot requests received and ballots 

9 transmitted, from each unit of local government 

10 which will administer the election. 

11 ‘‘(3) POST-ELECTION REPORT ON NUMBER OF

12 ABSENTEE BALLOTS TRANSMITTED AND RE13 CEIVED.—Not later than 90 days after the date of 

14 each regularly scheduled general election for Federal 

15 office, each State and unit of local government 

16 which administered the election shall (through the 

17 State, in the case of a unit of local government) sub18 mit a report to the Attorney General, the Commis19 sion, and the Presidential Designee on the combined 

20 number of absentee ballots transmitted to absent 

21 uniformed services voters and overseas voters for the 

22 election and the combined number of such ballots 

23 which were returned by such voters and cast in the 

24 election, and shall make such report available to the 

25 general public that same day.’’. 


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1 SEC. 1702. ENFORCEMENT. 

2 (a) AVAILABILITY OF CIVIL PENALTIES AND PRI3 VATE RIGHTS OF ACTION.—Section 105 of the Uniformed 

4 and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 

5 20307) is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 105. ENFORCEMENT. 

7 ‘‘(a) ACTION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may 

9 bring civil action in an appropriate district court for 

10 such declaratory or injunctive relief as may be nec11 essary to carry out this title. 

12 ‘‘(2) PENALTY.—In a civil action brought under 

13 paragraph (1), if the court finds that the State vio14 lated any provision of this title, it may, to vindicate 

15 the public interest, assess a civil penalty against the 

16 State— 

17 ‘‘(A) in an amount not to exceed $110,000 

18 for each such violation, in the case of a first 

19 violation; or 

20 ‘‘(B) in an amount not to exceed $220,000 

21 for each such violation, for any subsequent vio22 lation. 

23 ‘‘(3) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

24 December 31 of each year, the Attorney General 

25 shall submit to Congress an annual report on any 


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1 civil action brought under paragraph (1) during the 

2 preceding year. 

3 ‘‘(b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—A person who is 

4 aggrieved by a State’s violation of this title may bring a 

5 civil action in an appropriate district court for such declar6 atory or injunctive relief as may be necessary to carry out 

7 this title. 

8 ‘‘(c) STATE AS ONLY NECESSARY DEFENDANT.—In 

9 any action brought under this section, the only necessary 

10 party defendant is the State, and it shall not be a defense 

11 to any such action that a local election official or a unit 

12 of local government is not named as a defendant, notwith13 standing that a State has exercised the authority described 

14 in section 576 of the Military and Overseas Voter Em15 powerment Act to delegate to another jurisdiction in the 

16 State any duty or responsibility which is the subject of 

17 an action brought under this section.’’. 

18 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

19 this section shall apply with respect to violations alleged 

20 to have occurred on or after the date of the enactment 

21 of this Act. 

22 SEC. 1703. REVISIONS TO 45-DAY ABSENTEE BALLOT 

23 TRANSMISSION RULE. 

24 (a) REPEAL OF WAIVER AUTHORITY.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 102 of the Uni2 formed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act 

3 (52 U.S.C. 20302) is amended by striking sub4 section (g). 

5 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

6 102(a)(8)(A) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

7 20302(a)(8)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘except as 

8 provided in subsection (g),’’. 

9 (b) REQUIRING USE OF EXPRESS DELIVERY IN CASE

10 OF FAILURE TO MEET REQUIREMENT.—Section 102 of 

11 such Act (52 U.S.C. 20302), as amended by subsection 

12 (a), is amended by inserting after subsection (f) the fol13 lowing new subsection: 

14 ‘‘(g) REQUIRING USE OF EXPRESS DELIVERY IN

15 CASE OF FAILURE TO TRANSMIT BALLOTS WITHIN

16 DEADLINES.— 

17 ‘‘(1) TRANSMISSION OF BALLOT BY EXPRESS

18 DELIVERY.—If a State fails to meet the requirement 

19 of subsection (a)(8)(A) to transmit a validly re20 quested absentee ballot to an absent uniformed serv21 ices voter or overseas voter not later than 45 days 

22 before the election (in the case in which the request 

23 is received at least 45 days before the election)— 

24 ‘‘(A) the State shall transmit the ballot to 

25 the voter by express delivery; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) in the case of a voter who has des2 ignated that absentee ballots be transmitted 

3 electronically in accordance with subsection 

4 (f)(1), the State shall transmit the ballot to the 

5 voter electronically. 

6 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR TRANSMISSION FEWER

7 THAN 40 DAYS BEFORE THE ELECTION.—If, in car8 rying out paragraph (1), a State transmits an ab9 sentee ballot to an absent uniformed services voter 

10 or overseas voter fewer than 40 days before the elec11 tion, the State shall enable the ballot to be returned 

12 by the voter by express delivery, except that in the 

13 case of an absentee ballot of an absent uniformed 

14 services voter for a regularly scheduled general elec15 tion for Federal office, the State may satisfy the re16 quirement of this paragraph by notifying the voter 

17 of the procedures for the collection and delivery of 

18 such ballots under section 103A.’’. 

19 (c) CLARIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF WEEK20 ENDS.—Section 102(a)(8)(A) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

21 20302(a)(8)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘the election;’’ 

22 and inserting the following: ‘‘the election (or, if the 45th 

23 day preceding the election is a weekend or legal public hol24 iday, not later than the most recent weekday which pre25 cedes such 45th day and which is not a legal public holiVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jan 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00148 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1.IH H1

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1 day, but only if the request is received by at least such 

2 most recent weekday);’’. 

3 SEC. 1704. USE OF SINGLE ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICA4 TION FOR SUBSEQUENT ELECTIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 104 of the Uniformed and 

6 Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20306) 

7 is amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 104. USE OF SINGLE APPLICATION FOR SUBSEQUENT 

9 ELECTIONS. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If a State accepts and processes 

11 an official post card form (prescribed under section 101) 

12 submitted by an absent uniformed services voter or over13 seas voter for simultaneous voter registration and absen14 tee ballot application (in accordance with section 

15 102(a)(4)) and the voter requests that the application be 

16 considered an application for an absentee ballot for each 

17 subsequent election for Federal office held in the State 

18 through the next regularly scheduled general election for 

19 Federal office (including any runoff elections which may 

20 occur as a result of the outcome of such general election), 

21 the State shall provide an absentee ballot to the voter for 

22 each such subsequent election. 

23 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION FOR VOTERS CHANGING REGISTRA24 TION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply with respect to a 

25 voter registered to vote in a State for any election held 


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1 after the voter notifies the State that the voter no longer 

2 wishes to be registered to vote in the State or after the 

3 State determines that the voter has registered to vote in 

4 another State or is otherwise no longer eligible to vote in 

5 the State. 

6 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION OF REFUSAL OF APPLICATION ON

7 GROUNDS OF EARLY SUBMISSION.—A State may not 

8 refuse to accept or to process, with respect to any election 

9 for Federal office, any otherwise valid voter registration 

10 application or absentee ballot application (including the 

11 postcard form prescribed under section 101) submitted by 

12 an absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter on 

13 the grounds that the voter submitted the application be14 fore the first date on which the State otherwise accepts 

15 or processes such applications for that election which are 

16 submitted by absentee voters who are not members of the 

17 uniformed services or overseas citizens.’’. 

18 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

19 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to voter registration 

20 and absentee ballot applications which are submitted to 

21 a State or local election official on or after the date of 

22 the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 1705. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 The amendments made by this subtitle shall apply 

3 with respect to elections occurring on or after January 1, 

4 2020. 

5 Subtitle K—Poll Worker 

6 Recruitment and Training 

7 SEC. 1801. LEAVE TO SERVE AS A POLL WORKER FOR FED8 ERAL EMPLOYEES. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 63 of 

10 title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

11 section 6329c the following: 

12 ‘‘§ 6329d. Absence in connection with serving as a 

13 poll worker 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An employee in or under an Ex15 ecutive agency is entitled to leave, without loss of or reduc16 tion in pay, leave to which otherwise entitled, credit for 

17 time or service, or performance or efficiency rating, not 

18 to exceed 6 days in a leave year, in order— 

19 ‘‘(1) to provide election administration assist20 ance to a State or unit of local government at a poll21 ing place on the date of any election for public of22 fice; or 

23 ‘‘(2) to receive any training without which such 

24 employee would be ineligible to provide such assist25 ance. 


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1 ‘‘(b) REGULATIONS.—The Director of the Office of 

2 Personnel Management may prescribe regulations for the 

3 administration of this section, including regulations set4 ting forth the terms and conditions of the election admin5 istration assistance an employee may provide for purposes 

6 of subsection (a).’’. 

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

8 for chapter 63 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 

9 by inserting after the item relating to section 6329c the 

10 following: 

‘‘6329d. Absence in connection with serving as a poll worker.’’. 

11 SEC. 1802. GRANTS TO STATES FOR POLL WORKER RE12 CRUITMENT AND TRAINING. 

13 (a) GRANTS BY ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMIS14 SION.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Election Assistance 

16 Commission (hereafter referred to as the ‘‘Commis17 sion’’) shall make a grant to each eligible State for 

18 recruiting and training individuals to serve as poll 

19 workers on dates of elections for public office. 

20 (2) USE OF COMMISSION MATERIALS.—In car21 rying out activities with a grant provided under this 

22 section, the recipient of the grant shall use the man23 ual prepared by the Commission on successful prac24 tices for poll worker recruiting, training and reten25 tion as an interactive training tool, and shall develop 


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1 training programs with the participation and input 

2 of experts in adult learning. 

3 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBILITY.— 

4 (1) APPLICATION.—Each State that desires to 

5 receive a payment under this section shall submit an 

6 application for the payment to the Commission at 

7 such time and in such manner and containing such 

8 information as the Commission shall require. 

9 (2) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—Each appli10 cation submitted under paragraph (1) shall— 

11 (A) describe the activities for which assist12 ance under this section is sought; 

13 (B) provide assurances that the funds pro14 vided under this section will be used to supple15 ment and not supplant other funds used to 

16 carry out the activities; 

17 (C) provide assurances that the State will 

18 furnish the Commission with information on the 

19 number of individuals who served as poll work20 ers after recruitment and training with the 

21 funds provided under this section; and 

22 (D) provide such additional information 

23 and certifications as the Commission deter24 mines to be essential to ensure compliance with 

25 the requirements of this section. 


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1 (c) AMOUNT OF GRANT.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amount of a grant 

3 made to a State under this section shall be equal to 

4 the product of— 

5 (A) the aggregate amount made available 

6 for grants to States under this section; and 

7 (B) the voting age population percentage 

8 for the State. 

9 (2) VOTING AGE POPULATION PERCENTAGE DE10 FINED.—In paragraph (1), the ‘‘voting age popu11 lation percentage’’ for a State is the quotient of— 

12 (A) the voting age population of the State 

13 (as determined on the basis of the most recent 

14 information available from the Bureau of the 

15 Census); and 

16 (B) the total voting age population of all 

17 States (as determined on the basis of the most 

18 recent information available from the Bureau of 

19 the Census). 

20 (d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

21 (1) REPORTS BY RECIPIENTS OF GRANTS.—Not 

22 later than 6 months after the date on which the 

23 final grant is made under this section, each recipient 

24 of a grant shall submit a report to the Commission 


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1 on the activities conducted with the funds provided 

2 by the grant. 

3 (2) REPORTS BY COMMISSION.—Not later than 

4 1 year after the date on which the final grant is 

5 made under this section, the Commission shall sub6 mit a report to Congress on the grants made under 

7 this section and the activities carried out by recipi8 ents with the grants, and shall include in the report 

9 such recommendations as the Commission considers 

10 appropriate. 

11 (e) FUNDING.— 

12 (1) CONTINUING AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNT AP13 PROPRIATED.—Any amount appropriated to carry 

14 out this section shall remain available without fiscal 

15 year limitation until expended. 

16 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of the 

17 amount appropriated for any fiscal year to carry out 

18 this section, not more than 3 percent shall be avail19 able for administrative expenses of the Commission. 

20 SEC. 1803. STATE DEFINED. 

21 In this subtitle, the term ‘‘State’’ includes the Dis22 trict of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 

23 Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Is24 lands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

25 Islands. 


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1 Subtitle L—Enhancement of 

2 Enforcement 

3 SEC. 1811. ENHANCEMENT OF ENFORCEMENT OF HELP 

4 AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2002. 

5 (a) COMPLAINTS; AVAILABILITY OF PRIVATE RIGHT

6 OF ACTION.—Section 401 of the Help America Vote Act 

7 of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21111) is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘The Attorney General’’ and in9 serting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General’’; 

10 and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub12 sections: 

13 ‘‘(b) FILING OF COMPLAINTS BY AGGRIEVED PER14 SONS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A person who is aggrieved 

16 by a violation of title III which has occurred, is oc17 curring, or is about to occur may file a written, 

18 signed, notarized complaint with the Attorney Gen19 eral describing the violation and requesting the At20 torney General to take appropriate action under this 

21 section. The Attorney General shall immediately pro22 vide a copy of a complaint filed under the previous 

23 sentence to the entity responsible for administering 

24 the State-based administrative complaint procedures 

25 described in section 402(a) for the State involved. 


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1 ‘‘(2) RESPONSE BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The 

2 Attorney General shall respond to each complaint 

3 filed under paragraph (1), in accordance with proce4 dures established by the Attorney General that re5 quire responses and determinations to be made with6 in the same (or shorter) deadlines which apply to a 

7 State under the State-based administrative com8 plaint procedures described in section 402(a)(2). 

9 The Attorney General shall immediately provide a 

10 copy of the response made under the previous sen11 tence to the entity responsible for administering the 

12 State-based administrative complaint procedures de13 scribed in section 402(a) for the State involved. 

14 ‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY OF PRIVATE RIGHT OF AC15 TION.—Any person who is authorized to file a complaint 

16 under subsection (b)(1) (including any individual who 

17 seeks to enforce the individual’s right to a voter-verified 

18 paper ballot, the right to have the voter-verified paper bal19 lot counted in accordance with this Act, or any other right 

20 under title III) may file an action under section 1979 of 

21 the Revised Statutes of the United States (42 U.S.C. 

22 1983) to enforce the uniform and nondiscriminatory elec23 tion technology and administration requirements under 

24 subtitle A of title III. 


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1 ‘‘(d) NO EFFECT ON STATE PROCEDURES.—Nothing 

2 in this section may be construed to affect the availability 

3 of the State-based administrative complaint procedures re4 quired under section 402 to any person filing a complaint 

5 under this subsection.’’. 

6 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

7 this section shall apply with respect to violations occurring 

8 with respect to elections for Federal office held in 2020 

9 or any succeeding year. 

10 Subtitle M—Federal Election 

11 Integrity 

12 SEC. 1821. PROHIBITION ON CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES BY 

13 CHIEF STATE ELECTION ADMINISTRATION 

14 OFFICIALS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Federal Election 

16 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) is 

17 amended by inserting after section 319 the following new 

18 section: 

19 ‘‘CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES BY CHIEF STATE ELECTION

20 ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS

21 ‘‘SEC. 319A. (a) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful 

22 for a chief State election administration official to take 

23 an active part in political management or in a political 

24 campaign with respect to any election for Federal office 

25 over which such official has supervisory authority. 


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1 ‘‘(b) CHIEF STATE ELECTION ADMINISTRATION OF2 FICIAL.—The term ‘chief State election administration of3 ficial’ means the highest State official with responsibility 

4 for the administration of Federal elections under State 

5 law. 

6 ‘‘(c) ACTIVE PART IN POLITICAL MANAGEMENT OR

7 IN A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN.—The term ‘active part in po8 litical management or in a political campaign’ means— 

9 ‘‘(1) serving as a member of an authorized com10 mittee of a candidate for Federal office; 

11 ‘‘(2) the use of official authority or influence 

12 for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the 

13 result of an election for Federal office; 

14 ‘‘(3) the solicitation, acceptance, or receipt of a 

15 contribution from any person on behalf of a can16 didate for Federal office; and 

17 ‘‘(4) any other act which would be prohibited 

18 under paragraph (2) or (3) of section 7323(b) of 

19 title 5, United States Code, if taken by an individual 

20 to whom such paragraph applies (other than any 

21 prohibition on running for public office). 

22 ‘‘(d) EXCEPTION IN CASE OF RECUSAL FROM AD23 MINISTRATION OF ELECTIONS INVOLVING OFFICIAL OR

24 IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—This section does not apply 

2 to a chief State election administration official with 

3 respect to an election for Federal office in which the 

4 official or an immediate family member of the offi5 cial is a candidate, but only if such official recuses 

6 himself or herself from all of the official’s respon7 sibilities for the administration of such election. 

8 ‘‘(2) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER DEFINED.— 

9 In paragraph (1), the term ‘immediate family mem10 ber’ means, with respect to a candidate, a father, 

11 mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, husband, 

12 wife, father-in-law, or mother-in-law.’’. 

13 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

14 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to elections for 

15 Federal office held after December 2019. 

16 Subtitle N—Promoting Voter Ac17 cess Through Election Adminis18 tration Improvements 

19 PART 1—PROMOTING VOTER ACCESS 

20 SEC. 1901. TREATMENT OF UNIVERSITIES AS VOTER REG21 ISTRATION AGENCIES. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7(a) of the National Voter 

23 Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20506(a)) is amend24 ed— 

25 (1) in paragraph (2)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub2 paragraph (A); 

3 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

4 subparagraph (B) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

6 subparagraph: 

7 ‘‘(C) each institution of higher education 

8 (as defined in section 101 of the Higher Edu9 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) in the 

10 State that receives Federal funds.’’; and 

11 (2) in paragraph (6)(A), by inserting ‘‘or, in 

12 the case of an institution of higher education, with 

13 each registration of a student for enrollment in a 

14 course of study’’ after ‘‘assistance,’’. 

15 (b) AMENDMENT TO HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF

16 1965.—Section 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 

17 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)) is amended by striking para18 graph (23). 

19 (c) SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO OPTION OF

20 STUDENTS TO REGISTER IN JURISDICTION OF INSTITU21 TION OF HIGHER EDUCATION OR JURISDICTION OF DOMI22 CILE.—It is the sense of Congress that, as provided under 

23 existing law, students who attend an institution of higher 

24 education and reside in the jurisdiction of the institution 

25 while attending the institution should have the option of 


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1 registering to vote in elections for Federal office in that 

2 jurisdiction or in the jurisdiction of their own domicile. 

3 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 this section shall apply with respect to elections held on 

5 or after January 1, 2020. 

6 SEC. 1902. MINIMUM NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR 

7 VOTERS AFFECTED BY POLLING PLACE 

8 CHANGES. 

9 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—Section 302 of the Help Amer10 ica Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21082), as amended by 

11 section 1601(a), is amended— 

12 (1) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub13 section (g); and 

14 (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol15 lowing new subsection: 

16 ‘‘(f) MINIMUM NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR

17 VOTERS AFFECTED BY POLLING PLACE CHANGES.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a State assigns an indi19 vidual who is a registered voter in a State to a poll20 ing place with respect to an election for Federal of21 fice which is not the same polling place to which the 

22 individual was previously assigned with respect to 

23 the most recent election for Federal office in the 

24 State in which the individual was eligible to vote— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the State shall notify the individual of 

2 the location of the polling place not later than 

3 7 days before the date of the election; or 

4 ‘‘(B) if the State makes such an assign5 ment fewer than 7 days before the date of the 

6 election and the individual appears on the date 

7 of the election at the polling place to which the 

8 individual was previously assigned, the State 

9 shall make every reasonable effort to enable the 

10 individual to vote on the date of the election. 

11 ‘‘(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall 

12 apply with respect to elections held on or after Janu13 ary 1, 2020.’’. 

14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 302(g) of 

15 such Act (52 U.S.C. 21082(g)), as redesignated by sub16 section (a) and as amended by section 1601(b), is amend17 ed by striking ‘‘(d)(2) and (e)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘(d)(2), 

18 (e)(2), and (f)(2)’’. 

19 SEC. 1903. ELECTION DAY HOLIDAY. 

20 (a) TREATMENT OF ELECTION DAY IN SAME MAN21 NER AS LEGAL PUBLIC HOLIDAY FOR PURPOSES OF FED22 ERAL EMPLOYMENT.—For purposes of any law relating 

23 to Federal employment, the Tuesday next after the first 

24 Monday in November in 2020 and each even-numbered 

25 year thereafter shall be treated in the same manner as 


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1 a legal public holiday described in section 6103 of title 

2 5, United States Code. 

3 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATING TO TREATMENT

4 OF DAY BY PRIVATE EMPLOYERS.—It is the sense of Con5 gress that private employers in the United States should 

6 give their employees a day off on the Tuesday next after 

7 the first Monday in November in 2020 and each even8 numbered year thereafter to enable the employees to cast 

9 votes in the elections held on that day. 

10 SEC. 1904. PERMITTING USE OF SWORN WRITTEN STATE11 MENT TO MEET IDENTIFICATION REQUIRE12 MENTS FOR VOTING. 

13 (a) PERMITTING USE OF STATEMENT.—Title III of 

14 the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et 

15 seq.) is amended by inserting after section 303 the fol16 lowing new section: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 303A. PERMITTING USE OF SWORN WRITTEN STATE18 MENT TO MEET IDENTIFICATION REQUIRE19 MENTS. 

20 ‘‘(a) USE OF STATEMENT.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub22 section (c), if a State has in effect a requirement 

23 that an individual present identification as a condi24 tion of receiving and casting a ballot in an election 


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1 for Federal office, the State shall permit the indi2 vidual to meet the requirement— 

3 ‘‘(A) in the case of an individual who de4 sires to vote in person, by presenting the appro5 priate State or local election official with a 

6 sworn written statement, signed by the indi7 vidual under penalty of perjury, attesting to the 

8 individual’s identification and attesting that the 

9 individual is eligible to vote in the election; or 

10 ‘‘(B) in the case of an individual who de11 sires to vote by mail, by submitting with the 

12 ballot the statement described in subparagraph 

13 (A). 

14 ‘‘(2) PROVIDING PRE-PRINTED COPY OF STATE15 MENT.—A State which is subject to paragraph (1) 

16 shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) prepare a pre-printed version of the 

18 statement described in paragraph (1)(A) which 

19 includes a blank space for an individual to pro20 vide a name and signature; 

21 ‘‘(B) make copies of the pre-printed 

22 version available at polling places for election 

23 officials to distribute to individuals who desire 

24 to vote in person; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) include a copy of the pre-printed 

2 version with each blank absentee or other ballot 

3 transmitted to an individual who desires to vote 

4 by mail. 

5 ‘‘(b) REQUIRING USE OF REGULAR BALLOT.—An in6 dividual who presents or submits a sworn written state7 ment in accordance with subsection (a)(1) shall be per8 mitted to cast a regular ballot in the election in the same 

9 manner as an individual who presents identification. 

10 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTION FOR FIRST-TIME VOTERS REG11 ISTERING BY MAIL.—Subsections (a) and (b) do not apply 

12 with respect to any individual described in paragraph (1) 

13 of section 303(b) who is required to meet the requirements 

14 of paragraph (2) of such section.’’. 

15 (b) REQUIRING STATES TO INCLUDE INFORMATION

16 ON USE OF SWORN WRITTEN STATEMENT IN VOTING IN17 FORMATION MATERIAL POSTED AT POLLING PLACES.— 

18 Section 302(b)(2) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21082(b)(2)), 

19 as amended by section 1072(b) and section 1202(b), is 

20 amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara22 graph (G); 

23 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub24 paragraph (H) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 


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1 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub2 paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(I) in the case of a State that has in ef4 fect a requirement that an individual present 

5 identification as a condition of receiving and 

6 casting a ballot in an election for Federal office, 

7 information on how an individual may meet 

8 such requirement by presenting a sworn written 

9 statement in accordance with section 303A.’’. 

10 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

11 of such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating 

12 to section 303 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 303A. Permitting use of sworn written statement to meet identification 

requirements.’’. 

13 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

14 this section shall apply with respect to elections occurring 

15 on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

16 SEC. 1905. POSTAGE-FREE BALLOTS. 

17 (a) ABSENTEE BALLOTS CARRIED FREE OF POST18 AGE.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 34 of title 39, 

20 United States Code, is amended by adding after sec21 tion 3406 the following: 

22 ‘‘§ 3407. Absentee ballots carried free of postage 

23 ‘‘(a) Any absentee ballot for any election shall be car24 ried expeditiously and free of postage. 


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1 ‘‘(b) As used in this section, the term ‘absentee ballot’ 

2 does not include any ballot covered by section 3406.’’. 

3 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec4 tions for chapter 34 of such title is amended by in5 serting after the item relating to section 3406 the 

6 following: 

‘‘3407. Absentee ballots carried free of postage.’’. 

7 (3) REIMBURSEMENT.—Section 2401(c) of title 

8 39, United States Code, is amended by striking 

9 ‘‘3406’’ and inserting ‘‘3407’’. 

10 (b) USE BY STATES OF REQUIREMENTS PAYMENTS

11 UNDER HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2002 TO REIM12 BURSE POSTAL SERVICE.— 

13 (1) AUTHORIZING USE OF PAYMENTS.—Section 

14 251(b) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 

15 U.S.C. 21001(b)) is amended— 

16 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘as pro17 vided in paragraphs (2) and (3)’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘as otherwise provided in this subsection’’; and 

19 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

20 paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(4) REIMBURSEMENT OF POSTAL SERVICE

22 FOR COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH ABSENTEE BAL23 LOTS.—A State shall use a requirements payment to 

24 reimburse the United States Postal Service for the 

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1 tained as the result of the mailing of absentee bal2 lots in the State but for section 3407 of title 39, 

3 United States Code.’’. 

4 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

5 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to the re6 quirements payments made to a State under part 1 

7 of subtitle D of title II of the Help America Vote 

8 Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21001 et seq.)— 

9 (A) for fiscal year 2019 or any previous 

10 fiscal year, but only to the extent that any such 

11 payment remains unobligated or unexpended by 

12 the State as of the date of the enactment of 

13 this Act; and 

14 (B) for fiscal year 2020 and each suc15 ceeding fiscal year. 

16 SEC. 1906. REIMBURSEMENT FOR COSTS INCURRED BY 

17 STATES IN ESTABLISHING PROGRAM TO 

18 TRACK AND CONFIRM RECEIPT OF ABSENTEE 

19 BALLOTS. 

20 (a) REIMBURSEMENT.—Subtitle D of title II of the 

21 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15401 et seq.) 

22 is amended by adding at the end the following new part: 


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1 ‘‘PART 7—PAYMENTS TO REIMBURSE STATES 

2 FOR COSTS INCURRED IN ESTABLISHING 

3 PROGRAM TO TRACK AND CONFIRM RE4 CEIPT OF ABSENTEE BALLOTS 

5 ‘‘SEC. 297. PAYMENTS TO STATES. 

6 ‘‘(a) PAYMENTS FOR COSTS OF ESTABLISHING PRO7 GRAM.—In accordance with this section, the Commission 

8 shall make a payment to a State to reimburse the State 

9 for the costs incurred in establishing, if the State so choos10 es to establish, an absentee ballot tracking program with 

11 respect to elections for Federal office held in the State 

12 (including costs incurred prior to the date of the enact13 ment of this part). 

14 ‘‘(b) ABSENTEE BALLOT TRACKING PROGRAM DE15 SCRIBED.— 

16 ‘‘(1) PROGRAM DESCRIBED.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In this part, an ‘ab18 sentee ballot tracking program’ is a program to 

19 track and confirm the receipt of absentee bal20 lots in an election for Federal office under 

21 which the State or local election official respon22 sible for the receipt of voted absentee ballots in 

23 the election carries out procedures to track and 

24 confirm the receipt of such ballots, and makes 

25 information on the receipt of such ballots avail26 able to the individual who cast the ballot, by 


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1 means of online access using the internet site of 

2 the official’s office. 

3 ‘‘(B) INFORMATION ON WHETHER VOTE

4 WAS COUNTED.—The information referred to 

5 under subparagraph (A) with respect to the re6 ceipt of an absentee ballot shall include infor7 mation regarding whether the vote cast on the 

8 ballot was counted, and, in the case of a vote 

9 which was not counted, the reasons therefor. 

10 ‘‘(2) USE OF TOLL-FREE TELEPHONE NUMBER

11 BY OFFICIALS WITHOUT INTERNET SITE.—A pro12 gram established by a State or local election official 

13 whose office does not have an internet site may meet 

14 the description of a program under paragraph (1) if 

15 the official has established a toll-free telephone num16 ber that may be used by an individual who cast an 

17 absentee ballot to obtain the information on the re18 ceipt of the voted absentee ballot as provided under 

19 such paragraph. 

20 ‘‘(c) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE AND COSTS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—In order to 

22 receive a payment under this section, a State shall 

23 submit to the Commission a statement containing— 

24 ‘‘(A) a certification that the State has es25 tablished an absentee ballot tracking program 


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1 with respect to elections for Federal office held 

2 in the State; and 

3 ‘‘(B) a statement of the costs incurred by 

4 the State in establishing the program. 

5 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.—The amount of a 

6 payment made to a State under this section shall be 

7 equal to the costs incurred by the State in estab8 lishing the absentee ballot tracking program, as set 

9 forth in the statement submitted under paragraph 

10 (1), except that such amount may not exceed the 

11 product of— 

12 ‘‘(A) the number of jurisdictions in the 

13 State which are responsible for operating the 

14 program; and 

15 ‘‘(B) $3,000. 

16 ‘‘(3) LIMIT ON NUMBER OF PAYMENTS RE17 CEIVED.—A State may not receive more than one 

18 payment under this part. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 297A. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

20 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to be 

21 appropriated to the Commission for fiscal year 2020 and 

22 each succeeding fiscal year such sums as may be necessary 

23 for payments under this part. 


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1 ‘‘(b) CONTINUING AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Any 

2 amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization under 

3 this section shall remain available until expended.’’. 

4 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

5 of such Act is amended by adding at the end of the items 

6 relating to subtitle D of title II the following: 

‘‘PART 7—PAYMENTS TO REIMBURSE STATES FOR COSTS INCURRED IN ESTABLISHING PROGRAM TO TRACK AND CONFIRM RECEIPT OF ABSENTEE

BALLOTS

‘‘Sec. 297. Payments to States. 

‘‘Sec. 297A. Authorization of appropriations.’’. 

7 SEC. 1907. VOTER INFORMATION RESPONSE SYSTEMS AND 

8 HOTLINE. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF SYSTEMS

10 AND SERVICES.— 

11 (1) STATE-BASED RESPONSE SYSTEMS.—The 

12 Attorney General shall coordinate the establishment 

13 of a State-based response system for responding to 

14 questions and complaints from individuals voting or 

15 seeking to vote, or registering to vote or seeking to 

16 register to vote, in elections for Federal office. Such 

17 system shall provide— 

18 (A) State-specific, same-day, and imme19 diate assistance to such individuals, including 

20 information on how to register to vote, the loca21 tion and hours of operation of polling places, 

22 and how to obtain absentee ballots; and 


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1 (B) State-specific, same-day, and imme2 diate assistance to individuals encountering 

3 problems with registering to vote or voting, in4 cluding individuals encountering intimidation or 

5 deceptive practices. 

6 (2) HOTLINE.—The Attorney General, in con7 sultation with State election officials, shall establish 

8 and operate a toll-free telephone service, using a 

9 telephone number that is accessible throughout the 

10 United States and that uses easily identifiable nu11 merals, through which individuals throughout the 

12 United States— 

13 (A) may connect directly to the State14 based response system described in paragraph 

15 (1) with respect to the State involved; 

16 (B) may obtain information on voting in 

17 elections for Federal office, including informa18 tion on how to register to vote in such elections, 

19 the locations and hours of operation of polling 

20 places, and how to obtain absentee ballots; and 

21 (C) may report information to the Attor22 ney General on problems encountered in reg23 istering to vote or voting, including incidences 

24 of voter intimidation or suppression. 


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1 (3) COLLABORATION WITH STATE AND LOCAL

2 ELECTION OFFICIALS.— 

3 (A) COLLECTION OF INFORMATION FROM

4 STATES.—The Attorney General shall coordi5 nate the collection of information on State and 

6 local election laws and policies, including infor7 mation on the Statewide computerized voter 

8 registration lists maintained under title III of 

9 the Help America Vote Act of 2002, so that in10 dividuals who contact the free telephone service 

11 established under paragraph (2) on the date of 

12 an election for Federal office may receive an 

13 immediate response on that day. 

14 (B) FORWARDING QUESTIONS AND COM15 PLAINTS TO STATES.—If an individual contacts 

16 the free telephone service established under 

17 paragraph (2) on the date of an election for 

18 Federal office with a question or complaint with 

19 respect to a particular State or jurisdiction 

20 within a State, the Attorney General shall for21 ward the question or complaint immediately to 

22 the appropriate election official of the State or 

23 jurisdiction so that the official may answer the 

24 question or remedy the complaint on that date. 


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1 (4) CONSULTATION REQUIREMENTS FOR DE2 VELOPMENT OF SYSTEMS AND SERVICES.—The At3 torney General shall ensure that the State-based re4 sponse system under paragraph (1) and the free 

5 telephone service under paragraph (2) are each de6 veloped in consultation with civil rights organiza7 tions, voting rights groups, State and local election 

8 officials, voter protection groups, and other inter9 ested community organizations, especially those that 

10 have experience in the operation of similar systems 

11 and services. 

12 (b) USE OF SERVICE BY INDIVIDUALS WITH DIS13 ABILITIES AND INDIVIDUALS WITH LIMITED ENGLISH

14 LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY.—The Attorney General shall 

15 design and operate the telephone service established under 

16 this section in a manner that ensures that individuals with 

17 disabilities are fully able to use the service, and that as18 sistance is provided in any language in which the State 

19 (or any jurisdiction in the State) is required to provide 

20 election materials under section 203 of the Voting Rights 

21 Act of 1965. 

22 (c) VOTER HOTLINE TASK FORCE.— 

23 (1) APPOINTMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 

24 The Attorney General shall appoint individuals (in 

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1 propriate but in no event fewer than 3) to serve on 

2 a Voter Hotline Task Force to provide ongoing anal3 ysis and assessment of the operation of the tele4 phone service established under this section, and 

5 shall give special consideration in making appoint6 ments to the Task Force to individuals who rep7 resent civil rights organizations. At least one mem8 ber of the Task Force shall be a representative of 

9 an organization promoting voting rights or civil 

10 rights which has experience in the operation of simi11 lar telephone services or in protecting the rights of 

12 individuals to vote, especially individuals who are 

13 members of racial, ethnic, or linguistic minorities or 

14 of communities who have been adversely affected by 

15 efforts to suppress voting rights. 

16 (2) ELIGIBILITY.—An individual shall be eligi17 ble to serve on the Task Force under this subsection 

18 if the individual meets such criteria as the Attorney 

19 General may establish, except that an individual may 

20 not serve on the task force if the individual has been 

21 convicted of any criminal offense relating to voter in22 timidation or voter suppression. 

23 (3) TERM OF SERVICE.—An individual ap24 pointed to the Task Force shall serve a single term 

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1 bers first appointed to the Task Force shall be stag2 gered so that there are at least 3 individuals serving 

3 on the Task Force during each year. A vacancy in 

4 the membership of the Task Force shall be filled in 

5 the same manner as the original appointment. 

6 (4) NO COMPENSATION FOR SERVICE.—Mem7 bers of the Task Force shall serve without pay, but 

8 shall receive travel expenses, including per diem in 

9 lieu of subsistence, in accordance with applicable 

10 provisions under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 

11 5, United States Code. 

12 (d) BI-ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

13 than March 1 of each odd-numbered year, the Attorney 

14 General shall submit a report to Congress on the operation 

15 of the telephone service established under this section dur16 ing the previous 2 years, and shall include in the report— 

17 (1) an enumeration of the number and type of 

18 calls that were received by the service; 

19 (2) a compilation and description of the reports 

20 made to the service by individuals citing instances of 

21 voter intimidation or suppression; 

22 (3) an assessment of the effectiveness of the 

23 service in making information available to all house24 holds in the United States with telephone service; 


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1 (4) any recommendations developed by the 

2 Task Force established under subsection (c) with re3 spect to how voting systems may be maintained or 

4 upgraded to better accommodate voters and better 

5 ensure the integrity of elections, including but not 

6 limited to identifying how to eliminate coordinated 

7 voter suppression efforts and how to establish effec8 tive mechanisms for distributing updates on changes 

9 to voting requirements; and 

10 (5) any recommendations on best practices for 

11 the State-based response systems established under 

12 subsection (a)(1). 

13 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

14 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to 

15 be appropriated to the Attorney General for fiscal 

16 year 2019 and each succeeding fiscal year such sums 

17 as may be necessary to carry out this section. 

18 (2) SET-ASIDE FOR OUTREACH.—Of the 

19 amounts appropriated to carry out this section for a 

20 fiscal year pursuant to the authorization under para21 graph (1), not less than 15 percent shall be used for 

22 outreach activities to make the public aware of the 

23 availability of the telephone service established under 

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1 viduals with disabilities and individuals with limited 

2 proficiency in the English language. 

3 PART 2—IMPROVEMENTS IN OPERATION OF 

4 ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION 

5 SEC. 1911. REAUTHORIZATION OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE 

6 COMMISSION. 

7 Section 210 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

8 (52 U.S.C. 20930) is amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘for each of the fiscal years 

10 2003 through 2005’’ and inserting ‘‘for fiscal year 

11 2019 and each succeeding fiscal year’’; and 

12 (2) by striking ‘‘(but not to exceed $10,000,000 

13 for each such year)’’. 

14 SEC. 1913. REQUIRING STATES TO PARTICIPATE IN POST15 GENERAL ELECTION SURVEYS. 

16 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Title III of the Help America 

17 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.), as amended 

18 by section 1904(a), is further amended by inserting after 

19 section 303A the following new section: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 303B. REQUIRING PARTICIPATION IN POST-GENERAL 

21 ELECTION SURVEYS. 

22 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—Each State shall furnish to the 

23 Commission such information as the Commission may re24 quest for purposes of conducting any post-election survey 


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1 of the States with respect to the administration of a regu2 larly scheduled general election for Federal office. 

3 ‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

4 with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 

5 Federal office held in November 2020 and any succeeding 

6 election.’’. 

7 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

8 of such Act, as amended by section 1904(c), is further 

9 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

10 303A the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 303B. Requiring participation in post-general election surveys.’’. 

11 SEC. 1914. REPORTS BY NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STAND12 ARDS AND TECHNOLOGY ON USE OF FUNDS 

13 TRANSFERRED FROM ELECTION ASSISTANCE 

14 COMMISSION. 

15 (a) REQUIRING REPORTS ON USE OF FUNDS AS

16 CONDITION OF RECEIPT.—Section 231 of the Help Amer17 ica Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20971) is amended by 

18 adding at the end the following new subsection: 

19 ‘‘(e) REPORT ON USE OF FUNDS TRANSFERRED

20 FROM COMMISSION.—To the extent that funds are trans21 ferred from the Commission to the Director of the Na22 tional Institute of Standards and Technology for purposes 

23 of carrying out this section during any fiscal year, the Di24 rector may not use such funds unless the Director certifies 

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1 port to the Commission not later than 90 days after the 

2 end of the fiscal year detailing how the Director used such 

3 funds during the year.’’. 

4 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

5 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to fiscal year 2020 

6 and each succeeding fiscal year. 

7 SEC. 1915. RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE OPERATIONS 

8 OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION. 

9 (a) ASSESSMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

10 AND CYBERSECURITY.—Not later than December 31, 

11 2019, the Election Assistance Commission shall carry out 

12 an assessment of the security and effectiveness of the 

13 Commission’s information technology systems, including 

14 the cybersecurity of such systems. 

15 (b) IMPROVEMENTS TO ADMINISTRATIVE COMPLAINT

16 PROCEDURES.— 

17 (1) REVIEW OF PROCEDURES.—The Election 

18 Assistance Commission shall carry out a review of 

19 the effectiveness and efficiency of the State-based 

20 administrative complaint procedures established and 

21 maintained under section 402 of the Help America 

22 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21112) for the inves23 tigation and resolution of allegations of violations of 

24 title III of such Act. 


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1 (2) RECOMMENDATIONS TO STREAMLINE PRO2 CEDURES.—Not later than December 31, 2019, the 

3 Commission shall submit to Congress a report on 

4 the review carried out under paragraph (1), and 

5 shall include in the report such recommendations as 

6 the Commission considers appropriate to streamline 

7 and improve the procedures which are the subject of 

8 the review. 

9 SEC. 1916. REPEAL OF EXEMPTION OF ELECTION ASSIST10 ANCE COMMISSION FROM CERTAIN GOVERN11 MENT CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 205 of the Help America 

13 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20925) is amended by strik14 ing subsection (e). 

15 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

16 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to contracts entered 

17 into by the Election Assistance Commission on or after 

18 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

19 PART 3—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 

20 SEC. 1921. APPLICATION OF LAWS TO COMMONWEALTH OF 

21 NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS. 

22 (a) NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION ACT OF

23 1993.—Section 3(4) of the National Voter Registration 

24 Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20502(4)) is amended by striking 

25 ‘‘States and the District of Columbia’’ and inserting 


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1 ‘‘States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth 

2 of the Northern Mariana Islands’’. 

3 (b) HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2002.— 

4 (1) COVERAGE OF COMMONWEALTH OF THE

5 NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS.—Section 901 of the 

6 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21141) 

7 is amended by striking ‘‘and the United States Vir8 gin Islands’’ and inserting ‘‘the United States Virgin 

9 Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern 

10 Mariana Islands’’. 

11 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO HELP

12 AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2002.—Such Act is further 

13 amended as follows: 

14 (A) The second sentence of section 

15 213(a)(2) (52 U.S.C. 20943(a)(2)) is amended 

16 by striking ‘‘and American Samoa’’ and insert17 ing ‘‘American Samoa, and the Commonwealth 

18 of the Northern Mariana Islands’’. 

19 (B) Section 252(c)(2) (52 U.S.C. 

20 21002(c)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘or the 

21 United States Virgin Islands’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘the United States Virgin Islands, or the Com23 monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands’’. 

24 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

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1 TION WITH LOCAL ELECTION OFFICIALS.—Section 

2 90102(c) of title 36, United States Code, is amend3 ed by striking ‘‘and the United States Virgin Is4 lands’’ and inserting ‘‘the United States Virgin Is5 lands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar6 iana Islands’’. 

7 (4) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

8 by this subsection shall apply with respect to fiscal 

9 years beginning with the first fiscal year which be10 gins after funds are appropriated to the Common11 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands pursuant to 

12 the payment under section 2. 

13 SEC. 1922. NO EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as specifically provided, 

15 nothing in this subtitle may be construed to authorize or 

16 require conduct prohibited under any of the following laws, 

17 or to supersede, restrict, or limit the application of such 

18 laws: 

19 (1) The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 

20 10301 et seq.). 

21 (2) The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and 

22 Handicapped Act (52 U.S.C. 20101 et seq.). 

23 (3) The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Ab24 sentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20301 et seq.). 


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1 (4) The National Voter Registration Act of 

2 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.). 

3 (5) The Americans with Disabilities Act of 

4 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). 

5 (6) The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 

6 701 et seq.). 

7 (b) NO EFFECT ON PRECLEARANCE OR OTHER RE8 QUIREMENTS UNDER VOTING RIGHTS ACT.—The ap9 proval by any person of a payment or grant application 

10 under this title, or any other action taken by any person 

11 under this title, shall not be considered to have any effect 

12 on requirements for preclearance under section 5 of the 

13 Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10304) or any other 

14 requirements of such Act. 

15 Subtitle O—Severability 

16 SEC. 1931. SEVERABILITY. 

17 If any provision of this title or amendment made by 

18 this title, or the application of a provision or amendment 

19 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu20 tional, the remainder of this title and amendments made 

21 by this title, and the application of the provisions and 

22 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be 

23 affected by the holding. 

24 TITLE II—ELECTION INTEGRITY 

Subtitle A—Findings Reaffirming Commitment of Congress To Restore the 

Voting Rights Act 


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Sec. 2001. Findings reaffirming commitment of Congress to restore the Voting 

Rights Act. 

Subtitle B—Findings Relating to Native American Voting Rights 

Sec. 2101. Findings relating to Native American voting rights. 

Subtitle C—Findings Relating to District of Columbia Statehood 

Sec. 2201. Findings relating to District of Columbia statehood. 

Subtitle D—Findings Relating to Territorial Voting Rights 

Sec. 2301. Findings relating to territorial voting rights. 

Subtitle E—Redistricting Reform 

Sec. 2400. Short title; finding of constitutional authority. 

PART 1—REQUIREMENTS FOR CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING

Sec. 2401. Limit on congressional redistricting after an apportionment. 

Sec. 2402. Requiring congressional redistricting to be conducted through plan 

of independent State commission. 

PART 2—INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING COMMISSIONS

Sec. 2411. Independent redistricting commission. 

Sec. 2412. Establishment of selection pool of individuals eligible to serve as 

members of commission. 

Sec. 2413. Criteria for redistricting plan by independent commission; public notice and input. 

Sec. 2414. Establishment of related entities. 

PART 3—ROLE OF COURTS IN DEVELOPMENT OF REDISTRICTING PLANS

Sec. 2421. Enactment of plan developed by 3-judge court. 

Sec. 2422. Special rule for redistricting conducted under order of Federal 

court. 

PART 4—ADMINISTRATIVE AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

Sec. 2431. Payments to States for carrying out redistricting. 

Sec. 2432. Civil enforcement. 

Sec. 2433. State apportionment notice defined. 

Sec. 2434. No effect on elections for State and local office. 

Sec. 2435. Effective date. 

Subtitle F—Saving Voters From Voter Purging 

Sec. 2501. Short title. 

Sec. 2502. Conditions for removal of voters from list of registered voters. 

Subtitle G—Severability 

Sec. 2601. Severability. 


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1 Subtitle A—Findings Reaffirming 

2 Commitment of Congress To Re3 store the Voting Rights Act 

4 SEC. 2001. FINDINGS REAFFIRMING COMMITMENT OF CON5 GRESS TO RESTORE THE VOTING RIGHTS 

6 ACT. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The right to vote for all Americans is sac9 rosanct and rules for voting and election administra10 tion should protect the right to vote and promote 

11 voter participation. 

12 (2) The Voting Rights Act has empowered the 

13 Department of Justice and Federal courts for nearly 

14 a half a century to block discriminatory voting prac15 tices before their implementation in States and local16 ities with the most troubling histories and ongoing 

17 records of racial discrimination. 

18 (3) There continues to be an alarming move19 ment to erect barriers to make it more difficult for 

20 Americans to participate in our Nation’s democratic 

21 process. The Nation has witnessed unprecedented ef22 forts to turn back the clock and erect barriers to 

23 voting for communities of color which have faced 

24 historic and continuing discrimination, as well as 

25 disabled, young, elderly, and low-income Americans. 


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1 (4) The Supreme Court’s 2013 Shelby County 

2 v. Holder decision gutted decades-long Federal pro3 tections for communities of color that face historic 

4 and continuing discrimination, emboldening States 

5 and local jurisdictions to pass voter suppression laws 

6 and implement procedures, such as those requiring 

7 photo identification, limiting early voting hours, 

8 eliminating same-day registration, purging voters 

9 from the rolls, and reducing the number of polling 

10 places. Congress is committed to reversing the dev11 astating impact of this decision. 

12 (5) Racial discrimination in voting is a clear 

13 and persistent problem. The actions of States and 

14 localities around the country post-Shelby County, in15 cluding at least 10 findings by Federal courts of in16 tentional discrimination, underscore the need for 

17 Congress to conduct investigatory and evidentiary 

18 hearings to determine the legislation necessary to re19 store the Voting Rights Act and combat continuing 

20 efforts in America that suppress the free exercise of 

21 the franchise in communities of color. 

22 (6) The 2018 midterm election provides further 

23 evidence that systemic voter discrimination and in24 timidation continues to occur in communities of 

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1 racy reform cannot be achieved until Congress re2 stores key provisions of the Voting Rights Act. 

3 (7) Congress must remain vigilant in protecting 

4 every eligible citizen’s right to vote. Congress should 

5 respond by modernizing the electoral system to— 

6 (A) improve access to the ballot; 

7 (B) enhance the integrity and security of 

8 our voting systems; 

9 (C) ensure greater accountability for the 

10 administration of elections; and 

11 (D) restore protections for voters against 

12 practices in States and localities plagued by the 

13 persistence of voter disenfranchisement; and 

14 (E) ensure that Federal civil rights laws 

15 protect the rights of voters against discrimina16 tory and deceptive practices. 

17 Subtitle B—Findings Relating to 

18 Native American Voting Rights 

19 SEC. 2101. FINDINGS RELATING TO NATIVE AMERICAN VOT20 ING RIGHTS. 

21 Congress finds the following: 

22 (1) The right to vote for all Americans is sa23 cred. Congress must fulfill the Federal Government’s 

24 trust responsibility to protect and promote Native 

25 Americans’ exercise of their fundamental right to 


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1 vote, including equal access to voter registration vot2 ing mechanisms and locations, and the ability to 

3 serve as election officials. 

4 (2) The Native American Voting Rights Coali5 tion’s four-State survey of voter discrimination 

6 (2016) and nine field hearings in Indian Country 

7 (2017–2018) revealed obstacles that Native Ameri8 cans must overcome, including a lack of accessible 

9 and proximate registration and polling sites, non10 traditional addresses for residents on Indian reserva11 tions, inadequate language assistance for Tribal 

12 members, and voter identification laws that discrimi13 nate against Native Americans. The Department of 

14 Justice and courts have recognized that some juris15 dictions have been unresponsive to reasonable re16 quests from federally recognized Indian Tribes for 

17 more accessible and proximate voter registration 

18 sites and in-person voting locations. 

19 (3) The 2018 elections provide further evidence 

20 that systemic voter discrimination and intimidation 

21 continues to occur in communities of color and Trib22 al lands across the country, making it clear that de23 mocracy reform cannot be achieved until Congress 

24 restores key provisions of the Voting Rights Act and 

25 passes additional protections. 


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1 (4) Congress has broad, plenary authority to 

2 enact legislation to safeguard the voting rights of 

3 Native American voters. 

4 (5) Congress must conduct investigatory and 

5 evidentiary hearings to determine the necessary leg6 islation to restore the Voting Rights Act and combat 

7 continuous efforts that suppress the voter franchise 

8 within Tribal lands, to include, but not to be limited 

9 to, the Native American Voting Rights Act 

10 (NAVRA) and the Voting Rights Advancement Act 

11 (VRAA). 

12 Subtitle C—Findings Relating to 

13 District of Columbia Statehood 

14 SEC. 2201. FINDINGS RELATING TO DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 

15 STATEHOOD. 

16 Congress finds the following: 

17 (1) District of Columbia residents deserve full 

18 congressional voting rights and self-government, 

19 which only statehood can provide. 

20 (2) The 700,000 residents of the District of Co21 lumbia pay more Federal taxes per capita than resi22 dents of any State in the country, yet do not have 

23 full and equal representation in Congress and self24 government. 


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1 (3) Since the founding of the United States, the 

2 residents of the District of Columbia have always 

3 carried all the obligations of citizenship, including 

4 serving in all of the Nation’s wars and paying Fed5 eral taxes, all without voting representation on the 

6 floor in either Chamber of Congress or freedom from 

7 congressional interference in purely local matters. 

8 (4) There are no constitutional, historical, fi9 nancial, or economic reasons why the 700,000 Amer10 icans who live in the District of Columbia should not 

11 be granted statehood. 

12 (5) The District of Columbia has a larger popu13 lation than two States, Wyoming and Vermont, and 

14 is close to the population of the seven States that 

15 have a population of under one million fully rep16 resented residents. 

17 (6) The District of Columbia government has 

18 one of the strongest fiscal positions of any jurisdic19 tion in the United States, with a $14,600,000,000 

20 budget and a $2,700,000,000 general fund balance, 

21 or surplus. 

22 (7) The District of Columbia’s total personal 

23 income is higher than that of seven States, its per 

24 capita personal consumption expenditures is higher 

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1 sumption expenditures is greater than those of seven 

2 States. 

3 (8) Congress has authority under article IV, 

4 section 3, clause 1, which gives Congress power to 

5 admit new States to the Union, and Article I, Sec6 tion 8, Clause 17, which grants Congress power over 

7 the seat of the Federal Government, to admit the 

8 new State carved out of the residential areas of the 

9 Federal seat of Government, while maintaining as 

10 the Federal seat of Government the United States 

11 Capitol Complex, the principal Federal monuments, 

12 Federal buildings and grounds, the National Mall, 

13 the White House and other Federal property. 

14 Subtitle D—Findings Relating to 

15 Territorial Voting Rights 

16 SEC. 2301. FINDINGS RELATING TO TERRITORIAL VOTING 

17 RIGHTS. 

18 Congress finds the following: 

19 (1) The right to vote is one of the most power20 ful instruments residents of the territories of the 

21 United States have to ensure that their voices are 

22 heard. 

23 (2) These Americans have played an important 

24 part in the American democracy for more than 120 

25 years. 


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1 (3) Political participation and the right to vote 

2 are among the highest concerns of territorial resi3 dents in part because they were not always afforded 

4 these rights. 

5 (4) Voter participation in the territories consist6 ently ranks higher than many communities on the 

7 mainland. 

8 (5) Territorial residents serve and die, on a per 

9 capita basis, at a higher rate in every United States 

10 war and conflict since WWI, as an expression of 

11 their commitment to American democratic principles 

12 and patriotism. 

13 Subtitle E—Redistricting Reform 

14 SEC. 2400. SHORT TITLE; FINDING OF CONSTITUTIONAL AU15 THORITY. 

16 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This subtitle may be cited as the 

17 ‘‘Redistricting Reform Act of 2019’’. 

18 (b) FINDING OF CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY.— 

19 Congress finds that it has the authority to establish the 

20 terms and conditions States must follow in carrying out 

21 Congressional redistricting after an apportionment of 

22 Members of the House of Representatives because— 

23 (1) the authority granted to Congress under ar24 ticle I, section 4 of the Constitution of the United 

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1 erning the time, place, and manner of elections for 

2 Members of the House of Representatives; and 

3 (2) the authority granted to Congress under 

4 section 5 of the fourteenth amendment to the Con5 stitution gives Congress the power to enact laws to 

6 enforce section 2 of such amendment, which requires 

7 Representatives to be apportioned among the several 

8 States according to their number. 

9 PART 1—REQUIREMENTS FOR CONGRESSIONAL 

10 REDISTRICTING 

11 SEC. 2401. LIMIT ON CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING 

12 AFTER AN APPORTIONMENT. 

13 The Act entitled ‘‘An Act for the relief of Doctor Ri14 cardo Vallejo Samala and to provide for congressional re15 districting’’, approved December 14, 1967 (2 U.S.C. 2c), 

16 is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘A State 

17 which has been redistricted in the manner provided by law 

18 after an apportionment under section 22(a) of the Act en19 titled ‘An Act to provide for the fifteenth and subsequent 

20 decennial censuses and to provide for an apportionment 

21 of Representatives in Congress’, approved June 18, 1929 

22 (2 U.S.C. 2a), may not be redistricted again until after 

23 the next apportionment of Representatives under such sec24 tion, unless a court requires the State to conduct such 

25 subsequent redistricting to comply with the Constitution 


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1 or to enforce the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 

2 10301 et seq.).’’. 

3 SEC. 2402. REQUIRING CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING 

4 TO BE CONDUCTED THROUGH PLAN OF INDE5 PENDENT STATE COMMISSION. 

6 (a) USE OF PLAN REQUIRED.—Notwithstanding any 

7 other provision of law, any Congressional redistricting 

8 conducted by a State shall be conducted in accordance 

9 with— 

10 (1) the redistricting plan developed and enacted 

11 into law by the independent redistricting commission 

12 established in the State, in accordance with part 2; 

13 or 

14 (2) if a plan developed by such commission is 

15 not enacted into law, the redistricting plan developed 

16 and enacted into law by a 3-judge court of the 

17 United States District Court for the District of Co18 lumbia, in accordance with section 2421. 

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 22(c) of 

20 the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the fifteenth and 

21 subsequent decennial censuses and to provide for an ap22 portionment of Representatives in Congress’’, approved 

23 June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a(c)), is amended by striking 

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1 ing: ‘‘in the manner provided by the Redistricting Reform 

2 Act of 2019’’. 

3 PART 2—INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING 

4 COMMISSIONS 

5 SEC. 2411. INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING COMMISSION. 

6 (a) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The nonpartisan agency es8 tablished or designated by a State under section 

9 2414(a) shall establish an independent redistricting 

10 commission for the State, which shall consist of 15 

11 members appointed by the agency as follows: 

12 (A) The agency shall first appoint 6 mem13 bers as follows: 

14 (i) The agency shall appoint 2 mem15 bers on a random basis from the majority 

16 category of the approved selection pool (as 

17 described in section 2412(b)(1)(A)). 

18 (ii) The agency shall appoint 2 mem19 bers on a random basis from the minority 

20 category of the approved selection pool (as 

21 described in section 2412(b)(1)(B)). 

22 (iii) The agency shall appoint 2 mem23 bers on a random basis from the inde24 pendent category of the approved selection 


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1 pool (as described in section 

2 2412(b)(1)(C)). 

3 (B) The members appointed by the agency 

4 under subparagraph (A) shall then appoint 9 

5 members as follows: 

6 (i) The members shall appoint 3 mem7 bers on a random basis from the majority 

8 category of the approved selection pool (as 

9 described in section 2412(b)(1)(A)). 

10 (ii) The members shall appoint 3 

11 members on a random basis from the mi12 nority category of the approved selection 

13 pool (as described in section 

14 2412(b)(1)(B)). 

15 (iii) The members shall appoint 3 

16 members on a random basis from the inde17 pendent category of the approved selection 

18 pool (as described in section 

19 2412(b)(1)(C)). 

20 (2) APPOINTMENT OF ALTERNATES TO SERVE

21 IN CASE OF VACANCIES.— 

22 (A) MEMBERS APPOINTED BY AGENCY.— 

23 At the time the agency appoints the members 

24 of the independent redistricting commission 

25 under subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) from 


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1 each of the categories referred to in such sub2 paragraph, the agency shall, on a random basis, 

3 designate 2 other individuals from such cat4 egory to serve as alternate members who may 

5 be appointed to fill vacancies in the commission 

6 in accordance with paragraph (3). 

7 (B) MEMBERS APPOINTED BY FIRST MEM8 BERS.—At the time the members appointed by 

9 the agency appoint the other members of the 

10 independent redistricting commission under 

11 subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) from each 

12 of the categories referred to in such subpara13 graph, the members shall, on a random basis, 

14 designate 2 other individuals from such cat15 egory to serve as alternate members who may 

16 be appointed to fill vacancies in the commission 

17 in accordance with paragraph (3). 

18 (3) VACANCY.— 

19 (A) MEMBERS APPOINTED BY AGENCY.—If 

20 a vacancy occurs in the commission with respect 

21 to a member who was appointed by the non22 partisan agency under subparagraph (A) of 

23 paragraph (1) from one of the categories re24 ferred to in such subparagraph, the agency 

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1 dom basis, one of the 2 alternates from such 

2 category who was designated under subpara3 graph (A) of paragraph (2). At the time the 

4 agency appoints an alternate to fill a vacancy 

5 under the previous sentence, the agency shall 

6 designate, on a random basis, another indi7 vidual from the same category to serve as an al8 ternate member, in accordance with subpara9 graph (A) of paragraph (2). 

10 (B) MEMBERS APPOINTED BY FIRST MEM11 BERS.—If a vacancy occurs in the commission 

12 with respect to a member who was appointed by 

13 the first members of the commission under sub14 paragraph (B) of paragraph (1) from one of the 

15 categories referred to in such subparagraph, the 

16 first members shall fill the vacancy by appoint17 ing, on a random basis, one of the 2 alternates 

18 from such category who was designated under 

19 subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2). At the time 

20 the first members appoint an alternate to fill a 

21 vacancy under the previous sentence, the first 

22 members shall designate, on a random basis, 

23 another individual from the same category to 

24 serve as an alternate member, in accordance 

25 with subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2). 


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1 (4) SPECIAL RULES FOR APPOINTMENT OF

2 MEMBERS APPOINTED BY FIRST MEMBERS.—The 

3 appointment of any of the 9 members of the inde4 pendent redistricting commission who are appointed 

5 by the first members of the commission pursuant to 

6 subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1), as well as the 

7 appointment of alternates for such members pursu8 ant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) and the 

9 appointment of members to fill vacancies with re10 spect to such members pursuant to subparagraph 

11 (B) of paragraph (3), shall require the affirmative 

12 vote of at least 4 of the members appointed by the 

13 nonpartisan agency under subparagraph (A) of para14 graph (1), including at least one member from each 

15 of the categories referred to in such subparagraph. 

16 The 9 members appointed pursuant to subparagraph 

17 (B) of paragraph (1), as well as the alternates ap18 pointed pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph 

19 (2) and the members appointed to fill vacancies pur20 suant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (3), shall 

21 be selected, if necessary, to ensure that the commis22 sion as a whole reflects the demographic and geo23 graphic diversity of the State, including racial and 

24 language minorities protected under the Voting 

25 Rights Act, and that such minorities are provided 


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1 with a meaningful opportunity to participate in the 

2 development and enactment of the State’s redis3 tricting plan. 

4 (b) PROCEDURES FOR CONDUCTING COMMISSION

5 BUSINESS.— 

6 (1) CHAIR.—Members of an independent redis7 tricting commission established under this section 

8 shall select by majority vote one member who was 

9 appointed from the independent category of the ap10 proved selection pool described in section 

11 2412(b)(1)(C) to serve as chair of the commission. 

12 The commission may not take any action to develop 

13 a redistricting plan for the State under section 2413 

14 until the appointment of the commission’s chair. 

15 (2) REQUIRING MAJORITY APPROVAL FOR AC16 TIONS.—The independent redistricting commission 

17 of a State may not publish and disseminate any 

18 draft or final redistricting plan, or take any other 

19 action, without the approval of at least— 

20 (A) a majority of the whole membership of 

21 the commission; and 

22 (B) at least one member of the commission 

23 appointed from each of the categories of the ap24 proved selection pool described in section 

25 2412(b)(1). 


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1 (3) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of 

2 the commission shall constitute a quorum. 

3 (c) STAFF; CONTRACTORS.— 

4 (1) STAFF.—The independent redistricting 

5 commission of a State may appoint and set the pay 

6 of such staff as it considers appropriate, subject to 

7 State law. 

8 (2) CONTRACTORS.—The independent redis9 tricting commission of a State may enter into such 

10 contracts with vendors as it considers appropriate, 

11 subject to State law, except that any such contract 

12 shall be valid only if approved by the vote of a ma13 jority of the members of the commission, including 

14 at least one member appointed from each of the cat15 egories of the approved selection pool described in 

16 section 2412(b)(1). 

17 (3) GOAL OF IMPARTIALITY.—The commission 

18 shall take such steps as it considers appropriate to 

19 ensure that any staff appointed under this sub20 section, and any vendor with whom the commission 

21 enters into a contract under this subsection, will 

22 work in an impartial manner, and may require any 

23 person who applies for an appointment to a staff po24 sition or for a vendor’s contract with the commission 

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1 litical activity (including donations to candidates, po2 litical committees, and political parties) as a condi3 tion of the appointment or the contract. 

4 (d) TERMINATION.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The independent redis6 tricting commission of a State shall terminate on the 

7 earlier of— 

8 (A) June 14 of the following year ending 

9 in the numeral zero; or 

10 (B) the day on which the nonpartisan 

11 agency established or designated by a State 

12 under section 2414(a) has, in accordance with 

13 section 2412(b)(1), submitted a selection pool 

14 to the Select Committee on Redistricting for the 

15 State established under section 2414(b). 

16 (2) PRESERVATION OF RECORDS.—The State 

17 shall ensure that the records of the independent re18 districting commission are retained in the appro19 priate State archive in such manner as may be nec20 essary to enable the State to respond to any civil ac21 tion brought with respect to Congressional redis22 tricting in the State. 


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1 SEC. 2412. ESTABLISHMENT OF SELECTION POOL OF INDI2 VIDUALS ELIGIBLE TO SERVE AS MEMBERS 

3 OF COMMISSION. 

4 (a) CRITERIA FOR ELIGIBILITY.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—An individual is eligible to 

6 serve as a member of an independent redistricting 

7 commission if the individual meets each of the fol8 lowing criteria: 

9 (A) As of the date of appointment, the in10 dividual is registered to vote in elections for 

11 Federal office held in the State. 

12 (B) During the 3-year period ending on 

13 the date of the individual’s appointment, the in14 dividual has been continuously registered to 

15 vote with the same political party, or has not 

16 been registered to vote with any political party. 

17 (C) The individual submits to the non18 partisan agency established or designated by a 

19 State under section 2413, at such time and in 

20 such form as the agency may require, an appli21 cation for inclusion in the selection pool under 

22 this section, and includes with the application a 

23 written statement containing the following in24 formation and assurances: 


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1 (i) A statement of the political party 

2 with which the individual is affiliated, if 

3 any. 

4 (ii) An assurance that the individual 

5 shall commit to carrying out the individ6 ual’s duties under this subtitle in an hon7 est, independent, and impartial fashion, 

8 and to upholding public confidence in the 

9 integrity of the redistricting process. 

10 (iii) An assurance that, during the 

11 covered periods described in paragraph (3), 

12 the individual has not taken and will not 

13 take any action which would disqualify the 

14 individual from serving as a member of the 

15 commission under paragraph (2). 

16 (2) DISQUALIFICATIONS.—An individual is not 

17 eligible to serve as a member of the commission if 

18 any of the following applies during any of the cov19 ered periods described in paragraph (3): 

20 (A) The individual or (in the case of the 

21 covered periods described in subparagraphs (A) 

22 and (B) of paragraph (3)) an immediate family 

23 member of the individual holds public office or 

24 is a candidate for election for public office. 


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1 (B) The individual or (in the case of the 

2 covered periods described in subparagraphs (A) 

3 and (B) of paragraph (3)) an immediate family 

4 member of the individual serves as an officer of 

5 a political party or as an officer, employee, or 

6 paid consultant of a campaign committee of a 

7 candidate for public office. 

8 (C) The individual or (in the case of the 

9 covered periods described in subparagraphs (A) 

10 and (B) of paragraph (3)) an immediate family 

11 member of the individual holds a position as a 

12 registered lobbyist under the Lobbying Disclo13 sure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) or an 

14 equivalent State or local law. 

15 (D) The individual or (in the case of the 

16 covered periods described in subparagraphs (A) 

17 and (B) of paragraph (3)) an immediate family 

18 member of the individual is an employee of an 

19 elected public official, a contractor with the leg20 islature of the State, or a donor to the cam21 paign of any candidate for public office (other 

22 than a donor who, during any of such covered 

23 periods, gives an aggregate amount of $20,000 

24 or less to the campaigns of all candidates for all 

25 public offices). 


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1 (3) COVERED PERIODS DESCRIBED.—In this 

2 subsection, the term ‘‘covered period’’ means, with 

3 respect to the appointment of an individual to the 

4 commission, any of the following: 

5 (A) The 5-year period ending on the date 

6 of the individual’s appointment. 

7 (B) The period beginning on the date of 

8 the individual’s appointment and ending on Au9 gust 14 of the next year ending in the numeral 

10 one. 

11 (C) The 5-year period beginning on the 

12 day after the last day of the period described in 

13 subparagraph (B). 

14 (4) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER DEFINED.—In 

15 this subsection, the term ‘‘immediate family mem16 ber’’ means, with respect to an individual, a father, 

17 stepfather, mother, stepmother, son, stepson, daugh18 ter, stepdaughter, brother, stepbrother, sister, step19 sister, husband, wife, father-in-law, or mother-in20 law. 

21 (b) DEVELOPMENT AND SUBMISSION OF SELECTION

22 POOL.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than June 15 of 

24 each year ending in the numeral zero, the non25 partisan agency established or designated by a State 


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1 under section 2414(a) shall develop and submit to 

2 the Select Committee on Redistricting for the State 

3 established under section 2414(b) a selection pool of 

4 36 individuals who are eligible to serve as members 

5 of the independent redistricting commission of the 

6 State under this subtitle, consisting of individuals in 

7 the following categories: 

8 (A) A majority category, consisting of 12 

9 individuals who are affiliated with the political 

10 party with the largest percentage of the reg11 istered voters in the State who are affiliated 

12 with a political party (as determined with re13 spect to the most recent Statewide election for 

14 Federal office held in the State for which such 

15 information is available). 

16 (B) A minority category, consisting of 12 

17 individuals who are affiliated with the political 

18 party with the second largest percentage of the 

19 registered voters in the State who are affiliated 

20 with a political party (as so determined). 

21 (C) An independent category, consisting of 

22 12 individuals who are not affiliated with either 

23 of the political parties described in subpara24 graph (A) or subparagraph (B). 


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1 (2) FACTORS TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN DEVEL2 OPING POOL.—In selecting individuals for the selec3 tion pool under this subsection, the nonpartisan 

4 agency shall— 

5 (A) to the maximum extent practicable, en6 sure that the pool reflects the representative de7 mographic groups (including races, ethnicities, 

8 and genders) and geographic regions of the 

9 State; and 

10 (B) take into consideration the analytical 

11 skills of the individuals selected in relevant 

12 fields (including mapping, data management, 

13 law, community outreach, demography, and the 

14 geography of the State) and their ability to 

15 work on an impartial basis. 

16 (3) DETERMINATION OF POLITICAL PARTY AF17 FILIATION OF INDIVIDUALS IN SELECTION POOL.— 

18 For purposes of this section, an individual shall be 

19 considered to be affiliated with a political party on 

20 the basis of the information the individual provides 

21 in the application submitted under subsection 

22 (a)(1)(D). 

23 (4) ENCOURAGING RESIDENTS TO APPLY FOR

24 INCLUSION IN POOL.—The nonpartisan agency shall 

25 take such steps as may be necessary to ensure that 


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1 residents of the State across various geographic re2 gions and demographic groups are aware of the op3 portunity to serve on the independent redistricting 

4 commission, including publicizing the role of the 

5 panel and using newspapers, broadcast media, and 

6 online sources, including ethnic media, to encourage 

7 individuals to apply for inclusion in the selection 

8 pool developed under this subsection. 

9 (5) REPORT ON ESTABLISHMENT OF SELEC10 TION POOL.—At the time the nonpartisan agency 

11 submits the selection pool to the Select Committee 

12 on Redistricting under paragraph (1), it shall pub13 lish a report describing the process by which the 

14 pool was developed, and shall include in the report 

15 a description of how the individuals in the pool meet 

16 the eligibility criteria of subsection (a) and of how 

17 the pool reflects the factors the agency is required 

18 to take into consideration under paragraph (2). 

19 (6) ACTION BY SELECT COMMITTEE.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 14 days 

21 after receiving the selection pool from the non22 partisan agency under paragraph (1), the Select 

23 Committee on Redistricting shall— 

24 (i) approve the pool as submitted by 

25 the nonpartisan agency, in which case the 


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1 pool shall be considered the approved selec2 tion pool for purposes of section 

3 2411(a)(1); or 

4 (ii) reject the pool, in which case the 

5 nonpartisan agency shall develop and sub6 mit a replacement selection pool in accord7 ance with subsection (c). 

8 (B) INACTION DEEMED REJECTION.—If 

9 the Select Committee on Redistricting fails to 

10 approve or reject the pool within the deadline 

11 set forth in subparagraph (A), the Select Com12 mittee shall be deemed to have rejected the pool 

13 for purposes of such subparagraph. 

14 (c) DEVELOPMENT OF REPLACEMENT SELECTION

15 POOL.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Select Committee on 

17 Redistricting rejects the selection pool submitted by 

18 the nonpartisan agency under subsection (b), not 

19 later than 14 days after the rejection, the non20 partisan agency shall develop and submit to the Se21 lect Committee a replacement selection pool, under 

22 the same terms and conditions that applied to the 

23 development and submission of the selection pool 

24 under paragraphs (1) through (5) of subsection (b). 

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1 graph may include individuals who were included in 

2 the rejected selection pool submitted under sub3 section (b), so long as at least one of the individuals 

4 in the replacement pool was not included in such re5 jected pool. 

6 (2) ACTION BY SELECT COMMITTEE.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 14 days 

8 after receiving the replacement selection pool 

9 from the nonpartisan agency under paragraph 

10 (1), the Select Committee on Redistricting 

11 shall— 

12 (i) approve the pool as submitted by 

13 the nonpartisan agency, in which case the 

14 pool shall be considered the approved selec15 tion pool for purposes of section 

16 2411(a)(1); or 

17 (ii) reject the pool, in which case the 

18 nonpartisan agency shall develop and sub19 mit a second replacement selection pool in 

20 accordance with subsection (d). 

21 (B) INACTION DEEMED REJECTION.—If 

22 the Select Committee on Redistricting fails to 

23 approve or reject the pool within the deadline 

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1 mittee shall be deemed to have rejected the pool 

2 for purposes of such subparagraph. 

3 (d) DEVELOPMENT OF SECOND REPLACEMENT SE4 LECTION POOL.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Select Committee on 

6 Redistricting rejects the replacement selection pool 

7 submitted by the nonpartisan agency under sub8 section (c), not later than 14 days after the rejec9 tion, the nonpartisan agency shall develop and sub10 mit to the Select Committee a second replacement 

11 selection pool, under the same terms and conditions 

12 that applied to the development and submission of 

13 the selection pool under paragraphs (1) through (5) 

14 of subsection (b). The second replacement selection 

15 pool submitted under this paragraph may include in16 dividuals who were included in the rejected selection 

17 pool submitted under subsection (b) or the rejected 

18 replacement selection pool submitted under sub19 section (c), so long as at least one of the individuals 

20 in the replacement pool was not included in either 

21 such rejected pool. 

22 (2) ACTION BY SELECT COMMITTEE.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 14 days 

24 after receiving the second replacement selection 

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1 graph (1), the Select Committee on Redis2 tricting shall— 

3 (i) approve the pool as submitted by 

4 the nonpartisan agency, in which case the 

5 pool shall be considered the approved selec6 tion pool for purposes of section 

7 2411(a)(1); or 

8 (ii) reject the pool, in which case— 

9 (I) the nonpartisan agency shall 

10 not develop or submit any other selec11 tion pool for purposes of this subtitle; 

12 and 

13 (II) the United States District 

14 Court for the District of Columbia 

15 shall develop and enact the redis16 tricting plan for the State, in accord17 ance with section 2421. 

18 (B) INACTION DEEMED REJECTION.—If 

19 the Select Committee on Redistricting fails to 

20 approve or reject the pool within the deadline 

21 set forth in subparagraph (A), the Select Com22 mittee shall be deemed to have rejected the pool 

23 for purposes of such subparagraph. 


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1 SEC. 2413. CRITERIA FOR REDISTRICTING PLAN BY INDE2 PENDENT COMMISSION; PUBLIC NOTICE AND 

3 INPUT. 

4 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF REDISTRICTING PLAN.— 

5 (1) CRITERIA.—In developing a redistricting 

6 plan of a State, the independent redistricting com7 mission of a State shall establish single-member con8 gressional districts using the following criteria as set 

9 forth in the following order of priority: 

10 (A) Districts shall comply with the United 

11 States Constitution, including the requirement 

12 that they equalize total population. 

13 (B) Districts shall comply with the Voting 

14 Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.) 

15 and all applicable Federal laws. 

16 (C) Districts shall provide racial, ethnic, 

17 and language minorities with an equal oppor18 tunity to participate in the political process and 

19 to elect candidates of choice and shall not dilute 

20 or diminish their ability to elect candidates of 

21 choice whether alone or in coalition with others. 

22 (D) Districts shall minimize the division of 

23 communities of interest, neighborhoods, and po24 litical subdivisions to the extent practicable. A 

25 community of interest is defined as an area 

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1 ing but not limited to ethnic, economic, social, 

2 cultural, geographic or historic identities. The 

3 term communities of interest may, in cir4 cumstances, include political subdivisions such 

5 as counties, municipalities, or school districts, 

6 but shall not include common relationships with 

7 political parties, officeholders, or political can8 didates. 

9 (2) NO FAVORING OR DISFAVORING OF POLIT10 ICAL PARTIES.—The redistricting plan developed by 

11 the independent redistricting commission shall not, 

12 when considered on a Statewide basis, unduly favor 

13 or disfavor any political party. 

14 (3) FACTORS PROHIBITED FROM CONSIDER15 ATION.—In developing the redistricting plan for the 

16 State, the independent redistricting commission may 

17 not take into consideration any of the following fac18 tors, except to the extent necessary to comply with 

19 the Voting Rights Act of 1965: 

20 (A) The political party affiliation or voting 

21 history of the population of a district. 

22 (B) The residence of any Member of the 

23 House of Representatives or candidate. 

24 (b) PUBLIC NOTICE AND INPUT.— 


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1 (1) USE OF OPEN AND TRANSPARENT PROC2 ESS.—The independent redistricting commission of a 

3 State shall hold each of its meetings in public, shall 

4 solicit and take into consideration comments from 

5 the public throughout the process of developing the 

6 redistricting plan for the State, and shall carry out 

7 its duties in an open and transparent manner which 

8 provides for the widest public dissemination reason9 ably possible of its proposed and final redistricting 

10 plans. 

11 (2) WEBSITE.—The commission shall maintain 

12 a public internet site which is not affiliated with or 

13 maintained by the office of any elected official and 

14 which includes the following features: 

15 (A) General information on the commission 

16 and its members, including contact information. 

17 (B) An updated schedule of commission 

18 hearings and activities, including deadlines for 

19 the submission of comments. 

20 (C) All draft redistricting plans developed 

21 by the commission under subsection (c) and the 

22 final redistricting plan developed under sub23 section (d). 


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1 (D) Live streaming of commission hearings 

2 and an archive of previous meetings and other 

3 commission records. 

4 (E) A method by which members of the 

5 public may submit comments directly to the 

6 commission. 

7 (F) Access to the demographic data used 

8 by the commission to develop the proposed re9 districting plans, together with any software 

10 used to draw maps of proposed districts. 

11 (3) PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD.—The commis12 sion shall solicit, accept, and consider comments 

13 from the public with respect to its duties, activities, 

14 and procedures at any time during the period— 

15 (A) which begins on January 1 of the year 

16 ending in the numeral one; and 

17 (B) which ends 7 days before the date of 

18 the meeting at which the commission shall vote 

19 on approving the final redistricting plan for en20 actment into law under subsection (d)(2). 

21 (4) MEETINGS AND HEARINGS IN VARIOUS GEO22 GRAPHIC LOCATIONS.—To the greatest extent prac23 ticable, the commission shall hold its meetings and 

24 hearings in various geographic regions and locations 

25 throughout the State. 


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1 (c) DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLICATION OF PRELIMI2 NARY REDISTRICTING PLAN.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Prior to developing and pub4 lishing a final redistricting plan under subsection 

5 (d), the independent redistricting commission of a 

6 State shall develop and publish a preliminary redis7 tricting plan. 

8 (2) MINIMUM PUBLIC HEARINGS PRIOR TO DE9 VELOPMENT.— 

10 (A) 3 HEARINGS REQUIRED.—Prior to de11 veloping a preliminary redistricting plan under 

12 this subsection, the commission shall hold not 

13 fewer than 3 public hearings at which members 

14 of the public may provide input and comments 

15 regarding the potential contents of redistricting 

16 plans for the State and the process by which 

17 the commission will develop the preliminary 

18 plan under this subsection. 

19 (B) MINIMUM PERIOD FOR NOTICE PRIOR

20 TO HEARINGS.—The commission shall notify 

21 the public through the website maintained 

22 under subsection (b)(2), as well as through pub23 lication of notice in newspapers of general cir24 culation throughout the State, of the date, time, 

25 and location of each of the hearings held under 


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1 this paragraph not fewer than 14 days prior to 

2 the date of the hearing. 

3 (3) PUBLICATION OF PRELIMINARY PLAN.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The commission shall 

5 post the preliminary redistricting plan devel6 oped under this subsection, together with a re7 port that includes the commission’s responses 

8 to any public comments received under sub9 section (b)(3), on the website maintained under 

10 subsection (b)(2), and shall provide for the pub11 lication of each such plan in newspapers of gen12 eral circulation throughout the State. 

13 (B) MINIMUM PERIOD FOR NOTICE PRIOR

14 TO PUBLICATION.—Not fewer than 14 days 

15 prior to the date on which the commission posts 

16 and publishes the preliminary plan under this 

17 paragraph, the commission shall notify the pub18 lic through the website maintained under sub19 section (b)(2), as well as through publication of 

20 notice in newspapers of general circulation 

21 throughout the State, of the pending publica22 tion of the plan. 

23 (4) MINIMUM PERIOD FOR PUBLIC COMMENT

24 AFTER PUBLICATION OF PLAN.—The commission 

25 shall accept and consider comments from the public 


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1 with respect to the preliminary redistricting plan 

2 published under paragraph (3) for not fewer than 30 

3 days after the date on which the plan is published. 

4 (5) POST-PUBLICATION HEARINGS.— 

5 (A) 3 HEARINGS REQUIRED.—After post6 ing and publishing the preliminary redistricting 

7 plan under paragraph (3), the commission shall 

8 hold not fewer than 3 public hearings at which 

9 members of the public may provide input and 

10 comments regarding the preliminary plan. 

11 (B) MINIMUM PERIOD FOR NOTICE PRIOR

12 TO HEARINGS.—The commission shall notify 

13 the public through the website maintained 

14 under subsection (b)(2), as well as through pub15 lication of notice in newspapers of general cir16 culation throughout the State, of the date, time, 

17 and location of each of the hearings held under 

18 this paragraph not fewer than 14 days prior to 

19 the date of the hearing. 

20 (6) PERMITTING MULTIPLE PRELIMINARY

21 PLANS.—At the option of the commission, after de22 veloping and publishing the preliminary redistricting 

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1 ment and publication of each such subsequent plan 

2 meets the requirements set forth in this subsection 

3 for the development and publication of the first pre4 liminary redistricting plan. 

5 (d) PROCESS FOR ENACTMENT OF FINAL REDIS6 TRICTING PLAN.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—After taking into consider8 ation comments from the public on any preliminary 

9 redistricting plan developed and published under 

10 subsection (c), the independent redistricting commis11 sion of a State shall develop and publish a final re12 districting plan for the State. 

13 (2) MEETING; FINAL VOTE.—Not later than 

14 August 15 of each year ending in the numeral one, 

15 the commission shall hold a public hearing at which 

16 the members of the commission shall vote on approv17 ing the final plan for enactment into law. 

18 (3) PUBLICATION OF PLAN AND ACCOMPANYING

19 MATERIALS.—Not fewer than 14 days before the 

20 date of the meeting under paragraph (2), the com21 mission shall provide the following information to 

22 the public through the website maintained under 

23 subsection (b)(2), as well as through newspapers of 

24 general circulation throughout the State: 


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1 (A) The final redistricting plan, including 

2 all relevant maps. 

3 (B) A report by the commission to accom4 pany the plan which provides the background 

5 for the plan and the commission’s reasons for 

6 selecting the plan as the final redistricting plan, 

7 including responses to the public comments re8 ceived on any preliminary redistricting plan de9 veloped and published under subsection (c). 

10 (C) Any dissenting or additional views with 

11 respect to the plan of individual members of the 

12 commission. 

13 (4) ENACTMENT.—The final redistricting plan 

14 developed and published under this subsection shall 

15 be deemed to be enacted into law if— 

16 (A) the plan is approved by a majority of 

17 the whole membership of the commission; and 

18 (B) at least one member of the commission 

19 appointed from each of the categories of the ap20 proved selection pool described in section 

21 2412(b)(1) approves the plan. 

22 (e) DEADLINE.—The independent redistricting com23 mission of a State shall approve a final redistricting plan 

24 for the State not later than August 15 of each year ending 

25 in the numeral one. 


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1 SEC. 2414. ESTABLISHMENT OF RELATED ENTITIES. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OR DESIGNATION OF NON3 PARTISAN AGENCY OF STATE LEGISLATURE.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall establish a 

5 nonpartisan agency in the legislative branch of the 

6 State government to appoint the members of the 

7 independent redistricting commission for the State 

8 in accordance with section 2411. 

9 (2) NONPARTISANSHIP DESCRIBED.—For pur10 poses of this subsection, an agency shall be consid11 ered to be nonpartisan if under law the agency— 

12 (A) is required to provide services on a 

13 nonpartisan basis; 

14 (B) is required to maintain impartiality; 

15 and 

16 (C) is prohibited from advocating for the 

17 adoption or rejection of any legislative proposal. 

18 (3) DESIGNATION OF EXISTING AGENCY.—At 

19 its option, a State may designate an existing agency 

20 in the legislative branch of its government to appoint 

21 the members of the independent redistricting com22 mission plan for the State under this subtitle, so 

23 long as the agency meets the requirements for non24 partisanship under this subsection. 

25 (4) TERMINATION OF AGENCY SPECIFICALLY

26 ESTABLISHED FOR REDISTRICTING.—If a State does 


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1 not designate an existing agency under paragraph 

2 (3) but instead establishes a new agency to serve as 

3 the nonpartisan agency under this section, the new 

4 agency shall terminate upon the enactment into law 

5 of the redistricting plan for the State. 

6 (5) DEADLINE.—The State shall meet the re7 quirements of this subsection not later than each 

8 August 15 of a year ending in the numeral nine. 

9 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF SELECT COMMITTEE ON RE10 DISTRICTING.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall appoint a 

12 Select Committee on Redistricting to approve or dis13 approve a selection pool developed by the inde14 pendent redistricting commission for the State under 

15 section 2412. 

16 (2) APPOINTMENT.—The Select Committee on 

17 Redistricting for a State under this subsection shall 

18 consist of the following members: 

19 (A) 1 member of the upper house of the 

20 State legislature, who shall be appointed by the 

21 leader of the party with the greatest number of 

22 seats in the upper house. 

23 (B) 1 member of the upper house of the 

24 State legislature, who shall be appointed by the 


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1 leader of the party with the second greatest 

2 number of seats in the upper house. 

3 (C) 1 member of the lower house of the 

4 State legislature, who shall be appointed by the 

5 leader of the party with the greatest number of 

6 seats in the lower house. 

7 (D) 1 member of the lower house of the 

8 State legislature, who shall be appointed by the 

9 leader of the party with the second greatest 

10 number of seats in the lower house. 

11 (3) SPECIAL RULE FOR STATES WITH UNICAM12 ERAL LEGISLATURE.—In the case of a State with a 

13 unicameral legislature, the Select Committee on Re14 districting for the State under this subsection shall 

15 consist of the following members: 

16 (A) 2 members of the State legislature ap17 pointed by the leader of the party with the 

18 greatest number of seats in the legislature. 

19 (B) 2 members of the State legislature ap20 pointed by the leader of the party with the sec21 ond greatest number of seats in legislature. 

22 (4) DEADLINE.—The State shall meet the re23 quirements of this subsection not later than each 

24 January 15 of a year ending in the numeral zero. 


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1 PART 3—ROLE OF COURTS IN DEVELOPMENT OF 

2 REDISTRICTING PLANS 

3 SEC. 2421. ENACTMENT OF PLAN DEVELOPED BY 3-JUDGE 

4 COURT. 

5 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF PLAN.—If any of the trig6 gering events described in subsection (c) occur with re7 spect to a State— 

8 (1) not later than December 15 of the year in 

9 which the triggering event occurs, the United States 

10 District Court for the District of Columbia, acting 

11 through a 3-judge court convened pursuant to sec12 tion 2284 of title 28, United States Code, shall de13 velop and publish the congressional redistricting 

14 plan for the State; and 

15 (2) the plan developed and published by the 

16 Court under this subsection shall be deemed to be 

17 enacted on the date on which the Court publishes 

18 the plan. 

19 (b) PROCEDURES FOR DEVELOPMENT OF PLAN.— 

20 (1) CRITERIA.—It is the sense of Congress 

21 that, in developing a redistricting plan for a State 

22 under this section, the Court should adhere to the 

23 same terms and conditions that applied (or that 

24 would have applied, as the case may be) to the devel25 opment of a plan by the independent redistricting 

26 commission of the State under section 2413(a). 


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1 (2) ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND RECORDS OF

2 COMMISSION.—The Court shall have access to any 

3 information, data, software, or other records and 

4 material that was used (or that would have been 

5 used, as the case may be) by the independent redis6 tricting commission of the State in carrying out its 

7 duties under this subtitle. 

8 (c) TRIGGERING EVENTS DESCRIBED.—The ‘‘trig9 gering events’’ described in this subsection are as follows: 

10 (1) The failure of the State to establish or des11 ignate a nonpartisan agency of the State legislature 

12 under section 2414(a) prior to the expiration of the 

13 deadline set forth in section 2414(a)(5). 

14 (2) The failure of the State to appoint a Select 

15 Committee on Redistricting under section 2414(b) 

16 prior to the expiration of the deadline set forth in 

17 section 2414(b)(4). 

18 (3) The failure of the Select Committee on Re19 districting to approve any selection pool under sec20 tion 2412 prior to the expiration of the deadline set 

21 forth for the approval of the second replacement se22 lection pool in section 2412(d)(2). 

23 (4) The failure of the independent redistricting 

24 commission of the State to approve a final redisVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jan 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00230 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1.IH H1

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1 tricting plan for the State prior to the expiration of 

2 the deadline set forth in section 2413(e). 

3 SEC. 2422. SPECIAL RULE FOR REDISTRICTING CON4 DUCTED UNDER ORDER OF FEDERAL COURT. 

5 If a Federal court requires a State to conduct redis6 tricting subsequent to an apportionment of Representa7 tives in the State in order to comply with the Constitution 

8 or to enforce the Voting Rights Act of 1965, section 2413 

9 shall apply with respect to the redistricting, except that 

10 the court may revise any of the deadlines set forth in such 

11 section if the court determines that a revision is appro12 priate in order to provide for a timely enactment of a new 

13 redistricting plan for the State. 

14 PART 4—ADMINISTRATIVE AND MISCELLANEOUS 

15 PROVISIONS 

16 SEC. 2431. PAYMENTS TO STATES FOR CARRYING OUT RE17 DISTRICTING. 

18 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF PAYMENTS.—Subject to sub19 section (d), not later than 30 days after a State receives 

20 a State apportionment notice, the Election Assistance 

21 Commission shall make a payment to the State in an 

22 amount equal to the product of— 

23 (1) the number of Representatives to which the 

24 State is entitled, as provided under the notice; and 

25 (2) $150,000. 


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1 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—A State shall use the payment 

2 made under this section to establish and operate the 

3 State’s independent redistricting commission, to imple4 ment the State redistricting plan, and to otherwise carry 

5 out Congressional redistricting in the State. 

6 (c) NO PAYMENT TO STATES WITH SINGLE MEM7 BER.—The Election Assistance Commission shall not 

8 make a payment under this section to any State which 

9 is not entitled to more than one Representative under its 

10 State apportionment notice. 

11 (d) REQUIRING SUBMISSION OF SELECTION POOL AS

12 CONDITION OF PAYMENT.—The Election Assistance Com13 mission may not make a payment to a State under this 

14 section until the State certifies to the Commission that 

15 the nonpartisan agency established or designated by a 

16 State under section 2414(a) has, in accordance with sec17 tion 2412(b)(1), submitted a selection pool to the Select 

18 Committee on Redistricting for the State established 

19 under section 2414(b). 

20 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

21 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

22 necessary for payments under this section. 

23 SEC. 2432. CIVIL ENFORCEMENT. 

24 (a) CIVIL ENFORCEMENT.— 


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1 (1) ACTIONS BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The At2 torney General may bring a civil action in an appro3 priate district court for such relief as may be appro4 priate to carry out this subtitle. 

5 (2) AVAILABILITY OF PRIVATE RIGHT OF AC6 TION.—Any citizen of a State who is aggrieved by 

7 the failure of the State redistricting plan which is 

8 enacted into law under section 2413 to meet the re9 quirements for such a plan under this subtitle may 

10 bring a civil action in an appropriate district court 

11 for such relief as may be appropriate to remedy the 

12 failure, so long as the individual brings the action 

13 during the 45-day period which begins on the date 

14 on which the plan is enacted into law. 

15 (b) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION.—In any action 

16 brought forth under this section, the following rules shall 

17 apply: 

18 (1) The action shall be filed in the United 

19 States District Court for the District of Columbia 

20 and shall be heard by a 3-judge court convened pur21 suant to section 2284 of title 28, United States 

22 Code. 

23 (2) The 3-judge court shall consolidate actions 

24 brought for relief under subsection (b)(1) with re25 spect to the same State redistricting plan. 


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1 (3) A copy of the complaint shall be delivered 

2 promptly to the Clerk of the House of Representa3 tives and the Secretary of the Senate. 

4 (4) A final decision in the action shall be re5 viewable only by appeal directly to the Supreme 

6 Court of the United States. Such appeal shall be 

7 taken by the filing of a notice of appeal within 10 

8 days, and the filing of a jurisdictional statement 

9 within 30 days, of the entry of the final decision. 

10 (5) It shall be the duty of the district court and 

11 the Supreme Court of the United States to advance 

12 on the docket and to expedite to the greatest pos13 sible extent the disposition of the action and appeal. 

14 (c) ATTORNEY’S FEES.—In a civil action under this 

15 section, the court may allow the prevailing party (other 

16 than the United States) reasonable attorney fees, includ17 ing litigation expenses, and costs. 

18 (d) RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.— 

19 (1) RIGHTS AND REMEDIES ADDITIONAL TO

20 OTHER RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.—The rights and 

21 remedies established by this section are in addition 

22 to all other rights and remedies provided by law, and 

23 neither the rights and remedies established by this 

24 section nor any other provision of this subtitle shall 

25 supersede, restrict, or limit the application of the 


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1 Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et 

2 seq.). 

3 (2) VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965.—Nothing in 

4 this subtitle authorizes or requires conduct that is 

5 prohibited by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

6 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.). 

7 SEC. 2433. STATE APPORTIONMENT NOTICE DEFINED. 

8 In this subtitle, the ‘‘State apportionment notice’’ 

9 means, with respect to a State, the notice sent to the State 

10 from the Clerk of the House of Representatives under sec11 tion 22(b) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the 

12 fifteenth and subsequent decennial censuses and to pro13 vide for an apportionment of Representatives in Con14 gress’’, approved June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a), of the 

15 number of Representatives to which the State is entitled. 

16 SEC. 2434. NO EFFECT ON ELECTIONS FOR STATE AND 

17 LOCAL OFFICE. 

18 Nothing in this subtitle or in any amendment made 

19 by this subtitle may be construed to affect the manner 

20 in which a State carries out elections for State or local 

21 office, including the process by which a State establishes 

22 the districts used in such elections. 

23 SEC. 2435. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

24 This subtitle and the amendments made by this sub25 title shall apply with respect to redistricting carried out 


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1 pursuant to the decennial census conducted during 2020 

2 or any succeeding decennial census. 

3 Subtitle F—Saving Voters From 

4 Voter Purging 

5 SEC. 2501. SHORT TITLE. 

6 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Automatically 

7 Voiding Eligible Voters Off Their Enlisted Rolls in States 

8 Act’’ or the ‘‘Save Voters Act’’. 

9 SEC. 2502. CONDITIONS FOR REMOVAL OF VOTERS FROM 

10 LIST OF REGISTERED VOTERS. 

11 (a) CONDITIONS DESCRIBED.—The National Voter 

12 Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.) is 

13 amended by inserting after section 8 the following new 

14 section: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 8A. CONDITIONS FOR REMOVAL OF VOTERS FROM 

16 OFFICIAL LIST OF REGISTERED VOTERS. 

17 ‘‘(a) VERIFICATION ON BASIS OF OBJECTIVE AND

18 RELIABLE EVIDENCE OF INELIGIBILITY.—Notwith19 standing any other provision of this Act, a State may not 

20 remove any registrant from the official list of voters eligi21 ble to vote in elections for Federal office in the State un22 less the State verifies, on the basis of objective and reliable 

23 evidence, that the registrant is ineligible to vote in such 

24 elections on any of the grounds described in paragraph 

25 (3) or paragraph (4) of section 8(a). 


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1 ‘‘(b) FACTORS NOT CONSIDERED AS OBJECTIVE AND

2 RELIABLE EVIDENCE OF INELIGIBILITY.—For purposes 

3 of subsection (a), the following factors, or any combination 

4 thereof, shall not be treated as objective and reliable evi5 dence of a registrant’s ineligibility to vote: 

6 ‘‘(1) The failure of the registrant to vote in any 

7 election. 

8 ‘‘(2) The failure of the registrant to respond to 

9 any notice sent under section 8(d). 

10 ‘‘(3) The failure of the registrant to take any 

11 other action with respect to voting in any election or 

12 with respect to the registrant’s status as a reg13 istrant.’’. 

14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

15 (1) NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION ACT OF

16 1993.—Section 8(a) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

17 20507(a)) is amended— 

18 (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘pro19 vide’’ and inserting ‘‘subject to section 8A, pro20 vide’’; and 

21 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘con22 duct’’ and inserting ‘‘subject to section 8A, con23 duct’’. 

24 (2) HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2002.—Section 

25 303(a)(4)(A) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 


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1 (52 U.S.C. 21083(a)(4)(A)) is amended by striking 

2 ‘‘, registrants’’ and inserting ‘‘, and subject to sec3 tion 8A of such Act, registrants’’. 

4 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

5 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

6 of this Act. 

7 Subtitle G—Severability 

8 SEC. 2601. SEVERABILITY. 

9 If any provision of this title or amendment made by 

10 this title, or the application of a provision or amendment 

11 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu12 tional, the remainder of this title and amendments made 

13 by this title, and the application of the provisions and 

14 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be 

15 affected by the holding. 

16 TITLE III—ELECTION SECURITY 

Sec. 3000. Short title; sense of Congress. 

Subtitle A—Financial Support for Election Infrastructure 

PART 1—VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY IMPROVEMENT GRANTS

Sec. 3001. Grants for obtaining compliant paper ballot voting systems and carrying out voting system security improvements. 

Sec. 3002. Coordination of voting system security activities with use of requirements payments and election administration requirements 

under Help America Vote Act of 2002. 

Sec. 3003. Incorporation of definitions. 

PART 2—GRANTS FOR RISK-LIMITING AUDITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS

Sec. 3011. Grants to States for conducting risk-limiting audits of results of 

elections. 

Sec. 3012. GAO analysis of effects of audits. 

PART 3—ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION GRANT PROGRAM

Sec. 3021. Election infrastructure innovation grant program. 


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Subtitle B—Security Measures 

Sec. 3101. Election infrastructure designation. 

Sec. 3102. Timely threat information. 

Sec. 3103. Security clearance assistance for election officials. 

Sec. 3104. Security risk and vulnerability assessments. 

Sec. 3105. Annual reports. 

Subtitle C—Enhancing Protections for United States Democratic Institutions 

Sec. 3201. National strategy to protect United States democratic institutions. 

Sec. 3202. National Commission to Protect United States Democratic Institutions. 

Subtitle D—Promoting Cybersecurity Through Improvements in Election 

Administration 

Sec. 3301. Testing of existing voting systems to ensure compliance with election 

cybersecurity guidelines and other guidelines. 

Sec. 3302. Treatment of electronic poll books as part of voting systems. 

Sec. 3303. Pre-election reports on voting system usage. 

Sec. 3304. Streamlining collection of election information. 

Subtitle E—Preventing Election Hacking 

Sec. 3401. Short title. 

Sec. 3402. Election Security Bug Bounty Program. 

Sec. 3403. Definitions. 

Subtitle F—Miscellaneous Provisions 

Sec. 3501. Definitions. 

Sec. 3502. Initial report on adequacy of resources available for implementation. 

Subtitle G—Severability 

Sec. 3601. Severability. 

1 SEC. 3000. SHORT TITLE; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This title may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Election Security Act’’. 

4 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS ON NEED TO IMPROVE

5 ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY.—It is the sense 

6 of Congress that, in light of the lessons learned from Rus7 sian interference in the 2016 Presidential election, the 

8 Federal Government should intensify its efforts to improve 

9 the security of election infrastructure in the United States, 


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1 including through the use of individual, durable, paper 

2 ballots marked by the voter by hand. 

3 Subtitle A—Financial Support for 

4 Election Infrastructure 

5 PART 1—VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY 

6 IMPROVEMENT GRANTS 

7 SEC. 3001. GRANTS FOR OBTAINING COMPLIANT PAPER 

8 BALLOT VOTING SYSTEMS AND CARRYING 

9 OUT VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY IMPROVE10 MENTS. 

11 (a) AVAILABILITY OF GRANTS.—Subtitle D of title 

12 II of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 

13 21001 et seq.), as amended by section 1906(a), is amend14 ed by adding at the end the following new part: 

15 ‘‘PART 8—GRANTS FOR OBTAINING COMPLIANT 

16 PAPER BALLOT VOTING SYSTEMS AND CAR17 RYING OUT VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY IM18 PROVEMENTS 

19 ‘‘SEC. 298. GRANTS FOR OBTAINING COMPLIANT PAPER 

20 BALLOT VOTING SYSTEMS AND CARRYING 

21 OUT VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY IMPROVE22 MENTS. 

23 ‘‘(a) AVAILABILITY AND USE OF GRANT.—The Com24 mission shall make a grant to each eligible State— 

25 ‘‘(1) to replace a voting system— 


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1 ‘‘(A) which does not meet the requirements 

2 which are first imposed on the State pursuant 

3 to the amendments made by the Voter Con4 fidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2019 

5 with a voting system which does meet such re6 quirements, for use in the regularly scheduled 

7 general elections for Federal office held in No8 vember 2020, or 

9 ‘‘(B) which does meet such requirements 

10 but which is not in compliance with the most 

11 recent voluntary voting system guidelines issued 

12 by the Commission prior to the regularly sched13 uled general election for Federal office held in 

14 November 2020 with another system which does 

15 meet such requirements and is in compliance 

16 with such guidelines; and 

17 ‘‘(2) to carry out voting system security im18 provements described in section 298A with respect 

19 to the regularly scheduled general elections for Fed20 eral office held in November 2020 and each suc21 ceeding election for Federal office. 

22 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of a grant 

23 made to a State under this section shall be such amount 

24 as the Commission determines to be appropriate, except 

25 that such amount may not be less than the product of 


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1 $1 and the average of the number of individuals who cast 

2 votes in any of the two most recent regularly scheduled 

3 general elections for Federal office held in the State. 

4 ‘‘(c) PRO RATA REDUCTIONS.—If the amount of 

5 funds appropriated for grants under this part is insuffi6 cient to ensure that each State receives the amount of the 

7 grant calculated under subsection (b), the Commission 

8 shall make such pro rata reductions in such amounts as 

9 may be necessary to ensure that the entire amount appro10 priated under this part is distributed to the States. 

11 ‘‘SEC. 298A. VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS 

12 DESCRIBED. 

13 ‘‘(a) PERMITTED USES.—A voting system security 

14 improvement described in this section is any of the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(1) The acquisition of goods and services from 

17 qualified election infrastructure vendors by purchase, 

18 lease, or such other arrangements as may be appro19 priate. 

20 ‘‘(2) Cyber and risk mitigation training. 

21 ‘‘(3) A security risk and vulnerability assess22 ment of the State’s election infrastructure which is 

23 carried out by a provider of cybersecurity services 

24 under a contract entered into between the chief 

25 State election official and the provider. 


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1 ‘‘(4) The maintenance of election infrastruc2 ture, including addressing risks and vulnerabilities 

3 which are identified under either of the security risk 

4 and vulnerability assessments described in para5 graph (3), except that none of the funds provided 

6 under this part may be used to renovate or replace 

7 a building or facility which is used primarily for pur8 poses other than the administration of elections for 

9 public office. 

10 ‘‘(5) Providing increased technical support for 

11 any information technology infrastructure that the 

12 chief State election official deems to be part of the 

13 State’s election infrastructure or designates as crit14 ical to the operation of the State’s election infra15 structure. 

16 ‘‘(6) Enhancing the cybersecurity and oper17 ations of the information technology infrastructure 

18 described in paragraph (4). 

19 ‘‘(7) Enhancing the cybersecurity of voter reg20 istration systems. 

21 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE VEN22 DORS DESCRIBED.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this part, 

24 a ‘qualified election infrastructure vendor’ is any 

25 person who provides, supports, or maintains, or who 


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1 seeks to provide, support, or maintain, election in2 frastructure on behalf of a State, unit of local gov3 ernment, or election agency (as defined in section 

4 3501 of the Election Security Act) who meets the 

5 criteria described in paragraph (2). 

6 ‘‘(2) CRITERIA.—The criteria described in this 

7 paragraph are such criteria as the Chairman, in co8 ordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security, 

9 shall establish and publish, and shall include each of 

10 the following requirements: 

11 ‘‘(A) The vendor must be owned and con12 trolled by a citizen or permanent resident of the 

13 United States. 

14 ‘‘(B) The vendor must disclose to the 

15 Chairman and the Secretary, and to the chief 

16 State election official of any State to which the 

17 vendor provides any goods and services with 

18 funds provided under this part, of any sourcing 

19 outside the United States for parts of the elec20 tion infrastructure. 

21 ‘‘(C) The vendor agrees to ensure that the 

22 election infrastructure will be developed and 

23 maintained in a manner that is consistent with 

24 the cybersecurity best practices issued by the 

25 Technical Guidelines Development Committee. 


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1 ‘‘(D) The vendor agrees to maintain its in2 formation technology infrastructure in a man3 ner that is consistent with the cybersecurity 

4 best practices issued by the Technical Guide5 lines Development Committee. 

6 ‘‘(E) The vendor agrees to meet the re7 quirements of paragraph (3) with respect to 

8 any known or suspected cybersecurity incidents 

9 involving any of the goods and services provided 

10 by the vendor pursuant to a grant under this 

11 part. 

12 ‘‘(F) The vendor agrees to permit inde13 pendent security testing by the Commission (in 

14 accordance with section 231(a)) and by the Sec15 retary of the goods and services provided by the 

16 vendor pursuant to a grant under this part. 

17 ‘‘(3) CYBERSECURITY INCIDENT REPORTING

18 REQUIREMENTS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A vendor meets the 

20 requirements of this paragraph if, upon becom21 ing aware of the possibility that an election cy22 bersecurity incident has occurred involving any 

23 of the goods and services provided by the ven24 dor pursuant to a grant under this part— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the vendor promptly assesses 

2 whether or not such an incident occurred, 

3 and submits a notification meeting the re4 quirements of subparagraph (B) to the 

5 Secretary and the Chairman of the assess6 ment as soon as practicable (but in no case 

7 later than 3 days after the vendor first be8 comes aware of the possibility that the in9 cident occurred); 

10 ‘‘(ii) if the incident involves goods or 

11 services provided to an election agency, the 

12 vendor submits a notification meeting the 

13 requirements of subparagraph (B) to the 

14 agency as soon as practicable (but in no 

15 case later than 3 days after the vendor 

16 first becomes aware of the possibility that 

17 the incident occurred), and cooperates with 

18 the agency in providing any other nec19 essary notifications relating to the inci20 dent; and 

21 ‘‘(iii) the vendor provides all necessary 

22 updates to any notification submitted 

23 under clause (i) or clause (ii). 

24 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS OF NOTIFICATIONS.— 

25 Each notification submitted under clause (i) or 


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1 clause (ii) of subparagraph (A) shall contain 

2 the following information with respect to any 

3 election cybersecurity incident covered by the 

4 notification: 

5 ‘‘(i) The date, time, and time zone 

6 when the election cybersecurity incident 

7 began, if known. 

8 ‘‘(ii) The date, time, and time zone 

9 when the election cybersecurity incident 

10 was detected. 

11 ‘‘(iii) The date, time, and duration of 

12 the election cybersecurity incident. 

13 ‘‘(iv) The circumstances of the elec14 tion cybersecurity incident, including the 

15 specific election infrastructure systems be16 lieved to have been accessed and informa17 tion acquired, if any. 

18 ‘‘(v) Any planned and implemented 

19 technical measures to respond to and re20 cover from the incident. 

21 ‘‘(vi) In the case of any notification 

22 which is an update to a prior notification, 

23 any additional material information relat24 ing to the incident, including technical 

25 data, as it becomes available. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 298B. ELIGIBILITY OF STATES. 

2 ‘‘A State is eligible to receive a grant under this part 

3 if the State submits to the Commission, at such time and 

4 in such form as the Commission may require, an applica5 tion containing— 

6 ‘‘(1) a description of how the State will use the 

7 grant to carry out the activities authorized under 

8 this part; 

9 ‘‘(2) a certification and assurance that, not 

10 later than 5 years after receiving the grant, the 

11 State will carry out risk-limiting audits and will 

12 carry out voting system security improvements, as 

13 described in section 298A; and 

14 ‘‘(3) such other information and assurances as 

15 the Commission may require. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 298C. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

17 ‘‘Not later than 90 days after the end of each fiscal 

18 year, the Commission shall submit a report to the appro19 priate congressional committees, including the Committees 

20 on Homeland Security, House Administration, and the Ju21 diciary of the House of Representatives and the Commit22 tees on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the 

23 Judiciary, and Rules and Administration of the Senate, 

24 on the activities carried out with the funds provided under 

25 this part. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 298D. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to be 

3 appropriated for grants under this part— 

4 ‘‘(1) $1,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2019; and 

5 ‘‘(2) $175,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 

6 2020, 2022, 2024, and 2026. 

7 ‘‘(b) CONTINUING AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS.—Any 

8 amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization of 

9 this section shall remain available until expended.’’. 

10 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

11 of such Act, as amended by section 1906(b), is amended 

12 by adding at the end of the items relating to subtitle D 

13 of title II the following: 

‘‘PART 8—GRANTS FOR OBTAINING COMPLIANT PAPER BALLOT VOTING

SYSTEMS AND CARRYING OUT VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS

‘‘Sec. 298. Grants for obtaining compliant paper ballot voting systems and 

carrying out voting system security improvements. 

‘‘Sec. 298A. Voting system security improvements described. 

‘‘Sec. 298B. Eligibility of States. 

‘‘Sec. 298C. Reports to Congress. 

‘‘Sec. 298D. Authorization of appropriations. 

14 SEC. 3002. COORDINATION OF VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY 

15 ACTIVITIES WITH USE OF REQUIREMENTS 

16 PAYMENTS AND ELECTION ADMINISTRATION 

17 REQUIREMENTS UNDER HELP AMERICA 

18 VOTE ACT OF 2002. 

19 (a) DUTIES OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMIS20 SION.—Section 202 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

21 (52 U.S.C. 20922) is amended in the matter preceding 


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1 paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘by’’ and inserting ‘‘and the se2 curity of election infrastructure by’’. 

3 (b) MEMBERSHIP OF SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SE4 CURITY ON BOARD OF ADVISORS OF ELECTION ASSIST5 ANCE COMMISSION.—Section 214(a) of such Act (52 

6 U.S.C. 20944(a)) is amended— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘37 members’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘38 members’’; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

10 paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(17) The Secretary of Homeland Security or 

12 the Secretary’s designee.’’. 

13 (c) REPRESENTATIVE OF DEPARTMENT OF HOME14 LAND SECURITY ON TECHNICAL GUIDELINES DEVELOP15 MENT COMMITTEE.—Section 221(c)(1) of such Act (52 

16 U.S.C. 20961(c)(1)) is amended— 

17 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as sub18 paragraph (F); and 

19 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the fol20 lowing new subparagraph: 

21 ‘‘(E) A representative of the Department 

22 of Homeland Security.’’. 

23 (d) GOALS OF PERIODIC STUDIES OF ELECTION AD24 MINISTRATION ISSUES; CONSULTATION WITH SECRETARY


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1 OF HOMELAND SECURITY.—Section 241(a) of such Act 

2 (52 U.S.C. 20981(a)) is amended— 

3 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

4 striking ‘‘the Commission shall’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

5 Commission, in consultation with the Secretary of 

6 Homeland Security (as appropriate), shall’’; 

7 (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

8 (3); 

9 (3) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para10 graph (5); and 

11 (4) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol12 lowing new paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(4) will be secure against attempts to under14 mine the integrity of election systems by cyber or 

15 other means; and’’. 

16 (e) REQUIREMENTS PAYMENTS.— 

17 (1) USE OF PAYMENTS FOR VOTING SYSTEM

18 SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS.—Section 251(b) of such 

19 Act (52 U.S.C. 21001(b)), as amended by section 

20 1905(b)(1), is amended by adding at the end the fol21 lowing new paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(5) PERMITTING USE OF PAYMENTS FOR VOT23 ING SYSTEM SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS.—A State 

24 may use a requirements payment to carry out any 

25 of the following activities: 


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1 ‘‘(A) Cyber and risk mitigation training. 

2 ‘‘(B) Providing increased technical support 

3 for any information technology infrastructure 

4 that the chief State election official deems to be 

5 part of the State’s election infrastructure or 

6 designates as critical to the operation of the 

7 State’s election infrastructure. 

8 ‘‘(C) Enhancing the cybersecurity and op9 erations of the information technology infra10 structure described in subparagraph (B). 

11 ‘‘(D) Enhancing the security of voter reg12 istration databases.’’. 

13 (2) INCORPORATION OF ELECTION INFRA14 STRUCTURE PROTECTION IN STATE PLANS FOR USE

15 OF PAYMENTS.—Section 254(a)(1) of such Act (52 

16 U.S.C. 21004(a)(1)) is amended by striking the pe17 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘, including the protec18 tion of election infrastructure.’’. 

19 (3) COMPOSITION OF COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

20 FOR DEVELOPING STATE PLAN FOR USE OF PAY21 MENTS.—Section 255 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

22 21005) is amended— 

23 (A) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub24 section (c); and 


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1 (B) by inserting after subsection (a) the 

2 following new subsection: 

3 ‘‘(b) GEOGRAPHIC REPRESENTATION.—The mem4 bers of the committee shall be a representative group of 

5 individuals from the State’s counties, cities, towns, and 

6 Indian tribes, and shall represent the needs of rural as 

7 well as urban areas of the State, as the case may be.’’. 

8 (f) ENSURING PROTECTION OF COMPUTERIZED

9 STATEWIDE VOTER REGISTRATION LIST.—Section 

10 303(a)(3) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21083(a)(3)) is amend11 ed by striking the period at the end and inserting ‘‘, as 

12 well as other measures to prevent and deter cybersecurity 

13 incidents, as identified by the Commission, the Secretary 

14 of Homeland Security, and the Technical Guidelines De15 velopment Committee.’’. 

16 SEC. 3003. INCORPORATION OF DEFINITIONS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 901 of the Help America 

18 Vote Act of 2001 (52 U.S.C. 21141) is amended to read 

19 as follows: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 901. DEFINITIONS. 

21 ‘‘In this Act, the following definitions apply: 

22 ‘‘(1) The term ‘cybersecurity incident’ has the 

23 meaning given the term ‘incident’ in section 227 of 

24 the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 148). 


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1 ‘‘(2) The term ‘election infrastructure’ has the 

2 meaning given such term in section 3501 of the 

3 Election Security Act. 

4 ‘‘(3) The term ‘State’ means each of the several 

5 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 

6 of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United 

7 States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the 

8 Northern Mariana Islands.’’. 

9 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

10 of such Act is amended by amending the item relating to 

11 section 901 to read as follows: 

‘‘Sec. 901. Definitions.’’. 

12 PART 2—GRANTS FOR RISK-LIMITING AUDITS OF 

13 RESULTS OF ELECTIONS 

14 SEC. 3011. GRANTS TO STATES FOR CONDUCTING RISK-LIM15 ITING AUDITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS. 

16 (a) AVAILABILITY OF GRANTS.—Subtitle D of title 

17 II of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 

18 21001 et seq.), as amended by sections 1906(a) and 

19 3001(a), is amended by adding at the end the following 

20 new part: 


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1 ‘‘PART 9—GRANTS FOR CONDUCTING RISK2 LIMITING AUDITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS 

3 ‘‘SEC. 299. GRANTS FOR CONDUCTING RISK-LIMITING AU4 DITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS. 

5 ‘‘(a) AVAILABILITY OF GRANTS.—The Commission 

6 shall make a grant to each eligible State to conduct risk7 limiting audits as described in subsection (b) with respect 

8 to the regularly scheduled general elections for Federal of9 fice held in November 2020 and each succeeding election 

10 for Federal office. 

11 ‘‘(b) RISK-LIMITING AUDITS DESCRIBED.—In this 

12 part, a ‘risk-limiting audit’ is a post-election process— 

13 ‘‘(1) which is conducted in accordance with 

14 rules and procedures established by the chief State 

15 election official of the State which meet the require16 ments of subsection (c); and 

17 ‘‘(2) under which, if the reported outcome of 

18 the election is incorrect, there is at least a predeter19 mined percentage chance that the audit will replace 

20 the incorrect outcome with the correct outcome as 

21 determined by a full, hand-to-eye tabulation of all 

22 votes validly cast in that election that ascertains 

23 voter intent manually and directly from voter24 verifiable paper records. 

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1 ducting a risk-limiting audit shall include the following 

2 elements: 

3 ‘‘(1) Rules for ensuring the security of ballots 

4 and documenting that prescribed procedures were 

5 followed. 

6 ‘‘(2) Rules and procedures for ensuring the ac7 curacy of ballot manifests produced by election agen8 cies. 

9 ‘‘(3) Rules and procedures for governing the 

10 format of ballot manifests, cast vote records, and 

11 other data involved in the audit. 

12 ‘‘(4) Methods to ensure that any cast vote 

13 records used in the audit are those used by the vot14 ing system to tally the election results sent to the 

15 chief State election official and made public. 

16 ‘‘(5) Procedures for the random selection of 

17 ballots to be inspected manually during each audit. 

18 ‘‘(6) Rules for the calculations and other meth19 ods to be used in the audit and to determine wheth20 er and when the audit of an election is complete. 

21 ‘‘(7) Procedures and requirements for testing 

22 any software used to conduct risk-limiting audits. 

23 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this part, the following defi24 nitions apply: 


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1 ‘‘(1) The term ‘ballot manifest’ means a record 

2 maintained by each election agency that meets each 

3 of the following requirements: 

4 ‘‘(A) The record is created without reliance 

5 on any part of the voting system used to tab6 ulate votes. 

7 ‘‘(B) The record functions as a sampling 

8 frame for conducting a risk-limiting audit. 

9 ‘‘(C) The record contains the following in10 formation with respect to the ballots cast and 

11 counted in the election: 

12 ‘‘(i) The total number of ballots cast 

13 and counted by the agency (including 

14 undervotes, overvotes, and other invalid 

15 votes). 

16 ‘‘(ii) The total number of ballots cast 

17 in each election administered by the agency 

18 (including undervotes, overvotes, and other 

19 invalid votes). 

20 ‘‘(iii) A precise description of the 

21 manner in which the ballots are physically 

22 stored, including the total number of phys23 ical groups of ballots, the numbering sys24 tem for each group, a unique label for each 


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1 group, and the number of ballots in each 

2 such group. 

3 ‘‘(2) The term ‘incorrect outcome’ means an 

4 outcome that differs from the outcome that would be 

5 determined by a full tabulation of all votes validly 

6 cast in the election, determining voter intent manu7 ally, directly from voter-verifiable paper records. 

8 ‘‘(3) The term ‘outcome’ means the winner of 

9 an election, whether a candidate or a position. 

10 ‘‘(4) The term ‘reported outcome’ means the 

11 outcome of an election which is determined accord12 ing to the canvass and which will become the official, 

13 certified outcome unless it is revised by an audit, re14 count, or other legal process. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 299A. ELIGIBILITY OF STATES. 

16 ‘‘A State is eligible to receive a grant under this part 

17 if the State submits to the Commission, at such time and 

18 in such form as the Commission may require, an applica19 tion containing— 

20 ‘‘(1) a certification that, not later than 5 years 

21 after receiving the grant, the State will conduct risk22 limiting audits of the results of elections for Federal 

23 office held in the State as described in section 299; 

24 ‘‘(2) a certification that, not later than one year 

25 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 


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1 chief State election official of the State has estab2 lished or will establish the rules and procedures for 

3 conducting the audits which meet the requirements 

4 of section 299(c); 

5 ‘‘(3) a certification that the audit shall be com6 pleted not later than the date on which the State 

7 certifies the results of the election; 

8 ‘‘(4) a certification that, after completing the 

9 audit, the State shall publish a report on the results 

10 of the audit, together with such information as nec11 essary to confirm that the audit was conducted prop12 erly; 

13 ‘‘(5) a certification that, if a risk-limiting audit 

14 conducted under this part leads to a full manual 

15 tally of an election, State law requires that the State 

16 or election agency shall use the results of the full 

17 manual tally as the official results of the election; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(6) such other information and assurances as 

20 the Commission may require. 

21 ‘‘SEC. 299B. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

22 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated for grants 

23 under this part $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2019, to re24 main available until expended.’’. 


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

2 of such Act, as amended by sections 1906(b) and 3001(b), 

3 is further amended by adding at the end of the items relat4 ing to subtitle D of title II the following: 

‘‘PART 9—GRANTS FOR CONDUCTING RISK-LIMITING AUDITS OF RESULTS

OF ELECTIONS

‘‘Sec. 299. Grants for conducting risk-limiting audits of results of elections. 

‘‘Sec. 299A. Eligibility of States. 

‘‘Sec. 299B. Authorization of appropriations. 

5 SEC. 3012. GAO ANALYSIS OF EFFECTS OF AUDITS. 

6 (a) ANALYSIS.—Not later than 6 months after the 

7 first election for Federal office is held after grants are 

8 first awarded to States for conducting risk-limiting under 

9 part 9 of subtitle D of title II of the Help America Vote 

10 Act of 2002 (as added by section 3011) for conducting 

11 risk-limiting audits of elections for Federal office, the 

12 Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct 

13 an analysis of the extent to which such audits have im14 proved the administration of such elections and the secu15 rity of election infrastructure in the States receiving such 

16 grants. 

17 (b) REPORT.—The Comptroller General of the 

18 United States shall submit a report on the analysis con19 ducted under subsection (a) to the appropriate congres20 sional committees. 


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1 PART 3—ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE 

2 INNOVATION GRANT PROGRAM 

3 SEC. 3021. ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION 

4 GRANT PROGRAM. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Homeland Secu6 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating the second section 319 (re8 lating to EMP and GMD mitigation research and 

9 development) as section 320; and 

10 (2) by adding at the end the following new sec11 tion: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 321. ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION 

13 GRANT PROGRAM. 

14 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, acting 

15 through the Under Secretary for Science and Technology, 

16 in coordination with the Chairman of the Election Assist17 ance Commission (established pursuant to the Help Amer18 ica Vote Act of 2002) and in consultation with the Direc19 tor of the National Science Foundation, shall establish a 

20 competitive grant program to award grants to eligible enti21 ties, on a competitive basis, for purposes of research and 

22 development that are determined to have the potential to 

23 significantly to improve the security (including cybersecu24 rity), quality, reliability, accuracy, accessibility, and af25 fordability of election infrastructure. 


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1 ‘‘(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 90 days 

2 after the conclusion of each fiscal year for which grants 

3 are awarded under this section, the Secretary shall submit 

4 to the Committee on Homeland Security and the Com5 mittee on House Administration of the House of Rep6 resentatives and the Committee on Homeland Security 

7 and Governmental Affairs and the Committee on Rules 

8 and Administration of the Senate a report describing such 

9 grants and analyzing the impact, if any, of such grants 

10 on the security and operation of election infrastructure. 

11 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

12 is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 

13 $6,250,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2027 

14 for purposes of carrying out this section. 

15 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.—In this section, 

16 the term ‘eligible entity’ means— 

17 ‘‘(1) an institution of higher education (as de18 fined in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act 

19 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)), including an institu20 tion of higher education that is a historically Black 

21 college or university (which has the meaning given 

22 the term ‘‘part B institution’’ in section 322 of such 

23 Act (20 U.S.C. 1061)) or other minority-serving in24 stitution listed in section 371(a) of such Act (20 

25 U.S.C. 1067q(a)); 


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1 ‘‘(2) an organization described in section 

2 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and 

3 exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such Code; 

4 or 

5 ‘‘(3) an organization, association, or a for-profit 

6 company, including a small business concern (as 

7 such term is defined under section 3 of the Small 

8 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632)), including a small 

9 business concern owned and controlled by socially 

10 and economically disadvantaged individuals as de11 fined under section 8(d)(3)(C) of the Small Business 

12 Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(3)(C)).’’. 

13 (b) DEFINITION.—Section 2 of the Homeland Secu14 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101) is amended— 

15 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (6) through 

16 (20) as paragraphs (7) through (21), respectively; 

17 and 

18 (2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol19 lowing new paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(6) ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 

21 ‘election infrastructure’ means storage facilities, 

22 polling places, and centralized vote tabulation loca23 tions used to support the administration of elections 

24 for public office, as well as related information and 

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1 tion databases, voting machines, electronic mail and 

2 other communications systems (including electronic 

3 mail and other systems of vendors who have entered 

4 into contracts with election agencies to support the 

5 administration of elections, manage the election 

6 process, and report and display election results), and 

7 other systems used to manage the election process 

8 and to report and display election results on behalf 

9 of an election agency.’’. 

10 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

11 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 

12 amended by striking both items relating to section 319 

13 and the item relating to section 318 and inserting the fol14 lowing new items: 

‘‘Sec. 318. Social media working group. 

‘‘Sec. 319. Transparency in research and development. 

‘‘Sec. 320. EMP and GMD mitigation research and development. 

‘‘Sec. 321. Election infrastructure innovation grant program.’’. 

15 Subtitle B—Security Measures 

16 SEC. 3101. ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGNATION. 

17 Subparagraph (J) of section 2001(3) of the Home18 land Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 601(3)) is amended 

19 by inserting ‘‘, including election infrastructure’’ before 

20 the period at the end. 


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1 SEC. 3102. TIMELY THREAT INFORMATION. 

2 Subsection (d) of section 201 of the Homeland Secu3 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 121) is amended by adding 

4 at the end the following new paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(27) To provide timely threat information re6 garding election infrastructure to the chief State 

7 election official of the State with respect to which 

8 such information pertains.’’. 

9 SEC. 3103. SECURITY CLEARANCE ASSISTANCE FOR ELEC10 TION OFFICIALS. 

11 In order to promote the timely sharing of information 

12 on threats to election infrastructure, the Secretary may— 

13 (1) help expedite a security clearance for the 

14 chief State election official and other appropriate 

15 State personnel involved in the administration of 

16 elections, as designated by the chief State election 

17 official; 

18 (2) sponsor a security clearance for the chief 

19 State election official and other appropriate State 

20 personnel involved in the administration of elections, 

21 as designated by the chief State election official; and 

22 (3) facilitate the issuance of a temporary clear23 ance to the chief State election official and other ap24 propriate State personnel involved in the administra25 tion of elections, as designated by the chief State 

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1 fied information to be timely and relevant to the 

2 election infrastructure of the State at issue. 

3 SEC. 3104. SECURITY RISK AND VULNERABILITY ASSESS4 MENTS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (6) of section 227(c) 

6 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 148(c)) 

7 is amended by inserting ‘‘(including by carrying out a se8 curity risk and vulnerability assessment)’’ after ‘‘risk 

9 management support’’. 

10 (b) PRIORITIZATION TO ENHANCE ELECTION SECU11 RITY.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

13 receiving a written request from a chief State elec14 tion official, the Secretary shall, to the extent prac15 ticable, commence a security risk and vulnerability 

16 assessment (pursuant to paragraph (6) of section 

17 227(c) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as 

18 amended by subsection (a)) on election infrastruc19 ture in the State at issue. 

20 (2) NOTIFICATION.—If the Secretary, upon re21 ceipt of a request described in paragraph (1), deter22 mines that a security risk and vulnerability assess23 ment cannot be commenced within 90 days, the Sec24 retary shall expeditiously notify the chief State elec25 tion official who submitted such request. 


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1 SEC. 3105. ANNUAL REPORTS. 

2 (a) REPORTS ON ASSISTANCE AND ASSESSMENTS.— 

3 Not later than one year after the date of the enactment 

4 of this Act and annually thereafter through 2026, the Sec5 retary shall submit to the appropriate congressional com6 mittees— 

7 (1) efforts to carry out section 203 during the 

8 prior year, including specific information on which 

9 States were helped, how many officials have been 

10 helped in each State, how many security clearances 

11 have been sponsored in each State, and how many 

12 temporary clearances have been issued in each State; 

13 and 

14 (2) efforts to carry out section 205 during the 

15 prior year, including specific information on which 

16 States were helped, the dates on which the Secretary 

17 received a request for a security risk and vulner18 ability assessment pursuant to such section, the 

19 dates on which the Secretary commenced each such 

20 request, and the dates on which the Secretary trans21 mitted a notification in accordance with subsection 

22 (b)(2) of such section. 

23 (b) REPORTS ON FOREIGN THREATS.—Not later 

24 than 90 days after the end of each fiscal year (beginning 

25 with fiscal year 2019), the Secretary and the Director of 

26 National Intelligence, in coordination with the heads of 


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1 appropriate offices of the Federal Government, shall sub2 mit a joint report to the appropriate congressional com3 mittees on foreign threats to elections in the United 

4 States, including physical and cybersecurity threats. 

5 (c) INFORMATION FROM STATES.—For purposes of 

6 preparing the reports required under this section, the Sec7 retary shall solicit and consider information and comments 

8 from States and election agencies, except that the provi9 sion of such information and comments by a State or elec10 tion agency shall be voluntary and at the discretion of the 

11 State or agency. 

12 Subtitle C—Enhancing Protections 

13 for United States Democratic In14 stitutions 

15 SEC. 3201. NATIONAL STRATEGY TO PROTECT UNITED 

16 STATES DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

18 date of the enactment of this Act, the President, acting 

19 through the Secretary, in consultation with the Chairman, 

20 the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the At21 torney General, the Secretary of Education, the Director 

22 of National Intelligence, the Chairman of the Federal 

23 Election Commission, and the heads of any other appro24 priate Federal agencies, shall issue a national strategy to 

25 protect against cyber attacks, influence operations, 


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1 disinformation campaigns, and other activities that could 

2 undermine the security and integrity of United States 

3 democratic institutions. 

4 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—The national strategy re5 quired under subsection (a) shall include consideration of 

6 the following: 

7 (1) The threat of a foreign state actor, foreign 

8 terrorist organization (as designated pursuant to 

9 section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

10 (8 U.S.C. 1189)), or a domestic actor carrying out 

11 a cyber attack, influence operation, disinformation 

12 campaign, or other activity aimed at undermining 

13 the security and integrity of United States demo14 cratic institutions. 

15 (2) The extent to which United States demo16 cratic institutions are vulnerable to a cyber attack, 

17 influence operation, disinformation campaign, or 

18 other activity aimed at undermining the security and 

19 integrity of such democratic institutions. 

20 (3) Potential consequences, such as an erosion 

21 of public trust or an undermining of the rule of law, 

22 that could result from a successful cyber attack, in23 fluence operation, disinformation campaign, or other 

24 activity aimed at undermining the security and in25 tegrity of United States democratic institutions. 


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1 (4) Lessons learned from other Western govern2 ments the institutions of which were subject to a 

3 cyber attack, influence operation, disinformation 

4 campaign, or other activity aimed at undermining 

5 the security and integrity of such institutions, as 

6 well as actions that could be taken by the United 

7 States Government to bolster collaboration with for8 eign partners to detect, deter, prevent, and counter 

9 such activities. 

10 (5) Potential impacts such as an erosion of 

11 public trust in democratic institutions as could be 

12 associated with a successful cyber breach or other 

13 activity negatively affecting election infrastructure. 

14 (6) Roles and responsibilities of the Secretary, 

15 the Chairman, and the heads of other Federal enti16 ties and non-Federal entities, including chief State 

17 election officials and representatives of multistate in18 formation sharing and analysis center. 

19 (7) Any findings, conclusions, and recommenda20 tions to strengthen protections for United States 

21 democratic institutions that have been agreed to by 

22 a majority of Commission members on the National 

23 Commission to Protect United States Democratic 

24 Institutions, authorized pursuant to section 32002. 


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1 (c) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Not later than 90 

2 days after the issuance of the national strategy required 

3 under subsection (a), the President, acting through the 

4 Secretary, in coordination with the Chairman, shall issue 

5 an implementation plan for Federal efforts to implement 

6 such strategy that includes the following: 

7 (1) Strategic objectives and corresponding 

8 tasks. 

9 (2) Projected timelines and costs for the tasks 

10 referred to in paragraph (1). 

11 (3) Metrics to evaluate performance of such 

12 tasks. 

13 (d) CLASSIFICATION.—The national strategy re14 quired under subsection (a) shall be in unclassified form 

15 but may contain a classified annex. 

16 SEC. 3202. NATIONAL COMMISSION TO PROTECT UNITED 

17 STATES DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

19 the legislative branch the National Commission to Protect 

20 United States Democratic Institutions (hereafter in this 

21 section referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

22 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Commission is to 

23 counter efforts to undermine democratic institutions with24 in the United States. 

25 (c) COMPOSITION.— 


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1 (1) MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission shall be 

2 composed of 10 members appointed for the life of 

3 the Commission as follows: 

4 (A) One member shall be appointed by the 

5 Secretary. 

6 (B) One member shall be appointed by the 

7 Chairman. 

8 (C) 2 members shall be appointed by the 

9 majority leader of the Senate, in consultation 

10 with the Chairman of the Committee on Home11 land Security and Governmental Affairs, the 

12 Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, 

13 and the Chairman of the Committee on Rules 

14 and Administration. 

15 (D) 2 members shall be appointed by the 

16 minority leader of the Senate, in consultation 

17 with the ranking minority member of the Com18 mittee on Homeland Security and Govern19 mental Affairs, the ranking minority member of 

20 the Committee on the Judiciary, and the rank21 ing minority member of the Committee on 

22 Rules and Administration. 

23 (E) 2 members shall be appointed by the 

24 Speaker of the House of Representatives, in 

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1 mittee on Homeland Security, the Chairman of 

2 the Committee on House Administration, and 

3 the Chairman of the Committee on the Judici4 ary. 

5 (F) 2 members shall be appointed by the 

6 minority leader of the House of Representa7 tives, in consultation with the ranking minority 

8 member of the Committee on Homeland Secu9 rity, the ranking minority member of the Com10 mittee on the Judiciary, and the ranking minor11 ity member of the Committee on House Admin12 istration. 

13 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—Individuals shall be se14 lected for appointment to the Commission solely on 

15 the basis of their professional qualifications, achieve16 ments, public stature, experience, and expertise in 

17 relevant fields, including, but not limited to cyberse18 curity, national security, and the Constitution of the 

19 United States. 

20 (3) NO COMPENSATION FOR SERVICE.—Mem21 bers shall not receive compensation for service on 

22 the Commission, but shall receive travel expenses, 

23 including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accord24 ance with chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code. 


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1 (4) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENT.—All mem2 bers of the Commission shall be appointed no later 

3 than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this 

4 Act. 

5 (5) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Commission 

6 shall not affect its powers and shall be filled in the 

7 manner in which the original appointment was 

8 made. The appointment of the replacement member 

9 shall be made not later than 60 days after the date 

10 on which the vacancy occurs. 

11 (d) CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.—The Commission shall 

12 elect a Chair and Vice Chair from among its members. 

13 (e) QUORUM AND MEETINGS.— 

14 (1) QUORUM.—The Commission shall meet and 

15 begin the operations of the Commission not later 

16 than 30 days after the date on which all members 

17 have been appointed or, if such meeting cannot be 

18 mutually agreed upon, on a date designated by the 

19 Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 

20 President pro Tempore of the Senate. Each subse21 quent meeting shall occur upon the call of the Chair 

22 or a majority of its members. A majority of the 

23 members of the Commission shall constitute a 

24 quorum, but a lesser number may hold meetings. 


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1 (2) AUTHORITY OF INDIVIDUALS TO ACT FOR

2 COMMISSION.—Any member of the Commission may, 

3 if authorized by the Commission, take any action 

4 that the Commission is authorized to take under this 

5 section. 

6 (f) POWERS.— 

7 (1) HEARINGS AND EVIDENCE.—The Commis8 sion (or, on the authority of the Commission, any 

9 subcommittee or member thereof) may, for the pur10 pose of carrying out this section, hold hearings and 

11 sit and act at such times and places, take such testi12 mony, receive such evidence, and administer such 

13 oaths as the Commission considers advisable to 

14 carry out its duties. 

15 (2) CONTRACTING.—The Commission may, to 

16 such extent and in such amounts as are provided in 

17 appropriation Acts, enter into contracts to enable 

18 the Commission to discharge its duties under this 

19 section. 

20 (g) ASSISTANCE FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

21 (1) GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION.— 

22 The Administrator of General Services shall provide 

23 to the Commission on a reimbursable basis adminis24 trative support and other services for the perform25 ance of the Commission’s functions. 


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1 (2) OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES.—In 

2 addition to the assistance provided under paragraph 

3 (1), the Department of Homeland Security, the 

4 Election Assistance Commission, and other appro5 priate departments and agencies of the United 

6 States shall provide to the Commission such serv7 ices, funds, facilities, and staff as they may deter8 mine advisable and as may be authorized by law. 

9 (h) PUBLIC MEETINGS.—Any public meetings of the 

10 Commission shall be conducted in a manner consistent 

11 with the protection of information provided to or developed 

12 for or by the Commission as required by any applicable 

13 statute, regulation, or Executive order. 

14 (i) SECURITY CLEARANCES.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The heads of appropriate 

16 departments and agencies of the executive branch 

17 shall cooperate with the Commission to expeditiously 

18 provide Commission members and staff with appro19 priate security clearances to the extent possible 

20 under applicable procedures and requirements. 

21 (2) PREFERENCES.—In appointing staff, ob22 taining detailees, and entering into contracts for the 

23 provision of services for the Commission, the Com24 mission shall give preference to individuals otherwise 

25 who have active security clearances. 


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1 (j) REPORTS.— 

2 (1) INTERIM REPORTS.—At any time prior to 

3 the submission of the final report under paragraph 

4 (2), the Commission may submit interim reports to 

5 the President and Congress such findings, conclu6 sions, and recommendations to strengthen protec7 tions for democratic institutions in the United 

8 States as have been agreed to by a majority of the 

9 members of the Commission. 

10 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 18 months 

11 after the date of the first meeting of the Commis12 sion, the Commission shall submit to the President 

13 and Congress a final report containing such find14 ings, conclusions, and recommendations to strength15 en protections for democratic institutions in the 

16 United States as have been agreed to by a majority 

17 of the members of the Commission. 

18 (k) TERMINATION.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall termi20 nate upon the expiration of the 60-day period which 

21 begins on the date on which the Commission submits 

22 the final report required under subsection (j)(2). 

23 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES PRIOR TO

24 TERMINATION.—During the 60-day period described 

25 in paragraph (2), the Commission may carry out 


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1 such administrative activities as may be required to 

2 conclude its work, including providing testimony to 

3 committees of Congress concerning the final report 

4 and disseminating the final report. 

5 (l) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COM6 MITTEE ACT.—The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

7 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Commission. 

8 Subtitle D—Promoting Cybersecu9 rity Through Improvements in 

10 Election Administration 

11 SEC. 3301. TESTING OF EXISTING VOTING SYSTEMS TO EN12 SURE COMPLIANCE WITH ELECTION CYBER13 SECURITY GUIDELINES AND OTHER GUIDE14 LINES. 

15 (a) REQUIRING TESTING OF EXISTING VOTING SYS16 TEMS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 231(a) of the Help 

18 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20971(a)) is 

19 amended by adding at the end the following new 

20 paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(3) TESTING TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE WITH

22 GUIDELINES.— 

23 ‘‘(A) TESTING.—Not later than 9 months 

24 before the date of each regularly scheduled gen25 eral election for Federal office, the Commission 


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1 shall provide for the testing by accredited lab2 oratories under this section of the voting system 

3 hardware and software which was certified for 

4 use in the most recent such election, on the 

5 basis of the most recent voting system guide6 lines applicable to such hardware or software 

7 (including election cybersecurity guidelines) 

8 issued under this Act. 

9 ‘‘(B) DECERTIFICATION OF HARDWARE OR

10 SOFTWARE FAILING TO MEET GUIDELINES.—If, 

11 on the basis of the testing described in subpara12 graph (A), the Commission determines that any 

13 voting system hardware or software does not 

14 meet the most recent guidelines applicable to 

15 such hardware or software issued under this 

16 Act, the Commission shall decertify such hard17 ware or software.’’. 

18 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

19 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to the reg20 ularly scheduled general election for Federal office 

21 held in November 2020 and each succeeding regu22 larly scheduled general election for Federal office. 

23 (b) ISSUANCE OF CYBERSECURITY GUIDELINES BY

24 TECHNICAL GUIDELINES DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE.— 

25 Section 221(b) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 


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1 U.S.C. 20961(b)) is amended by adding at the end the 

2 following new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(3) ELECTION CYBERSECURITY GUIDE4 LINES.—Not later than 6 months after the date of 

5 the enactment of this paragraph, the Development 

6 Committee shall issue election cybersecurity guide7 lines, including standards and best practices for pro8 curing, maintaining, testing, operating, and updat9 ing election systems to prevent and deter cybersecu10 rity incidents.’’. 

11 SEC. 3302. TREATMENT OF ELECTRONIC POLL BOOKS AS 

12 PART OF VOTING SYSTEMS. 

13 (a) INCLUSION IN DEFINITION OF VOTING SYS14 TEM.—Section 301(b) of the Help America Vote Act of 

15 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081(b)) is amended— 

16 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

17 striking ‘‘this section’’ and inserting ‘‘this Act’’; 

18 (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

19 (1); 

20 (3) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para21 graph (3); and 

22 (4) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol23 lowing new paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(2) any electronic poll book used with respect 

25 to the election; and’’. 


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1 (b) DEFINITION.—Section 301 of such Act (52 

2 U.S.C. 21081) is amended— 

3 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 

4 subsections (d) and (e); and 

5 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol6 lowing new subsection: 

7 ‘‘(c) ELECTRONIC POLL BOOK DEFINED.—In this 

8 Act, the term ‘electronic poll book’ means the total com9 bination of mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic 

10 equipment (including the software, firmware, and docu11 mentation required to program, control, and support the 

12 equipment) that is used— 

13 ‘‘(1) to retain the list of registered voters at a 

14 polling location, or vote center, or other location at 

15 which voters cast votes in an election for Federal of16 fice; and 

17 ‘‘(2) to identify registered voters who are eligi18 ble to vote in an election.’’. 

19 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 301(e) of such Act 

20 (52 U.S.C. 21081(e)), as redesignated by subsection (b), 

21 is amended by striking the period at the end and inserting 

22 the following: ‘‘, or, with respect to any requirements re23 lating to electronic poll books, on and after January 1, 

24 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 3303. PRE-ELECTION REPORTS ON VOTING SYSTEM 

2 USAGE. 

3 (a) REQUIRING STATES TO SUBMIT REPORTS.—Title 

4 III of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 

5 21081 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 301 

6 the following new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 301A. PRE-ELECTION REPORTS ON VOTING SYSTEM 

8 USAGE. 

9 ‘‘(a) REQUIRING STATES TO SUBMIT REPORTS.— 

10 Not later than 120 days before the date of each regularly 

11 scheduled general election for Federal office, the chief 

12 State election official of a State shall submit a report to 

13 the Commission containing a detailed voting system usage 

14 plan for each jurisdiction in the State which will admin15 ister the election, including a detailed plan for the usage 

16 of electronic poll books and other equipment and compo17 nents of such system. 

18 ‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (a) shall apply 

19 with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 

20 Federal office held in November 2020 and each succeeding 

21 regularly scheduled general election for Federal office.’’. 

22 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

23 of such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating 

24 to section 301 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 301A. Pre-election reports on voting system usage.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3304. STREAMLINING COLLECTION OF ELECTION IN2 FORMATION. 

3 Section 202 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

4 (52 U.S.C. 20922) is amended— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘The Commission’’ and insert6 ing ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission’’; and 

7 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub8 section: 

9 ‘‘(b) WAIVER OF CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS.—Sub10 chapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, 

11 shall not apply to the collection of information for pur12 poses of maintaining the clearinghouse described in para13 graph (1) of subsection (a).’’. 

14 Subtitle E—Preventing Election 

15 Hacking 

16 SEC. 3401. SHORT TITLE. 

17 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Prevent Election 

18 Hacking Act of 2019’’. 

19 SEC. 3402. ELECTION SECURITY BUG BOUNTY PROGRAM. 

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 

21 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

22 establish a program to be known as the ‘‘Election Security 

23 Bug Bounty Program’’ (hereafter in this subtitle referred 

24 to as the ‘‘Program’’) to improve the cybersecurity of the 

25 systems used to administer elections for Federal office by 

26 facilitating and encouraging assessments by independent 


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1 technical experts, in cooperation with State and local elec2 tion officials and election service providers, to identify and 

3 report election cybersecurity vulnerabilities. 

4 (b) VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION BY ELECTION OFFI5 CIALS AND ELECTION SERVICE PROVIDERS.— 

6 (1) NO REQUIREMENT TO PARTICIPATE IN PRO7 GRAM.—Participation in the Program shall be en8 tirely voluntary for State and local election officials 

9 and election service providers. 

10 (2) ENCOURAGING PARTICIPATION AND INPUT

11 FROM ELECTION OFFICIALS.—In developing the Pro12 gram, the Secretary shall solicit input from, and en13 courage participation by, State and local election of14 ficials. 

15 (c) ACTIVITIES FUNDED.—In establishing and car16 rying out the Program, the Secretary shall— 

17 (1) establish a process for State and local elec18 tion officials and election service providers to volun19 tarily participate in the Program; 

20 (2) designate appropriate information systems 

21 to be included in the Program; 

22 (3) provide compensation to eligible individuals, 

23 organizations, and companies for reports of pre24 viously unidentified security vulnerabilities within 

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1 graph (A) and establish criteria for individuals, or2 ganizations, and companies to be considered eligible 

3 for such compensation in compliance with Federal 

4 laws; 

5 (4) consult with the Attorney General on how 

6 to ensure that approved individuals, organizations, 

7 or companies that comply with the requirements of 

8 the Program are protected from prosecution under 

9 section 1030 of title 18, United States Code, and 

10 similar provisions of law, and from liability under 

11 civil actions for specific activities authorized under 

12 the Program; 

13 (5) consult with the Secretary of Defense and 

14 the heads of other departments and agencies that 

15 have implemented programs to provide compensation 

16 for reports of previously undisclosed vulnerabilities 

17 in information systems, regarding lessons that may 

18 be applied from such programs; 

19 (6) develop an expeditious process by which an 

20 individual, organization, or company can register 

21 with the Department, submit to a background check 

22 as determined by the Department, and receive a de23 termination as to eligibility for participation in the 

24 Program; and 


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1 (7) engage qualified interested persons, includ2 ing representatives of private entities, about the 

3 structure of the Program and, to the extent prac4 ticable, establish a recurring competition for inde5 pendent technical experts to assess election systems 

6 for the purpose of identifying and reporting election 

7 cybersecurity vulnerabilities. 

8 (d) USE OF SERVICE PROVIDERS.—The Secretary 

9 may award competitive contracts as necessary to manage 

10 the Program. 

11 SEC. 3403. DEFINITIONS. 

12 In this subtitle, the following definitions apply: 

13 (1) The terms ‘‘election’’ and ‘‘Federal office’’ 

14 have the meanings given such terms in section 301 

15 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 

16 U.S.C. 30101). 

17 (2) The term ‘‘election cybersecurity vulner18 ability’’ means any security vulnerability (as defined 

19 in section 102 of the Cybersecurity Information 

20 Sharing Act of 2015 (6 U.S.C. 1501)) that affects 

21 an election system. 

22 (3) The term ‘‘election service provider’’ means 

23 any person providing, supporting, or maintaining an 

24 election system on behalf of a State or local election 

25 official, such as a contractor or vendor. 


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1 (4) The term ‘‘election system’’ means any in2 formation system (as defined in section 3502 of title 

3 44, United States Code) which is part of an election 

4 infrastructure. 

5 (5) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

6 of Homeland Security, or, upon designation by the 

7 Secretary of Homeland Security, the Deputy Sec8 retary of Homeland Security, the Director of Cyber9 security and Infrastructure Security of the Depart10 ment of Homeland Security, or a Senate-confirmed 

11 official that reports to the Director. 

12 (6) The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several 

13 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 

14 of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Com15 monwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, and the 

16 United States Virgin Islands. 

17 (7) The term ‘‘voting system’’ has the meaning 

18 given such term in section 301(b) of the Help Amer19 ica Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081(b)). 

20 Subtitle F—Miscellaneous 

21 Provisions 

22 SEC. 3501. DEFINITIONS. 

23 Except as provided in section 3404, in this title, the 

24 following definitions apply: 


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1 (1) The term ‘‘Chairman’’ means the chair of 

2 the Election Assistance Commission. 

3 (2) The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com4 mittees’’ means the Committees on Homeland Secu5 rity and House Administration of the House of Rep6 resentatives and the Committees on Homeland Secu7 rity and Governmental Affairs and Rules and Ad8 ministration of the Senate. 

9 (3) The term ‘‘chief State election official’’ 

10 means, with respect to a State, the individual des11 ignated by the State under section 10 of the Na12 tional Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

13 20509) to be responsible for coordination of the 

14 State’s responsibilities under such Act. 

15 (4) The term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Election 

16 Assistance Commission. 

17 (5) The term ‘‘democratic institutions’’ means 

18 the diverse range of institutions that are essential to 

19 ensuring an independent judiciary, free and fair elec20 tions, and rule of law. 

21 (6) The term ‘‘election agency’’ means any com22 ponent of a State, or any component of a unit of 

23 local government in a State, which is responsible for 

24 the administration of elections for Federal office in 

25 the State. 


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1 (7) The term ‘‘election infrastructure’’ means 

2 storage facilities, polling places, and centralized vote 

3 tabulation locations used to support the administra4 tion of elections for public office, as well as related 

5 information and communications technology, includ6 ing voter registration databases, voting machines, 

7 electronic mail and other communications systems 

8 (including electronic mail and other systems of ven9 dors who have entered into contracts with election 

10 agencies to support the administration of elections, 

11 manage the election process, and report and display 

12 election results), and other systems used to manage 

13 the election process and to report and display elec14 tion results on behalf of an election agency. 

15 (8) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

16 of Homeland Security. 

17 (9) The term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning given 

18 such term in section 901 of the Help America Vote 

19 Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21141). 

20 SEC. 3502. INITIAL REPORT ON ADEQUACY OF RESOURCES 

21 AVAILABLE FOR IMPLEMENTATION. 

22 Not later than 120 days after enactment of this Act, 

23 the Chairman and the Secretary shall submit a report to 

24 the appropriate committees of Congress, including the 

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1 tration of the House of Representatives and the Com2 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

3 of the Senate, analyzing the adequacy of the funding, re4 sources, and personnel available to carry out this title and 

5 the amendments made by this title. 

6 Subtitle G—Severability 

7 SEC. 3601. SEVERABILITY. 

8 If any provision of this title or amendment made by 

9 this title, or the application of a provision or amendment 

10 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu11 tional, the remainder of this title and amendments made 

12 by this title, and the application of the provisions and 

13 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be 

14 affected by the holding. 

15 DIVISION B—CAMPAIGN 

16 FINANCE 

17 TITLE IV—CAMPAIGN FINANCE 

18 TRANSPARENCY 

Subtitle A—Findings Relating to Illicit Money Undermining Our Democracy 

Sec. 4001. Findings relating to illicit money undermining our democracy. 

Subtitle B—DISCLOSE Act 

Sec. 4100. Short title. 

PART 1—REGULATION OF CERTAIN POLITICAL SPENDING

Sec. 4101. Application of ban on contributions and expenditures by foreign nationals to domestic corporations, limited liability corporations, 

and partnerships that are foreign-controlled, foreign-influenced, 

and foreign-owned. 

Sec. 4102. Clarification of application of foreign money ban to certain disbursements and activities. 


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PART 2—REPORTING OF CAMPAIGN-RELATED DISBURSEMENTS

Sec. 4111. Reporting of campaign-related disbursements. 

Sec. 4112. Application of foreign money ban to disbursements for campaign-related disbursements consisting of covered transfers. 

Sec. 4113. Effective date. 

PART 3—OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS

Sec. 4121. Petition for certiorari. 

Sec. 4122. Judicial review of actions related to campaign finance laws. 

Subtitle C—Honest Ads 

Sec. 4201. Short title. 

Sec. 4202. Purpose. 

Sec. 4203. Findings. 

Sec. 4204. Sense of Congress. 

Sec. 4205. Expansion of definition of public communication. 

Sec. 4206. Expansion of definition of electioneering communication. 

Sec. 4207. Application of disclaimer statements to online communications. 

Sec. 4208. Political record requirements for online platforms. 

Sec. 4209. Preventing contributions, expenditures, independent expenditures, 

and disbursements for electioneering communications by foreign nationals in the form of online advertising. 

Subtitle D—Stand By Every Ad 

Sec. 4301. Short title. 

Sec. 4302. Stand By Every Ad. 

Sec. 4303. Disclaimer requirements for communications made through 

prerecorded telephone calls. 

Sec. 4304. No expansion of persons subject to disclaimer requirements on internet communications. 

Sec. 4305. Effective date. 

Subtitle E—Secret Money Transparency 

Sec. 4401. Repeal of restriction of use of funds by Internal Revenue Service to 

bring transparency to political activity of certain nonprofit organizations. 

Subtitle F—Shareholder Right-To-Know 

Sec. 4501. Repeal of restriction on use of funds by Securities and Exchange 

Commission to ensure shareholders of corporations have knowledge of corporation political activity. 

Subtitle G—Disclosure of Political Spending by Government Contractors 

Sec. 4601. Repeal of restriction on use of funds to require disclosure of political 

spending by government contractors. 

Subtitle H—Limitation and Disclosure Requirements for Presidential 

Inaugural Committees 

Sec. 4701. Short title. 

Sec. 4702. Limitations and disclosure of certain donations to, and disbursements by, inaugural committees. 


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Subtitle I—Severability 

Sec. 4801. Severability. 

1 Subtitle A—Findings Relating to Il2 licit Money Undermining Our 

3 Democracy 

4 SEC. 4001. FINDINGS RELATING TO ILLICIT MONEY UNDER5 MINING OUR DEMOCRACY. 

6 Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) Criminals, terrorists, and corrupt govern8 ment officials frequently abuse anonymously held 

9 limited liability companies (LLCs), also known as 

10 ‘‘shell companies,’’ to hide, move, and launder the 

11 dirty money derived from illicit activities such as 

12 trafficking, bribery, exploitation, and embezzlement. 

13 Ownership and control of the finances that run 

14 through shell companies are obscured to regulators 

15 and law enforcement because little information is re16 quired and collected when establishing these entities. 

17 (2) The public release of the ‘‘Panama Papers’’ 

18 in 2016 and the ‘‘Paradise Papers’’ in 2017 revealed 

19 that these shell companies often purchase and sell 

20 United States real estate. United States anti-money 

21 laundering laws do not apply to cash transactions in22 volving real estate effectively concealing the bene23 ficiaries and transactions from regulators and law 

24 enforcement. 


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1 (3) Congress should curb the use of anonymous 

2 shell companies for illicit purposes by requiring 

3 United States companies to disclose their beneficial 

4 owners, strengthening anti-money laundering and 

5 counter-terrorism finance laws. 

6 (4) Congress should examine the money laun7 dering and terrorist financing risks in the real estate 

8 market, including the role of anonymous parties, and 

9 review legislation to address any vulnerabilities iden10 tified in this sector. 

11 (5) Congress should examine the methods by 

12 which corruption flourishes and the means to detect 

13 and deter the financial misconduct that fuels this 

14 driver of global instability. Congress should monitor 

15 government efforts to enforce United States anti16 corruption laws and regulations. 

17 Subtitle B—DISCLOSE Act 

18 SEC. 4100. SHORT TITLE. 

19 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Democracy Is 

20 Strengthened by Casting Light On Spending in Elections 

21 Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘DISCLOSE Act of 2019’’. 


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1 PART 1—REGULATION OF CERTAIN POLITICAL 

2 SPENDING 

3 SEC. 4101. APPLICATION OF BAN ON CONTRIBUTIONS AND 

4 EXPENDITURES BY FOREIGN NATIONALS TO 

5 DOMESTIC CORPORATIONS, LIMITED LIABIL6 ITY CORPORATIONS, AND PARTNERSHIPS 

7 THAT ARE FOREIGN-CONTROLLED, FOREIGN8 INFLUENCED, AND FOREIGN-OWNED. 

9 (a) APPLICATION OF BAN.—Section 319(b) of the 

10 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 

11 30121(b)) is amended— 

12 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of paragraph 

13 (1); 

14 (2) by striking the period at the end of para15 graph (2) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

16 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

17 paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(3) any corporation, limited liability corpora19 tion, or partnership which is not a foreign national 

20 described in paragraph (1) and— 

21 ‘‘(A) in which a foreign national described 

22 in paragraph (1) or (2) directly or indirectly 

23 owns or controls— 

24 ‘‘(i) 5 percent or more of the voting 

25 shares, if the foreign national is a foreign 

26 country, a foreign government official, or a 


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1 corporation principally owned or controlled 

2 by a foreign country or foreign government 

3 official; or 

4 ‘‘(ii) 20 percent or more of the voting 

5 shares, if the foreign national is not de6 scribed in clause (i); 

7 ‘‘(B) in which two or more foreign nation8 als described in paragraph (1) or (2), each of 

9 whom owns or controls at least 5 percent of the 

10 voting shares, directly or indirectly own or con11 trol 50 percent or more of the voting shares; 

12 ‘‘(C) over which one or more foreign na13 tionals described in paragraph (1) or (2) has 

14 the power to direct, dictate, or control the deci15 sionmaking process of the corporation, limited 

16 liability corporation, or partnership with respect 

17 to its interests in the United States; or 

18 ‘‘(D) over which one or more foreign na19 tionals described in paragraph (1) or (2) has 

20 the power to direct, dictate, or control the deci21 sionmaking process of the corporation, limited 

22 liability corporation, or partnership with respect 

23 to activities in connection with a Federal, State, 

24 or local election, including— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the making of a contribution, do2 nation, expenditure, independent expendi3 ture, or disbursement for an electioneering 

4 communication (within the meaning of sec5 tion 304(f)(3)); or 

6 ‘‘(ii) the administration of a political 

7 committee established or maintained by the 

8 corporation.’’. 

9 (b) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE.—Section 319 

10 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30121) is amended by adding at 

11 the end the following new subsection: 

12 ‘‘(c) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE REQUIRED

13 PRIOR TO CARRYING OUT ACTIVITY.—Prior to the mak14 ing in connection with an election for Federal office of any 

15 contribution, donation, expenditure, independent expendi16 ture, or disbursement for an electioneering communication 

17 by a corporation, limited liability corporation, or partner18 ship during a year, the chief executive officer of the cor19 poration, limited liability corporation, or partnership (or, 

20 if the corporation, limited liability corporation, or partner21 ship does not have a chief executive officer, the highest 

22 ranking official of the corporation, limited liability cor23 poration, or partnership), shall file a certification with the 

24 Commission, under penalty of perjury, that the corpora25 tion, limited liability corporation, or partnership is not 


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1 prohibited from carrying out such activity under sub2 section (b)(3), unless the chief executive officer has pre3 viously filed such a certification during that calendar 

4 year.’’. 

5 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

6 this section shall take effect upon the expiration of the 

7 180-day period which begins on the date of the enactment 

8 of this Act, and shall take effect without regard to whether 

9 or not the Federal Election Commission has promulgated 

10 regulations to carry out such amendments. 

11 SEC. 4102. CLARIFICATION OF APPLICATION OF FOREIGN 

12 MONEY BAN TO CERTAIN DISBURSEMENTS 

13 AND ACTIVITIES. 

14 (a) APPLICATION TO DISBURSEMENTS TO SUPER

15 PACS.—Section 319(a)(1)(A) of the Federal Election 

16 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121(a)(1)(A)) is 

17 amended by striking the semicolon and inserting the fol18 lowing: ‘‘, including any disbursement to a political com19 mittee which accepts donations or contributions that do 

20 not comply with the limitations, prohibitions, and report21 ing requirements of this Act (or any disbursement to or 

22 on behalf of any account of a political committee which 

23 is established for the purpose of accepting such donations 

24 or contributions);’’. 


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1 (b) CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH CORPORATE PACS

2 MAY MAKE CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES.—Sec3 tion 316(b) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30118(b)) is amended 

4 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(8) A separate segregated fund established by a cor6 poration may not make a contribution or expenditure dur7 ing a year unless the fund has certified to the Commission 

8 the following during the year: 

9 ‘‘(A) Each individual who manages the fund, 

10 and who is responsible for exercising decisionmaking 

11 authority for the fund, is a citizen of the United 

12 States or is lawfully admitted for permanent resi13 dence in the United States. 

14 ‘‘(B) No foreign national under section 319 

15 participates in any way in the decisionmaking proc16 esses of the fund with regard to contributions or ex17 penditures under this Act. 

18 ‘‘(C) The fund does not solicit or accept rec19 ommendations from any foreign national under sec20 tion 319 with respect to the contributions or expend21 itures made by the fund. 

22 ‘‘(D) Any member of the board of directors of 

23 the corporation who is a foreign national under sec24 tion 319 abstains from voting on matters concerning 

25 the fund or its activities.’’. 


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1 PART 2—REPORTING OF CAMPAIGN-RELATED 

2 DISBURSEMENTS 

3 SEC. 4111. REPORTING OF CAMPAIGN-RELATED DISBURSE4 MENTS. 

5 (a) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS FOR CORPORA6 TIONS, LABOR ORGANIZATIONS, AND CERTAIN OTHER

7 ENTITIES.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 324 of the Federal 

9 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30126) 

10 is amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 324. DISCLOSURE OF CAMPAIGN-RELATED DISBURSE12 MENTS BY COVERED ORGANIZATIONS. 

13 ‘‘(a) DISCLOSURE STATEMENT.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any covered organization 

15 that makes campaign-related disbursements aggre16 gating more than $10,000 in an election reporting 

17 cycle shall, not later than 24 hours after each disclo18 sure date, file a statement with the Commission 

19 made under penalty of perjury that contains the in20 formation described in paragraph (2)— 

21 ‘‘(A) in the case of the first statement filed 

22 under this subsection, for the period beginning 

23 on the first day of the election reporting cycle 

24 (or, if earlier, the period beginning one year be25 fore the first such disclosure date) and ending 

26 on the first such disclosure date; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) in the case of any subsequent state2 ment filed under this subsection, for the period 

3 beginning on the previous disclosure date and 

4 ending on such disclosure date. 

5 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—The informa6 tion described in this paragraph is as follows: 

7 ‘‘(A) The name of the covered organization 

8 and the principal place of business of such or9 ganization and, in the case of a covered organi10 zation that is a corporation (other than a busi11 ness concern that is an issuer of a class of secu12 rities registered under section 12 of the Securi13 ties Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78l) or 

14 that is required to file reports under section 

15 15(d) of that Act (15 U.S.C. 78o(d))) or an en16 tity described in subsection (e)(2), a list of the 

17 beneficial owners (as defined in paragraph 

18 (4)(A)) of the entity that— 

19 ‘‘(i) identifies each beneficial owner by 

20 name and current residential or business 

21 street address; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) if any beneficial owner exercises 

23 control over the entity through another 

24 legal entity, such as a corporation, partner25 ship, limited liability company, or trust, 


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1 identifies each such other legal entity and 

2 each such beneficial owner who will use 

3 that other entity to exercise control over 

4 the entity. 

5 ‘‘(B) The amount of each campaign-related 

6 disbursement made by such organization during 

7 the period covered by the statement of more 

8 than $1,000, and the name and address of the 

9 person to whom the disbursement was made. 

10 ‘‘(C) In the case of a campaign-related dis11 bursement that is not a covered transfer, the 

12 election to which the campaign-related disburse13 ment pertains and if the disbursement is made 

14 for a public communication, the name of any 

15 candidate identified in such communication and 

16 whether such communication is in support of or 

17 in opposition to a candidate. 

18 ‘‘(D) A certification by the chief executive 

19 officer or person who is the head of the covered 

20 organization that the campaign-related dis21 bursement is not made in cooperation, consulta22 tion, or concert with or at the request or sug23 gestion of a candidate, authorized committee, or 

24 agent of a candidate, political party, or agent of 

25 a political party. 


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1 ‘‘(E)(i) If the covered organization makes 

2 campaign-related disbursements using exclu3 sively funds in a segregated bank account con4 sisting of funds that were paid directly to such 

5 account by persons other than the covered orga6 nization that controls the account, for each 

7 such payment to the account— 

8 ‘‘(I) the name and address of each 

9 person who made such payment during the 

10 period covered by the statement; 

11 ‘‘(II) the date and amount of such 

12 payment; and 

13 ‘‘(III) the aggregate amount of all 

14 such payments made by the person during 

15 the period beginning on the first day of the 

16 election reporting cycle (or, if earlier, the 

17 period beginning one year before the dis18 closure date) and ending on the disclosure 

19 date, 

20 but only if such payment was made by a person 

21 who made payments to the account in an aggre22 gate amount of $10,000 or more during the pe23 riod beginning on the first day of the election 

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1 ning one year before the disclosure date) and 

2 ending on the disclosure date. 

3 ‘‘(ii) In any calendar year after 2020, sec4 tion 315(c)(1)(B) shall apply to the amount de5 scribed in clause (i) in the same manner as 

6 such section applies to the limitations estab7 lished under subsections (a)(1)(A), (a)(1)(B), 

8 (a)(3), and (h) of such section, except that for 

9 purposes of applying such section to the 

10 amounts described in subsection (b), the ‘base 

11 period’ shall be 2020. 

12 ‘‘(F)(i) If the covered organization makes 

13 campaign-related disbursements using funds 

14 other than funds in a segregated bank account 

15 described in subparagraph (E), for each pay16 ment to the covered organization— 

17 ‘‘(I) the name and address of each 

18 person who made such payment during the 

19 period covered by the statement; 

20 ‘‘(II) the date and amount of such 

21 payment; and 

22 ‘‘(III) the aggregate amount of all 

23 such payments made by the person during 

24 the period beginning on the first day of the 

25 election reporting cycle (or, if earlier, the 


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1 period beginning one year before the dis2 closure date) and ending on the disclosure 

3 date, 

4 but only if such payment was made by a person 

5 who made payments to the covered organization 

6 in an aggregate amount of $10,000 or more 

7 during the period beginning on the first day of 

8 the election reporting cycle (or, if earlier, the 

9 period beginning one year before the disclosure 

10 date) and ending on the disclosure date. 

11 ‘‘(ii) In any calendar year after 2020, sec12 tion 315(c)(1)(B) shall apply to the amount de13 scribed in clause (i) in the same manner as 

14 such section applies to the limitations estab15 lished under subsections (a)(1)(A), (a)(1)(B), 

16 (a)(3), and (h) of such section, except that for 

17 purposes of applying such section to the 

18 amounts described in subsection (b), the ‘base 

19 period’ shall be 2020. 

20 ‘‘(G) Such other information as required in 

21 rules established by the Commission to promote 

22 the purposes of this section. 

23 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTIONS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) AMOUNTS RECEIVED IN ORDINARY

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1 clude in a statement filed under paragraph (1) 

2 the information described in paragraph (2) 

3 shall not apply to amounts received by the cov4 ered organization in commercial transactions in 

5 the ordinary course of any trade or business 

6 conducted by the covered organization or in the 

7 form of investments (other than investments by 

8 the principal shareholder in a limited liability 

9 corporation) in the covered organization. 

10 ‘‘(B) DONOR RESTRICTION ON USE OF

11 FUNDS.—The requirement to include in a state12 ment submitted under paragraph (1) the infor13 mation described in subparagraph (F) of para14 graph (2) shall not apply if— 

15 ‘‘(i) the person described in such sub16 paragraph prohibited, in writing, the use of 

17 the payment made by such person for cam18 paign-related disbursements; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) the covered organization agreed 

20 to follow the prohibition and deposited the 

21 payment in an account which is segregated 

22 from any account used to make campaign23 related disbursements. 

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1 ment submitted under paragraph (1) the infor2 mation described in subparagraph (F) of para3 graph (2) shall not apply to any amount which 

4 is described in subsection (f)(3). 

5 ‘‘(D) THREAT OF HARASSMENT OR RE6 PRISAL.—The requirement to include any infor7 mation relating to the name or address of any 

8 person (other than a candidate) in a statement 

9 submitted under paragraph (1) shall not apply 

10 if the inclusion of the information would subject 

11 the person to serious threats, harassment, or 

12 reprisals. 

13 ‘‘(4) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of 

14 this section: 

15 ‘‘(A) BENEFICIAL OWNER DEFINED.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro17 vided in clause (ii), the term ‘beneficial 

18 owner’ means, with respect to any entity, 

19 a natural person who, directly or indi20 rectly— 

21 ‘‘(I) exercises substantial control 

22 over an entity through ownership, vot23 ing rights, agreement, or otherwise; or 


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1 ‘‘(II) has a substantial interest in 

2 or receives substantial economic bene3 fits from the assets of an entity. 

4 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTIONS.—The term ‘bene5 ficial owner’ shall not include— 

6 ‘‘(I) a minor child; 

7 ‘‘(II) a person acting as a nomi8 nee, intermediary, custodian, or agent 

9 on behalf of another person; 

10 ‘‘(III) a person acting solely as 

11 an employee of an entity and whose 

12 control over or economic benefits from 

13 the entity derives solely from the em14 ployment status of the person; 

15 ‘‘(IV) a person whose only inter16 est in an entity is through a right of 

17 inheritance, unless the person also 

18 meets the requirements of clause (i); 

19 or 

20 ‘‘(V) a creditor of an entity, un21 less the creditor also meets the re22 quirements of clause (i). 

23 ‘‘(iii) ANTI-ABUSE RULE.—The excep24 tions under clause (ii) shall not apply if 

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1 venting, or abusing the provisions of clause 

2 (i) or paragraph (2)(A). 

3 ‘‘(B) DISCLOSURE DATE.—The term ‘dis4 closure date’ means— 

5 ‘‘(i) the first date during any election 

6 reporting cycle by which a person has 

7 made campaign-related disbursements ag8 gregating more than $10,000; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) any other date during such elec10 tion reporting cycle by which a person has 

11 made campaign-related disbursements ag12 gregating more than $10,000 since the 

13 most recent disclosure date for such elec14 tion reporting cycle. 

15 ‘‘(C) ELECTION REPORTING CYCLE.—The 

16 term ‘election reporting cycle’ means the 2-year 

17 period beginning on the date of the most recent 

18 general election for Federal office. 

19 ‘‘(D) PAYMENT.—The term ‘payment’ in20 cludes any contribution, donation, transfer, pay21 ment of dues, or other payment. 

22 ‘‘(b) COORDINATION WITH OTHER PROVISIONS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) OTHER REPORTS FILED WITH THE COM24 MISSION.—Information included in a statement filed 


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1 under this section may be excluded from statements 

2 and reports filed under section 304. 

3 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT AS SEPARATE SEGREGATED

4 FUND.—A segregated bank account referred to in 

5 subsection (a)(2)(E) may be treated as a separate 

6 segregated fund for purposes of section 527(f)(3) of 

7 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

8 ‘‘(c) FILING.—Statements required to be filed under 

9 subsection (a) shall be subject to the requirements of sec10 tion 304(d) to the same extent and in the same manner 

11 as if such reports had been required under subsection (c) 

12 or (g) of section 304. 

13 ‘‘(d) CAMPAIGN-RELATED DISBURSEMENT DE14 FINED.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section, the term 

16 ‘campaign-related disbursement’ means a disburse17 ment by a covered organization for any of the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(A) An independent expenditure which ex20 pressly advocates the election or defeat of a 

21 clearly identified candidate for election for Fed22 eral office, or is the functional equivalent of ex23 press advocacy because, when taken as a whole, 

24 it can be interpreted by a reasonable person 


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1 only as advocating the election or defeat of a 

2 candidate for election for Federal office. 

3 ‘‘(B) Any public communication which re4 fers to a clearly identified candidate for election 

5 for Federal office and which promotes or sup6 ports a candidate for that office, or attacks or 

7 opposes a candidate for that office, without re8 gard to whether the communication expressly 

9 advocates a vote for or against a candidate for 

10 that office. 

11 ‘‘(C) An electioneering communication, as 

12 defined in section 304(f)(3). 

13 ‘‘(D) A covered transfer. 

14 ‘‘(2) INTENT NOT REQUIRED.—A disbursement 

15 for an item described in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), 

16 or (D) of paragraph (1) shall be treated as a cam17 paign-related disbursement regardless of the intent 

18 of the person making the disbursement. 

19 ‘‘(e) COVERED ORGANIZATION DEFINED.—In this 

20 section, the term ‘covered organization’ means any of the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(1) A corporation (other than an organization 

23 described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Rev24 enue Code of 1986). 


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1 ‘‘(2) A limited liability corporation that is not 

2 otherwise treated as a corporation for purposes of 

3 this Act (other than an organization described in 

4 section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

5 1986). 

6 ‘‘(3) An organization described in section 

7 501(c) of such Code and exempt from taxation 

8 under section 501(a) of such Code (other than an 

9 organization described in section 501(c)(3) of such 

10 Code). 

11 ‘‘(4) A labor organization (as defined in section 

12 316(b)). 

13 ‘‘(5) Any political organization under section 

14 527 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, other 

15 than a political committee under this Act (except as 

16 provided in paragraph (6)). 

17 ‘‘(6) A political committee with an account that 

18 accepts donations or contributions that do not com19 ply with the contribution limits or source prohibi20 tions under this Act, but only with respect to such 

21 accounts. 

22 ‘‘(f) COVERED TRANSFER DEFINED.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section, the term 

24 ‘covered transfer’ means any transfer or payment of 


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1 funds by a covered organization to another person if 

2 the covered organization— 

3 ‘‘(A) designates, requests, or suggests that 

4 the amounts be used for— 

5 ‘‘(i) campaign-related disbursements 

6 (other than covered transfers); or 

7 ‘‘(ii) making a transfer to another 

8 person for the purpose of making or pay9 ing for such campaign-related disburse10 ments; 

11 ‘‘(B) made such transfer or payment in re12 sponse to a solicitation or other request for a 

13 donation or payment for— 

14 ‘‘(i) the making of or paying for cam15 paign-related disbursements (other than 

16 covered transfers); or 

17 ‘‘(ii) making a transfer to another 

18 person for the purpose of making or pay19 ing for such campaign-related disburse20 ments; 

21 ‘‘(C) engaged in discussions with the re22 cipient of the transfer or payment regarding— 

23 ‘‘(i) the making of or paying for cam24 paign-related disbursements (other than 

25 covered transfers); or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) donating or transferring any 

2 amount of such transfer or payment to an3 other person for the purpose of making or 

4 paying for such campaign-related disburse5 ments; 

6 ‘‘(D) made campaign-related disburse7 ments (other than a covered transfer) in an ag8 gregate amount of $50,000 or more during the 

9 2-year period ending on the date of the transfer 

10 or payment, or knew or had reason to know 

11 that the person receiving the transfer or pay12 ment made such disbursements in such an ag13 gregate amount during that 2-year period; or 

14 ‘‘(E) knew or had reason to know that the 

15 person receiving the transfer or payment would 

16 make campaign-related disbursements in an ag17 gregate amount of $50,000 or more during the 

18 2-year period beginning on the date of the 

19 transfer or payment. 

20 ‘‘(2) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘covered transfer’ 

21 does not include any of the following: 

22 ‘‘(A) A disbursement made by a covered 

23 organization in a commercial transaction in the 

24 ordinary course of any trade or business con25 ducted by the covered organization or in the 


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1 form of investments made by the covered orga2 nization. 

3 ‘‘(B) A disbursement made by a covered 

4 organization if— 

5 ‘‘(i) the covered organization prohib6 ited, in writing, the use of such disburse7 ment for campaign-related disbursements; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(ii) the recipient of the disbursement 

10 agreed to follow the prohibition and depos11 ited the disbursement in an account which 

12 is segregated from any account used to 

13 make campaign-related disbursements. 

14 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE REGARDING TRANSFERS

15 AMONG AFFILIATES.— 

16 ‘‘(A) SPECIAL RULE.—A transfer of an 

17 amount by one covered organization to another 

18 covered organization which is treated as a 

19 transfer between affiliates under subparagraph 

20 (C) shall be considered a covered transfer by 

21 the covered organization which transfers the 

22 amount only if the aggregate amount trans23 ferred during the year by such covered organi24 zation to that same covered organization is 

25 equal to or greater than $50,000. 


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1 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT OF

2 CERTAIN PAYMENTS AMONG AFFILIATES.—In 

3 determining the amount of a transfer between 

4 affiliates for purposes of subparagraph (A), to 

5 the extent that the transfer consists of funds 

6 attributable to dues, fees, or assessments which 

7 are paid by individuals on a regular, periodic 

8 basis in accordance with a per-individual cal9 culation which is made on a regular basis, the 

10 transfer shall be attributed to the individuals 

11 paying the dues, fees, or assessments and shall 

12 not be attributed to the covered organization. 

13 ‘‘(C) DESCRIPTION OF TRANSFERS BE14 TWEEN AFFILIATES.—A transfer of amounts 

15 from one covered organization to another cov16 ered organization shall be treated as a transfer 

17 between affiliates if— 

18 ‘‘(i) one of the organizations is an af19 filiate of the other organization; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) each of the organizations is an 

21 affiliate of the same organization, 

22 except that the transfer shall not be treated as 

23 a transfer between affiliates if one of the orga24 nizations is established for the purpose of mak25 ing campaign-related disbursements. 


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1 ‘‘(D) DETERMINATION OF AFFILIATE STA2 TUS.—For purposes of subparagraph (C), a 

3 covered organization is an affiliate of another 

4 covered organization if— 

5 ‘‘(i) the governing instrument of the 

6 organization requires it to be bound by de7 cisions of the other organization; 

8 ‘‘(ii) the governing board of the orga9 nization includes persons who are specifi10 cally designated representatives of the 

11 other organization or are members of the 

12 governing board, officers, or paid executive 

13 staff members of the other organization, or 

14 whose service on the governing board is 

15 contingent upon the approval of the other 

16 organization; or 

17 ‘‘(iii) the organization is chartered by 

18 the other organization. 

19 ‘‘(E) COVERAGE OF TRANSFERS TO AF20 FILIATED SECTION 501(c)(3) ORGANIZA21 TIONS.—This paragraph shall apply with re22 spect to an amount transferred by a covered or23 ganization to an organization described in para24 graph (3) of section 501(c) of the Internal Rev25 enue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under 


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1 section 501(a) of such Code in the same man2 ner as this paragraph applies to an amount 

3 transferred by a covered organization to an4 other covered organization. 

5 ‘‘(g) NO EFFECT ON OTHER REPORTING REQUIRE6 MENTS.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to 

7 waive or otherwise affect any other requirement of this 

8 Act which relates to the reporting of campaign-related dis9 bursements.’’. 

10 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

11 304(f)(6) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30104) is amended 

12 by striking ‘‘Any requirement’’ and inserting ‘‘Ex13 cept as provided in section 324(b), any require14 ment’’. 

15 (b) COORDINATION WITH FINCEN.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Finan17 cial Crimes Enforcement Network of the Depart18 ment of the Treasury shall provide the Federal Elec19 tion Commission with such information as necessary 

20 to assist in administering and enforcing section 324 

21 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as 

22 added by this section. 

23 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after 

24 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Chairman 

25 of the Federal Election Commission, in consultation 


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1 with the Director of the Financial Crimes Enforce2 ment Network of the Department of the Treasury, 

3 shall submit to Congress a report with recommenda4 tions for providing further legislative authority to as5 sist in the administration and enforcement of such 

6 section 324. 

7 SEC. 4112. APPLICATION OF FOREIGN MONEY BAN TO DIS8 BURSEMENTS FOR CAMPAIGN-RELATED DIS9 BURSEMENTS CONSISTING OF COVERED 

10 TRANSFERS. 

11 Section 319(a)(1)(A) of the Federal Election Cam12 paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121(a)(1)(A)), as amend13 ed by section 4102, is amended by striking the semicolon 

14 and inserting the following: ‘‘, and any disbursement to 

15 another person who made a campaign-related disburse16 ment consisting of a covered transfer (as described in sec17 tion 324) during the 2-year period ending on the date of 

18 the disbursement;’’. 

19 SEC. 4113. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

20 The amendments made by this part shall apply with 

21 respect to disbursements made on or after January 1, 

22 2020, and shall take effect without regard to whether or 

23 not the Federal Election Commission has promulgated 

24 regulations to carry out such amendments. 


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1 PART 3—OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS 

2 SEC. 4121. PETITION FOR CERTIORARI. 

3 Section 307(a)(6) of the Federal Election Campaign 

4 Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30107(a)(6)) is amended by in5 serting ‘‘(including a proceeding before the Supreme 

6 Court on certiorari)’’ after ‘‘appeal’’. 

7 SEC. 4122. JUDICIAL REVIEW OF ACTIONS RELATED TO 

8 CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAWS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Federal Election 

10 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30141 et seq.) is 

11 amended by inserting after section 406 the following new 

12 section: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 407. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 373(f), 

15 if any action is brought for declaratory or injunctive relief 

16 to challenge the constitutionality of any provision of this 

17 Act or of chapter 95 or 96 of the Internal Revenue Code 

18 of 1986, or is brought to with respect to any action of 

19 the Commission under chapter 95 or 96 of the Internal 

20 Revenue Code of 1986, the following rules shall apply: 

21 ‘‘(1) The action shall be filed in the United 

22 States District Court for the District of Columbia 

23 and an appeal from the decision of the district court 

24 may be taken to the Court of Appeals for the Dis25 trict of Columbia Circuit. 


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1 ‘‘(2) In the case of an action relating to declar2 atory or injunctive relief to challenge the constitu3 tionality of a provision— 

4 ‘‘(A) a copy of the complaint shall be deliv5 ered promptly to the Clerk of the House of 

6 Representatives and the Secretary of the Sen7 ate; and 

8 ‘‘(B) it shall be the duty of the United 

9 States District Court for the District of Colum10 bia, the Court of Appeals for the District of Co11 lumbia, and the Supreme Court of the United 

12 States to advance on the docket and to expedite 

13 to the greatest possible extent the disposition of 

14 the action and appeal. 

15 ‘‘(b) INTERVENTION BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.— 

16 In any action in which the constitutionality of any provi17 sion of this Act or chapter 95 or 96 of the Internal Rev18 enue Code of 1986 is raised, any Member of the House 

19 of Representatives (including a Delegate or Resident Com20 missioner to the Congress) or Senate shall have the right 

21 to intervene either in support of or opposition to the posi22 tion of a party to the case regarding the constitutionality 

23 of the provision. To avoid duplication of efforts and reduce 

24 the burdens placed on the parties to the action, the court 

25 in any such action may make such orders as it considers 


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1 necessary, including orders to require interveners taking 

2 similar positions to file joint papers or to be represented 

3 by a single attorney at oral argument. 

4 ‘‘(c) CHALLENGE BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.—Any 

5 Member of Congress may bring an action, subject to the 

6 special rules described in subsection (a), for declaratory 

7 or injunctive relief to challenge the constitutionality of any 

8 provision of this Act or chapter 95 or 96 of the Internal 

9 Revenue Code of 1986.’’. 

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

12 (A) Section 9011 of the Internal Revenue 

13 Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 9011. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

15 ‘‘For provisions relating to judicial review of certifi16 cations, determinations, and actions by the Commission 

17 under this chapter, see section 407 of the Federal Election 

18 Campaign Act of 1971.’’. 

19 (B) Section 9041 of the Internal Revenue 

20 Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 9041. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

22 ‘‘For provisions relating to judicial review of actions 

23 by the Commission under this chapter, see section 407 of 

24 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.’’. 


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1 (C) Section 403 of the Bipartisan Cam2 paign Finance Reform Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 

3 30110 note) is repealed. 

4 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

5 this section shall apply to actions brought on or after Jan6 uary 1, 2019. 

7 Subtitle C—Honest Ads 

8 SEC. 4201. SHORT TITLE. 

9 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Honest Ads Act’’. 

10 SEC. 4202. PURPOSE. 

11 The purpose of this subtitle is to enhance the integ12 rity of American democracy and national security by im13 proving disclosure requirements for online political adver14 tisements in order to uphold the Supreme Court’s well15 established standard that the electorate bears the right to 

16 be fully informed. 

17 SEC. 4203. FINDINGS. 

18 Congress makes the following findings: 

19 (1) On January 6, 2017, the Office of the Di20 rector of National Intelligence published a report ti21 tled ‘‘Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in 

22 Recent U.S. Elections’’, noting that ‘‘Russian Presi23 dent Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign 

24 in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election . . .’’. 

25 Moscow’s influence campaign followed a Russian 


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1 messaging strategy that blends covert intelligence 

2 operation—such as cyber activity—with overt efforts 

3 by Russian Government agencies, state-funded 

4 media, third-party intermediaries, and paid social 

5 media users or ‘‘trolls’’. 

6 (2) On November 24, 2016, The Washington 

7 Post reported findings from 2 teams of independent 

8 researchers that concluded Russians ‘‘exploited 

9 American-made technology platforms to attack U.S. 

10 democracy at a particularly vulnerable moment . . . 

11 as part of a broadly effective strategy of sowing dis12 trust in U.S. democracy and its leaders.’’. 

13 (3) Findings from a 2017 study on the manipu14 lation of public opinion through social media con15 ducted by the Computational Propaganda Research 

16 Project at the Oxford Internet Institute found that 

17 the Kremlin is using pro-Russian bots to manipulate 

18 public discourse to a highly targeted audience. With 

19 a sample of nearly 1,300,000 tweets, researchers 

20 found that in the 2016 election’s 3 decisive States, 

21 propaganda constituted 40 percent of the sampled 

22 election-related tweets that went to Pennsylvanians, 

23 34 percent to Michigan voters, and 30 percent to 

24 those in Wisconsin. In other swing States, the figure 

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1 ida, 40 percent in North Carolina, 38 percent in 

2 Colorado, and 35 percent in Ohio. 

3 (4) On September 6, 2017, the nation’s largest 

4 social media platform disclosed that between June 

5 2015 and May 2017, Russian entities purchased 

6 $100,000 in political advertisements, publishing 

7 roughly 3,000 ads linked to fake accounts associated 

8 with the Internet Research Agency, a pro-Kremlin 

9 organization. According to the company, the ads 

10 purchased focused ‘‘on amplifying divisive social and 

11 political messages . . .’’. 

12 (5) In 2002, the Bipartisan Campaign Reform 

13 Act became law, establishing disclosure requirements 

14 for political advertisements distributed from a tele15 vision or radio broadcast station or provider of cable 

16 or satellite television. In 2003, the Supreme Court 

17 upheld regulations on electioneering communications 

18 established under the Act, noting that such require19 ments ‘‘provide the electorate with information and 

20 insure that the voters are fully informed about the 

21 person or group who is speaking.’’. 

22 (6) According to a study from Borrell Associ23 ates, in 2016, $1,415,000,000 was spent on online 

24 advertising, more than quadruple the amount in 

25 2012. 


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1 (7) The reach of a few large internet plat2 forms—larger than any broadcast, satellite, or cable 

3 provider—has greatly facilitated the scope and effec4 tiveness of disinformation campaigns. For instance, 

5 the largest platform has over 210,000,000 Ameri6 cans users—over 160,000,000 of them on a daily 

7 basis. By contrast, the largest cable television pro8 vider has 22,430,000 subscribers, while the largest 

9 satellite television provider has 21,000,000 sub10 scribers. And the most-watched television broadcast 

11 in United States history had 118,000,000 viewers. 

12 (8) The public nature of broadcast television, 

13 radio, and satellite ensures a level of publicity for 

14 any political advertisement. These communications 

15 are accessible to the press, fact-checkers, and polit16 ical opponents; this creates strong disincentives for 

17 a candidate to disseminate materially false, inflam18 matory, or contradictory messages to the public. So19 cial media platforms, in contrast, can target portions 

20 of the electorate with direct, ephemeral advertise21 ments often on the basis of private information the 

22 platform has on individuals, enabling political adver23 tisements that are contradictory, racially or socially 

24 inflammatory, or materially false. 


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1 (9) According to comScore, 2 companies own 8 

2 of the 10 most popular smartphone applications as 

3 of June 2017, including the most popular social 

4 media and email services—which deliver information 

5 and news to users without requiring proactivity by 

6 the user. Those same 2 companies accounted for 99 

7 percent of revenue growth from digital advertising in 

8 2016, including 77 percent of gross spending. 79 

9 percent of online Americans—representing 68 per10 cent of all Americans—use the single largest social 

11 network, while 66 percent of these users are most 

12 likely to get their news from that site. 

13 (10) In its 2006 rulemaking, the Federal Elec14 tion Commission noted that only 18 percent of all 

15 Americans cited the internet as their leading source 

16 of news about the 2004 Presidential election; by con17 trast, the Pew Research Center found that 65 per18 cent of Americans identified an internet-based 

19 source as their leading source of information for the 

20 2016 election. 

21 (11) The Federal Election Commission, the 

22 independent Federal agency charged with protecting 

23 the integrity of the Federal campaign finance proc24 ess by providing transparency and administering 


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1 campaign finance laws, has failed to take action to 

2 address online political advertisements. 

3 (12) In testimony before the Senate Select 

4 Committee on Intelligence titled, ‘‘Disinformation: A 

5 Primer in Russian Active Measures and Influence 

6 Campaigns’’, multiple expert witnesses testified that 

7 while the disinformation tactics of foreign adver8 saries have not necessarily changed, social media 

9 services now provide ‘‘platform[s] practically pur10 pose-built for active measures[.]’’ Similarly, as Gen. 

11 Keith B. Alexander (RET.), the former Director of 

12 the National Security Agency, testified, during the 

13 Cold War ‘‘if the Soviet Union sought to manipulate 

14 information flow, it would have to do so principally 

15 through its own propaganda outlets or through ac16 tive measures that would generate specific news: 

17 planting of leaflets, inciting of violence, creation of 

18 other false materials and narratives. But the news 

19 itself was hard to manipulate because it would have 

20 required actual control of the organs of media, which 

21 took long-term efforts to penetrate. Today, however, 

22 because the clear majority of the information on so23 cial media sites is uncurated and there is a rapid 

24 proliferation of information sources and other sites 

25 that can reinforce information, there is an increasing 


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1 likelihood that the information available to average 

2 consumers may be inaccurate (whether intentionally 

3 or otherwise) and may be more easily manipulable 

4 than in prior eras.’’. 

5 (13) Current regulations on political advertise6 ments do not provide sufficient transparency to up7 hold the public’s right to be fully informed about po8 litical advertisements made online. 

9 SEC. 4204. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

10 It is the sense of Congress that— 

11 (1) the dramatic increase in digital political ad12 vertisements, and the growing centrality of online 

13 platforms in the lives of Americans, requires the 

14 Congress and the Federal Election Commission to 

15 take meaningful action to ensure that laws and reg16 ulations provide the accountability and transparency 

17 that is fundamental to our democracy; 

18 (2) free and fair elections require both trans19 parency and accountability which give the public a 

20 right to know the true sources of funding for polit21 ical advertisements in order to make informed polit22 ical choices and hold elected officials accountable; 

23 and 

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1 nance laws, including the prohibition on campaign 

2 spending by foreign nationals. 

3 SEC. 4205. EXPANSION OF DEFINITION OF PUBLIC COMMU4 NICATION. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (22) of section 301 of 

6 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 

7 30101(22)) is amended by striking ‘‘or satellite commu8 nication’’ and inserting ‘‘satellite, paid internet, or paid 

9 digital communication’’. 

10 (b) TREATMENT OF CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDI11 TURES.—Section 301 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30101) is 

12 amended— 

13 (1) in paragraph (8)(B)— 

14 (A) in clause (v), by striking ‘‘on broad15 casting stations, or in newspapers, magazines, 

16 or similar types of general public political ad17 vertising’’ and inserting ‘‘in any public commu18 nication’’; 

19 (B) in clause (ix), by striking ‘‘broad20 casting, newspaper, magazine, billboard, direct 

21 mail, or similar type of general public commu22 nication or political advertising’’ and inserting 

23 ‘‘public communication’’; and 

24 (C) in clause (x), by striking ‘‘but not in25 cluding the use of broadcasting, newspapers, 


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1 magazines, billboards, direct mail, or similar 

2 types of general public communication or polit3 ical advertising’’ and inserting ‘‘but not includ4 ing use in any public communication’’; and 

5 (2) in paragraph (9)(B)— 

6 (A) by amending clause (i) to read as fol7 lows: 

8 ‘‘(i) any news story, commentary, or 

9 editorial distributed through the facilities 

10 of any broadcasting station or any print, 

11 online, or digital newspaper, magazine, 

12 blog, publication, or periodical, unless such 

13 broadcasting, print, online, or digital facili14 ties are owned or controlled by any polit15 ical party, political committee, or can16 didate;’’; and 

17 (B) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘on broad18 casting stations, or in newspapers, magazines, 

19 or similar types of general public political ad20 vertising’’ and inserting ‘‘in any public commu21 nication’’. 

22 (c) DISCLOSURE AND DISCLAIMER STATEMENTS.— 

23 Subsection (a) of section 318 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

24 30120) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘financing any communication 

2 through any broadcasting station, newspaper, maga3 zine, outdoor advertising facility, mailing, or any 

4 other type of general public political advertising’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘financing any public communication’’; 

6 and 

7 (2) by striking ‘‘solicits any contribution 

8 through any broadcasting station, newspaper, maga9 zine, outdoor advertising facility, mailing, or any 

10 other type of general public political advertising’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘solicits any contribution through any 

12 public communication’’. 

13 SEC. 4206. EXPANSION OF DEFINITION OF ELECTION14 EERING COMMUNICATION. 

15 (a) EXPANSION TO ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS.— 

16 (1) APPLICATION TO QUALIFIED INTERNET AND

17 DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) of 

19 section 304(f)(3) of the Federal Election Cam20 paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)(3)(A)) 

21 is amended by striking ‘‘or satellite communica22 tion’’ each place it appears in clauses (i) and 

23 (ii) and inserting ‘‘satellite, or qualified internet 

24 or digital communication’’. 


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1 (B) QUALIFIED INTERNET OR DIGITAL

2 COMMUNICATION.—Paragraph (3) of section 

3 304(f) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)) is 

4 amended by adding at the end the following 

5 new subparagraph: 

6 ‘‘(D) QUALIFIED INTERNET OR DIGITAL

7 COMMUNICATION.—The term ‘qualified internet 

8 or digital communication’ means any commu9 nication which is placed or promoted for a fee 

10 on an online platform (as defined in subsection 

11 (j)(3)).’’. 

12 (2) NONAPPLICATION OF RELEVANT ELEC13 TORATE TO ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS.—Section 

14 304(f)(3)(A)(i)(III) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

15 30104(f)(3)(A)(i)(III)) is amended by inserting ‘‘any 

16 broadcast, cable, or satellite’’ before ‘‘communica17 tion’’. 

18 (3) NEWS EXEMPTION.—Section 

19 304(f)(3)(B)(i) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

20 30104(f)(3)(B)(i)) is amended to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(i) a communication appearing in a 

22 news story, commentary, or editorial dis23 tributed through the facilities of any 

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1 tion, or periodical, unless such broad2 casting, online, or digital facilities are 

3 owned or controlled by any political party, 

4 political committee, or candidate;’’. 

5 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

6 this section shall apply with respect to communications 

7 made on or after January 1, 2020. 

8 SEC. 4207. APPLICATION OF DISCLAIMER STATEMENTS TO 

9 ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS. 

10 (a) CLEAR AND CONSPICUOUS MANNER REQUIRE11 MENT.—Subsection (a) of section 318 of the Federal Elec12 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30120(a)) is 

13 amended— 

14 (1) by striking ‘‘shall clearly state’’ each place 

15 it appears in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) and in16 serting ‘‘shall state in a clear and conspicuous man17 ner’’; and 

18 (2) by adding at the end the following flush 

19 sentence: ‘‘For purposes of this section, a commu20 nication does not make a statement in a clear and 

21 conspicuous manner if it is difficult to read or hear 

22 or if the placement is easily overlooked.’’. 

23 (b) SPECIAL RULES FOR QUALIFIED INTERNET OR

24 DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 318 of such Act (52 

2 U.S.C. 30120) is amended by adding at the end the 

3 following new subsection: 

4 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULES FOR QUALIFIED INTERNET OR

5 DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) SPECIAL RULES WITH RESPECT TO STATE7 MENTS.—In the case of any qualified internet or 

8 digital communication (as defined in section 

9 304(f)(3)(D)) which is disseminated through a me10 dium in which the provision of all of the information 

11 specified in this section is not possible, the commu12 nication shall, in a clear and conspicuous manner— 

13 ‘‘(A) state the name of the person who 

14 paid for the communication; and 

15 ‘‘(B) provide a means for the recipient of 

16 the communication to obtain the remainder of 

17 the information required under this section with 

18 minimal effort and without receiving or viewing 

19 any additional material other than such re20 quired information. 

21 ‘‘(2) SAFE HARBOR FOR DETERMINING CLEAR

22 AND CONSPICUOUS MANNER.—A statement in quali23 fied internet or digital communication (as defined in 

24 section 304(f)(3)(D)) shall be considered to be made 

25 in a clear and conspicuous manner as provided in 


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1 subsection (a) if the communication meets the fol2 lowing requirements: 

3 ‘‘(A) TEXT OR GRAPHIC COMMUNICA4 TIONS.—In the case of a text or graphic com5 munication, the statement— 

6 ‘‘(i) appears in letters at least as large 

7 as the majority of the text in the commu8 nication; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) meets the requirements of para10 graphs (2) and (3) of subsection (c). 

11 ‘‘(B) AUDIO COMMUNICATIONS.—In the 

12 case of an audio communication, the statement 

13 is spoken in a clearly audible and intelligible 

14 manner at the beginning or end of the commu15 nication and lasts at least 3 seconds. 

16 ‘‘(C) VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS.—In the 

17 case of a video communication which also in18 cludes audio, the statement— 

19 ‘‘(i) is included at either the beginning 

20 or the end of the communication; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) is made both in— 

22 ‘‘(I) a written format that meets 

23 the requirements of subparagraph (A) 

24 and appears for at least 4 seconds; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(II) an audible format that 

2 meets the requirements of subpara3 graph (B). 

4 ‘‘(D) OTHER COMMUNICATIONS.—In the 

5 case of any other type of communication, the 

6 statement is at least as clear and conspicuous 

7 as the statement specified in subparagraph (A), 

8 (B), or (C).’’. 

9 (2) NONAPPLICATION OF CERTAIN EXCEP10 TIONS.—The exceptions provided in section 

11 110.11(f)(1)(i) and (ii) of title 11, Code of Federal 

12 Regulations, or any successor to such rules, shall 

13 have no application to qualified internet or digital 

14 communications (as defined in section 304(f)(3)(D) 

15 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971). 

16 (c) MODIFICATION OF ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

17 FOR CERTAIN COMMUNICATIONS.—Section 318(d) of such 

18 Act (52 U.S.C. 30120(d)) is amended— 

19 (1) in paragraph (1)(A)— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘which is transmitted 

21 through radio’’ and inserting ‘‘which is in an 

22 audio format’’; and 

23 (B) by striking ‘‘BY RADIO’’ in the heading 

24 and inserting ‘‘AUDIO FORMAT’’; 

25 (2) in paragraph (1)(B)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘which is transmitted 

2 through television’’ and inserting ‘‘which is in 

3 video format’’; and 

4 (B) by striking ‘‘BY TELEVISION’’ in the 

5 heading and inserting ‘‘VIDEO FORMAT’’; and 

6 (3) in paragraph (2)— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘transmitted through radio 

8 or television’’ and inserting ‘‘made in audio or 

9 video format’’; and 

10 (B) by striking ‘‘through television’’ in the 

11 second sentence and inserting ‘‘in video for12 mat’’. 

13 SEC. 4208. POLITICAL RECORD REQUIREMENTS FOR ON14 LINE PLATFORMS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 304 of the Federal Elec16 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104) is amended 

17 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

18 ‘‘(j) DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN ONLINE ADVERTISE19 MENTS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

21 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENTS FOR ONLINE PLAT22 FORMS.—An online platform shall maintain, 

23 and make available for online public inspection 

24 in machine readable format, a complete record 

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1 form a qualified political advertisement which is 

2 made by a person whose aggregate requests to 

3 purchase qualified political advertisements on 

4 such online platform during the calendar year 

5 exceeds $500. 

6 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS FOR ADVER7 TISERS.—Any person who requests to purchase 

8 a qualified political advertisement on an online 

9 platform shall provide the online platform with 

10 such information as is necessary for the online 

11 platform to comply with the requirements of 

12 subparagraph (A). 

13 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF RECORD.—A record main14 tained under paragraph (1)(A) shall contain— 

15 ‘‘(A) a digital copy of the qualified political 

16 advertisement; 

17 ‘‘(B) a description of the audience targeted 

18 by the advertisement, the number of views gen19 erated from the advertisement, and the date 

20 and time that the advertisement is first dis21 played and last displayed; and 

22 ‘‘(C) information regarding— 

23 ‘‘(i) the average rate charged for the 

24 advertisement; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the name of the candidate to 

2 which the advertisement refers and the of3 fice to which the candidate is seeking elec4 tion, the election to which the advertise5 ment refers, or the national legislative 

6 issue to which the advertisement refers (as 

7 applicable); 

8 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a request made 

9 by, or on behalf of, a candidate, the name 

10 of the candidate, the authorized committee 

11 of the candidate, and the treasurer of such 

12 committee; and 

13 ‘‘(iv) in the case of any request not 

14 described in clause (iii), the name of the 

15 person purchasing the advertisement, the 

16 name, address, and phone number of a 

17 contact person for such person, and a list 

18 of the chief executive officers or members 

19 of the executive committee or of the board 

20 of directors of such person. 

21 ‘‘(3) ONLINE PLATFORM.—For purposes of this 

22 subsection, the term ‘online platform’ means any 

23 public-facing website, web application, or digital ap24 plication (including a social network, ad network, or 

25 search engine) which— 


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1 ‘‘(A) sells qualified political advertise2 ments; and 

3 ‘‘(B) has 50,000,000 or more unique 

4 monthly United States visitors or users for a 

5 majority of months during the preceding 12 

6 months. 

7 ‘‘(4) QUALIFIED POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this 

9 subsection, the term ‘qualified political adver10 tisement’ means any advertisement (including 

11 search engine marketing, display advertise12 ments, video advertisements, native advertise13 ments, and sponsorships) that— 

14 ‘‘(i) is made by or on behalf of a can15 didate; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) communicates a message relating 

17 to any political matter of national impor18 tance, including— 

19 ‘‘(I) a candidate; 

20 ‘‘(II) any election to Federal of21 fice; or 

22 ‘‘(III) a national legislative issue 

23 of public importance. 

24 ‘‘(5) TIME TO MAINTAIN FILE.—The informa25 tion required under this subsection shall be made 


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1 available as soon as possible and shall be retained by 

2 the online platform for a period of not less than 4 

3 years. 

4 ‘‘(6) PENALTIES.—For penalties for failure by 

5 online platforms, and persons requesting to purchase 

6 a qualified political advertisement on online plat7 forms, to comply with the requirements of this sub8 section, see section 309.’’. 

9 (b) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 90 days after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Election 

11 Commission shall establish rules— 

12 (1) requiring common data formats for the 

13 record required to be maintained under section 

14 304(j) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

15 1971 (as added by subsection (a)) so that all online 

16 platforms submit and maintain data online in a com17 mon, machine-readable and publicly accessible for18 mat; and 

19 (2) establishing search interface requirements 

20 relating to such record, including searches by can21 didate name, issue, purchaser, and date. 

22 (c) REPORTING.—Not later than 2 years after the 

23 date of the enactment of this Act, and biannually there24 after, the Chairman of the Federal Election Commission 

25 shall submit a report to Congress on— 


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1 (1) matters relating to compliance with and the 

2 enforcement of the requirements of section 304(j) of 

3 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as 

4 added by subsection (a); 

5 (2) recommendations for any modifications to 

6 such section to assist in carrying out its purposes; 

7 and 

8 (3) identifying ways to bring transparency and 

9 accountability to political advertisements distributed 

10 online for free. 

11 SEC. 4209. PREVENTING CONTRIBUTIONS, EXPENDITURES, 

12 INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES, AND DIS13 BURSEMENTS FOR ELECTIONEERING COM14 MUNICATIONS BY FOREIGN NATIONALS IN 

15 THE FORM OF ONLINE ADVERTISING. 

16 Section 319 of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

17 of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121), as amended by section 

18 4101(b), is further amended by adding at the end the fol19 lowing new subsection: 

20 ‘‘(d) RESPONSIBILITIES OF BROADCAST STATIONS, 

21 PROVIDERS OF CABLE AND SATELLITE TELEVISION, AND

22 ONLINE PLATFORMS.—Each television or radio broadcast 

23 station, provider of cable or satellite television, or online 

24 platform (as defined in section 304(j)(3)) shall make rea25 sonable efforts to ensure that communications described 


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1 in section 318(a) and made available by such station, pro2 vider, or platform are not purchased by a foreign national, 

3 directly or indirectly.’’. 

4 Subtitle D—Stand By Every Ad 

5 SEC. 4301. SHORT TITLE. 

6 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stand By Every Ad 

7 Act’’. 

8 SEC. 4302. STAND BY EVERY AD. 

9 (a) EXPANDED DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS FOR

10 CERTAIN COMMUNICATIONS.—Section 318 of the Federal 

11 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30120), as 

12 amended by section 4207(b)(1), is further amended— 

13 (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub14 section (f); and 

15 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol16 lowing new subsection: 

17 ‘‘(e) EXPANDED DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS FOR

18 COMMUNICATIONS NOT AUTHORIZED BY CANDIDATES OR

19 COMMITTEES.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para21 graph (6), any communication described in para22 graph (3) of subsection (a) which is transmitted in 

23 an audio or video format (including an internet or 

24 digital communication), or which is an internet or 

25 digital communication transmitted in a text or 


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1 graphic format, shall include, in addition to the re2 quirements of paragraph (3) of subsection (a), the 

3 following: 

4 ‘‘(A) The individual disclosure statement 

5 described in paragraph (2)(A) (if the person 

6 paying for the communication is an individual) 

7 or the organizational disclosure statement de8 scribed in paragraph (2)(B) (if the person pay9 ing for the communication is not an individual). 

10 ‘‘(B) If the communication is transmitted 

11 in a video format, or is an internet or digital 

12 communication which is transmitted in a text or 

13 graphic format, and is paid for in whole or in 

14 part with a payment which is treated as a cam15 paign-related disbursement under section 324, 

16 the Top Five Funders list (if applicable), un17 less, on the basis of criteria established in regu18 lations issued by the Commission, the commu19 nication is of such short duration that including 

20 the Top Five Funders list in the communication 

21 would constitute a hardship to the person pay22 ing for the communication by requiring a dis23 proportionate amount of the content of the 

24 communication to consist of the Top Five 

25 Funders list. 


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1 ‘‘(C) If the communication is transmitted 

2 in an audio format and is paid for in whole or 

3 in part with a payment which is treated as a 

4 campaign-related disbursement under section 

5 324, the Top Two Funders list (if applicable), 

6 unless, on the basis of criteria established in 

7 regulations issued by the Commission, the com8 munication is of such short duration that in9 cluding the Top Two Funders list in the com10 munication would constitute a hardship to the 

11 person paying for the communication by requir12 ing a disproportionate amount of the content of 

13 the communication to consist of the Top Two 

14 Funders list. 

15 ‘‘(2) DISCLOSURE STATEMENTS DESCRIBED.— 

16 ‘‘(A) INDIVIDUAL DISCLOSURE STATE17 MENTS.—The individual disclosure statement 

18 described in this subparagraph is the following: 

19 ‘I am llllllll, and I approve this 

20 message.’, with the blank filled in with the 

21 name of the applicable individual. 

22 ‘‘(B) ORGANIZATIONAL DISCLOSURE

23 STATEMENTS.—The organizational disclosure 

24 statement described in this subparagraph is the 

25 following: ‘I am llllllll, the 


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1 llllllll of llllllll, and 

2 llllllll approves this message.’, 

3 with— 

4 ‘‘(i) the first blank to be filled in with 

5 the name of the applicable individual; 

6 ‘‘(ii) the second blank to be filled in 

7 with the title of the applicable individual; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(iii) the third and fourth blank each 

10 to be filled in with the name of the organi11 zation or other person paying for the com12 munication. 

13 ‘‘(3) METHOD OF CONVEYANCE OF STATE14 MENT.— 

15 ‘‘(A) COMMUNICATIONS IN TEXT OR

16 GRAPHIC FORMAT.—In the case of a commu17 nication to which this subsection applies which 

18 is transmitted in a text or graphic format, the 

19 disclosure statements required under paragraph 

20 (1) shall appear in letters at least as large as 

21 the majority of the text in the communication. 

22 ‘‘(B) COMMUNICATIONS TRANSMITTED IN

23 AUDIO FORMAT.—In the case of a communica24 tion to which this subsection applies which is 

25 transmitted in an audio format, the disclosure 


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1 statements required under paragraph (1) shall 

2 be made by audio by the applicable individual 

3 in a clear and conspicuous manner. 

4 ‘‘(C) COMMUNICATIONS TRANSMITTED IN

5 VIDEO FORMAT.—In the case of a communica6 tion to which this subsection applies which is 

7 transmitted in a video format, the information 

8 required under paragraph (1)— 

9 ‘‘(i) shall appear in writing at the end 

10 of the communication or in a crawl along 

11 the bottom of the communication in a clear 

12 and conspicuous manner, with a reasonable 

13 degree of color contrast between the back14 ground and the printed statement, for a 

15 period of at least 6 seconds; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) shall also be conveyed by an 

17 unobscured, full-screen view of the applica18 ble individual or by the applicable indi19 vidual making the statement in voice-over 

20 accompanied by a clearly identifiable pho21 tograph or similar image of the individual, 

22 except in the case of a Top Five Funders 

23 list. 


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1 ‘‘(4) APPLICABLE INDIVIDUAL DEFINED.—The 

2 term ‘applicable individual’ means, with respect to a 

3 communication to which this subsection applies— 

4 ‘‘(A) if the communication is paid for by 

5 an individual, the individual involved; 

6 ‘‘(B) if the communication is paid for by a 

7 corporation, the chief executive officer of the 

8 corporation (or, if the corporation does not have 

9 a chief executive officer, the highest ranking of10 ficial of the corporation); 

11 ‘‘(C) if the communication is paid for by a 

12 labor organization, the highest ranking officer 

13 of the labor organization; and 

14 ‘‘(D) if the communication is paid for by 

15 any other person, the highest ranking official of 

16 such person. 

17 ‘‘(5) TOP FIVE FUNDERS LIST AND TOP TWO

18 FUNDERS LIST DEFINED.— 

19 ‘‘(A) TOP FIVE FUNDERS LIST.—The term 

20 ‘Top Five Funders list’ means, with respect to 

21 a communication which is paid for in whole or 

22 in part with a campaign-related disbursement 

23 (as defined in section 324), a list of the five 

24 persons who, during the 12-month period end25 ing on the date of the disbursement, provided 


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1 the largest payments of any type in an aggre2 gate amount equal to or exceeding $10,000 to 

3 the person who is paying for the communication 

4 and the amount of the payments each such per5 son provided. If two or more people provided 

6 the fifth largest of such payments, the person 

7 paying for the communication shall select one of 

8 those persons to be included on the Top Five 

9 Funders list. 

10 ‘‘(B) TOP TWO FUNDERS LIST.—The term 

11 ‘Top Two Funders list’ means, with respect to 

12 a communication which is paid for in whole or 

13 in part with a campaign-related disbursement 

14 (as defined in section 324), a list of the persons 

15 who, during the 12-month period ending on the 

16 date of the disbursement, provided the largest 

17 and the second largest payments of any type in 

18 an aggregate amount equal to or exceeding 

19 $10,000 to the person who is paying for the 

20 communication and the amount of the pay21 ments each such person provided. If two or 

22 more persons provided the second largest of 

23 such payments, the person paying for the com24 munication shall select one of those persons to 

25 be included on the Top Two Funders list. 


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1 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN PAY2 MENTS.—For purposes of subparagraphs (A) 

3 and (B), in determining the amount of pay4 ments made by a person to a person paying for 

5 a communication, there shall be excluded the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(i) Any amounts provided in the or8 dinary course of any trade or business con9 ducted by the person paying for the com10 munication or in the form of investments 

11 in the person paying for the communica12 tion. 

13 ‘‘(ii) Any payment which the person 

14 prohibited, in writing, from being used for 

15 campaign-related disbursements, but only 

16 if the person paying for the communication 

17 agreed to follow the prohibition and depos18 ited the payment in an account which is 

19 segregated from any account used to make 

20 campaign-related disbursements. 

21 ‘‘(6) EXCEPTION FOR COMMUNICATIONS PAID

22 FOR BY POLITICAL PARTIES AND CERTAIN POLIT23 ICAL COMMITTEES.—This subsection does not apply 

24 to any communication to which subsection (d)(2) ap25 plies.’’. 


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1 (b) APPLICATION OF EXPANDED REQUIREMENTS TO

2 PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS CONSISTING OF CAMPAIGN3 RELATED DISBURSEMENTS.—Section 318(a) of such Act 

4 (52 U.S.C. 30120(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘for the pur5 pose of financing communications expressly advocating the 

6 election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘for a campaign-related disbursement, as de8 fined in section 324, consisting of a public communica9 tion’’. 

10 (c) EXCEPTION FOR COMMUNICATIONS PAID FOR BY

11 POLITICAL PARTIES AND CERTAIN POLITICAL COMMIT12 TEES.—Section 318(d)(2) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

13 30120(d)(2)) is amended— 

14 (1) in the heading, by striking ‘‘OTHERS’’ and 

15 inserting ‘‘CERTAIN POLITICAL COMMITTEES’’; 

16 (2) by striking ‘‘Any communication’’ and in17 serting ‘‘(A) Any communication’’; 

18 (3) by inserting ‘‘which (except to the extent 

19 provided in subparagraph (B)) is paid for by a polit20 ical committee (including a political committee of a 

21 political party) and’’ after ‘‘subsection (a)’’; 

22 (4) by striking ‘‘or other person’’ each place it 

23 appears; and 

24 (5) by adding at the end the following new sub25 paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(B)(i) This paragraph does not apply to a 

2 communication paid for in whole or in part during 

3 a calendar year with a campaign-related disburse4 ment, but only if the covered organization making 

5 the campaign-related disbursement made campaign6 related disbursements (as defined in section 324) ag7 gregating more than $10,000 during such calendar 

8 year. 

9 ‘‘(ii) For purposes of clause (i), in determining 

10 the amount of campaign-related disbursements made 

11 by a covered organization during a year, there shall 

12 be excluded the following: 

13 ‘‘(I) Any amounts received by the covered 

14 organization in the ordinary course of any trade 

15 or business conducted by the covered organiza16 tion or in the form of investments in the cov17 ered organization. 

18 ‘‘(II) Any amounts received by the covered 

19 organization from a person who prohibited, in 

20 writing, the organization from using such 

21 amounts for campaign-related disbursements, 

22 but only if the covered organization agreed to 

23 follow the prohibition and deposited the 

24 amounts in an account which is segregated 


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1 from any account used to make campaign-re2 lated disbursements.’’. 

3 SEC. 4303. DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS FOR COMMUNICA4 TIONS MADE THROUGH PRERECORDED TELE5 PHONE CALLS. 

6 (a) APPLICATION OF REQUIREMENTS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 318(a) of the Fed8 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 

9 30120(a)), as amended by section 4205(c), is 

10 amended by inserting after ‘‘public communication’’ 

11 each place it appears the following: ‘‘(including a 

12 telephone call consisting in substantial part of a 

13 prerecorded audio message)’’. 

14 (2) APPLICATION TO COMMUNICATIONS SUB15 JECT TO EXPANDED DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS.— 

16 Section 318(e)(1) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

17 30120(e)(1)), as added by section 4302(a), is 

18 amended in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) 

19 by striking ‘‘which is transmitted in an audio or 

20 video format’’ and inserting ‘‘which is transmitted in 

21 an audio or video format or which consists of a tele22 phone call consisting in substantial part of a 

23 prerecorded audio message’’. 

24 (b) TREATMENT AS COMMUNICATION TRANSMITTED

25 IN AUDIO FORMAT.— 


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1 (1) COMMUNICATIONS BY CANDIDATES OR AU2 THORIZED PERSONS.—Section 318(d) of such Act 

3 (52 U.S.C. 30120(d)) is amended by adding at the 

4 end the following new paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(3) PRERECORDED TELEPHONE CALLS.—Any 

6 communication described in paragraph (1), (2), or 

7 (3) of subsection (a) (other than a communication 

8 which is subject to subsection (e)) which is a tele9 phone call consisting in substantial part of a 

10 prerecorded audio message shall include, in addition 

11 to the requirements of such paragraph, the audio 

12 statement required under subparagraph (A) of para13 graph (1) or the audio statement required under 

14 paragraph (2) (whichever is applicable), except that 

15 the statement shall be made at the beginning of the 

16 telephone call.’’. 

17 (2) COMMUNICATIONS SUBJECT TO EXPANDED

18 DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS.—Section 318(e)(3) of 

19 such Act (52 U.S.C. 30120(e)(3)), as added by sec20 tion 4302(a), is amended by adding at the end the 

21 following new subparagraph: 

22 ‘‘(C) PRERECORDED TELEPHONE CALLS.— 

23 In the case of a communication to which this 

24 subsection applies which is a telephone call con25 sisting in substantial part of a prerecorded 


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1 audio message, the communication shall be con2 sidered to be transmitted in an audio format.’’. 

3 SEC. 4304. NO EXPANSION OF PERSONS SUBJECT TO DIS4 CLAIMER REQUIREMENTS ON INTERNET 

5 COMMUNICATIONS. 

6 Nothing in this subtitle or the amendments made by 

7 this subtitle may be construed to require any person who 

8 is not required under section 318 of the Federal Election 

9 Campaign Act of 1971 (as provided under section 110.11 

10 of title 11 of the Code of Federal Regulations) to include 

11 a disclaimer on communications made by the person 

12 through the internet to include any disclaimer on any such 

13 communications. 

14 SEC. 4305. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

15 The amendments made by this subtitle shall apply 

16 with respect to communications made on or after January 

17 1, 2020, and shall take effect without regard to whether 

18 or not the Federal Election Commission has promulgated 

19 regulations to carry out such amendments. 


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1 Subtitle E—Secret Money 

2 Transparency 

3 SEC. 4401. REPEAL OF RESTRICTION OF USE OF FUNDS BY 

4 INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE TO BRING 

5 TRANSPARENCY TO POLITICAL ACTIVITY OF 

6 CERTAIN NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS. 

7 Notwithstanding section 101 of division C of Public 

8 Law 115–245, section 125 of Division E of the Consoli9 dated Appropriations Act, 2018 shall have no force or ef10 fect during fiscal year 2019. 

11 Subtitle F—Shareholder Right-To12 Know 

13 SEC. 4501. REPEAL OF RESTRICTION ON USE OF FUNDS BY 

14 SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION TO 

15 ENSURE SHAREHOLDERS OF CORPORATIONS 

16 HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF CORPORATION POLIT17 ICAL ACTIVITY. 

18 Notwithstanding section 101 of division C of Public 

19 Law 115–245, section 631 of Division E of the Consoli20 dated Appropriations Act, 2019 shall have no force or ef21 fect during fiscal year 2019. 


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1 Subtitle G—Disclosure of Political 

2 Spending by Government Con3 tractors 

4 SEC. 4601. REPEAL OF RESTRICTION ON USE OF FUNDS TO 

5 REQUIRE DISCLOSURE OF POLITICAL SPEND6 ING BY GOVERNMENT CONTRACTORS. 

7 Notwithstanding section 101 of division C of Public 

8 Law 115–245, section 735 of Division E of the Consoli9 dated Appropriations Act, 2019 shall have no force or ef10 fect during fiscal year 2019. 

11 Subtitle H—Limitation and Disclo12 sure Requirements for Presi13 dential Inaugural Committees 

14 SEC. 4701. SHORT TITLE. 

15 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Presidential Inau16 gural Committee Oversight Act’’. 

17 SEC. 4702. LIMITATIONS AND DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN DO18 NATIONS TO, AND DISBURSEMENTS BY, INAU19 GURAL COMMITTEES. 

20 (a) REQUIREMENTS FOR INAUGURAL COMMIT21 TEES.—Title III of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

22 of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) is amended by adding 

23 at the end the following new section: 

24 ‘‘SEC. 325. INAUGURAL COMMITTEES. 

25 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITED DONATIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful— 

2 ‘‘(A) for an Inaugural Committee— 

3 ‘‘(i) to solicit, accept, or receive a do4 nation from a person that is not an indi5 vidual; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) to solicit, accept, or receive a do7 nation from a foreign national; 

8 ‘‘(B) for a person— 

9 ‘‘(i) to make a donation to an Inau10 gural Committee in the name of another 

11 person, or to knowingly authorize his or 

12 her name to be used to effect such a dona13 tion; 

14 ‘‘(ii) to knowingly accept a donation 

15 to an Inaugural Committee made by a per16 son in the name of another person; or 

17 ‘‘(iii) to convert a donation to an In18 augural Committee to personal use as de19 scribed in paragraph (2); and 

20 ‘‘(C) for a foreign national to, directly or 

21 indirectly, make a donation, or make an express 

22 or implied promise to make a donation, to an 

23 Inaugural Committee. 

24 ‘‘(2) CONVERSION OF DONATION TO PERSONAL

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1 nation shall be considered to be converted to per2 sonal use if any part of the donated amount is used 

3 to fulfill a commitment, obligation, or expense of a 

4 person that would exist irrespective of the respon5 sibilities of the Inaugural Committee under chapter 

6 5 of title 36, United States Code. 

7 ‘‘(3) NO EFFECT ON DISBURSEMENT OF UN8 USED FUNDS TO NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS.— 

9 Nothing in this subsection may be construed to pro10 hibit an Inaugural Committee from disbursing un11 used funds to an organization which is described in 

12 section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

13 1986 and is exempt from taxation under section 

14 501(a) of such Code. 

15 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION ON DONATIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for an 

17 individual to make donations to an Inaugural Com18 mittee which, in the aggregate, exceed $50,000. 

19 ‘‘(2) INDEXING.—At the beginning of each 

20 Presidential election year (beginning with 2024), the 

21 amount described in paragraph (1) shall be in22 creased by the cumulative percent difference deter23 mined in section 315(c)(1)(A) since the previous 

24 Presidential election year. If any amount after such 


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1 increase is not a multiple of $1,000, such amount 

2 shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of $1,000. 

3 ‘‘(c) DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN DONATIONS AND DIS4 BURSEMENTS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) DONATIONS OVER $1,000.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An Inaugural Com7 mittee shall file with the Commission a report 

8 disclosing any donation by an individual to the 

9 committee in an amount of $1,000 or more not 

10 later than 24 hours after the receipt of such do11 nation. 

12 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—A report 

13 filed under subparagraph (A) shall contain— 

14 ‘‘(i) the amount of the donation; 

15 ‘‘(ii) the date the donation is received; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(iii) the name and address of the in18 dividual making the donation. 

19 ‘‘(2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than the date 

20 that is 90 days after the date of the Presidential in21 augural ceremony, the Inaugural Committee shall 

22 file with the Commission a report containing the fol23 lowing information: 

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1 gregate amount equal to or greater than 

2 $200— 

3 ‘‘(i) the amount of the donation; 

4 ‘‘(ii) the date the donation is received; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(iii) the name and address of the in7 dividual making the donation. 

8 ‘‘(B) The total amount of all disburse9 ments, and all disbursements in the following 

10 categories: 

11 ‘‘(i) Disbursements made to meet 

12 committee operating expenses. 

13 ‘‘(ii) Repayment of all loans. 

14 ‘‘(iii) Donation refunds and other off15 sets to donations. 

16 ‘‘(iv) Any other disbursements. 

17 ‘‘(C) The name and address of each per18 son— 

19 ‘‘(i) to whom a disbursement in an ag20 gregate amount or value in excess of $200 

21 is made by the committee to meet a com22 mittee operating expense, together with 

23 date, amount, and purpose of such oper24 ating expense; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) who receives a loan repayment 

2 from the committee, together with the date 

3 and amount of such loan repayment; 

4 ‘‘(iii) who receives a donation refund 

5 or other offset to donations from the com6 mittee, together with the date and amount 

7 of such disbursement; and 

8 ‘‘(iv) to whom any other disbursement 

9 in an aggregate amount or value in excess 

10 of $200 is made by the committee, to11 gether with the date and amount of such 

12 disbursement. 

13 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

14 ‘‘(1)(A) The term ‘donation’ includes— 

15 ‘‘(i) any gift, subscription, loan, ad16 vance, or deposit of money or anything of 

17 value made by any person to the com18 mittee; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) the payment by any person of 

20 compensation for the personal services of 

21 another person which are rendered to the 

22 committee without charge for any purpose. 

23 ‘‘(B) The term ‘donation’ does not include the 

24 value of services provided without compensation by 


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1 any individual who volunteers on behalf of the com2 mittee. 

3 ‘‘(2) The term ‘foreign national’ has the mean4 ing given that term by section 319(b). 

5 ‘‘(3) The term ‘Inaugural Committee’ has the 

6 meaning given that term by section 501 of title 36, 

7 United States Code.’’. 

8 (b) CONFIRMING AMENDMENT RELATED TO RE9 PORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 304 of the Federal 

10 Election Campaign Act (52 U.S.C. 30104) is amended— 

11 (1) by striking subsection (h); and 

12 (2) by redesignating subsection (i) as subsection 

13 (h). 

14 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATED TO STATUS

15 OF COMMITTEE.—Section 510 of title 36, United States 

16 Code, is amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘§ 510. Disclosure of and prohibition on certain dona18 tions 

19 ‘‘A committee shall not be considered to be the Inau20 gural Committee for purposes of this chapter unless the 

21 committee agrees to, and meets, the requirements of sec22 tion 325 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.’’. 

23 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

24 this Act shall apply with respect to Inaugural Committees 

25 established under chapter 5 of title 36, United States 


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1 Code, for inaugurations held in 2021 and any succeeding 

2 year. 

3 Subtitle I—Severability 

4 SEC. 4801. SEVERABILITY. 

5 If any provision of this title or amendment made by 

6 this title, or the application of a provision or amendment 

7 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu8 tional, the remainder of this title and amendments made 

9 by this title, and the application of the provisions and 

10 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be 

11 affected by the holding. 

12 TITLE V—CAMPAIGN FINANCE 

13 EMPOWERMENT 

Subtitle A—Findings Relating to Citizens United Decision 

Sec. 5001. Findings relating to Citizens United decision. 

Subtitle B—Congressional Elections 

Sec. 5100. Short title. 

PART 1—MY VOICE VOUCHER PILOT PROGRAM

Sec. 5101. Establishment of pilot program. 

Sec. 5102. Voucher program described. 

Sec. 5103. Reports. 

Sec. 5104. Definitions. 

PART 2—SMALL DOLLAR FINANCING OF CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION

CAMPAIGNS

Sec. 5111. Benefits and eligibility requirements for candidates. 

‘‘TITLE V—SMALL DOLLAR FINANCING OF CONGRESSIONAL 

ELECTION CAMPAIGNS 

‘‘Subtitle A—Benefits 

‘‘Sec. 501. Benefits for participating candidates. 

‘‘Sec. 502. Procedures for making payments. 

‘‘Sec. 503. Use of funds. 

‘‘Sec. 504. Qualified small dollar contributions described. 


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‘‘Subtitle B—Eligibility and Certification 

‘‘Sec. 511. Eligibility. 

‘‘Sec. 512. Qualifying requirements. 

‘‘Sec. 513. Certification. 

‘‘Subtitle C—Requirements for Candidates Certified as Participating 

Candidates 

‘‘Sec. 521. Contribution and expenditure requirements. 

‘‘Sec. 522. Administration of campaign. 

‘‘Sec. 523. Preventing unnecessary spending of public funds. 

‘‘Sec. 524. Remitting unspent funds after election. 

‘‘Subtitle D—Enhanced Match Support 

‘‘Sec. 531. Enhanced support for general election. 

‘‘Sec. 532. Eligibility. 

‘‘Sec. 533. Amount. 

‘‘Sec. 534. Waiver of authority to retain portion of unspent funds after 

election. 

‘‘Subtitle E—Administrative Provisions 

‘‘Sec. 541. Freedom From Influence Fund. 

‘‘Sec. 542. Reviews and reports by Government Accountability Office. 

‘‘Sec. 543. Administration by Commission. 

‘‘Sec. 544. Violations and penalties. 

‘‘Sec. 545. Appeals process. 

‘‘Sec. 546. Indexing of amounts. 

‘‘Sec. 547. Election cycle defined. 

Sec. 5112. Contributions and expenditures by multicandidate and political 

party committees on behalf of participating candidates. 

Sec. 5113. Prohibiting use of contributions by participating candidates for purposes other than campaign for election. 

Sec. 5114. Effective date. 

Subtitle C—Presidential Elections 

Sec. 5200. Short title. 

PART 1—PRIMARY ELECTIONS

Sec. 5201. Increase in and modifications to matching payments. 

Sec. 5202. Eligibility requirements for matching payments. 

Sec. 5203. Repeal of expenditure limitations. 

Sec. 5204. Period of availability of matching payments. 

Sec. 5205. Examination and audits of matchable contributions. 

Sec. 5206. Modification to limitation on contributions for Presidential primary 

candidates. 

PART 2—GENERAL ELECTIONS

Sec. 5211. Modification of eligibility requirements for public financing. 

Sec. 5212. Repeal of expenditure limitations and use of qualified campaign contributions. 

Sec. 5213. Matching payments and other modifications to payment amounts. 

Sec. 5214. Increase in limit on coordinated party expenditures. 


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Sec. 5215. Establishment of uniform date for release of payments. 

Sec. 5216. Amounts in Presidential Election Campaign Fund. 

Sec. 5217. Use of general election payments for general election legal and accounting compliance. 

PART 3—EFFECTIVE DATE

Sec. 5221. Effective date. 

Subtitle D—Personal Use Services as Authorized Campaign Expenditures 

Sec. 5301. Short title. 

Sec. 5302. Treatment of payments for child care and other personal use services as authorized campaign expenditure. 

Subtitle E—Severability 

Sec. 5401. Severability. 

1 Subtitle A—Findings Relating to 

2 Citizens United Decision 

3 SEC. 5001. FINDINGS RELATING TO CITIZENS UNITED DECI4 SION. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) The American Republic was founded on the 

7 principle that all people are created equal, with 

8 rights and responsibilities as citizens to vote, be rep9 resented, speak, debate, and participate in self-gov10 ernment on equal terms regardless of wealth. To se11 cure these rights and responsibilities, our Constitu12 tion not only protects the equal rights of all Ameri13 cans but also provides checks and balances to pre14 vent corruption and prevent concentrated power and 

15 wealth from undermining effective self-government. 

16 (2) The Supreme Court’s decisions in Citizens 

17 United v. Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S. 


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1 310 (2010) and McCutcheon v. FEC, 572 U.S. 185 

2 (2014), as well as other court decisions, erroneously 

3 invalidated even-handed rules about the spending of 

4 money in local, State, and Federal elections. These 

5 flawed decisions have empowered large corporations, 

6 extremely wealthy individuals, and special interests 

7 to dominate election spending, corrupt our politics, 

8 and degrade our democracy through tidal waves of 

9 unlimited and anonymous spending. These decisions 

10 also stand in contrast to a long history of efforts by 

11 Congress and the States to regulate money in poli12 tics to protect democracy, and they illustrate a trou13 bling deregulatory trend in campaign finance-related 

14 court decisions. Additionally, an unknown amount of 

15 foreign money continues to be spent in our political 

16 system as subsidiaries of foreign-based corporations 

17 and hostile foreign actors sometimes connected to 

18 nation-States work to influence our elections. 

19 (3) The Supreme Court’s misinterpretation of 

20 the Constitution to empower monied interests at the 

21 expense of the American people in elections has seri22 ously eroded over 100 years of congressional action 

23 to promote fairness and protect elections from the 

24 toxic influence of money. 


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1 (4) In 1907, Congress passed the Tillman Act 

2 in response to the concentration of corporate power 

3 in the post-Civil War Gilded Age. The Act prohibited 

4 corporations from making contributions in connec5 tion with Federal elections, aiming ‘‘not merely to 

6 prevent the subversion of the integrity of the elec7 toral process [but] . . . to sustain the active, alert 

8 responsibility of the individual citizen in a democ9 racy for the wise conduct of government’’. 

10 (5) By 1910, Congress began passing disclosure 

11 requirements and campaign expenditure limits, and 

12 dozens of States passed corrupt practices Acts to 

13 prohibit corporate spending in elections. States also 

14 enacted campaign spending limits, and some States 

15 limited the amount that people could contribute to 

16 campaigns. 

17 (6) In 1947, the Taft-Hartley Act prohibited 

18 corporations and unions from making campaign con19 tributions or other expenditures to influence elec20 tions. In 1962, a Presidential commission on election 

21 spending recommended spending limits and incen22 tives to increase small contributions from more peo23 ple. 

24 (7) The Federal Election Campaign Act of 

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1 sure of contributions and expenditures, imposed con2 tribution and expenditure limits for individuals and 

3 groups, set spending limits for campaigns, can4 didates, and groups, implemented a public funding 

5 system for Presidential campaigns, and created the 

6 Federal Election Commission to oversee and enforce 

7 the new rules. 

8 (8) In the wake of Citizens United and other 

9 damaging Federal court decisions, Americans have 

10 witnessed an explosion of outside spending in elec11 tions. Outside spending increased nearly 900 percent 

12 between the 2008 and 2016 Presidential election 

13 years. Indeed, the 2018 elections once again made 

14 clear the overwhelming political power of wealthy 

15 special interests, to the tune of over $5,000,000,000. 

16 And as political entities adapt to a post-Citizens 

17 United, post-McCutcheon landscape, these trends 

18 are getting worse, as evidenced by the experience in 

19 the 2018 midterm congressional elections, where 

20 outside spending more than doubled from the pre21 vious midterm cycle. 

22 (9) The torrent of money flowing into our polit23 ical system has a profound effect on the democratic 

24 process for everyday Americans, whose voices and 

25 policy preferences are increasingly being drowned 


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1 out by those of wealthy special interests. The more 

2 campaign cash from wealthy special interests can 

3 flood our elections, the more policies that favor those 

4 interests are reflected in the national political agen5 da. When it comes to policy preferences, our Na6 tion’s wealthiest tend to have fundamentally dif7 ferent views than do average Americans when it 

8 comes to issues ranging from unemployment benefits 

9 to the minimum wage to health care coverage. 

10 (10) The Court has tied the hands of Congress 

11 and the States, severely restricting them from set12 ting reasonable limits on campaign spending. For 

13 example, the Court has held that only the Govern14 ment’s interest in preventing quid pro quo corrup15 tion, like bribery, or the appearance of such corrup16 tion, can justify limits on campaign contributions. 

17 More broadly, the Court has severely curtailed at18 tempts to reduce the ability of the Nation’s wealthi19 est and most powerful to skew our democracy in 

20 their favor by buying outsized influence in our elec21 tions. Because this distortion of the Constitution has 

22 prevented truly meaningful regulation or reform of 

23 the way we finance elections in America, a constitu24 tional amendment is needed to achieve a democracy 

25 for all the people. 


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1 (11) Since the landmark Citizens United deci2 sion, 19 States and nearly 800 municipalities, in3 cluding large cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chi4 cago, and Philadelphia, have gone on record sup5 porting a constitutional amendment. Transcending 

6 political leanings and geographic location, voters in 

7 States and municipalities across the country that 

8 have placed amendment questions on the ballot have 

9 routinely supported these initiatives by considerably 

10 large margins. 

11 (12) At the same time millions of Americans 

12 have signed petitions, marched, called their Members 

13 of Congress, written letters to the editor, and other14 wise demonstrated their public support for a con15 stitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United 

16 that will allow Congress to reign in the outsized in17 fluence of unchecked money in politics. Dozens of 

18 organizations, representing tens of millions of indi19 viduals, have come together in a shared strategy of 

20 supporting such an amendment. 

21 (13) In order to protect the integrity of democ22 racy and the electoral process and to ensure political 

23 equality for all, the Constitution should be amended 

24 so that Congress and the States may regulate and 

25 set limits on the raising and spending of money to 


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1 influence elections and may distinguish between nat2 ural persons and artificial entities, like corporations, 

3 that are created by law, including by prohibiting 

4 such artificial entities from spending money to influ5 ence elections. 

6 Subtitle B—Congressional 

7 Elections 

8 SEC. 5100. SHORT TITLE. 

9 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Government By 

10 the People Act of 2019’’. 

11 PART 1—MY VOICE VOUCHER PILOT PROGRAM 

12 SEC. 5101. ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM. 

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Federal Election Com14 mission (hereafter in this part referred to as the ‘‘Commis15 sion’’) shall establish a pilot program under which the 

16 Commission shall select 3 eligible States to operate a 

17 voucher pilot program which is described in section 5102 

18 during the program operation period. 

19 (b) ELIGIBILITY OF STATES.—A State is eligible to 

20 be selected to operate a voucher pilot program under this 

21 part if, not later than 180 days after the beginning of the 

22 program application period, the State submits to the Com23 mission an application containing— 


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1 (1) information and assurances that the State 

2 will operate a voucher program which contains the 

3 elements described in section 5102(a); 

4 (2) information and assurances that the State 

5 will establish fraud prevention mechanisms described 

6 in section 5102(b); 

7 (3) information and assurances that the State 

8 will establish a commission to oversee and implement 

9 the program as described in section 5102(c); 

10 (4) information and assurances that the State 

11 will carry out a public information campaign as de12 scribed in section 5102(d); 

13 (5) information and assurances that the State 

14 will submit reports as required under section 5103; 

15 and 

16 (6) such other information and assurances as 

17 the Commission may require. 

18 (c) SELECTION OF PARTICIPATING STATES.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

20 the beginning of the program application period, the 

21 Commission shall select the 3 States which will oper22 ate voucher pilot programs under this part. 

23 (2) CRITERIA.—In selecting States for the oper24 ation of the voucher pilot programs under this part, 

25 the Commission shall apply such criteria and metrics 


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1 as the Commission considers appropriate to deter2 mine the ability of a State to operate the program 

3 successfully, and shall attempt to select States in a 

4 variety of geographic regions and with a variety of 

5 political party preferences. 

6 (3) NO SUPERMAJORITY REQUIRED FOR SELEC7 TION.—The selection of States by the Commission 

8 under this subsection shall require the approval of 

9 only half of the Members of the Commission. 

10 (d) DUTIES OF STATES DURING PROGRAM PREPARA11 TION PERIOD.—During the program preparation period, 

12 each State selected to operate a voucher pilot program 

13 under this part shall take such actions as may be nec14 essary to ensure that the State will be ready to operate 

15 the program during the program operation period, and 

16 shall complete such actions not later than 90 days before 

17 the beginning of the program operation period. 

18 (e) TERMINATION.—Each voucher pilot program 

19 under this part shall terminate as of the first day after 

20 the program operation period. 

21 (f) REIMBURSEMENT OF COSTS.—Upon receiving the 

22 report submitted by a State under section 5103(a) with 

23 respect to an election cycle, the Commission shall transmit 

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1 able costs incurred by the State in operating the voucher 

2 pilot program under this part during the cycle. 

3 SEC. 5102. VOUCHER PROGRAM DESCRIBED. 

4 (a) GENERAL ELEMENTS OF PROGRAM.— 

5 (1) ELEMENTS DESCRIBED.—The elements of a 

6 voucher pilot program operated by a State under 

7 this part are as follows: 

8 (A) The State shall provide each qualified 

9 individual upon the individual’s request with a 

10 voucher worth $25 to be known as a ‘‘My Voice 

11 Voucher’’ during the election cycle which will be 

12 assigned a routing number and which at the op13 tion of the individual will be provided in either 

14 paper or electronic form. 

15 (B) Using the routing number assigned to 

16 the My Voice Voucher, the individual may sub17 mit the My Voice Voucher in either electronic 

18 or paper form to qualified candidates for elec19 tion for the office of Representative in, or Dele20 gate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress 

21 and allocate such portion of the value of the My 

22 Voice Voucher in increments of $5 as the indi23 vidual may select to any such candidate. 

24 (C) If the candidate transmits the My 

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1 sion shall pay the candidate the portion of the 

2 value of the My Voice Voucher that the indi3 vidual allocated to the candidate, which shall be 

4 considered a contribution by the individual to 

5 the candidate for purposes of the Federal Elec6 tion Campaign Act of 1971. 

7 (2) DESIGNATION OF QUALIFIED INDIVID8 UALS.—For purposes of paragraph (1)(A), a ‘‘quali9 fied individual’’ with respect to a State means an in10 dividual— 

11 (A) who is a resident of the State; 

12 (B) who will be of voting age as of the 

13 date of the election for the candidate to whom 

14 the individual submits a My Voice Voucher; and 

15 (C) who is not prohibited under Federal 

16 law from making contributions to candidates 

17 for election for Federal office. 

18 (3) TREATMENT AS CONTRIBUTION TO CAN19 DIDATE.—For purposes of the Federal Election 

20 Campaign Act of 1971, the submission of a My 

21 Voice Voucher to a candidate by an individual shall 

22 be treated as a contribution to the candidate by the 

23 individual in the amount of the portion of the value 

24 of the Voucher that the individual allocated to the 

25 candidate. 


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1 (b) FRAUD PREVENTION MECHANISM.—In addition 

2 to the elements described in subsection (a), a State oper3 ating a voucher pilot program under this part shall permit 

4 an individual to revoke a My Voice Voucher not later than 

5 2 days after submitting the My Voice Voucher to a can6 didate. 

7 (c) OVERSIGHT COMMISSION.—In addition to the ele8 ments described in subsection (a), a State operating a 

9 voucher pilot program under this part shall establish a 

10 commission or designate an existing entity to oversee and 

11 implement the program in the State, except that no such 

12 commission or entity may be comprised of elected officials. 

13 (d) PUBLIC INFORMATION CAMPAIGN.—In addition 

14 to the elements described in subsection (a), a State oper15 ating a voucher pilot program under this part shall carry 

16 out a public information campaign to disseminate aware17 ness of the program among qualified individuals. 

18 SEC. 5103. REPORTS. 

19 (a) PRELIMINARY REPORT.—Not later than 6 

20 months after the first election cycle of the program oper21 ation period, a State which operates a voucher pilot pro22 gram under this part shall submit a report to the Commis23 sion analyzing the operation and effectiveness of the pro24 gram during the cycle and including such other informa25 tion as the Commission may require. 


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1 (b) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after 

2 the end of the program operation period, the State shall 

3 submit a final report to the Commission analyzing the op4 eration and effectiveness of the program and including 

5 such other information as the Commission may require. 

6 (c) REPORT BY COMMISSION.—Not later than the 

7 end of the first election cycle which begins after the pro8 gram operation period, the Commission shall submit a re9 port to Congress which summarizes and analyzes the re10 sults of the voucher pilot program, and shall include in 

11 the report such recommendations as the Commission con12 siders appropriate regarding the expansion of the pilot 

13 program to all States and territories, along with such 

14 other recommendations and other information as the Com15 mission considers appropriate. 

16 SEC. 5104. DEFINITIONS. 

17 (a) ELECTION CYCLE.—In this part, the term ‘‘elec18 tion cycle’’ means the period beginning on the day after 

19 the date of the most recent regularly scheduled general 

20 election for Federal office and ending on the date of the 

21 next regularly scheduled general election for Federal of22 fice. 

23 (b) DEFINITIONS RELATING TO PERIODS.—In this 

24 part, the following definitions apply: 


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1 (1) PROGRAM APPLICATION PERIOD.—The term 

2 ‘‘program application period’’ means the first elec3 tion cycle which begins after the date of the enact4 ment of this Act. 

5 (2) PROGRAM PREPARATION PERIOD.—The 

6 term ‘‘program preparation period’’ means the first 

7 election cycle which begins after the program appli8 cation period. 

9 (3) PROGRAM OPERATION PERIOD.—The term 

10 ‘‘program operation period’’ means the first 2 elec11 tion cycles which begin after the program prepara12 tion period. 

13 PART 2—SMALL DOLLAR FINANCING OF 

14 CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION CAMPAIGNS 

15 SEC. 5111. BENEFITS AND ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS 

16 FOR CANDIDATES. 

17 The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 

18 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

19 the following: 


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1 ‘‘TITLE V—SMALL DOLLAR FI2 NANCING OF CONGRES3 SIONAL ELECTION CAM4 PAIGNS 

5 ‘‘Subtitle A—Benefits 

6 ‘‘SEC. 501. BENEFITS FOR PARTICIPATING CANDIDATES. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If a candidate for election to the 

8 office of Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Com9 missioner to, the Congress is certified as a participating 

10 candidate under this title with respect to an election for 

11 such office, the candidate shall be entitled to payments 

12 as provided under this title. 

13 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.—The amount of a pay14 ment made under this title shall be equal to 600 percent 

15 of the amount of qualified small dollar contributions re16 ceived by the candidate since the most recent payment 

17 made to the candidate under this title during the election 

18 cycle, without regard to whether or not the candidate re19 ceived any of the contributions before, during, or after the 

20 Small Dollar Democracy qualifying period applicable to 

21 the candidate under section 511(c). 

22 ‘‘(c) LIMIT ON AGGREGATE AMOUNT OF PAY23 MENTS.—The aggregate amount of payments made to a 

24 participating candidate with respect to an election cycle 

25 under this title may not exceed 50 percent of the average 


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1 of the 20 greatest amounts of disbursements made by the 

2 authorized committees of any winning candidate for the 

3 office of Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Com4 missioner to, the Congress during the most recent election 

5 cycle, rounded to the nearest $100,000. 

6 ‘‘SEC. 502. PROCEDURES FOR MAKING PAYMENTS. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall make a 

8 payment under section 501 to a candidate who is certified 

9 as a participating candidate upon receipt from the can10 didate of a request for a payment which includes— 

11 ‘‘(1) a statement of the number and amount of 

12 qualified small dollar contributions received by the 

13 candidate since the most recent payment made to 

14 the candidate under this title during the election 

15 cycle; 

16 ‘‘(2) a statement of the amount of the payment 

17 the candidate anticipates receiving with respect to 

18 the request; 

19 ‘‘(3) a statement of the total amount of pay20 ments the candidate has received under this title as 

21 of the date of the statement; and 

22 ‘‘(4) such other information and assurances as 

23 the Commission may require. 


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1 ‘‘(b) RESTRICTIONS ON SUBMISSION OF RE2 QUESTS.—A candidate may not submit a request under 

3 subsection (a) unless each of the following applies: 

4 ‘‘(1) The amount of the qualified small dollar 

5 contributions in the statement referred to in sub6 section (a)(1) is equal to or greater than $5,000, un7 less the request is submitted during the 30-day pe8 riod which ends on the date of a general election. 

9 ‘‘(2) The candidate did not receive a payment 

10 under this title during the 7-day period which ends 

11 on the date the candidate submits the request. 

12 ‘‘(c) TIME OF PAYMENT.—The Commission shall, in 

13 coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury, take such 

14 steps as may be necessary to ensure that the Secretary 

15 is able to make payments under this section from the 

16 Treasury not later than 2 business days after the receipt 

17 of a request submitted under subsection (a). 

18 ‘‘SEC. 503. USE OF FUNDS. 

19 ‘‘(a) USE OF FUNDS FOR AUTHORIZED CAMPAIGN

20 EXPENDITURES.—A candidate shall use payments made 

21 under this title, including payments provided with respect 

22 to a previous election cycle which are withheld from remit23 tance to the Commission in accordance with section 

24 524(a)(2), only for making direct payments for the receipt 

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1 tures (as determined in accordance with title III) in con2 nection with the election cycle involved. 

3 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITING USE OF FUNDS FOR LEGAL EX4 PENSES, FINES, OR PENALTIES.—Notwithstanding title 

5 III, a candidate may not use payments made under this 

6 title for the payment of expenses incurred in connection 

7 with any action, claim, or other matter before the Commis8 sion or before any court, hearing officer, arbitrator, or 

9 other dispute resolution entity, or for the payment of any 

10 fine or civil monetary penalty. 

11 ‘‘SEC. 504. QUALIFIED SMALL DOLLAR CONTRIBUTIONS DE12 SCRIBED. 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In this title, the term ‘qualified 

14 small dollar contribution’ means, with respect to a can15 didate and the authorized committees of a candidate, a 

16 contribution that meets the following requirements: 

17 ‘‘(1) The contribution is in an amount that is— 

18 ‘‘(A) not less than $1; and 

19 ‘‘(B) not more than $200. 

20 ‘‘(2)(A) The contribution is made directly by an 

21 individual to the candidate or an authorized com22 mittee of the candidate and is not— 

23 ‘‘(i) forwarded from the individual making 

24 the contribution to the candidate or committee 

25 by another person; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) received by the candidate or com2 mittee with the knowledge that the contribution 

3 was made at the request, suggestion, or rec4 ommendation of another person. 

5 ‘‘(B) In this paragraph— 

6 ‘‘(i) the term ‘person’ does not include an 

7 individual (other than an individual described in 

8 section 304(i)(7) of the Federal Election Cam9 paign Act of 1971), a political committee of a 

10 political party, or any political committee which 

11 is not a separate segregated fund described in 

12 section 316(b) of the Federal Election Cam13 paign Act of 1971 and which does not make 

14 independent expenditures, does not engage in 

15 lobbying activity under the Lobbying Disclosure 

16 Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and is not 

17 established by, controlled by, or affiliated with 

18 a registered lobbyist under such Act, an agent 

19 of a registered lobbyist under such Act, or an 

20 organization which retains or employs a reg21 istered lobbyist under such Act; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) a contribution is not ‘made at the re23 quest, suggestion, or recommendation of an24 other person’ solely on the grounds that the 

25 contribution is made in response to information 


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1 provided to the individual making the contribu2 tion by any person, so long as the candidate or 

3 authorized committee does not know the iden4 tity of the person who provided the information 

5 to such individual. 

6 ‘‘(3) The individual who makes the contribution 

7 does not make contributions to the candidate or the 

8 authorized committees of the candidate with respect 

9 to the election involved in an aggregate amount that 

10 exceeds the amount described in paragraph (1)(B), 

11 or any contribution to the candidate or the author12 ized committees of the candidate with respect to the 

13 election involved that otherwise is not a qualified 

14 small dollar contribution. 

15 ‘‘(b) TREATMENT OF MY VOICE VOUCHERS.—Any 

16 payment received by a candidate and the authorized com17 mittees of a candidate which consists of a My Voice 

18 Voucher under the Government By the People Act of 2019 

19 shall be considered a qualified small dollar contribution 

20 for purposes of this title, so long as the individual making 

21 the payment meets the requirements of paragraphs (2) 

22 and (3) of subsection (a). 

23 ‘‘(c) RESTRICTION ON SUBSEQUENT CONTRIBU24 TIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITING DONOR FROM MAKING SUB2 SEQUENT NONQUALIFIED CONTRIBUTIONS DURING

3 ELECTION CYCLE.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An individual who 

5 makes a qualified small dollar contribution to a 

6 candidate or the authorized committees of a 

7 candidate with respect to an election may not 

8 make any subsequent contribution to such can9 didate or the authorized committees of such 

10 candidate with respect to the election cycle 

11 which is not a qualified small dollar contribu12 tion. 

13 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO

14 CANDIDATES WHO VOLUNTARILY WITHDRAW

15 FROM PARTICIPATION DURING QUALIFYING PE16 RIOD.—Subparagraph (A) does not apply with 

17 respect to a contribution made to a candidate 

18 who, during the Small Dollar Democracy quali19 fying period described in section 511(c), sub20 mits a statement to the Commission under sec21 tion 513(c) to voluntarily withdraw from par22 ticipating in the program under this title. 

23 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF SUBSEQUENT NON24 QUALIFIED CONTRIBUTIONS.—If, notwithstanding 

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1 vidual who makes a qualified small dollar contribu2 tion to a candidate or the authorized committees of 

3 a candidate with respect to an election makes a sub4 sequent contribution to such candidate or the au5 thorized committees of such candidate with respect 

6 to the election which is prohibited under paragraph 

7 (1) because it is not a qualified small dollar con8 tribution, the candidate may take one of the fol9 lowing actions: 

10 ‘‘(A) Not later than 2 weeks after receiving 

11 the contribution, the candidate may return the 

12 subsequent contribution to the individual. In 

13 the case of a subsequent contribution which is 

14 not a qualified small dollar contribution because 

15 the contribution fails to meet the requirements 

16 of paragraph (3) of subsection (a) (relating to 

17 the aggregate amount of contributions made to 

18 the candidate or the authorized committees of 

19 the candidate by the individual making the con20 tribution), the candidate may return an amount 

21 equal to the difference between the amount of 

22 the subsequent contribution and the amount de23 scribed in paragraph (1)(B) of subsection (a). 

24 ‘‘(B) The candidate may retain the subse25 quent contribution, so long as not later than 2 


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1 weeks after receiving the subsequent contribu2 tion, the candidate remits to the Commission 

3 for deposit in the Freedom From Influence 

4 Fund under section 541 an amount equal to 

5 any payments received by the candidate under 

6 this title which are attributable to the qualified 

7 small dollar contribution made by the individual 

8 involved. 

9 ‘‘(3) NO EFFECT ON ABILITY TO MAKE MUL10 TIPLE CONTRIBUTIONS.—Nothing in this section 

11 may be construed to prohibit an individual from 

12 making multiple qualified small dollar contributions 

13 to any candidate or any number of candidates, so 

14 long as each contribution meets each of the require15 ments of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection 

16 (a). 

17 ‘‘(d) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR CAN18 DIDATES.— 

19 ‘‘(1) NOTIFICATION.—Each authorized com20 mittee of a candidate who seeks to be a participating 

21 candidate under this title shall provide the following 

22 information in any materials for the solicitation of 

23 contributions, including any internet site through 

24 which individuals may make contributions to the 

25 committee: 


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1 ‘‘(A) A statement that if the candidate is 

2 certified as a participating candidate under this 

3 title, the candidate will receive matching pay4 ments in an amount which is based on the total 

5 amount of qualified small dollar contributions 

6 received. 

7 ‘‘(B) A statement that a contribution 

8 which meets the requirements set forth in sub9 section (a) shall be treated as a qualified small 

10 dollar contribution under this title. 

11 ‘‘(C) A statement that if a contribution is 

12 treated as qualified small dollar contribution 

13 under this title, the individual who makes the 

14 contribution may not make any contribution to 

15 the candidate or the authorized committees of 

16 the candidate during the election cycle which is 

17 not a qualified small dollar contribution. 

18 ‘‘(2) ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF MEETING RE19 QUIREMENTS.—An authorized committee may meet 

20 the requirements of paragraph (1)— 

21 ‘‘(A) by including the information de22 scribed in paragraph (1) in the receipt provided 

23 under section 512(b)(3) to a person making a 

24 qualified small dollar contribution; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) by modifying the information it pro2 vides to persons making contributions which is 

3 otherwise required under title III (including in4 formation it provides through the internet). 

5 ‘‘Subtitle B—Eligibility and 

6 Certification 

7 ‘‘SEC. 511. ELIGIBILITY. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A candidate for the office of 

9 Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner 

10 to, the Congress is eligible to be certified as a participating 

11 candidate under this title with respect to an election if 

12 the candidate meets the following requirements: 

13 ‘‘(1) The candidate files with the Commission a 

14 statement of intent to seek certification as a partici15 pating candidate. 

16 ‘‘(2) The candidate meets the qualifying re17 quirements of section 512. 

18 ‘‘(3) The candidate files with the Commission a 

19 statement certifying that the authorized committees 

20 of the candidate meet the requirements of section 

21 504(d). 

22 ‘‘(4) Not later than the last day of the Small 

23 Dollar Democracy qualifying period, the candidate 

24 files with the Commission an affidavit signed by the 

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1 cipal campaign committee declaring that the can2 didate— 

3 ‘‘(A) has complied and, if certified, will 

4 comply with the contribution and expenditure 

5 requirements of section 521; 

6 ‘‘(B) if certified, will run only as a partici7 pating candidate for all elections for the office 

8 that such candidate is seeking during that elec9 tion cycle; and 

10 ‘‘(C) has either qualified or will take steps 

11 to qualify under State law to be on the ballot. 

12 ‘‘(b) GENERAL ELECTION.—Notwithstanding sub13 section (a), a candidate shall not be eligible to be certified 

14 as a participating candidate under this title for a general 

15 election or a general runoff election unless the candidate’s 

16 party nominated the candidate to be placed on the ballot 

17 for the general election or the candidate is otherwise quali18 fied to be on the ballot under State law. 

19 ‘‘(c) SMALL DOLLAR DEMOCRACY QUALIFYING PE20 RIOD DEFINED.—The term ‘Small Dollar Democracy 

21 qualifying period’ means, with respect to any candidate 

22 for an office, the 180-day period (during the election cycle 

23 for such office) which begins on the date on which the 

24 candidate files a statement of intent under section 

25 511(a)(1), except that such period may not continue after 


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1 the date that is 30 days before the date of the general 

2 election for the office. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 512. QUALIFYING REQUIREMENTS. 

4 ‘‘(a) RECEIPT OF QUALIFIED SMALL DOLLAR CON5 TRIBUTIONS.—A candidate for the office of Representative 

6 in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress 

7 meets the requirement of this section if, during the Small 

8 Dollar Democracy qualifying period described in section 

9 511(c), each of the following occurs: 

10 ‘‘(1) Not fewer than 1,000 individuals make a 

11 qualified small dollar contribution to the candidate. 

12 ‘‘(2) The candidate obtains a total dollar 

13 amount of qualified small dollar contributions which 

14 is equal to or greater than $50,000. 

15 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO RECEIPT OF

16 QUALIFIED SMALL DOLLAR CONTRIBUTION.—Each 

17 qualified small dollar contribution— 

18 ‘‘(1) may be made by means of a personal 

19 check, money order, debit card, credit card, elec20 tronic payment account, or any other method 

21 deemed appropriate by the Commission; 

22 ‘‘(2) shall be accompanied by a signed state23 ment (or, in the case of a contribution made online 

24 or through other electronic means, an electronic 


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1 equivalent) containing the contributor’s name and 

2 address; and 

3 ‘‘(3) shall be acknowledged by a receipt that is 

4 sent to the contributor with a copy (in paper or elec5 tronic form) kept by the candidate for the Commis6 sion. 

7 ‘‘(c) VERIFICATION OF CONTRIBUTIONS.—The Com8 mission shall establish procedures for the auditing and 

9 verification of the contributions received and expenditures 

10 made by participating candidates under this title, includ11 ing procedures for random audits, to ensure that such con12 tributions and expenditures meet the requirements of this 

13 title. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 513. CERTIFICATION. 

15 ‘‘(a) DEADLINE AND NOTIFICATION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 business 

17 days after a candidate files an affidavit under sec18 tion 511(a)(4), the Commission shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) determine whether or not the can20 didate meets the requirements for certification 

21 as a participating candidate; 

22 ‘‘(B) if the Commission determines that 

23 the candidate meets such requirements, certify 

24 the candidate as a participating candidate; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) notify the candidate of the Commis2 sion’s determination. 

3 ‘‘(2) DEEMED CERTIFICATION FOR ALL ELEC4 TIONS IN ELECTION CYCLE.—If the Commission cer5 tifies a candidate as a participating candidate with 

6 respect to the first election of the election cycle in7 volved, the Commission shall be deemed to have cer8 tified the candidate as a participating candidate with 

9 respect to all subsequent elections of the election 

10 cycle. 

11 ‘‘(b) REVOCATION OF CERTIFICATION.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall re13 voke a certification under subsection (a) if— 

14 ‘‘(A) a candidate fails to qualify to appear 

15 on the ballot at any time after the date of cer16 tification (other than a candidate certified as a 

17 participating candidate with respect to a pri18 mary election who fails to qualify to appear on 

19 the ballot for a subsequent election in that elec20 tion cycle); 

21 ‘‘(B) a candidate ceases to be a candidate 

22 for the office involved, as determined on the 

23 basis of an official announcement by an author24 ized committee of the candidate or on the basis 


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1 of a reasonable determination by the Commis2 sion; or 

3 ‘‘(C) a candidate otherwise fails to comply 

4 with the requirements of this title, including 

5 any regulatory requirements prescribed by the 

6 Commission. 

7 ‘‘(2) EXISTENCE OF CRIMINAL SANCTION.—The 

8 Commission shall revoke a certification under sub9 section (a) if a penalty is assessed against the can10 didate under section 309(d) with respect to the elec11 tion. 

12 ‘‘(3) EFFECT OF REVOCATION.—If a can13 didate’s certification is revoked under this sub14 section— 

15 ‘‘(A) the candidate may not receive pay16 ments under this title during the remainder of 

17 the election cycle involved; and 

18 ‘‘(B) in the case of a candidate whose cer19 tification is revoked pursuant to subparagraph 

20 (A) or subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1)— 

21 ‘‘(i) the candidate shall repay to the 

22 Freedom From Influence Fund established 

23 under section 541 an amount equal to the 

24 payments received under this title with re25 spect to the election cycle involved plus inVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jan 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00395 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1.IH H1

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1 terest (at a rate determined by the Com2 mission on the basis of an appropriate an3 nual percentage rate for the month in4 volved) on any such amount received; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) the candidate may not be cer6 tified as a participating candidate under 

7 this title with respect to the next election 

8 cycle. 

9 ‘‘(4) PROHIBITING PARTICIPATION IN FUTURE

10 ELECTIONS FOR CANDIDATES WITH MULTIPLE REV11 OCATIONS.—If the Commission revokes the certifi12 cation of an individual as a participating candidate 

13 under this title pursuant to subparagraph (A) or 

14 subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) a total of 3 

15 times, the individual may not be certified as a par16 ticipating candidate under this title with respect to 

17 any subsequent election. 

18 ‘‘(c) VOLUNTARY WITHDRAWAL FROM PARTICI19 PATING DURING QUALIFYING PERIOD.—At any time dur20 ing the Small Dollar Democracy qualifying period de21 scribed in section 511(c), a candidate may withdraw from 

22 participation in the program under this title by submitting 

23 to the Commission a statement of withdrawal (without re24 gard to whether or not the Commission has certified the 

25 candidate as a participating candidate under this title as 


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1 of the time the candidate submits such statement), so long 

2 as the candidate has not submitted a request for payment 

3 under section 502. 

4 ‘‘(d) PARTICIPATING CANDIDATE DEFINED.—In this 

5 title, a ‘participating candidate’ means a candidate for the 

6 office of Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Com7 missioner to, the Congress who is certified under this sec8 tion as eligible to receive benefits under this title. 

9 ‘‘Subtitle C—Requirements for Can10 didates Certified as Partici11 pating Candidates 

12 ‘‘SEC. 521. CONTRIBUTION AND EXPENDITURE REQUIRE13 MENTS. 

14 ‘‘(a) PERMITTED SOURCES OF CONTRIBUTIONS AND

15 EXPENDITURES.—Except as provided in subsection (c), a 

16 participating candidate with respect to an election shall, 

17 with respect to all elections occurring during the election 

18 cycle for the office involved, accept no contributions from 

19 any source and make no expenditures from any amounts, 

20 other than the following: 

21 ‘‘(1) Qualified small dollar contributions. 

22 ‘‘(2) Payments under this title. 

23 ‘‘(3) Contributions from political committees es24 tablished and maintained by a national or State poVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jan 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00397 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1.IH H1

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1 litical party, subject to the applicable limitations of 

2 section 315. 

3 ‘‘(4) Subject to subsection (b), personal funds 

4 of the candidate or of any immediate family member 

5 of the candidate (other than funds received through 

6 qualified small dollar contributions). 

7 ‘‘(5) Contributions from individuals who are 

8 otherwise permitted to make contributions under 

9 this Act, subject to the applicable limitations of sec10 tion 315, except that the aggregate amount of con11 tributions a participating candidate may accept from 

12 any individual with respect to any election during 

13 the election cycle may not exceed $1,000. 

14 ‘‘(6) Contributions from multicandidate political 

15 committees, subject to the applicable limitations of 

16 section 315. 

17 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULES FOR PERSONAL FUNDS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) LIMIT ON AMOUNT.—A candidate who is 

19 certified as a participating candidate may use per20 sonal funds (including personal funds of any imme21 diate family member of the candidate) so long as— 

22 ‘‘(A) the aggregate amount used with re23 spect to the election cycle (including any period 

24 of the cycle occurring prior to the candidate’s 


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1 certification as a participating candidate) does 

2 not exceed $50,000; and 

3 ‘‘(B) the funds are used only for making 

4 direct payments for the receipt of goods and 

5 services which constitute authorized expendi6 tures in connection with the election cycle in7 volved. 

8 ‘‘(2) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER DEFINED.— 

9 In this subsection, the term ‘immediate family mem10 ber’ means, with respect to a candidate— 

11 ‘‘(A) the candidate’s spouse; 

12 ‘‘(B) a child, stepchild, parent, grand13 parent, brother, half-brother, sister, or half-sis14 ter of the candidate or the candidate’s spouse; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(C) the spouse of any person described in 

17 subparagraph (B). 

18 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTIONS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) EXCEPTION FOR CONTRIBUTIONS RE20 CEIVED PRIOR TO FILING OF STATEMENT OF IN21 TENT.—A candidate who has accepted contributions 

22 that are not described in subsection (a) is not in vio23 lation of subsection (a), but only if all such contribu24 tions are— 

25 ‘‘(A) returned to the contributor; 


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1 ‘‘(B) submitted to the Commission for de2 posit in the Freedom From Influence Fund es3 tablished under section 541; or 

4 ‘‘(C) spent in accordance with paragraph 

5 (2). 

6 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR EXPENDITURES MADE

7 PRIOR TO FILING OF STATEMENT OF INTENT.—If a 

8 candidate has made expenditures prior to the date 

9 the candidate files a statement of intent under sec10 tion 511(a)(1) that the candidate is prohibited from 

11 making under subsection (a) or subsection (b), the 

12 candidate is not in violation of such subsection if the 

13 aggregate amount of the prohibited expenditures is 

14 less than the amount referred to in section 

15 512(a)(2) (relating to the total dollar amount of 

16 qualified small dollar contributions which the can17 didate is required to obtain) which is applicable to 

18 the candidate. 

19 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTION FOR CAMPAIGN SURPLUSES

20 FROM A PREVIOUS ELECTION.—Notwithstanding 

21 paragraph (1), unexpended contributions received by 

22 the candidate or an authorized committee of the 

23 candidate with respect to a previous election may be 

24 retained, but only if the candidate places the funds 

25 in escrow and refrains from raising additional funds 


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1 for or spending funds from that account during the 

2 election cycle in which a candidate is a participating 

3 candidate. 

4 ‘‘(4) EXCEPTION FOR CONTRIBUTIONS RE5 CEIVED BEFORE THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS

6 TITLE.—Contributions received and expenditures 

7 made by the candidate or an authorized committee 

8 of the candidate prior to the effective date of this 

9 title shall not constitute a violation of subsection (a) 

10 or (b). Unexpended contributions shall be treated 

11 the same as campaign surpluses under paragraph 

12 (3), and expenditures made shall count against the 

13 limit in paragraph (2). 

14 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULE FOR COORDINATED PARTY EX15 PENDITURES.—For purposes of this section, a payment 

16 made by a political party in coordination with a partici17 pating candidate shall not be treated as a contribution to 

18 or as an expenditure made by the participating candidate. 

19 ‘‘(e) PROHIBITION ON JOINT FUNDRAISING COMMIT20 TEES.— 

21 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—An authorized committee 

22 of a candidate who is certified as a participating 

23 candidate under this title with respect to an election 

24 may not establish a joint fundraising committee with 


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1 a political committee other than another authorized 

2 committee of the candidate. 

3 ‘‘(2) STATUS OF EXISTING COMMITTEES FOR

4 PRIOR ELECTIONS.—If a candidate established a 

5 joint fundraising committee described in paragraph 

6 (1) with respect to a prior election for which the 

7 candidate was not certified as a participating can8 didate under this title and the candidate does not 

9 terminate the committee, the candidate shall not be 

10 considered to be in violation of paragraph (1) so 

11 long as that joint fundraising committee does not re12 ceive any contributions or make any disbursements 

13 during the election cycle for which the candidate is 

14 certified as a participating candidate under this title. 

15 ‘‘(f) PROHIBITION ON LEADERSHIP PACS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—A candidate who is cer17 tified as a participating candidate under this title 

18 with respect to an election may not associate with, 

19 establish, finance, maintain, or control a leadership 

20 PAC. 

21 ‘‘(2) STATUS OF EXISTING LEADERSHIP

22 PACS.—If a candidate established, financed, main23 tained, or controlled a leadership PAC prior to being 

24 certified as a participating candidate under this title 

25 and the candidate does not terminate the leadership 


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1 PAC, the candidate shall not be considered to be in 

2 violation of paragraph (1) so long as the leadership 

3 PAC does not receive any contributions or make any 

4 disbursements during the election cycle for which the 

5 candidate is certified as a participating candidate 

6 under this title. 

7 ‘‘(3) LEADERSHIP PAC DEFINED.—In this sub8 section, the term ‘leadership PAC’ has the meaning 

9 given such term in section 304(i)(8)(B). 

10 ‘‘SEC. 522. ADMINISTRATION OF CAMPAIGN. 

11 ‘‘(a) SEPARATE ACCOUNTING FOR VARIOUS PER12 MITTED CONTRIBUTIONS.—Each authorized committee of 

13 a candidate certified as a participating candidate under 

14 this title— 

15 ‘‘(1) shall provide for separate accounting of 

16 each type of contribution described in section 521(a) 

17 which is received by the committee; and 

18 ‘‘(2) shall provide for separate accounting for 

19 the payments received under this title. 

20 ‘‘(b) ENHANCED DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION ON

21 DONORS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) MANDATORY IDENTIFICATION OF INDIVID23 UALS MAKING QUALIFIED SMALL DOLLAR CON24 TRIBUTIONS.—Each authorized committee of a par25 ticipating candidate under this title shall elect, in acVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jan 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00403 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1.IH H1

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1 cordance with section 304(b)(3)(A), to include in the 

2 reports the committee submits under section 304 the 

3 identification of each person who makes a qualified 

4 small dollar contribution to the committee. 

5 ‘‘(2) MANDATORY DISCLOSURE THROUGH

6 INTERNET.—Each authorized committee of a partici7 pating candidate under this title shall ensure that all 

8 information reported to the Commission under this 

9 Act with respect to contributions and expenditures 

10 of the committee is available to the public on the 

11 internet (whether through a site established for pur12 poses of this subsection, a hyperlink on another pub13 lic site of the committee, or a hyperlink on a report 

14 filed electronically with the Commission) in a search15 able, sortable, and downloadable manner. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 523. PREVENTING UNNECESSARY SPENDING OF PUB17 LIC FUNDS. 

18 ‘‘(a) MANDATORY SPENDING OF AVAILABLE PRI19 VATE FUNDS.—An authorized committee of a candidate 

20 certified as a participating candidate under this title may 

21 not make any expenditure of any payments received under 

22 this title in any amount unless the committee has made 

23 an expenditure in an equivalent amount of funds received 

24 by the committee which are described in paragraphs (1), 

25 (3), (4), (5), and (6) of section 521(a). 


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1 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—Subsection (a) applies to an au2 thorized committee only to the extent that the funds re3 ferred to in such subsection are available to the committee 

4 at the time the committee makes an expenditure of a pay5 ment received under this title. 

6 ‘‘SEC. 524. REMITTING UNSPENT FUNDS AFTER ELECTION. 

7 ‘‘(a) REMITTANCE REQUIRED.—Not later than the 

8 date that is 180 days after the last election for which a 

9 candidate certified as a participating candidate qualifies 

10 to be on the ballot during the election cycle involved, such 

11 participating candidate shall remit to the Commission for 

12 deposit in the Freedom From Influence Fund established 

13 under section 541 an amount equal to the balance of the 

14 payments received under this title by the authorized com15 mittees of the candidate which remain unexpended as of 

16 such date. 

17 ‘‘(b) PERMITTING CANDIDATES PARTICIPATING IN

18 NEXT ELECTION CYCLE TO RETAIN PORTION OF

19 UNSPENT FUNDS.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), a 

20 participating candidate may withhold not more than 

21 $100,000 from the amount required to be remitted under 

22 subsection (a) if the candidate files a signed affidavit with 

23 the Commission that the candidate will seek certification 

24 as a participating candidate with respect to the next elec25 tion cycle, except that the candidate may not use any porVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jan 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00405 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1.IH H1

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1 tion of the amount withheld until the candidate is certified 

2 as a participating candidate with respect to that next elec3 tion cycle. If the candidate fails to seek certification as 

4 a participating candidate prior to the last day of the Small 

5 Dollar Democracy qualifying period for the next election 

6 cycle (as described in section 511), or if the Commission 

7 notifies the candidate of the Commission’s determination 

8 does not meet the requirements for certification as a par9 ticipating candidate with respect to such cycle, the can10 didate shall immediately remit to the Commission the 

11 amount withheld. 

12 ‘‘Subtitle D—Enhanced Match 

13 Support 

14 ‘‘SEC. 531. ENHANCED SUPPORT FOR GENERAL ELECTION. 

15 ‘‘(a) AVAILABILITY OF ENHANCED SUPPORT.—In 

16 addition to the payments made under subtitle A, the Com17 mission shall make an additional payment to an eligible 

18 candidate under this subtitle. 

19 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—A candidate shall use the ad20 ditional payment under this subtitle only for authorized 

21 expenditures in connection with the election involved. 

22 ‘‘SEC. 532. ELIGIBILITY. 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A candidate is eligible to receive 

24 an additional payment under this subtitle if the candidate 

25 meets each of the following requirements: 


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1 ‘‘(1) The candidate is on the ballot for the gen2 eral election for the office the candidate seeks. 

3 ‘‘(2) The candidate is certified as a partici4 pating candidate under this title with respect to the 

5 election. 

6 ‘‘(3) During the enhanced support qualifying 

7 period, the candidate receives qualified small dollar 

8 contributions in a total amount of not less than 

9 $50,000. 

10 ‘‘(4) During the enhanced support qualifying 

11 period, the candidate submits to the Commission a 

12 request for the payment which includes— 

13 ‘‘(A) a statement of the number and 

14 amount of qualified small dollar contributions 

15 received by the candidate during the enhanced 

16 support qualifying period; 

17 ‘‘(B) a statement of the amount of the 

18 payment the candidate anticipates receiving 

19 with respect to the request; and 

20 ‘‘(C) such other information and assur21 ances as the Commission may require. 

22 ‘‘(5) After submitting a request for the addi23 tional payment under paragraph (4), the candidate 

24 does not submit any other application for an addi25 tional payment under this subtitle. 


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1 ‘‘(b) ENHANCED SUPPORT QUALIFYING PERIOD DE2 SCRIBED.—In this subtitle, the term ‘enhanced support 

3 qualifying period’ means, with respect to a general elec4 tion, the period which begins 60 days before the date of 

5 the election and ends 14 days before the date of the elec6 tion. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 533. AMOUNT. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), the 

9 amount of the additional payment made to an eligible can10 didate under this subtitle shall be an amount equal to 50 

11 percent of— 

12 ‘‘(1) the amount of the payment made to the 

13 candidate under section 501(b) with respect to the 

14 qualified small dollar contributions which are re15 ceived by the candidate during the enhanced support 

16 qualifying period (as included in the request sub17 mitted by the candidate under section 532(a)(4)); or 

18 ‘‘(2) in the case of a candidate who is not eligi19 ble to receive a payment under section 501(b) with 

20 respect to such qualified small dollar contributions 

21 because the candidate has reached the limit on the 

22 aggregate amount of payments under subtitle A for 

23 the election cycle under section 501(c), the amount 

24 of the payment which would have been made to the 

25 candidate under section 501(b) with respect to such 


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1 qualified small dollar contributions if the candidate 

2 had not reached such limit. 

3 ‘‘(b) LIMIT.—The amount of the additional payment 

4 determined under subsection (a) with respect to a can5 didate may not exceed $500,000. 

6 ‘‘(c) NO EFFECT ON AGGREGATE LIMIT.—The 

7 amount of the additional payment made to a candidate 

8 under this subtitle shall not be included in determining 

9 the aggregate amount of payments made to a participating 

10 candidate with respect to an election cycle under section 

11 501(c). 

12 ‘‘SEC. 534. WAIVER OF AUTHORITY TO RETAIN PORTION OF 

13 UNSPENT FUNDS AFTER ELECTION. 

14 ‘‘Notwithstanding section 524(a)(2), a candidate who 

15 receives an additional payment under this subtitle with re16 spect to an election is not permitted to withhold any por17 tion from the amount of unspent funds the candidate is 

18 required to remit to the Commission under section 

19 524(a)(1). 

20 ‘‘Subtitle E—Administrative 

21 Provisions 

22 ‘‘SEC. 541. FREEDOM FROM INFLUENCE FUND. 

23 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

24 Treasury a fund to be known as the ‘Freedom From Influ25 ence Fund’. 


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1 ‘‘(b) AMOUNTS HELD BY FUND.—The Fund shall 

2 consist of the following amounts: 

3 ‘‘(1) APPROPRIATED AMOUNTS.—Amounts ap4 propriated to the Fund, including trust fund 

5 amounts appropriated pursuant to applicable provi6 sions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

7 ‘‘(2) OTHER DEPOSITS.—Amounts deposited 

8 into the Fund under— 

9 ‘‘(A) section 521(c)(1)(B) (relating to ex10 ceptions to contribution requirements); 

11 ‘‘(B) section 523 (relating to remittance of 

12 unused payments from the Fund); 

13 ‘‘(C) section 544 (relating to violations); 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(D) any other section of this Act. 

16 ‘‘(3) INVESTMENT RETURNS.—Interest on, and 

17 the proceeds from, the sale or redemption of any ob18 ligations held by the Fund under subsection (c). 

19 ‘‘(c) INVESTMENT.—The Commission shall invest 

20 portions of the Fund in obligations of the United States 

21 in the same manner as provided under section 9602(b) 

22 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

23 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUND.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts in the Fund shall 

25 be available without further appropriation or fiscal 


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1 year limitation to make payments to participating 

2 candidates as provided in this title. 

3 ‘‘(2) INSUFFICIENT AMOUNTS.—Under regula4 tions established by the Commission, rules similar to 

5 the rules of section 9006(c) of the Internal Revenue 

6 Code of 1986 shall apply. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 542. REVIEWS AND REPORTS BY GOVERNMENT AC8 COUNTABILITY OFFICE. 

9 ‘‘(a) REVIEW OF SMALL DOLLAR FINANCING.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—After each regularly sched11 uled general election for Federal office, the Comp12 troller General of the United States shall conduct a 

13 comprehensive review of the Small Dollar financing 

14 program under this title, including— 

15 ‘‘(A) the maximum and minimum dollar 

16 amounts of qualified small dollar contributions 

17 under section 504; 

18 ‘‘(B) the number and value of qualified 

19 small dollar contributions a candidate is re20 quired to obtain under section 512(a) to be eli21 gible for certification as a participating can22 didate; 

23 ‘‘(C) the maximum amount of payments a 

24 candidate may receive under this title; 


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1 ‘‘(D) the overall satisfaction of partici2 pating candidates and the American public with 

3 the program; and 

4 ‘‘(E) such other matters relating to financ5 ing of campaigns as the Comptroller General 

6 determines are appropriate. 

7 ‘‘(2) CRITERIA FOR REVIEW.—In conducting 

8 the review under subparagraph (A), the Comptroller 

9 General shall consider the following: 

10 ‘‘(A) QUALIFIED SMALL DOLLAR CON11 TRIBUTIONS.—Whether the number and dollar 

12 amounts of qualified small dollar contributions 

13 required strikes an appropriate balance regard14 ing the importance of voter involvement, the 

15 need to assure adequate incentives for partici16 pating, and fiscal responsibility, taking into 

17 consideration the number of primary and gen18 eral election participating candidates, the elec19 toral performance of those candidates, program 

20 cost, and any other information the Comptroller 

21 General determines is appropriate. 

22 ‘‘(B) REVIEW OF PAYMENT LEVELS.— 

23 Whether the totality of the amount of funds al24 lowed to be raised by participating candidates 

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1 tributions) and payments under this title are 

2 sufficient for voters in each State to learn about 

3 the candidates to cast an informed vote, taking 

4 into account the historic amount of spending by 

5 winning candidates, media costs, primary elec6 tion dates, and any other information the 

7 Comptroller General determines is appropriate. 

8 ‘‘(3) RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ADJUSTMENT OF

9 AMOUNTS.—Based on the review conducted under 

10 subparagraph (A), the Comptroller General may rec11 ommend to Congress adjustments of the following 

12 amounts: 

13 ‘‘(A) The number and value of qualified 

14 small dollar contributions a candidate is re15 quired to obtain under section 512(a) to be eli16 gible for certification as a participating can17 didate. 

18 ‘‘(B) The maximum amount of payments a 

19 candidate may receive under this title. 

20 ‘‘(b) REPORTS.—Not later than each June 1 which 

21 follows a regularly scheduled general election for Federal 

22 office for which payments were made under this title, the 

23 Comptroller General shall submit to the Committee on 

24 House Administration of the House of Representatives a 

25 report— 


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1 ‘‘(1) containing an analysis of the review con2 ducted under subsection (a), including a detailed 

3 statement of Comptroller General’s findings, conclu4 sions, and recommendations based on such review, 

5 including any recommendations for adjustments of 

6 amounts described in subsection (a)(3); and 

7 ‘‘(2) documenting, evaluating, and making rec8 ommendations relating to the administrative imple9 mentation and enforcement of the provisions of this 

10 title. 

11 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

12 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec13 essary to carry out the purposes of this subtitle. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 543. ADMINISTRATION BY COMMISSION. 

15 ‘‘The Commission shall prescribe regulations to carry 

16 out the purposes of this title, including regulations to es17 tablish procedures for— 

18 ‘‘(1) verifying the amount of qualified small dol19 lar contributions with respect to a candidate; 

20 ‘‘(2) effectively and efficiently monitoring and 

21 enforcing the limits on the raising of qualified small 

22 dollar contributions; 

23 ‘‘(3) effectively and efficiently monitoring and 

24 enforcing the limits on the use of personal funds by 

25 participating candidates; and 


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1 ‘‘(4) monitoring the use of allocations from the 

2 Freedom From Influence Fund established under 

3 section 541 and matching contributions under this 

title through audits of not fewer than 1 4 ⁄10 (or, in the 

5 case of the first 3 election cycles during which the 

6 program under this title is in effect, not fewer than 

1 7 ⁄3) of all participating candidates or other mecha8 nisms. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 544. VIOLATIONS AND PENALTIES. 

10 ‘‘(a) CIVIL PENALTY FOR VIOLATION OF CONTRIBU11 TION AND EXPENDITURE REQUIREMENTS.—If a can12 didate who has been certified as a participating candidate 

13 accepts a contribution or makes an expenditure that is 

14 prohibited under section 521, the Commission may assess 

15 a civil penalty against the candidate in an amount that 

16 is not more than 3 times the amount of the contribution 

17 or expenditure. Any amounts collected under this sub18 section shall be deposited into the Freedom From Influ19 ence Fund established under section 541. 

20 ‘‘(b) REPAYMENT FOR IMPROPER USE OF FREEDOM

21 FROM INFLUENCE FUND.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Commission deter23 mines that any payment made to a participating 

24 candidate was not used as provided for in this title 

25 or that a participating candidate has violated any of 


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1 the dates for remission of funds contained in this 

2 title, the Commission shall so notify the candidate 

3 and the candidate shall pay to the Fund an amount 

4 equal to— 

5 ‘‘(A) the amount of payments so used or 

6 not remitted, as appropriate; and 

7 ‘‘(B) interest on any such amounts (at a 

8 rate determined by the Commission). 

9 ‘‘(2) OTHER ACTION NOT PRECLUDED.—Any 

10 action by the Commission in accordance with this 

11 subsection shall not preclude enforcement pro12 ceedings by the Commission in accordance with sec13 tion 309(a), including a referral by the Commission 

14 to the Attorney General in the case of an apparent 

15 knowing and willful violation of this title. 

16 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITING CANDIDATES SUBJECT TO CRIMI17 NAL PENALTY FROM QUALIFYING AS PARTICIPATING

18 CANDIDATES.—A candidate is not eligible to be certified 

19 as a participating candidate under this title with respect 

20 to an election if a penalty has been assessed against the 

21 candidate under section 309(d) with respect to any pre22 vious election. 

23 ‘‘SEC. 545. APPEALS PROCESS. 

24 ‘‘(a) REVIEW OF ACTIONS.—Any action by the Com25 mission in carrying out this title shall be subject to review 


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1 by the United States Court of Appeals for the District 

2 of Columbia upon petition filed in the Court not later than 

3 30 days after the Commission takes the action for which 

4 the review is sought. 

5 ‘‘(b) PROCEDURES.—The provisions of chapter 7 of 

6 title 5, United States Code, apply to judicial review under 

7 this section. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 546. INDEXING OF AMOUNTS. 

9 ‘‘(a) INDEXING.—In any calendar year after 2024, 

10 section 315(c)(1)(B) shall apply to each amount described 

11 in subsection (b) in the same manner as such section ap12 plies to the limitations established under subsections 

13 (a)(1)(A), (a)(1)(B), (a)(3), and (h) of such section, ex14 cept that for purposes of applying such section to the 

15 amounts described in subsection (b), the ‘base period’ 

16 shall be 2024. 

17 ‘‘(b) AMOUNTS DESCRIBED.—The amounts described 

18 in this subsection are as follows: 

19 ‘‘(1) The amount referred to in section 

20 502(b)(1) (relating to the minimum amount of quali21 fied small dollar contributions included in a request 

22 for payment). 

23 ‘‘(2) The amounts referred to in section 

24 504(a)(1) (relating to the amount of a qualified 

25 small dollar contribution). 


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1 ‘‘(3) The amount referred to in section 

2 512(a)(2) (relating to the total dollar amount of 

3 qualified small dollar contributions). 

4 ‘‘(4) The amount referred to in section 

5 521(a)(5) (relating to the aggregate amount of con6 tributions a participating candidate may accept from 

7 any individual with respect to an election). 

8 ‘‘(5) The amount referred to in section 

9 521(b)(1)(A) (relating to the amount of personal 

10 funds that may be used by a candidate who is cer11 tified as a participating candidate). 

12 ‘‘(6) The amounts referred to in section 

13 524(a)(2) (relating to the amount of unspent funds 

14 a candidate may retain for use in the next election 

15 cycle). 

16 ‘‘(7) The amount referred to in section 

17 532(a)(3) (relating to the total dollar amount of 

18 qualified small dollar contributions for a candidate 

19 seeking an additional payment under subtitle D). 

20 ‘‘(8) The amount referred to in section 533(b) 

21 (relating to the limit on the amount of an additional 

22 payment made to a candidate under subtitle D). 

23 ‘‘SEC. 547. ELECTION CYCLE DEFINED. 

24 ‘‘In this title, the term ‘election cycle’ means, with 

25 respect to an election for an office, the period beginning 


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1 on the day after the date of the most recent general elec2 tion for that office (or, if the general election resulted in 

3 a runoff election, the date of the runoff election) and end4 ing on the date of the next general election for that office 

5 (or, if the general election resulted in a runoff election, 

6 the date of the runoff election).’’. 

7 SEC. 5112. CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES BY MULTI8 CANDIDATE AND POLITICAL PARTY COMMIT9 TEES ON BEHALF OF PARTICIPATING CAN10 DIDATES. 

11 (a) AUTHORIZING CONTRIBUTIONS ONLY FROM SEP12 ARATE ACCOUNTS CONSISTING OF QUALIFIED SMALL

13 DOLLAR CONTRIBUTIONS.—Section 315(a) of the Federal 

14 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30116(a)) is 

15 amended by adding at the end the following new para16 graph: 

17 ‘‘(9) In the case of a multicandidate political com18 mittee or any political committee of a political party, the 

19 committee may make a contribution to a candidate who 

20 is a participating candidate under title V with respect to 

21 an election only if the contribution is paid from a separate, 

22 segregated account of the committee which consists solely 

23 of contributions which meet the following requirements: 

24 ‘‘(A) Each such contribution is in an amount 

25 which meets the requirements for the amount of a 


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1 qualified small dollar contribution under section 

2 504(a)(1) with respect to the election involved. 

3 ‘‘(B) Each such contribution is made by an in4 dividual who is not otherwise prohibited from mak5 ing a contribution under this Act. 

6 ‘‘(C) The individual who makes the contribution 

7 does not make contributions to the committee during 

8 the year in an aggregate amount that exceeds the 

9 limit described in section 504(a)(1).’’. 

10 (b) PERMITTING UNLIMITED COORDINATED EX11 PENDITURES FROM SMALL DOLLAR SOURCES BY POLIT12 ICAL PARTIES.—Section 315(d) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

13 30116(d)) is amended— 

14 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘The national 

15 committee’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in 

16 paragraph (5), the national committee’’; and 

17 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

18 paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(5) The limits described in paragraph (3) do not 

20 apply in the case of expenditures in connection with the 

21 general election campaign of a candidate for the office of 

22 Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner 

23 to, the Congress who is a participating candidate under 

24 title V with respect to the election, but only if— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the expenditures are paid from a separate, 

2 segregated account of the committee which is de3 scribed in subsection (a)(9); and 

4 ‘‘(B) the expenditures are the sole source of 

5 funding provided by the committee to the can6 didate.’’. 

7 SEC. 5113. PROHIBITING USE OF CONTRIBUTIONS BY PAR8 TICIPATING CANDIDATES FOR PURPOSES 

9 OTHER THAN CAMPAIGN FOR ELECTION. 

10 Section 313 of the Federal Election Campaign Act 

11 of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30114) is amended by adding at the 

12 end the following new subsection: 

13 ‘‘(d) RESTRICTIONS ON PERMITTED USES OF FUNDS

14 BY CANDIDATES RECEIVING SMALL DOLLAR FINANC15 ING.—Notwithstanding paragraph (2), (3), or (4) of sub16 section (a), if a candidate for election for the office of Rep17 resentative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, 

18 the Congress is certified as a participating candidate 

19 under title V with respect to the election, any contribution 

20 which the candidate is permitted to accept under such title 

21 may be used only for authorized expenditures in connec22 tion with the candidate’s campaign for such office, subject 

23 to section 503(b).’’. 


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1 SEC. 5114. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—This part and the amendments 

3 made by this part shall apply with respect to elections oc4 curring during 2024 or any succeeding year, without re5 gard to whether or not the Federal Election Commission 

6 has promulgated the final regulations necessary to carry 

7 out this part and the amendments made by this part by 

8 the deadline set forth in subsection (b). 

9 (b) DEADLINE FOR REGULATIONS.—Not later than 

10 June 30, 2022, the Federal Election Commission shall 

11 promulgate such regulations as may be necessary to carry 

12 out this part and the amendments made by this part. 

13 Subtitle C—Presidential Elections 

14 SEC. 5200. SHORT TITLE. 

15 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Empower Act of 

16 2019’’. 

17 PART 1—PRIMARY ELECTIONS 

18 SEC. 5201. INCREASE IN AND MODIFICATIONS TO MATCH19 ING PAYMENTS. 

20 (a) INCREASE AND MODIFICATION.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The first sentence of section 

22 9034(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

23 amended— 

24 (A) by striking ‘‘an amount equal to the 

25 amount of each contribution’’ and inserting ‘‘an 

26 amount equal to 600 percent of the amount of 


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1 each matchable contribution (disregarding any 

2 amount of contributions from any person to the 

3 extent that the total of the amounts contributed 

4 by such person for the election exceeds $200)’’; 

5 and 

6 (B) by striking ‘‘authorized committees’’ 

7 and all that follows through ‘‘$250’’ and insert8 ing ‘‘authorized committees’’. 

9 (2) MATCHABLE CONTRIBUTIONS.—Section 

10 9034 of such Code is amended— 

11 (A) by striking the last sentence of sub12 section (a); and 

13 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

14 subsection: 

15 ‘‘(c) MATCHABLE CONTRIBUTION DEFINED.—For 

16 purposes of this section and section 9033(b)— 

17 ‘‘(1) MATCHABLE CONTRIBUTION.—The term 

18 ‘matchable contribution’ means, with respect to the 

19 nomination for election to the office of President of 

20 the United States, a contribution by an individual to 

21 a candidate or an authorized committee of a can22 didate with respect to which the candidate has cer23 tified in writing that— 

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1 cluding such matchable contribution) to such 

2 candidate and the authorized committees of 

3 such candidate in excess of $1,000 for the elec4 tion; 

5 ‘‘(B) such candidate and the authorized 

6 committees of such candidate will not accept 

7 contributions from such individual (including 

8 such matchable contribution) aggregating more 

9 than the amount described in subparagraph 

10 (A); and 

11 ‘‘(C) such contribution was a direct con12 tribution. 

13 ‘‘(2) CONTRIBUTION.—For purposes of this 

14 subsection, the term ‘contribution’ means a gift of 

15 money made by a written instrument which identi16 fies the individual making the contribution by full 

17 name and mailing address, but does not include a 

18 subscription, loan, advance, or deposit of money, or 

19 anything of value or anything described in subpara20 graph (B), (C), or (D) of section 9032(4). 

21 ‘‘(3) DIRECT CONTRIBUTION.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this 

23 subsection, the term ‘direct contribution’ 

24 means, with respect to a candidate, a contribu25 tion which is made directly by an individual to 


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1 the candidate or an authorized committee of the 

2 candidate and is not— 

3 ‘‘(i) forwarded from the individual 

4 making the contribution to the candidate 

5 or committee by another person; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) received by the candidate or com7 mittee with the knowledge that the con8 tribution was made at the request, sugges9 tion, or recommendation of another person. 

10 ‘‘(B) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—In subpara11 graph (A)— 

12 ‘‘(i) the term ‘person’ does not include 

13 an individual (other than an individual de14 scribed in section 304(i)(7) of the Federal 

15 Election Campaign Act of 1971), a polit16 ical committee of a political party, or any 

17 political committee which is not a separate 

18 segregated fund described in section 

19 316(b) of the Federal Election Campaign 

20 Act of 1971 and which does not make 

21 independent expenditures, does not engage 

22 in lobbying activity under the Lobbying 

23 Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et 

24 seq.), and is not established by, controlled 

25 by, or affiliated with a registered lobbyist 


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1 under such Act, an agent of a registered 

2 lobbyist under such Act, or an organization 

3 which retains or employs a registered lob4 byist under such Act; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) a contribution is not ‘made at 

6 the request, suggestion, or recommendation 

7 of another person’ solely on the grounds 

8 that the contribution is made in response 

9 to information provided to the individual 

10 making the contribution by any person, so 

11 long as the candidate or authorized com12 mittee does not know the identity of the 

13 person who provided the information to 

14 such individual.’’. 

15 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

16 (A) Section 9032(4) of such Code is 

17 amended by striking ‘‘section 9034(a)’’ and in18 serting ‘‘section 9034’’. 

19 (B) Section 9033(b)(3) of such Code is 

20 amended by striking ‘‘matching contributions’’ 

21 and inserting ‘‘matchable contributions’’. 

22 (b) MODIFICATION OF PAYMENT LIMITATION.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 9034(b) of such 

24 Code is amended— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘Every’’ and inserting the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Every’’, 

4 (2) by striking ‘‘shall not exceed’’ and all that 

5 follows and inserting ‘‘shall not exceed 

6 $250,000,000.’’, and 

7 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

8 paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(3) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any ap11 plicable period beginning after 2025, the dollar 

12 amount in paragraph (1) shall be increased by 

13 an amount equal to— 

14 ‘‘(i) such dollar amount, multiplied by 

15 ‘‘(ii) the cost-of-living adjustment de16 termined under section 1(f)(3) for the cal17 endar year following the year which such 

18 applicable period begins, determined by 

19 substituting ‘calendar year 2024’ for ‘cal20 endar year 1992’ in subparagraph (B) 

21 thereof. 

22 ‘‘(B) APPLICABLE PERIOD.—For purposes 

23 of this paragraph, the term ‘applicable period’ 

24 means the 4-year period beginning with the 

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1 tion for the office of President and ending on 

2 the date of the next such general election. 

3 ‘‘(C) ROUNDING.—If any amount as ad4 justed under subparagraph (1) is not a multiple 

5 of $10,000, such amount shall be rounded to 

6 the nearest multiple of $10,000.’’. 

7 SEC. 5202. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR MATCHING 

8 PAYMENTS. 

9 (a) AMOUNT OF AGGREGATE CONTRIBUTIONS PER

10 STATE; DISREGARDING OF AMOUNTS CONTRIBUTED IN

11 EXCESS OF $200.—Section 9033(b)(3) of the Internal 

12 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

13 (1) by striking ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘$25,000’’; and 

15 (2) by striking ‘‘20 States’’ and inserting the 

16 following: ‘‘20 States (disregarding any amount of 

17 contributions from any such resident to the extent 

18 that the total of the amounts contributed by such 

19 resident for the election exceeds $200)’’. 

20 (b) CONTRIBUTION LIMIT.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (4) of section 

22 9033(b) of such Code is amended to read as follows: 

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1 nation for election to the office of President of the 

2 United States in excess of $1,000 for the election.’’. 

3 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

4 (A) Section 9033(b) of such Code is 

5 amended by adding at the end the following 

6 new flush sentence: 

7 ‘‘For purposes of paragraph (4), the term ‘contribution’ 

8 has the meaning given such term in section 301(8) of the 

9 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.’’. 

10 (B) Section 9032(4) of such Code, as 

11 amended by section 1001(a)(3)(A) is amended 

12 by inserting ‘‘or 9033(b)’’ after ‘‘9034’’. 

13 (c) BAN ON ACCEPTANCE OF BUNDLED CONTRIBU14 TIONS.—Section 9033(b) of such Code, as amended by 

15 subsection (b), is amended— 

16 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

17 (3); 

18 (2) by striking the period at the end of para19 graph (4) and inserting ‘‘, and’’; and 

20 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

21 paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(5) the candidate and the authorized com23 mittee of the candidate will not accept any contribu24 tion which is not a direct contribution (as defined in 

25 section 9034(c)(3)).’’. 


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1 (d) PARTICIPATION IN SYSTEM FOR PAYMENTS FOR

2 GENERAL ELECTION.—Section 9033(b) of such Code, as 

3 amended by subsection (c), is amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

5 (4); 

6 (2) by striking the period at the end of para7 graph (5) and inserting ‘‘, and’’; and 

8 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

9 paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(6) if the candidate is nominated by a political 

11 party for election to the office of President, the can12 didate will apply for and accept payments with re13 spect to the general election for such office in ac14 cordance with chapter 95.’’. 

15 SEC. 5203. REPEAL OF EXPENDITURE LIMITATIONS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 9035 of 

17 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read 

18 as follows: 

19 ‘‘(a) PERSONAL EXPENDITURE LIMITATION.—No 

20 candidate shall knowingly make expenditures from his per21 sonal funds, or the personal funds of his immediate family, 

22 in connection with his campaign for nomination for elec23 tion to the office of President in excess of, in the aggre24 gate, $50,000.’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Paragraph (1) of 

2 section 9033(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

3 amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘(1) the candidate will comply with the per5 sonal expenditure limitation under section 9035,’’. 

6 SEC. 5204. PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY OF MATCHING PAY7 MENTS. 

8 Section 9032(6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

9 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘the beginning of the cal10 endar year in which a general election for the office of 

11 President of the United States will be held’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘the date that is 6 months prior to the date of the earliest 

13 State primary election’’. 

14 SEC. 5205. EXAMINATION AND AUDITS OF MATCHABLE CON15 TRIBUTIONS. 

16 Section 9038(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

17 1986 is amended by inserting ‘‘and matchable contribu18 tions accepted by’’ after ‘‘qualified campaign expenses of’’. 

19 SEC. 5206. MODIFICATION TO LIMITATION ON CONTRIBU20 TIONS FOR PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY CAN21 DIDATES. 

22 Section 315(a)(6) of the Federal Election Campaign 

23 Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30116(a)(6)) is amended by strik24 ing ‘‘calendar year’’ and inserting ‘‘four-year election 

25 cycle’’. 


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1 PART 2—GENERAL ELECTIONS 

2 SEC. 5211. MODIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS 

3 FOR PUBLIC FINANCING. 

4 Subsection (a) of section 9003 of the Internal Rev5 enue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In order to be eligible to receive 

7 any payments under section 9006, the candidates of a po8 litical party in a Presidential election shall meet the fol9 lowing requirements: 

10 ‘‘(1) PARTICIPATION IN PRIMARY PAYMENT

11 SYSTEM.—The candidate for President received pay12 ments under chapter 96 for the campaign for nomi13 nation for election to be President. 

14 ‘‘(2) AGREEMENTS WITH COMMISSION.—The 

15 candidates, in writing— 

16 ‘‘(A) agree to obtain and furnish to the 

17 Commission such evidence as it may request of 

18 the qualified campaign expenses of such can19 didates, 

20 ‘‘(B) agree to keep and furnish to the 

21 Commission such records, books, and other in22 formation as it may request, and 

23 ‘‘(C) agree to an audit and examination by 

24 the Commission under section 9007 and to pay 

25 any amounts required to be paid under such 

26 section. 


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1 ‘‘(3) BAN ON BUNDLED CONTRIBUTIONS.—The 

2 candidates certify to the Commission, under penalty 

3 of perjury and within such time prior to the day of 

4 the Presidential election as the Commission shall 

5 prescribe by rules or regulations, that the candidates 

6 and the authorized committees of such candidates 

7 will not accept any contribution which is not a direct 

8 contribution (as defined in section 9034(c)(3)).’’. 

9 SEC. 5212. REPEAL OF EXPENDITURE LIMITATIONS AND 

10 USE OF QUALIFIED CAMPAIGN CONTRIBU11 TIONS. 

12 (a) USE OF QUALIFIED CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS

13 WITHOUT EXPENDITURE LIMITS; APPLICATION OF SAME

14 REQUIREMENTS FOR MAJOR, MINOR, AND NEW PAR15 TIES.—Section 9003 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

16 1986 is amended by striking subsections (b) and (c) and 

17 inserting the following: 

18 ‘‘(b) USE OF QUALIFIED CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS

19 TO DEFRAY EXPENSES.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to be eligible to 

21 receive any payments under section 9006, the can22 didates of a party in a Presidential election shall 

23 certify to the Commission, under penalty of perjury, 

24 that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) such candidates and their authorized 

2 committees have not and will not accept any 

3 contributions to defray qualified campaign ex4 penses other than— 

5 ‘‘(i) qualified campaign contributions, 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(ii) contributions to the extent nec8 essary to make up any deficiency payments 

9 received out of the fund on account of the 

10 application of section 9006(c), and 

11 ‘‘(B) such candidates and their authorized 

12 committees have not and will not accept any 

13 contribution to defray expenses which would be 

14 qualified campaign expenses but for subpara15 graph (C) of section 9002(11). 

16 ‘‘(2) TIMING OF CERTIFICATION.—The can17 didate shall make the certification required under 

18 this subsection at the same time the candidate 

19 makes the certification required under subsection 

20 (a)(3).’’. 

21 (b) DEFINITION OF QUALIFIED CAMPAIGN CON22 TRIBUTION.—Section 9002 of such Code is amended by 

23 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(13) QUALIFIED CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION.— 

25 The term ‘qualified campaign contribution’ means, 


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1 with respect to any election for the office of Presi2 dent of the United States, a contribution from an in3 dividual to a candidate or an authorized committee 

4 of a candidate which— 

5 ‘‘(A) does not exceed $1,000 for the elec6 tion; and 

7 ‘‘(B) with respect to which the candidate 

8 has certified in writing that— 

9 ‘‘(i) the individual making such con10 tribution has not made aggregate contribu11 tions (including such qualified contribu12 tion) to such candidate and the authorized 

13 committees of such candidate in excess of 

14 the amount described in subparagraph (A), 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(ii) such candidate and the author17 ized committees of such candidate will not 

18 accept contributions from such individual 

19 (including such qualified contribution) ag20 gregating more than the amount described 

21 in subparagraph (A) with respect to such 

22 election.’’. 

23 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

24 (1) REPEAL OF EXPENDITURE LIMITS.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 315 of the Fed2 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 

3 30116) is amended by striking subsection (b). 

4 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

5 315(c) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30116(c)) is 

6 amended— 

7 (i) in paragraph (1)(B)(i), by striking 

8 ‘‘, (b)’’; and 

9 (ii) in paragraph (2)(B)(i), by striking 

10 ‘‘subsections (b) and (d)’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘subsection (d)’’. 

12 (2) REPEAL OF REPAYMENT REQUIREMENT.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 9007(b) of the 

14 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 

15 striking paragraph (2) and redesignating para16 graphs (3), (4), and (5) as paragraphs (2), (3), 

17 and (4), respectively. 

18 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Para19 graph (2) of section 9007(b) of such Code, as 

20 redesignated by subparagraph (A), is amend21 ed— 

22 (i) by striking ‘‘a major party’’ and 

23 inserting ‘‘a party’’; 


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1 (ii) by inserting ‘‘qualified contribu2 tions and’’ after ‘‘contributions (other 

3 than’’; and 

4 (iii) by striking ‘‘(other than qualified 

5 campaign expenses with respect to which 

6 payment is required under paragraph 

7 (2))’’. 

8 (3) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.— 

9 (A) REPEAL OF PENALTY FOR EXCESS EX10 PENSES.—Section 9012 of the Internal Revenue 

11 Code of 1986 is amended by striking subsection 

12 (a). 

13 (B) PENALTY FOR ACCEPTANCE OF DIS14 ALLOWED CONTRIBUTIONS; APPLICATION OF

15 SAME PENALTY FOR CANDIDATES OF MAJOR, 

16 MINOR, AND NEW PARTIES.—Subsection (b) of 

17 section 9012 of such Code is amended to read 

18 as follows: 

19 ‘‘(b) CONTRIBUTIONS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) ACCEPTANCE OF DISALLOWED CONTRIBU21 TIONS.—It shall be unlawful for an eligible can22 didate of a party in a Presidential election or any of 

23 his authorized committees knowingly and willfully to 

24 accept— 


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1 ‘‘(A) any contribution other than a quali2 fied campaign contribution to defray qualified 

3 campaign expenses, except to the extent nec4 essary to make up any deficiency in payments 

5 received out of the fund on account of the ap6 plication of section 9006(c); or 

7 ‘‘(B) any contribution to defray expenses 

8 which would be qualified campaign expenses but 

9 for subparagraph (C) of section 9002(11). 

10 ‘‘(2) PENALTY.—Any person who violates para11 graph (1) shall be fined not more than $5,000, or 

12 imprisoned not more than one year, or both. In the 

13 case of a violation by an authorized committee, any 

14 officer or member of such committee who knowingly 

15 and willfully consents to such violation shall be fined 

16 not more than $5,000, or imprisoned not more than 

17 one year, or both.’’. 

18 SEC. 5213. MATCHING PAYMENTS AND OTHER MODIFICA19 TIONS TO PAYMENT AMOUNTS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

21 (1) AMOUNT OF PAYMENTS; APPLICATION OF

22 SAME AMOUNT FOR CANDIDATES OF MAJOR, MINOR, 

23 AND NEW PARTIES.—Subsection (a) of section 9004 

24 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to 

25 read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the provisions of this 

2 chapter, the eligible candidates of a party in a Presidential 

3 election shall be entitled to equal payment under section 

4 9006 in an amount equal to 600 percent of the amount 

5 of each matchable contribution received by such candidate 

6 or by the candidate’s authorized committees (disregarding 

7 any amount of contributions from any person to the extent 

8 that the total of the amounts contributed by such person 

9 for the election exceeds $200), except that total amount 

10 to which a candidate is entitled under this paragraph shall 

11 not exceed $250,000,000.’’. 

12 (2) REPEAL OF SEPARATE LIMITATIONS FOR

13 CANDIDATES OF MINOR AND NEW PARTIES; INFLA14 TION ADJUSTMENT.—Subsection (b) of section 9004 

15 of such Code is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(b) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any applica18 ble period beginning after 2025, the $250,000,000 

19 dollar amount in subsection (a) shall be increased by 

20 an amount equal to— 

21 ‘‘(A) such dollar amount; multiplied by 

22 ‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter23 mined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar 

24 year following the year which such applicable 

25 period begins, determined by substituting ‘calVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jan 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00439 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1.IH H1

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1 endar year 2024’ for ‘calendar year 1992’ in 

2 subparagraph (B) thereof. 

3 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE PERIOD.—For purposes of 

4 this subsection, the term ‘applicable period’ means 

5 the 4-year period beginning with the first day fol6 lowing the date of the general election for the office 

7 of President and ending on the date of the next such 

8 general election. 

9 ‘‘(3) ROUNDING.—If any amount as adjusted 

10 under paragraph (1) is not a multiple of $10,000, 

11 such amount shall be rounded to the nearest mul12 tiple of $10,000.’’. 

13 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

14 9005(a) of such Code is amended by adding at the 

15 end the following new sentence: ‘‘The Commission 

16 shall make such additional certifications as may be 

17 necessary to receive payments under section 9004.’’. 

18 (b) MATCHABLE CONTRIBUTION.—Section 9002 of 

19 such Code, as amended by section 5212(b), is amended 

20 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(14) MATCHABLE CONTRIBUTION.—The term 

22 ‘matchable contribution’ means, with respect to the 

23 election to the office of President of the United 

24 States, a contribution by an individual to a can25 didate or an authorized committee of a candidate 


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1 with respect to which the candidate has certified in 

2 writing that— 

3 ‘‘(A) the individual making such contribu4 tion has not made aggregate contributions (in5 cluding such matchable contribution) to such 

6 candidate and the authorized committees of 

7 such candidate in excess of $1,000 for the elec8 tion; 

9 ‘‘(B) such candidate and the authorized 

10 committees of such candidate will not accept 

11 contributions from such individual (including 

12 such matchable contribution) aggregating more 

13 than the amount described in subparagraph (A) 

14 with respect to such election; and 

15 ‘‘(C) such contribution was a direct con16 tribution (as defined in section 9034(c)(3)).’’. 

17 SEC. 5214. INCREASE IN LIMIT ON COORDINATED PARTY 

18 EXPENDITURES. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 315(d)(2) of the Federal 

20 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30116(d)(2)) 

21 is amended to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(2)(A) The national committee of a political party 

23 may not make any expenditure in connection with the gen24 eral election campaign of any candidate for President of 


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1 the United States who is affiliated with such party which 

2 exceeds $100,000,000. 

3 ‘‘(B) For purposes of this paragraph— 

4 ‘‘(i) any expenditure made by or on behalf of a 

5 national committee of a political party and in con6 nection with a Presidential election shall be consid7 ered to be made in connection with the general elec8 tion campaign of a candidate for President of the 

9 United States who is affiliated with such party; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) any communication made by or on behalf 

11 of such party shall be considered to be made in con12 nection with the general election campaign of a can13 didate for President of the United States who is af14 filiated with such party if any portion of the commu15 nication is in connection with such election. 

16 ‘‘(C) Any expenditure under this paragraph shall be 

17 in addition to any expenditure by a national committee 

18 of a political party serving as the principal campaign com19 mittee of a candidate for the office of President of the 

20 United States.’’. 

21 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATING TO TIM22 ING OF COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENT.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 315(c)(1) of such 

24 Act (52 U.S.C. 30116(c)(1)) is amended— 


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1 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘(d)’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘(d)(2)’’; and 

3 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

4 subparagraph: 

5 ‘‘(D) In any calendar year after 2024— 

6 ‘‘(i) the dollar amount in subsection (d)(2) shall 

7 be increased by the percent difference determined 

8 under subparagraph (A); 

9 ‘‘(ii) the amount so increased shall remain in 

10 effect for the calendar year; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) if the amount after adjustment under 

12 clause (i) is not a multiple of $100, such amount 

13 shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of $100.’’. 

14 (2) BASE YEAR.—Section 315(c)(2)(B) of such 

15 Act (52 U.S.C. 30116(c)(2)(B)) is amended— 

16 (A) in clause (i)— 

17 (i) by striking ‘‘(d)’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘(d)(3)’’; and 

19 (ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

20 (B) in clause (ii), by striking the period at 

21 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

22 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

23 clause: 

24 ‘‘(iii) for purposes of subsection (d)(2), cal25 endar year 2023.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5215. ESTABLISHMENT OF UNIFORM DATE FOR RE2 LEASE OF PAYMENTS. 

3 (a) DATE FOR PAYMENTS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 9006(b) of the In5 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as 

6 follows: 

7 ‘‘(b) PAYMENTS FROM THE FUND.—If the Secretary 

8 of the Treasury receives a certification from the Commis9 sion under section 9005 for payment to the eligible can10 didates of a political party, the Secretary shall pay to such 

11 candidates out of the fund the amount certified by the 

12 Commission on the later of— 

13 ‘‘(1) the last Friday occurring before the first 

14 Monday in September; or 

15 ‘‘(2) 24 hours after receiving the certifications 

16 for the eligible candidates of all major political par17 ties. 

18 Amounts paid to any such candidates shall be under the 

19 control of such candidates.’’. 

20 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The first sen21 tence of section 9006(c) of such Code is amended by 

22 striking ‘‘the time of a certification by the Commis23 sion under section 9005 for payment’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘the time of making a payment under subsection 

25 (b)’’. 


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1 (b) TIME FOR CERTIFICATION.—Section 9005(a) of 

2 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 

3 ‘‘10 days’’ and inserting ‘‘24 hours’’. 

4 SEC. 5216. AMOUNTS IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAM5 PAIGN FUND. 

6 (a) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNTS IN FUND.—Sec7 tion 9006(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

8 amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: 

9 ‘‘In making a determination of whether there are insuffi10 cient moneys in the fund for purposes of the previous sen11 tence, the Secretary shall take into account in determining 

12 the balance of the fund for a Presidential election year 

13 the Secretary’s best estimate of the amount of moneys 

14 which will be deposited into the fund during the year, ex15 cept that the amount of the estimate may not exceed the 

16 average of the annual amounts deposited in the fund dur17 ing the previous 3 years.’’. 

18 (b) SPECIAL RULE FOR FIRST CAMPAIGN CYCLE

19 UNDER THIS ACT.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 9006 of the Internal 

21 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the 

22 end the following new subsection: 

23 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL AUTHORITY TO BORROW.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsection 

25 (c), there are authorized to be appropriated to the 


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1 fund, as repayable advances, such sums as are nec2 essary to carry out the purposes of the fund during 

3 the period ending on the first Presidential election 

4 occurring after the effective date of this subsection. 

5 ‘‘(2) REPAYMENT OF ADVANCES.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Advances made to the 

7 fund shall be repaid, and interest on such ad8 vances shall be paid, to the general fund of the 

9 Treasury when the Secretary determines that 

10 moneys are available for such purposes in the 

11 fund. 

12 ‘‘(B) RATE OF INTEREST.—Interest on ad13 vances made to the fund shall be at a rate de14 termined by the Secretary of the Treasury (as 

15 of the close of the calendar month preceding the 

16 month in which the advance is made) to be 

17 equal to the current average market yield on 

18 outstanding marketable obligations of the 

19 United States with remaining periods to matu20 rity comparable to the anticipated period during 

21 which the advance will be outstanding and shall 

22 be compounded annually.’’. 

23 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

24 by this subsection shall take effect January 1, 2022. 


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1 SEC. 5217. USE OF GENERAL ELECTION PAYMENTS FOR 

2 GENERAL ELECTION LEGAL AND ACCOUNT3 ING COMPLIANCE. 

4 Section 9002(11) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

5 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

6 sentence: ‘‘For purposes of subparagraph (A), an expense 

7 incurred by a candidate or authorized committee for gen8 eral election legal and accounting compliance purposes 

9 shall be considered to be an expense to further the election 

10 of such candidate.’’. 

11 PART 3—EFFECTIVE DATE 

12 SEC. 5221. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided, this 

14 subtitle and the amendments made by this subtitle shall 

15 apply with respect to the Presidential election held in 2024 

16 and each succeeding Presidential election, without regard 

17 to whether or not the Federal Election Commission has 

18 promulgated the final regulations necessary to carry out 

19 this part and the amendments made by this part by the 

20 deadline set forth in subsection (b). 

21 (b) DEADLINE FOR REGULATIONS.—Not later than 

22 June 30, 2022, the Federal Election Commission shall 

23 promulgate such regulations as may be necessary to carry 

24 out this part and the amendments made by this part. 


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1 Subtitle D—Personal Use Services 

2 as Authorized Campaign Ex3 penditures 

4 SEC. 5301. SHORT TITLE. 

5 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This subtitle may be cited as the 

6 ‘‘Help America Run Act’’. 

7 SEC. 5302. TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS FOR CHILD CARE 

8 AND OTHER PERSONAL USE SERVICES AS AU9 THORIZED CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURE. 

10 (a) PERSONAL USE SERVICES AS AUTHORIZED CAM11 PAIGN EXPENDITURES.—Section 313 of the Federal Elec12 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30114), as amend13 ed by section 5113, is amended by adding at the end the 

14 following new subsection: 

15 ‘‘(e) TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS FOR CHILD CARE

16 AND OTHER PERSONAL USE SERVICES AS AUTHORIZED

17 CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURE.— 

18 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZED EXPENDITURES.—For pur19 poses of subsection (a), the payment by an author20 ized committee of a candidate for any of the per21 sonal use services described in paragraph (2) shall 

22 be treated as an authorized expenditure if the serv23 ices are necessary to enable the participation of the 

24 candidate or staff of the committee (including un25 paid staff) in campaign-connected activities. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PERSONAL USE SERVICES DESCRIBED.— 

2 The personal use services described in this para3 graph are as follows: 

4 ‘‘(A) Child care services. 

5 ‘‘(B) Elder care services. 

6 ‘‘(C) Professional development services. 

7 ‘‘(D) Payments of premiums, copayments, 

8 deductibles and other costs associated with 

9 health insurance coverage.’’. 

10 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

11 this subtitle shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

12 of this Act. 

13 Subtitle E—Severability 

14 SEC. 5401. SEVERABILITY. 

15 If any provision of this title or amendment made by 

16 this title, or the application of a provision or amendment 

17 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu18 tional, the remainder of this title and amendments made 

19 by this title, and the application of the provisions and 

20 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be 

21 affected by the holding. 

22 TITLE VI—CAMPAIGN FINANCE 

23 OVERSIGHT 

Subtitle A—Restoring Integrity to America’s Elections 

Sec. 6001. Short title. 

Sec. 6002. Membership of Federal Election Commission. 

Sec. 6003. Assignment of powers to Chair of Federal Election Commission. 


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Sec. 6004. Revision to enforcement process. 

Sec. 6005. Permitting appearance at hearings on requests for advisory opinions 

by persons opposing the requests. 

Sec. 6006. Permanent extension of administrative penalty authority. 

Sec. 6007. Effective date; transition. 

Subtitle B—Stopping Super PAC-Candidate Coordination 

Sec. 6101. Short title. 

Sec. 6102. Clarification of treatment of coordinated expenditures as contributions to candidates. 

Sec. 6103. Clarification of ban on fundraising for super PACs by Federal candidates and officeholders. 

Subtitle C—Severability 

Sec. 6201. Severability. 

1 Subtitle A—Restoring Integrity to 

2 America’s Elections 

3 SEC. 6001. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Restoring Integrity 

5 to America’s Elections Act’’. 

6 SEC. 6002. MEMBERSHIP OF FEDERAL ELECTION COMMIS7 SION. 

8 (a) REDUCTION IN NUMBER OF MEMBERS; REMOVAL

9 OF SECRETARY OF SENATE AND CLERK OF HOUSE AS

10 EX OFFICIO MEMBERS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL; QUORUM.—Section 306(a)(1) 

12 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 

13 U.S.C. 30106(a)(1)) is amended by striking the sec14 ond and third sentences and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘The Commission is composed of 5 members ap16 pointed by the President by and with the advice and 

17 consent of the Senate, of whom no more than 2 may 

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1 ity of the number of members of the Commission 

2 who are serving at the time shall constitute a 

3 quorum, except that 3 members shall constitute a 

4 quorum if there are 4 members serving at the 

5 time.’’. 

6 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATING TO

7 REDUCTION IN NUMBER OF MEMBERS.—(A) The 

8 second sentence of section 306(c) of such Act (52 

9 U.S.C. 30106(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘affirma10 tive vote of 4 members of the Commission’’ and in11 serting ‘‘affirmative vote of a majority of the mem12 bers of the Commission who are serving at the 

13 time’’. 

14 (B) Such Act is further amended by striking 

15 ‘‘affirmative vote of 4 of its members’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘affirmative vote of a majority of the members of 

17 the Commission who are serving at the time’’ each 

18 place it appears in the following sections: 

19 (i) Section 309(a)(2) (52 U.S.C. 

20 30109(a)(2)). 

21 (ii) Section 309(a)(4)(A)(i) (52 U.S.C. 

22 30109(a)(4)(A)(i)). 

23 (iii) Section 309(a)(5)(C) (52 U.S.C. 

24 30109(a)(5)(C)). 


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1 (iv) Section 309(a)(6)(A) (52 U.S.C. 

2 30109(a)(6)(A)). 

3 (v) Section 311(b) (52 U.S.C. 30111(b)). 

4 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

5 REMOVAL OF EX OFFICIO MEMBERS.—Section 

6 306(a) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30106(a)) is amend7 ed by striking ‘‘(other than the Secretary of the Sen8 ate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives)’’ 

9 each place it appears in paragraphs (4) and (5). 

10 (b) TERMS OF SERVICE.—Section 306(a)(2) of such 

11 Act (52 U.S.C. 30106(a)(2)) is amended to read as fol12 lows: 

13 ‘‘(2) TERMS OF SERVICE.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the 

15 Commission shall serve for a single term of 6 

16 years. 

17 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR INITIAL APPOINT18 MENTS.—Of the members first appointed to 

19 serve terms that begin in January 2022, the 

20 President shall designate 2 to serve for a 3-year 

21 term. 

22 ‘‘(C) NO REAPPOINTMENT PERMITTED.— 

23 An individual who served a term as a member 

24 of the Commission may not serve for an addi25 tional term, except that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) an individual who served a 3-year 

2 term under subparagraph (B) may also be 

3 appointed to serve a 6-year term under 

4 subparagraph (A); and 

5 ‘‘(ii) for purposes of this subpara6 graph, an individual who is appointed to 

7 fill a vacancy under subparagraph (D) 

8 shall not be considered to have served a 

9 term if the portion of the unexpired term 

10 the individual fills is less than 50 percent 

11 of the period of the term. 

12 ‘‘(D) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy occurring 

13 in the membership of the Commission shall be 

14 filled in the same manner as in the case of the 

15 original appointment. Except as provided in 

16 subparagraph (C), an individual appointed to 

17 fill a vacancy occurring other than by the expi18 ration of a term of office shall be appointed 

19 only for the unexpired term of the member he 

20 or she succeeds. 

21 ‘‘(E) LIMITATION ON SERVICE AFTER EX22 PIRATION OF TERM.—A member of the Com23 mission may continue to serve on the Commis24 sion after the expiration of the member’s term 


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1 for an additional period, but only until the ear2 lier of— 

3 ‘‘(i) the date on which the member’s 

4 successor has taken office as a member of 

5 the Commission; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) the expiration of the 1-year pe7 riod that begins on the last day of the 

8 member’s term.’’. 

9 (c) QUALIFICATIONS.—Section 306(a)(3) of such Act 

10 (52 U.S.C. 30106(a)(3)) is amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘(3) QUALIFICATIONS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The President may 

13 select an individual for service as a member of 

14 the Commission if the individual has experience 

15 in election law and has a demonstrated record 

16 of integrity, impartiality, and good judgment. 

17 ‘‘(B) ASSISTANCE OF BLUE RIBBON ADVI18 SORY PANEL.— 

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Prior to the regu20 larly scheduled expiration of the term of a 

21 member of the Commission and upon the 

22 occurrence of a vacancy in the membership 

23 of the Commission prior to the expiration 

24 of a term, the President shall convene a 

25 Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel, consisting of 


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1 an odd number of individuals selected by 

2 the President from retired Federal judges, 

3 former law enforcement officials, or indi4 viduals with experience in election law, ex5 cept that the President may not select any 

6 individual to serve on the panel who holds 

7 any public office at the time of selection. 

8 ‘‘(ii) RECOMMENDATIONS.—With re9 spect to each member of the Commission 

10 whose term is expiring or each vacancy in 

11 the membership of the Commission (as the 

12 case may be), the Blue Ribbon Advisory 

13 Panel shall recommend to the President at 

14 least one but not more than 3 individuals 

15 for nomination for appointment as a mem16 ber of the Commission. 

17 ‘‘(iii) PUBLICATION.—At the time the 

18 President submits to the Senate the nomi19 nations for individuals to be appointed as 

20 members of the Commission, the President 

21 shall publish the Blue Ribbon Advisory 

22 Panel’s recommendations for such nomina23 tions. 

24 ‘‘(iv) EXEMPTION FROM FEDERAL AD25 VISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—The Federal 


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1 Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 

2 does not apply to a Blue Ribbon Advisory 

3 Panel convened under this subparagraph. 

4 ‘‘(C) PROHIBITING ENGAGEMENT WITH

5 OTHER BUSINESS OR EMPLOYMENT DURING

6 SERVICE.—A member of the Commission shall 

7 not engage in any other business, vocation, or 

8 employment. Any individual who is engaging in 

9 any other business, vocation, or employment at 

10 the time of his or her appointment to the Com11 mission shall terminate or liquidate such activ12 ity no later than 90 days after such appoint13 ment.’’. 

14 SEC. 6003. ASSIGNMENT OF POWERS TO CHAIR OF FED15 ERAL ELECTION COMMISSION. 

16 (a) APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR BY PRESIDENT.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 306(a)(5) of the 

18 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 

19 30106(a)(5)) is amended to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(5) CHAIR.— 

21 ‘‘(A) INITIAL APPOINTMENT.—Of the 

22 members first appointed to serve terms that 

23 begin in January 2022, one such member (as 

24 designated by the President at the time the 


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1 President submits nominations to the Senate) 

2 shall serve as Chair of the Commission. 

3 ‘‘(B) SUBSEQUENT APPOINTMENTS.—Any 

4 individual who is appointed to succeed the 

5 member who serves as Chair of the Commission 

6 for the term beginning in January 2022 (as 

7 well as any individual who is appointed to fill 

8 a vacancy if such member does not serve a full 

9 term as Chair) shall serve as Chair of the Com10 mission. 

11 ‘‘(C) VICE CHAIR.—The Commission shall 

12 select, by majority vote of its members, one of 

13 its members to serve as Vice Chair, who shall 

14 act as Chair in the absence or disability of the 

15 Chair or in the event of a vacancy in the posi16 tion of Chair.’’. 

17 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

18 309(a)(2) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30109(a)(2)) is 

19 amended by striking ‘‘through its chairman or vice 

20 chairman’’ and inserting ‘‘through the Chair’’. 

21 (b) POWERS.— 

22 (1) ASSIGNMENT OF CERTAIN POWERS TO

23 CHAIR.—Section 307(a) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

24 30107(a)) is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(a) DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS BETWEEN CHAIR

2 AND COMMISSION.— 

3 ‘‘(1) POWERS ASSIGNED TO CHAIR.— 

4 ‘‘(A) ADMINISTRATIVE POWERS.—The 

5 Chair of the Commission shall be the chief ad6 ministrative officer of the Commission and shall 

7 have the authority to administer the Commis8 sion and its staff, and (in consultation with the 

9 other members of the Commission) shall have 

10 the power— 

11 ‘‘(i) to appoint and remove the staff 

12 director of the Commission; 

13 ‘‘(ii) to request the assistance (includ14 ing personnel and facilities) of other agen15 cies and departments of the United States, 

16 whose heads may make such assistance 

17 available to the Commission with or with18 out reimbursement; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) to prepare and establish the 

20 budget of the Commission and to make 

21 budget requests to the President, the Di22 rector of the Office of Management and 

23 Budget, and Congress. 

24 ‘‘(B) OTHER POWERS.—The Chair of the 

25 Commission shall have the power— 


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1 ‘‘(i) to appoint and remove the gen2 eral counsel of the Commission with the 

3 concurrence of at least 2 other members of 

4 the Commission; 

5 ‘‘(ii) to require by special or general 

6 orders, any person to submit, under oath, 

7 such written reports and answers to ques8 tions as the Chair may prescribe; 

9 ‘‘(iii) to administer oaths or affirma10 tions; 

11 ‘‘(iv) to require by subpoena, signed 

12 by the Chair, the attendance and testimony 

13 of witnesses and the production of all doc14 umentary evidence relating to the execu15 tion of its duties; 

16 ‘‘(v) in any proceeding or investiga17 tion, to order testimony to be taken by 

18 deposition before any person who is des19 ignated by the Chair, and shall have the 

20 power to administer oaths and, in such in21 stances, to compel testimony and the pro22 duction of evidence in the same manner as 

23 authorized under clause (iv); and 

24 ‘‘(vi) to pay witnesses the same fees 

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1 cumstances in the courts of the United 

2 States. 

3 ‘‘(2) POWERS ASSIGNED TO COMMISSION.—The 

4 Commission shall have the power— 

5 ‘‘(A) to initiate (through civil actions for 

6 injunctive, declaratory, or other appropriate re7 lief), defend (in the case of any civil action 

8 brought under section 309(a)(8) of this Act) or 

9 appeal any civil action in the name of the Com10 mission to enforce the provisions of this Act 

11 and chapter 95 and chapter 96 of the Internal 

12 Revenue Code of 1986, through its general 

13 counsel; 

14 ‘‘(B) to render advisory opinions under 

15 section 308 of this Act; 

16 ‘‘(C) to develop such prescribed forms and 

17 to make, amend, and repeal such rules, pursu18 ant to the provisions of chapter 5 of title 5, 

19 United States Code, as are necessary to carry 

20 out the provisions of this Act and chapter 95 

21 and chapter 96 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

22 1986; 

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1 pliance, and to report apparent violations to the 

2 appropriate law enforcement authorities; and 

3 ‘‘(E) to transmit to the President and Con4 gress not later than June 1 of each year a re5 port which states in detail the activities of the 

6 Commission in carrying out its duties under 

7 this Act, and which includes any recommenda8 tions for any legislative or other action the 

9 Commission considers appropriate. 

10 ‘‘(3) PERMITTING COMMISSION TO EXERCISE

11 OTHER POWERS OF CHAIR.—With respect to any in12 vestigation, action, or proceeding, the Commission, 

13 by an affirmative vote of a majority of the members 

14 who are serving at the time, may exercise any of the 

15 powers of the Chair described in paragraph (1)(B).’’. 

16 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATING TO

17 PERSONNEL AUTHORITY.—Section 306(f) of such 

18 Act (52 U.S.C. 30106(f)) is amended— 

19 (A) by amending the first sentence of 

20 paragraph (1) to read as follows: ‘‘The Com21 mission shall have a staff director who shall be 

22 appointed by the Chair of the Commission in 

23 consultation with the other members and a gen24 eral counsel who shall be appointed by the 


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1 Chair with the concurrence of at least two other 

2 members.’’; 

3 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘With 

4 the approval of the Commission’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘With the approval of the Chair of the Commis6 sion’’; and 

7 (C) by striking paragraph (3). 

8 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

9 BUDGET SUBMISSION.—Section 307(d)(1) of such 

10 Act (52 U.S.C. 30107(d)(1)) is amended by striking 

11 ‘‘the Commission submits any budget’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘the Chair (or, pursuant to subsection (a)(3), the 

13 Commission) submits any budget’’. 

14 (4) OTHER CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Sec15 tion 306(c) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30106(c)) is 

16 amended by striking ‘‘All decisions’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘Subject to section 307(a), all decisions’’. 

18 (5) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The heading of 

19 section 307 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30107) is 

20 amended by striking ‘‘THE COMMISSION’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘THE CHAIR AND THE COMMISSION’’. 

22 SEC. 6004. REVISION TO ENFORCEMENT PROCESS. 

23 (a) STANDARD FOR INITIATING INVESTIGATIONS AND

24 DETERMINING WHETHER VIOLATIONS HAVE OC25 CURRED.— 


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1 (1) REVISION OF STANDARDS.—Section 309(a) 

2 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 

3 U.S.C. 30109(a)) is amended by striking paragraphs 

4 (2) and (3) and inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(2)(A) The general counsel, upon receiving a com6 plaint filed with the Commission under paragraph (1) or 

7 upon the basis of information ascertained by the Commis8 sion in the normal course of carrying out its supervisory 

9 responsibilities, shall make a determination as to whether 

10 or not there is reason to believe that a person has com11 mitted, or is about to commit, a violation of this Act or 

12 chapter 95 or chapter 96 of the Internal Revenue Code 

13 of 1986, and as to whether or not the Commission should 

14 either initiate an investigation of the matter or that the 

15 complaint should be dismissed. The general counsel shall 

16 promptly provide notification to the Commission of such 

17 determination and the reasons therefore, together with 

18 any written response submitted under paragraph (1) by 

19 the person alleged to have committed the violation. Upon 

20 the expiration of the 30-day period which begins on the 

21 date the general counsel provides such notification, the 

22 general counsel’s determination shall take effect, unless 

23 during such 30-day period the Commission, by vote of a 

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1 tion. If the determination by the general counsel that the 

2 Commission should investigate the matter takes effect, or 

3 if the determination by the general counsel that the com4 plaint should be dismissed is overruled as provided under 

5 the previous sentence, the general counsel shall initiate an 

6 investigation of the matter on behalf of the Commission. 

7 ‘‘(B) If the Commission initiates an investigation 

8 pursuant to subparagraph (A), the Commission, through 

9 the Chair, shall notify the subject of the investigation of 

10 the alleged violation. Such notification shall set forth the 

11 factual basis for such alleged violation. The Commission 

12 shall make an investigation of such alleged violation, which 

13 may include a field investigation or audit, in accordance 

14 with the provisions of this section. The general counsel 

15 shall provide notification to the Commission of any intent 

16 to issue a subpoena or conduct any other form of discovery 

17 pursuant to the investigation. Upon the expiration of the 

18 15-day period which begins on the date the general counsel 

19 provides such notification, the general counsel may issue 

20 the subpoena or conduct the discovery, unless during such 

21 15-day period the Commission, by vote of a majority of 

22 the members of the Commission who are serving at the 

23 time, prohibits the general counsel from issuing the sub24 poena or conducting the discovery. 


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1 ‘‘(3)(A) Upon completion of an investigation under 

2 paragraph (2), the general counsel shall promptly submit 

3 to the Commission the general counsel’s recommendation 

4 that the Commission find either that there is probable 

5 cause or that there is not probable cause to believe that 

6 a person has committed, or is about to commit, a violation 

7 of this Act or chapter 95 or chapter 96 of the Internal 

8 Revenue Code of 1986, and shall include with the rec9 ommendation a brief stating the position of the general 

10 counsel on the legal and factual issues of the case. 

11 ‘‘(B) At the time the general counsel submits to the 

12 Commission the recommendation under subparagraph (A), 

13 the general counsel shall simultaneously notify the re14 spondent of such recommendation and the reasons there15 fore, shall provide the respondent with an opportunity to 

16 submit a brief within 30 days stating the position of the 

17 respondent on the legal and factual issues of the case and 

18 replying to the brief of the general counsel. The general 

19 counsel and shall promptly submit such brief to the Com20 mission upon receipt. 

21 ‘‘(C) Not later than 30 days after the general counsel 

22 submits the recommendation to the Commission under 

23 subparagraph (A) (or, if the respondent submits a brief 

24 under subparagraph (B), not later than 30 days after the 

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1 mission under such subparagraph), the Commission shall 

2 approve or disapprove the recommendation by vote of a 

3 majority of the members of the Commission who are serv4 ing at the time.’’. 

5 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

6 INITIAL RESPONSE TO FILING OF COMPLAINT.—Sec7 tion 309(a)(1) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30109(a)(1)) 

8 is amended— 

9 (A) in the third sentence, by striking ‘‘the 

10 Commission’’ and inserting ‘‘the general coun11 sel’’; and 

12 (B) by amending the fourth sentence to 

13 read as follows: ‘‘Not later than 15 days after 

14 receiving notice from the general counsel under 

15 the previous sentence, the person may provide 

16 the general counsel with a written response that 

17 no action should be taken against such person 

18 on the basis of the complaint.’’. 

19 (b) REVISION OF STANDARD FOR REVIEW OF DIS20 MISSAL OF COMPLAINTS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 309(a)(8) of such 

22 Act (52 U.S.C. 30109(a)(8)) is amended to read as 

23 follows: 

24 ‘‘(8)(A)(i) Any party aggrieved by an order of the 

25 Commission dismissing a complaint filed by such party 


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1 after finding either no reason to believe a violation has 

2 occurred or no probable cause a violation has occurred 

3 may file a petition with the United States District Court 

4 for the District of Columbia. Any petition under this sub5 paragraph shall be filed within 60 days after the date on 

6 which the party received notice of the dismissal of the 

7 complaint. 

8 ‘‘(ii) In any proceeding under this subparagraph, the 

9 court shall determine by de novo review whether the agen10 cy’s dismissal of the complaint is contrary to law. In any 

11 matter in which the penalty for the alleged violation is 

12 greater than $50,000, the court should disregard any 

13 claim or defense by the Commission of prosecutorial dis14 cretion as a basis for dismissing the complaint. 

15 ‘‘(B)(i) Any party who has filed a complaint with the 

16 Commission and who is aggrieved by a failure of the Com17 mission, within one year after the filing of the complaint, 

18 to either dismiss the complaint or to find reason to believe 

19 a violation has occurred or is about to occur, may file a 

20 petition with the United States District Court for the Dis21 trict of Columbia. 

22 ‘‘(ii) In any proceeding under this subparagraph, the 

23 court shall treat the failure to act on the complaint as 

24 a dismissal of the complaint, and shall determine by de 


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1 novo review whether the agency’s failure to act on the 

2 complaint is contrary to law. 

3 ‘‘(C) In any proceeding under this paragraph the 

4 court may declare that the dismissal of the complaint or 

5 the failure to act is contrary to law, and may direct the 

6 Commission to conform with such declaration within 30 

7 days, failing which the complainant may bring, in the 

8 name of such complainant, a civil action to remedy the 

9 violation involved in the original complaint.’’. 

10 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

11 by paragraph (1) shall apply— 

12 (A) in the case of complaints which are 

13 dismissed by the Federal Election Commission, 

14 with respect to complaints which are dismissed 

15 on or after the date of the enactment of this 

16 Act; and 

17 (B) in the case of complaints upon which 

18 the Federal Election Commission failed to act, 

19 with respect to complaints which were filed on 

20 or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 6005. PERMITTING APPEARANCE AT HEARINGS ON RE2 QUESTS FOR ADVISORY OPINIONS BY PER3 SONS OPPOSING THE REQUESTS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 308 of such Act (52 

5 U.S.C. 30108) is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing new subsection: 

7 ‘‘(e) To the extent that the Commission provides an 

8 opportunity for a person requesting an advisory opinion 

9 under this section (or counsel for such person) to appear 

10 before the Commission to present testimony in support of 

11 the request, and the person (or counsel) accepts such op12 portunity, the Commission shall provide a reasonable op13 portunity for an interested party who submitted written 

14 comments under subsection (d) in response to the request 

15 (or counsel for such interested party) to appear before the 

16 Commission to present testimony in response to the re17 quest.’’. 

18 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

19 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to requests for advi20 sory opinions under section 308 of the Federal Election 

21 Campaign Act of 1971 which are made on or after the 

22 date of the enactment of this Act. 

23 SEC. 6006. PERMANENT EXTENSION OF ADMINISTRATIVE 

24 PENALTY AUTHORITY. 

25 (a) EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY.—Section 

26 309(a)(4)(C)(v) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 


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1 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30109(a)(4)(C)(v)) is amended by strik2 ing ‘‘, and that end on or before December 31, 2018’’. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

4 subsection (a) shall take effect on December 31, 2018. 

5 SEC. 6007. EFFECTIVE DATE; TRANSITION. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided, the 

7 amendments made by this subtitle shall apply beginning 

8 January 1, 2022. 

9 (b) TRANSITION.— 

10 (1) TERMINATION OF SERVICE OF CURRENT

11 MEMBERS.—Notwithstanding any provision of the 

12 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, the term of 

13 any individual serving as a member of the Federal 

14 Election Commission as of December 31, 2021, shall 

15 expire on that date. 

16 (2) NO EFFECT ON EXISTING CASES OR PRO17 CEEDINGS.—Nothing in this subtitle or in any 

18 amendment made by this subtitle shall affect any of 

19 the powers exercised by the Federal Election Com20 mission prior to December 31, 2021, including any 

21 investigation initiated by the Commission prior to 

22 such date or any proceeding (including any enforce23 ment action) pending as of such date. 


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1 Subtitle B—Stopping Super PAC2 Candidate Coordination 

3 SEC. 6101. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Super PAC– 

5 Candidate Coordination Act’’. 

6 SEC. 6102. CLARIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF COORDI7 NATED EXPENDITURES AS CONTRIBUTIONS 

8 TO CANDIDATES. 

9 (a) TREATMENT AS CONTRIBUTION TO CAN10 DIDATE.—Section 301(8)(A) of the Federal Election Cam11 paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101(8)(A)) is amended— 

12 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (i); 

13 (2) by striking the period at the end of clause 

14 (ii) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

15 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

16 clause: 

17 ‘‘(iii) any payment made by any person 

18 (other than a candidate, an authorized com19 mittee of a candidate, or a political committee 

20 of a political party) for a coordinated expendi21 ture (as such term is defined in section 326) 

22 which is not otherwise treated as a contribution 

23 under clause (i) or clause (ii).’’. 


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1 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Title III of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

2 30101 et seq.), as amended by section 4702(a), is amend3 ed by adding at the end the following new section: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 326. PAYMENTS FOR COORDINATED EXPENDITURES. 

5 ‘‘(a) COORDINATED EXPENDITURES.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 

7 301(8)(A)(iii), the term ‘coordinated expenditure’ 

8 means— 

9 ‘‘(A) any expenditure, or any payment for 

10 a covered communication described in sub11 section (d), which is made in cooperation, con12 sultation, or concert with, or at the request or 

13 suggestion of, a candidate, an authorized com14 mittee of a candidate, a political committee of 

15 a political party, or agents of the candidate or 

16 committee, as defined in subsection (b); or 

17 ‘‘(B) any payment for any communication 

18 which republishes, disseminates, or distributes, 

19 in whole or in part, any video or broadcast or 

20 any written, graphic, or other form of campaign 

21 material prepared by the candidate or com22 mittee or by agents of the candidate or com23 mittee (including any excerpt or use of any 

24 video from any such broadcast or written, 

25 graphic, or other form of campaign material). 


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1 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR PAYMENTS FOR CERTAIN

2 COMMUNICATIONS.—A payment for a communication 

3 (including a covered communication described in 

4 subsection (d)) shall not be treated as a coordinated 

5 expenditure under this subsection if— 

6 ‘‘(A) the communication appears in a news 

7 story, commentary, or editorial distributed 

8 through the facilities of any broadcasting sta9 tion, newspaper, magazine, or other periodical 

10 publication, unless such facilities are owned or 

11 controlled by any political party, political com12 mittee, or candidate; or 

13 ‘‘(B) the communication constitutes a can14 didate debate or forum conducted pursuant to 

15 regulations adopted by the Commission pursu16 ant to section 304(f)(3)(B)(iii), or which solely 

17 promotes such a debate or forum and is made 

18 by or on behalf of the person sponsoring the de19 bate or forum. 

20 ‘‘(b) COORDINATION DESCRIBED.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec22 tion, a payment is made ‘in cooperation, consulta23 tion, or concert with, or at the request or suggestion 

24 of,’ a candidate, an authorized committee of a can25 didate, a political committee of a political party, or 


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1 agents of the candidate or committee, if the pay2 ment, or any communication for which the payment 

3 is made, is not made entirely independently of the 

4 candidate, committee, or agents. For purposes of the 

5 previous sentence, a payment or communication not 

6 made entirely independently of the candidate or 

7 committee includes any payment or communication 

8 made pursuant to any general or particular under9 standing with, or pursuant to any communication 

10 with, the candidate, committee, or agents about the 

11 payment or communication. 

12 ‘‘(2) NO FINDING OF COORDINATION BASED

13 SOLELY ON SHARING OF INFORMATION REGARDING

14 LEGISLATIVE OR POLICY POSITION.—For purposes 

15 of this section, a payment shall not be considered to 

16 be made by a person in cooperation, consultation, or 

17 concert with, or at the request or suggestion of, a 

18 candidate or committee, solely on the grounds that 

19 the person or the person’s agent engaged in discus20 sions with the candidate or committee, or with any 

21 agent of the candidate or committee, regarding that 

22 person’s position on a legislative or policy matter 

23 (including urging the candidate or committee to 

24 adopt that person’s position), so long as there is no 

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1 didate or committee, or any agent of the candidate 

2 or committee, regarding the candidate’s or commit3 tee’s campaign advertising, message, strategy, pol4 icy, polling, allocation of resources, fundraising, or 

5 other campaign activities. 

6 ‘‘(3) NO EFFECT ON PARTY COORDINATION

7 STANDARD.—Nothing in this section shall be con8 strued to affect the determination of coordination 

9 between a candidate and a political committee of a 

10 political party for purposes of section 315(d). 

11 ‘‘(4) NO SAFE HARBOR FOR USE OF FIRE12 WALL.—A person shall be determined to have made 

13 a payment in cooperation, consultation, or concert 

14 with, or at the request or suggestion of, a candidate 

15 or committee, in accordance with this section with16 out regard to whether or not the person established 

17 and used a firewall or similar procedures to restrict 

18 the sharing of information between individuals who 

19 are employed by or who are serving as agents for the 

20 person making the payment. 

21 ‘‘(c) PAYMENTS BY COORDINATED SPENDERS FOR

22 COVERED COMMUNICATIONS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) PAYMENTS MADE IN COOPERATION, CON24 SULTATION, OR CONCERT WITH CANDIDATES.—For 

25 purposes of subsection (a)(1)(A), if the person who 


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1 makes a payment for a covered communication, as 

2 defined in subsection (d), is a coordinated spender 

3 under paragraph (2) with respect to the candidate 

4 as described in subsection (d)(1), the payment for 

5 the covered communication is made in cooperation, 

6 consultation, or concert with the candidate. 

7 ‘‘(2) COORDINATED SPENDER DEFINED.—For 

8 purposes of this subsection, the term ‘coordinated 

9 spender’ means, with respect to a candidate or an 

10 authorized committee of a candidate, a person (other 

11 than a political committee of a political party) for 

12 which any of the following applies: 

13 ‘‘(A) During the 4-year period ending on 

14 the date on which the person makes the pay15 ment, the person was directly or indirectly 

16 formed or established by or at the request or 

17 suggestion of, or with the encouragement of, 

18 the candidate (including an individual who later 

19 becomes a candidate) or committee or agents of 

20 the candidate or committee, including with the 

21 approval of the candidate or committee or 

22 agents of the candidate or committee. 

23 ‘‘(B) The candidate or committee or any 

24 agent of the candidate or committee solicits 

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1 gages in other fundraising activity on the per2 son’s behalf during the election cycle involved, 

3 including by providing the person with names of 

4 potential donors or other lists to be used by the 

5 person in engaging in fundraising activity, re6 gardless of whether the person pays fair market 

7 value for the names or lists provided. For pur8 poses of this subparagraph, the term ‘election 

9 cycle’ means, with respect to an election for 

10 Federal office, the period beginning on the day 

11 after the date of the most recent general elec12 tion for that office (or, if the general election 

13 resulted in a runoff election, the date of the 

14 runoff election) and ending on the date of the 

15 next general election for that office (or, if the 

16 general election resulted in a runoff election, 

17 the date of the runoff election). 

18 ‘‘(C) The person is established, directed, or 

19 managed by the candidate or committee or by 

20 any person who, during the 4-year period end21 ing on the date on which the person makes the 

22 payment, has been employed or retained as a 

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1 rectly controlled by the candidate or committee, 

2 or has held a formal position with the candidate 

3 or committee (including a position as an em4 ployee of the office of the candidate at any time 

5 the candidate held any Federal, State, or local 

6 public office during the 4-year period). 

7 ‘‘(D) The person has retained the profes8 sional services of any person who, during the 2- 

9 year period ending on the date on which the 

10 person makes the payment, has provided or is 

11 providing professional services relating to the 

12 campaign to the candidate or committee, with13 out regard to whether the person providing the 

14 professional services used a firewall. For pur15 poses of this subparagraph, the term ‘profes16 sional services’ includes any services in support 

17 of the candidate’s or committee’s campaign ac18 tivities, including advertising, message, strat19 egy, policy, polling, allocation of resources, 

20 fundraising, and campaign operations, but does 

21 not include accounting or legal services. 

22 ‘‘(E) The person is established, directed, or 

23 managed by a member of the immediate family 

24 of the candidate, or the person or any officer or 

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1 dental discussions about the candidate’s cam2 paign with a member of the immediate family 

3 of the candidate. For purposes of this subpara4 graph, the term ‘immediate family’ has the 

5 meaning given such term in section 9004(e) of 

6 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

7 ‘‘(d) COVERED COMMUNICATION DEFINED.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec9 tion, the term ‘covered communication’ means, with 

10 respect to a candidate or an authorized committee of 

11 a candidate, a public communication (as defined in 

12 section 301(22)) which— 

13 ‘‘(A) expressly advocates the election of the 

14 candidate or the defeat of an opponent of the 

15 candidate (or contains the functional equivalent 

16 of express advocacy); 

17 ‘‘(B) promotes or supports the candidate, 

18 or attacks or opposes an opponent of the can19 didate (regardless of whether the communica20 tion expressly advocates the election or defeat 

21 of a candidate or contains the functional equiv22 alent of express advocacy); or 

23 ‘‘(C) refers to the candidate or an oppo24 nent of the candidate but is not described in 

25 subparagraph (A) or subparagraph (B), but 


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1 only if the communication is disseminated dur2 ing the applicable election period. 

3 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE ELECTION PERIOD.—In para4 graph (1)(C), the ‘applicable election period’ with re5 spect to a communication means— 

6 ‘‘(A) in the case of a communication which 

7 refers to a candidate in a general, special, or 

8 runoff election, the 120-day period which ends 

9 on the date of the election; or 

10 ‘‘(B) in the case of a communication which 

11 refers to a candidate in a primary or preference 

12 election, or convention or caucus of a political 

13 party that has authority to nominate a can14 didate, the 60-day period which ends on the 

15 date of the election or convention or caucus. 

16 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULES FOR COMMUNICATIONS IN17 VOLVING CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES.—For pur18 poses of this subsection, a public communication 

19 shall not be considered to be a covered communica20 tion with respect to a candidate for election for an 

21 office other than the office of President or Vice 

22 President unless it is publicly disseminated or dis23 tributed in the jurisdiction of the office the can24 didate is seeking. 

25 ‘‘(e) PENALTY.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT.—Any per2 son who knowingly and willfully commits a violation 

3 of this Act by making a contribution which consists 

4 of a payment for a coordinated expenditure shall be 

5 fined an amount equal to the greater of— 

6 ‘‘(A) in the case of a person who makes a 

7 contribution which consists of a payment for a 

8 coordinated expenditure in an amount exceeding 

9 the applicable contribution limit under this Act, 

10 300 percent of the amount by which the 

11 amount of the payment made by the person ex12 ceeds such applicable contribution limit; or 

13 ‘‘(B) in the case of a person who is prohib14 ited under this Act from making a contribution 

15 in any amount, 300 percent of the amount of 

16 the payment made by the person for the coordi17 nated expenditure. 

18 ‘‘(2) JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY.—Any di19 rector, manager, or officer of a person who is subject 

20 to a penalty under paragraph (1) shall be jointly and 

21 severally liable for any amount of such penalty that 

22 is not paid by the person prior to the expiration of 

23 the 1-year period which begins on the date the Com24 mission imposes the penalty or the 1-year period 

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1 lowing any judicial review of the Commission’s ac2 tion, whichever is later.’’. 

3 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

4 (1) REPEAL OF EXISTING REGULATIONS ON CO5 ORDINATION.—Effective upon the expiration of the 

6 90-day period which begins on the date of the enact7 ment of this Act— 

8 (A) the regulations on coordinated commu9 nications adopted by the Federal Election Com10 mission which are in effect on the date of the 

11 enactment of this Act (as set forth in 11 CFR 

12 Part 109, Subpart C, under the heading ‘‘Co13 ordination’’) are repealed; and 

14 (B) the Federal Election Commission shall 

15 promulgate new regulations on coordinated 

16 communications which reflect the amendments 

17 made by this Act. 

18 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

19 by this section shall apply with respect to payments 

20 made on or after the expiration of the 120-day pe21 riod which begins on the date of the enactment of 

22 this Act, without regard to whether or not the Fed23 eral Election Commission has promulgated regula24 tions in accordance with paragraph (1)(B) as of the 

25 expiration of such period. 


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1 SEC. 6103. CLARIFICATION OF BAN ON FUNDRAISING FOR 

2 SUPER PACS BY FEDERAL CANDIDATES AND 

3 OFFICEHOLDERS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 323(e)(1) of the Federal 

5 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30125(e)(1)) 

6 is amended— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph 

8 (A); 

9 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub10 paragraph (B) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

11 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub12 paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(C) solicit, receive, direct, or transfer 

14 funds to or on behalf of any political committee 

15 which accepts donations or contributions that 

16 do not comply with the limitations, prohibitions, 

17 and reporting requirements of this Act (or to or 

18 on behalf of any account of a political com19 mittee which is established for the purpose of 

20 accepting such donations or contributions), or 

21 to or on behalf of any political organization 

22 under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code 

23 of 1986 which accepts such donations or con24 tributions (other than a committee of a State or 

25 local political party or a candidate for election 

26 for State or local office).’’. 


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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

2 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to elections occur3 ring after January 1, 2020. 

4 Subtitle C—Severability 

5 SEC. 6201. SEVERABILITY. 

6 If any provision of this title or amendment made by 

7 this title, or the application of a provision or amendment 

8 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu9 tional, the remainder of this title and amendments made 

10 by this title, and the application of the provisions and 

11 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be 

12 affected by the holding. 

13 DIVISION C—ETHICS 

14 TITLE VII—ETHICAL STANDARDS 

Subtitle A—Supreme Court Ethics 

Sec. 7001. Code of conduct for Federal judges. 

Subtitle B—Foreign Agents Registration 

Sec. 7101. Establishment of FARA investigation and enforcement unit within 

Department of Justice. 

Sec. 7102. Authority to impose civil money penalties. 

Sec. 7103. Disclosure of transactions involving things of financial value conferred on officeholders. 

Subtitle C—Lobbying Disclosure Reform 

Sec. 7201. Expanding scope of individuals and activities subject to requirements of Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995. 

Subtitle D—Recusal of Presidential Appointees 

Sec. 7301. Recusal of appointees. 

Subtitle E—Severability 

Sec. 7401. Severability. 


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1 Subtitle A—Supreme Court Ethics 

2 SEC. 7001. CODE OF CONDUCT FOR FEDERAL JUDGES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 57 of title 28, United 

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

6 ‘‘§ 964. Code of conduct 

7 ‘‘Not later than one year after the date of the enact8 ment of this section, the Judicial Conference shall issue 

9 a code of conduct, which applies to each justice and judge 

10 of the United States, except that the code of conduct may 

11 include provisions that are applicable only to certain cat12 egories of judges or justices.’’. 

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

14 for chapter 57 of title 28, United States Code, is amended 

15 by adding after the item related to section 963 the fol16 lowing: 

‘‘964. Code of conduct.’’. 

17 Subtitle B—Foreign Agents 

18 Registration 

19 SEC. 7101. ESTABLISHMENT OF FARA INVESTIGATION AND 

20 ENFORCEMENT UNIT WITHIN DEPARTMENT 

21 OF JUSTICE. 

22 Section 8 of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 

23 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 618) is amended by adding 

24 at the end the following new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(i) DEDICATED ENFORCEMENT UNIT.— 

2 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 

3 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, 

4 the Attorney General shall establish a unit within 

5 the counterespionage section of the National Secu6 rity Division of the Department of Justice with re7 sponsibility for the enforcement of this Act. 

8 ‘‘(2) POWERS.—The unit established under this 

9 subsection is authorized to— 

10 ‘‘(A) take appropriate legal action against 

11 individuals suspected of violating this Act; and 

12 ‘‘(B) coordinate any such legal action with 

13 the United States Attorney for the relevant ju14 risdiction. 

15 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION.—In operating the unit es16 tablished under this subsection, the Attorney Gen17 eral shall, as appropriate, consult with the Director 

18 of National Intelligence, the Secretary of Homeland 

19 Security, and the Secretary of State. 

20 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

21 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

22 the activities of the unit established under this sub23 section $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2019 and each 

24 succeeding fiscal year.’’. 


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1 SEC. 7102. AUTHORITY TO IMPOSE CIVIL MONEY PEN2 ALTIES. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHING AUTHORITY.—Section 8 of the 

4 Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 

5 U.S.C. 618) is amended by inserting after subsection (c) 

6 the following new subsection: 

7 ‘‘(d) CIVIL MONEY PENALTIES.— 

8 ‘‘(1) REGISTRATION STATEMENTS.—Whoever 

9 fails to file timely or complete a registration state10 ment as provided under section 2(a) shall be subject 

11 to a civil money penalty of not more than $10,000 

12 per violation. 

13 ‘‘(2) SUPPLEMENTS.—Whoever fails to file 

14 timely or complete supplements as provided under 

15 section 2(b) shall be subject to a civil money penalty 

16 of not more than $1,000 per violation. 

17 ‘‘(3) OTHER VIOLATIONS.—Whoever knowingly 

18 fails to— 

19 ‘‘(A) remedy a defective filing within 60 

20 days after notice of such defect by the Attorney 

21 General; or 

22 ‘‘(B) comply with any other provision of 

23 this Act, 

24 shall upon proof of such knowing violation by a pre25 ponderance of the evidence, be subject to a civil 


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1 money penalty of not more than $200,000, depend2 ing on the extent and gravity of the violation. 

3 ‘‘(4) NO FINES PAID BY FOREIGN PRIN4 CIPALS.—A civil money penalty paid under para5 graph (1) may not be paid, directly or indirectly, by 

6 a foreign principal. 

7 ‘‘(5) USE OF FINES.—All civil money penalties 

8 collected under this subsection shall be used to de9 fray the cost of the enforcement unit established 

10 under subsection (i).’’. 

11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

12 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enact13 ment of this Act. 

14 SEC. 7103. DISCLOSURE OF TRANSACTIONS INVOLVING 

15 THINGS OF FINANCIAL VALUE CONFERRED 

16 ON OFFICEHOLDERS. 

17 (a) REQUIRING AGENTS TO DISCLOSE KNOWN

18 TRANSACTIONS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2(a) of the Foreign 

20 Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 

21 U.S.C. 612(a)) is amended— 

22 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (10) and 

23 (11) as paragraphs (11) and (12); and 

24 (B) by inserting after paragraph (9) the 

25 following new paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(10) To the extent that the registrant has 

2 knowledge of any transaction which occurred in the 

3 preceding 60 days and in which the foreign principal 

4 for whom the registrant is acting as an agent con5 ferred on a Federal or State officeholder any thing 

6 of financial value, including a gift, profit, salary, fa7 vorable regulatory treatment, or any other direct or 

8 indirect economic or financial benefit, a detailed 

9 statement describing each such transaction.’’. 

10 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

11 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to state12 ments filed on or after the expiration of the 90-day 

13 period which begins on the date of the enactment of 

14 this Act. 

15 (b) SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURE FOR CURRENT

16 REGISTRANTS.—Not later than the expiration of the 90- 

17 day period which begins on the date of the enactment of 

18 this Act, each registrant who (prior to the expiration of 

19 such period) filed a registration statement with the Attor20 ney General under section 2(a) of the Foreign Agents Reg21 istration Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 612(a)) and 

22 who has knowledge of any transaction described in para23 graph (10) of section 2(a) of such Act (as added by sub24 section (a)(1)) which occurred at any time during which 

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1 volved, shall file with the Attorney General a supplement 

2 to such statement under oath, on a form prescribed by 

3 the Attorney General, containing a detailed statement de4 scribing each such transaction. 

5 Subtitle C—Lobbying Disclosure 

6 Reform 

7 SEC. 7201. EXPANDING SCOPE OF INDIVIDUALS AND AC8 TIVITIES SUBJECT TO REQUIREMENTS OF 

9 LOBBYING DISCLOSURE ACT OF 1995. 

10 (a) COVERAGE OF INDIVIDUALS PROVIDING LEGIS11 LATIVE, POLITICAL, AND STRATEGIC COUNSELING SERV12 ICES.— 

13 (1) TREATMENT OF LEGISLATIVE, POLITICAL, 

14 AND STRATEGIC COUNSELING SERVICES IN SUPPORT

15 OF LOBBYING CONTACTS AS LOBBYING ACTIVITY.— 

16 Section 3(7) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1602(7)) is 

17 amended— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘efforts’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘any efforts’’; and 

20 (B) by striking ‘‘research and other back21 ground work’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘leg22 islative, political, and strategic counseling serv23 ices, research, and other background work’’. 

24 (2) TREATMENT OF LOBBYING CONTACT MADE

25 WITH SUPPORT OF LEGISLATIVE, POLITICAL, AND


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1 STRATEGIC COUNSELING SERVICES AS LOBBYING

2 CONTACT MADE BY INDIVIDUAL PROVIDING SERV3 ICES.—Section 3(8) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1602(8)) 

4 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

5 subparagraph: 

6 ‘‘(C) TREATMENT OF PROVIDERS OF LEG7 ISLATIVE, POLITICAL, AND STRATEGIC COUN8 SELING SERVICES.—Any individual who for fi9 nancial or other compensation provides legisla10 tive, political, and strategic counseling services 

11 which are treated as lobbying activity under 

12 paragraph (7), and which are used in support 

13 of a lobbying contact under this paragraph 

14 which is made by another individual, shall be 

15 considered to have made the same lobbying con16 tact at the same time and in the same manner 

17 to the covered executive branch official or cov18 ered legislative branch official involved.’’. 

19 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

20 this section shall apply with respect to lobbying contacts 

21 made on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 Subtitle D—Recusal of Presidential 

2 Appointees 

3 SEC. 7301. RECUSAL OF APPOINTEES. 

4 Section 208 of title 18, United States Code, is 

5 amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(e)(1) Any officer or employee appointed by the 

7 President shall recuse himself or herself from any par8 ticular matter involving specific parties in which a party 

9 to that matter is— 

10 ‘‘(A) the President who appointed the officer or 

11 employee, which shall include any entity in which the 

12 President has a substantial interest; or 

13 ‘‘(B) the spouse of the President who appointed 

14 the officer or employee, which shall include any enti15 ty in which the spouse of the President has a sub16 stantial interest. 

17 ‘‘(2)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), if an officer or 

18 employee is recused under paragraph (1), a career ap19 pointee in the agency of the officer or employee shall per20 form the functions and duties of the officer or employee 

21 with respect to the matter. 

22 ‘‘(B)(i) In this subparagraph, the term ‘Com23 mission’ means a board, commission, or other agen24 cy for which the authority of the agency is vested in 

25 more than 1 member. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) If the recusal of a member of a Commis2 sion from a matter under paragraph (1) would result 

3 in there not being a statutorily required quorum of 

4 members of the Commission available to participate 

5 in the matter, notwithstanding such statute or any 

6 other provision of law, the members of the Commis7 sion not recused under paragraph (1) may— 

8 ‘‘(I) consider the matter without regard to 

9 the quorum requirement under such statute; 

10 ‘‘(II) delegate the authorities and respon11 sibilities of the Commission with respect to the 

12 matter to a subcommittee of the Commission; 

13 or 

14 ‘‘(III) designate an officer or employee of 

15 the Commission who was not appointed by the 

16 President who appointed the member of the 

17 Commission recused from the matter to exercise 

18 the authorities and duties of the recused mem19 ber with respect to the matter. 

20 ‘‘(3) Any officer or employee who violates paragraph 

21 (1) shall be subject to the penalties set forth in section 

22 216. 

23 ‘‘(4) For purposes of this section, the term ‘particular 

24 matter’ shall have the meaning given the term in section 

25 207(i).’’. 


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1 Subtitle E—Severability 

2 SEC. 7401. SEVERABILITY. 

3 If any provision of this title or amendment made by 

4 this title, or the application of a provision or amendment 

5 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu6 tional, the remainder of this title and amendments made 

7 by this title, and the application of the provisions and 

8 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be 

9 affected by the holding. 

10 TITLE VIII—ETHICS REFORMS 

11 FOR THE PRESIDENT, VICE 

12 PRESIDENT, AND FEDERAL 

13 OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES 

Subtitle A—Executive Branch Conflict of Interest 

Sec. 8001. Short title. 

Sec. 8002. Restrictions on private sector payment for government service. 

Sec. 8003. Requirements relating to slowing the revolving door. 

Sec. 8004. Prohibition of procurement officers accepting employment from government contractors. 

Sec. 8005. Revolving door restrictions on employees moving into the private 

sector. 

Subtitle B—Presidential Conflicts of Interest 

Sec. 8011. Short title. 

Sec. 8012. Divestiture of personal financial interests of the President and Vice 

President that pose a potential conflict of interest. 

Sec. 8013. Initial financial disclosure. 

Sec. 8014. Contracts by the President or Vice President. 

Subtitle C—White House Ethics Transparency 

Sec. 8021. Short title. 

Sec. 8022. Procedure for waivers and authorizations relating to ethics requirements. 

Subtitle D—Executive Branch Ethics Enforcement 

Sec. 8031. Short title. 

Sec. 8032. Reauthorization of the Office of Government Ethics. 


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Sec. 8033. Tenure of the Director of the Office of Government Ethics. 

Sec. 8034. Duties of Director of the Office of Government Ethics. 

Sec. 8035. Agency Ethics Officials Training and Duties. 

Subtitle E—Conflicts From Political Fundraising 

Sec. 8041. Short title. 

Sec. 8042. Disclosure of certain types of contributions. 

Subtitle F—Transition Team Ethics 

Sec. 8051. Short title. 

Sec. 8052. Presidential transition ethics programs. 

Subtitle G—Ethics Pledge for Senior Executive Branch Employees 

Sec. 8061. Short title. 

Sec. 8062. Ethics pledge requirement for senior executive branch employees. 

Subtitle H—Severability 

Sec. 8071. Severability. 

1 Subtitle A—Executive Branch 

2 Conflict of Interest 

3 SEC. 8001. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Executive Branch 

5 Conflict of Interest Act’’. 

6 SEC. 8002. RESTRICTIONS ON PRIVATE SECTOR PAYMENT 

7 FOR GOVERNMENT SERVICE. 

8 Section 209 of title 18, United States Code, is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘any salary’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘any salary (including a bonus)’’; and 

12 (2) in subsection (b)— 

13 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(b)’’; and 

14 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), a pension, 

16 retirement, group life, health or accident insurance, 


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1 profit-sharing, stock bonus, or other employee wel2 fare or benefit plan that makes payment of any por3 tion of compensation contingent on accepting a posi4 tion in the United States Government shall not be 

5 considered bona fide.’’. 

6 SEC. 8003. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO SLOWING THE RE7 VOLVING DOOR. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Ethics in Government Act of 

9 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding at the end 

10 the following: 

11 ‘‘TITLE VI—ENHANCED RE12 QUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN 

13 EMPLOYEES 

14 ‘‘SEC. 601. DEFINITIONS. 

15 ‘‘In this title: 

16 ‘‘(1) COVERED AGENCY.—The term ‘covered 

17 agency’— 

18 ‘‘(A) means an Executive agency, as de19 fined in section 105 of title 5, United States 

20 Code, the Postal Service and the Postal Rate 

21 Commission, but does not include the Govern22 ment Accountability Office or the Government 

23 of the District of Columbia; and 

24 ‘‘(B) shall include the Executive Office of 

25 the President. 


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1 ‘‘(2) COVERED EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘covered 

2 employee’ means an officer or employee referred to 

3 in paragraph (2) of section 207(c) of title 18, 

4 United States Code. 

5 ‘‘(3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means 

6 the Director of the Office of Government Ethics. 

7 ‘‘(4) EXECUTIVE BRANCH.—The term ‘execu8 tive branch’ has the meaning given that term in sec9 tion 109. 

10 ‘‘(5) FORMER CLIENT.—The term ‘former cli11 ent’— 

12 ‘‘(A) means a person for whom a covered 

13 employee served personally as an agent, attor14 ney, or consultant during the 2-year period end15 ing on the date before the date on which the 

16 covered employee begins service in the Federal 

17 Government; and 

18 ‘‘(B) does not include— 

19 ‘‘(i) instances in which the service 

20 provided was limited to a speech or similar 

21 appearance by the covered employee; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) a client of the former employer 

23 of the covered employee to whom the cov24 ered employee did not personally provide 

25 such services. 


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1 ‘‘(6) FORMER EMPLOYER.—The term ‘former 

2 employer’— 

3 ‘‘(A) means a person for whom a covered 

4 employee served as an employee, officer, direc5 tor, trustee, or general partner during the 2 

6 year period ending on the date before the date 

7 on which the covered employee begins service in 

8 the Federal Government; and 

9 ‘‘(B) does not include— 

10 ‘‘(i) an entity in the Federal Govern11 ment, including an executive branch agen12 cy; 

13 ‘‘(ii) a State or local government; 

14 ‘‘(iii) the District of Columbia; 

15 ‘‘(iv) an Indian tribe, as defined in 

16 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination 

17 and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 

18 5304); or 

19 ‘‘(v) the government of a territory or 

20 possession of the United States. 

21 ‘‘(7) PARTICULAR MATTER.—The term ‘par22 ticular matter’ has the meaning given that term in 

23 section 207(i) of title 18, United States Code. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 602. CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND ELIGIBILITY 

2 STANDARDS. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A covered employee may not use, 

4 or attempt to use, the official position of the covered em5 ployee to participate in a particular matter in which the 

6 covered employee knows a former employer or former cli7 ent of the covered employee has a financial interest. 

8 ‘‘(b) WAIVER.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The head of the covered 

10 agency employing a covered employee, in consulta11 tion with the Director, may grant a written waiver 

12 of the restrictions under subsection (a) prior to en13 gaging in the action otherwise prohibited by sub14 section (a) if, and to the extent that, the head of the 

15 covered agency certifies in writing that— 

16 ‘‘(A) the application of the restriction to 

17 the particular matter is inconsistent with the 

18 purposes of the restriction; or 

19 ‘‘(B) it is in the public interest to grant 

20 the waiver. 

21 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION.—The head of the covered 

22 agency shall provide a waiver under paragraph (1) 

23 to the Director and post the waiver on the website 

24 of the agency within 30 calendar days after granting 

25 such waiver. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 603. PENALTIES AND INJUNCTIONS. 

2 ‘‘(a) CRIMINAL PENALTIES.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person who violates 

4 section 602 shall be fined under title 18, United 

5 States Code, imprisoned for not more than 1 year, 

6 or both. 

7 ‘‘(2) WILLFUL VIOLATIONS.—Any person who 

8 willfully violates section 602 shall be fined under 

9 title 18, United States Code, imprisoned for not 

10 more than 5 years, or both. 

11 ‘‘(b) CIVIL ENFORCEMENT.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may 

13 bring a civil action in an appropriate district court 

14 of the United States against any person who vio15 lates, or whom the Attorney General has reason to 

16 believe is engaging in conduct that violates, section 

17 602. 

18 ‘‘(2) CIVIL PENALTY.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the court finds by 

20 a preponderance of the evidence that a person 

21 violated section 602, the court shall impose a 

22 civil penalty of not more than the greater of— 

23 ‘‘(i) $100,000 for each violation; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) the amount of compensation the 

25 person received or was offered for the con26 duct constituting the violation. 


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1 ‘‘(B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—A civil 

2 penalty under this subsection may be in addi3 tion to any other criminal or civil statutory, 

4 common law, or administrative remedy available 

5 to the United States or any other person. 

6 ‘‘(3) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In a civil action 

8 brought under paragraph (1) against a person, 

9 the Attorney General may petition the court for 

10 an order prohibiting the person from engaging 

11 in conduct that violates section 602. 

12 ‘‘(B) STANDARD.—The court may issue an 

13 order under subparagraph (A) if the court finds 

14 by a preponderance of the evidence that the 

15 conduct of the person violates section 602. 

16 ‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The filing 

17 of a petition seeking injunctive relief under this 

18 paragraph shall not preclude any other remedy 

19 that is available by law to the United States or 

20 any other person.’’. 

21 SEC. 8004. PROHIBITION OF PROCUREMENT OFFICERS AC22 CEPTING EMPLOYMENT FROM GOVERNMENT 

23 CONTRACTORS. 

24 (a) EXPANSION OF PROHIBITION ON ACCEPTANCE

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1 TRACTORS.—Section 2104 of title 41, United States Code, 

2 is amended— 

3 (1) in subsection (a)— 

4 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph 

5 (1)— 

6 (i) by striking ‘‘or consultant’’ and in7 serting ‘‘attorney, consultant, subcon8 tractor, or lobbyist’’; and 

9 (ii) by striking ‘‘one year’’ and insert10 ing ‘‘2 years’’; and 

11 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘person12 ally made for the Federal agency’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘participated personally and substantially in’’; 

14 and 

15 (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON COMPENSATION FROM AFFILI18 ATES AND SUBCONTRACTORS.—A former official respon19 sible for a Government contract referred to in paragraph 

20 (1), (2), or (3) of subsection (a) may not accept compensa21 tion for 2 years after awarding the contract from any divi22 sion, affiliate, or subcontractor of the contractor.’’. 

23 (b) REQUIREMENT FOR PROCUREMENT OFFICERS

24 TO DISCLOSE JOB OFFERS MADE ON BEHALF OF REL25 ATIVES.—Section 2103(a) of title 41, United States Code, 


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1 is amended in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by in2 serting after ‘‘that official’’ the following: ‘‘, or for a rel3 ative (as defined in section 3110 of title 5) of that offi4 cial,’’. 

5 (c) REQUIREMENT ON AWARD OF GOVERNMENT

6 CONTRACTS TO FORMER EMPLOYERS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 21 of division B of 

8 subtitle I of title 41, United States Code, is amend9 ed by adding at the end the following new section: 

10 ‘‘§ 2108. Prohibition on involvement by certain 

11 former contractor employees in procure12 ments 

13 ‘‘An employee of the Federal Government may not 

14 be personally and substantially involved with any award 

15 of a contract to, or the administration of a contract award16 ed to, a contractor that is a former employer of the em17 ployee during the 2-year period beginning on the date on 

18 which the employee leaves the employment of the con19 tractor.’’. 

20 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND21 MENT.—The table of sections for chapter 21 of title 

22 41, United States Code, is amended by adding at 

23 the end the following new item: 

‘‘2108. Prohibition on involvement by certain former contractor employees 

in procurements.’’. 


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1 (d) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator for Federal 

2 Procurement Policy and the Director of the Office of Man3 agement and Budget shall— 

4 (1) in consultation with the Director of the Of5 fice of Personnel Management and the Counsel to 

6 the President, promulgate regulations to carry out 

7 and ensure the enforcement of chapter 21 of title 

8 41, United States Code, as amended by this section; 

9 and 

10 (2) in consultation with designated agency eth11 ics officials (as that term is defined in section 

12 109(3) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 

13 U.S.C. App.)), monitor compliance with that chapter 

14 by individuals and agencies. 

15 SEC. 8005. REVOLVING DOOR RESTRICTIONS ON EMPLOY16 EES MOVING INTO THE PRIVATE SECTOR. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (c) of section 207 of 

18 title 18, United States Code, is amended— 

19 (1) in the subsection heading, by striking 

20 ‘‘ONE-YEAR’’ and inserting ‘‘TWO-YEAR’’; 

21 (2) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘1 year’’ in 

22 each instance and inserting ‘‘2 years’’; and 

23 (3) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ‘‘1-year’’ 

24 and inserting ‘‘2-year’’. 


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1 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by sub2 section (a) shall apply to any individual covered by sub3 section (c) of section 207 of title 18, United States Code, 

4 separating from the civil service on or after the date of 

5 enactment of this Act. 

6 Subtitle B—Presidential Conflicts 

7 of Interest 

8 SEC. 8011. SHORT TITLE. 

9 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Presidential Con10 flicts of Interest Act of 2019’’. 

11 SEC. 8012. DIVESTITURE OF PERSONAL FINANCIAL INTER12 ESTS OF THE PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESI13 DENT THAT POSE A POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF 

14 INTEREST. 

15 It is the sense of Congress that the President and 

16 the Vice President should conduct themselves as if they 

17 were bound by section 208 of title 18, United States Code, 

18 by divesting conflicting assets in accordance with that sec19 tion and implementing regulations issued by the Office of 

20 Government Ethics, or by establishing a qualified blind 

21 trust (as that term is defined in section 102(f)(3) of the 

22 Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.)), or 

23 both. 


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1 SEC. 8013. INITIAL FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE. 

2 Subsection (a) of section 101 of the Ethics in Govern3 ment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by striking 

4 ‘‘position’’ and adding at the end the following: ‘‘position, 

5 with the exception of the President and Vice President, 

6 who must file a new report.’’. 

7 SEC. 8014. CONTRACTS BY THE PRESIDENT OR VICE PRESI8 DENT. 

9 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 431 of title 18, United 

10 States Code, is amended— 

11 (1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘the 

12 President, Vice President, or a’’ after 

13 ‘‘Contracts by’’; and 

14 (2) in the first undesignated paragraph, by in15 serting ‘‘the President or Vice President,’’ after 

16 ‘‘Whoever, being’’. 

17 (b) TABLE OF SECTIONS AMENDMENT.—The table of 

18 sections for chapter 23 of title 18, United States Code, 

19 is amended by striking the item relating to section 431 

20 and inserting the following: 

‘‘431. Contracts by the President, Vice President, or a Member of Congress.’’. 

21 Subtitle C—White House Ethics 

22 Transparency 

23 SEC. 8021. SHORT TITLE. 

24 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘White House Eth25 ics Transparency Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 8022. PROCEDURE FOR WAIVERS AND AUTHORIZA2 TIONS RELATING TO ETHICS REQUIREMENTS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi4 sion of law, not later than 30 days after an officer or em5 ployee issues or approves a waiver or authorization pursu6 ant to section 3 of Executive Order 13770 (82 Fed. Reg. 

7 9333), or any subsequent similar order, such officer or 

8 employee shall— 

9 (1) transmit a written copy of such waiver or 

10 authorization to the Director of the Office of Gov11 ernment Ethics; and 

12 (2) make a written copy of such waiver or au13 thorization available to the public on the website of 

14 the employing agency of the covered employee. 

15 (b) RETROACTIVE APPLICATION.—In the case of a 

16 waiver or authorization described in subsection (a) issued 

17 during the period beginning on January 20, 2017, and 

18 ending on the date of enactment of this Act, the issuing 

19 officer or employee of such waiver or authorization shall 

20 comply with the requirements of paragraphs (1) and (2) 

21 of such subsection not later than 30 days after the date 

22 of enactment of this Act. 

23 (c) OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS PUBLIC AVAIL24 ABILITY.—Not later than 14 days after receiving a written 

25 copy of a waiver or authorization under subsection (a)(1), 

26 the Director of the Office of Government Ethics shall 


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1 make such waiver or authorization available to the public 

2 on the website of the Office of Government Ethics. 

3 (d) DEFINITION OF COVERED EMPLOYEE.—In this 

4 section, the term ‘‘covered employee’’— 

5 (1) means a full-time, noncareer Presidential or 

6 Vice Presidential appointee, noncareer appointee in 

7 the Senior Executive Service (or other SES-type sys8 tem), or an appointee to a position that has been ex9 cepted from the competitive service by reason of 

10 being of a confidential or policymaking character 

11 (Schedule C and other positions excepted under com12 parable criteria) in an executive agency; and 

13 (2) does not include any individual appointed as 

14 a member of the Senior Foreign Service or solely as 

15 a uniformed service commissioned officer. 

16 Subtitle D—Executive Branch 

17 Ethics Enforcement 

18 SEC. 8031. SHORT TITLE. 

19 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Executive Branch 

20 Comprehensive Ethics Enforcement Act of 2019’’. 

21 SEC. 8032. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE OFFICE OF GOVERN22 MENT ETHICS. 

23 Section 405 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 

24 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by striking ‘‘fiscal year 2007’’ 

25 and inserting ‘‘fiscal years 2019 through 2023.’’. 


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1 SEC. 8033. TENURE OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF 

2 GOVERNMENT ETHICS. 

3 Section 401(b) of the Ethics in Government Act of 

4 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by striking the period 

5 at the end and inserting ‘‘, subject to removal only for 

6 inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office. The 

7 Director may continue to serve beyond the expiration of 

8 the term until a successor is appointed and has qualified, 

9 except that the Director may not continue to serve for 

10 more than one year after the date on which the term would 

11 otherwise expire under this subsection.’’. 

12 SEC. 8034. DUTIES OF DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF GOV13 ERNMENT ETHICS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 402(b) of the Ethics in 

15 Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

16 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘developing, in consulta18 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘consulting’’; 

19 (B) by striking ‘‘Management, rules, and 

20 regulations to be promulgated by the President 

21 or the Director,’’ and inserting ‘‘Management 

22 for input on the promulgation of rules and reg23 ulations to be promulgated by the Director’’; 

24 and 

25 (C) by striking ‘‘title II’’ and inserting 

26 ‘‘title I’’; 


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1 (2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(2) providing mandatory education and train4 ing programs for designated agency ethics officials, 

5 which may be delegated to each agency or the White 

6 House Counsel as deemed appropriate by the Direc7 tor;’’; 

8 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘title II’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘title I’’; 

10 (4) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘problems’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘issues’’; 

12 (5) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘problems’’ 

13 and inserting ‘‘issues’’; 

14 (6) in paragraph (7)— 

15 (A) by striking ‘‘, when requested,’’; and 

16 (B) by striking ‘‘conflict of interest prob17 lems’’ and inserting ‘‘conflicts of interest, as 

18 well as other ethics issues’’; 

19 (7) in paragraph (9)— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘ordering’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘receiving allegations of violations of this Act 

22 and, when necessary, investigating an allegation 

23 to determine whether a violation occurred, and 

24 ordering’’; and 


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1 (B) by inserting before the semi-colon the 

2 following: ‘‘, and recommending appropriate 

3 disciplinary action’’; 

4 (8) in paragraph (12)— 

5 (A) by striking ‘‘evaluating, with the as6 sistance of’’ and inserting ‘‘promulgating, with 

7 input from’’; 

8 (B) by striking ‘‘the need for’’; 

9 (C) by striking ‘‘conflict of interest and 

10 ethical problems’’ and inserting ‘‘conflict of in11 terest and ethics issues’’; 

12 (9) in paragraph (13)— 

13 (A) by striking ‘‘with the Attorney Gen14 eral’’ and inserting ‘‘with the Inspectors Gen15 eral and the Attorney General’’; 

16 (B) by striking ‘‘violations of the conflict 

17 of interest laws’’ and inserting ‘‘conflict of in18 terest issues and allegations of violations of eth19 ics laws and regulations and this Act’’; and 

20 (C) by striking ‘‘, as required by section 

21 535 of title 28, United States Code’’; 

22 (10) in paragraph (14), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

23 the end; 

24 (11) in paragraph (15)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘title II’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘title I’’; and 

3 (B) by striking the period at the end and 

4 inserting a semicolon; and 

5 (12) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(16) directing and providing final approval, 

7 when determined appropriate by the Director, for 

8 designated agency ethics officials regarding the reso9 lution of conflicts of interest as well as any other 

10 ethics issues under the purview of this Act in indi11 vidual cases; and 

12 ‘‘(17) reviewing and approving, when deter13 mined appropriate by the Director, any recusals, ex14 emptions, or waivers from the conflicts of interest 

15 and ethics laws, rules, and regulations and making 

16 approved recusals, exemptions, and waivers made 

17 publicly available by the relevant agency available in 

18 a central location on the official website of the Office 

19 of Government Ethics.’’. 

20 (b) WRITTEN PROCEDURES.—Section 402(d) of the 

21 Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is 

22 amended— 

23 (1) in paragraph (1)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘, by the exercise of any 

2 authority otherwise available to the Director 

3 under this title,’’; and 

4 (B) by striking ‘‘the agency is’’. 

5 (c) CORRECTIVE ACTIONS.—Section 402(f) of the 

6 Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is 

7 amended— 

8 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

9 (A) in clause (i) of subparagraph (A), by 

10 striking ‘‘of such agency’’; and 

11 (B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting at 

12 the end ‘‘and determine that a violation of this 

13 Act has occurred and issue appropriate admin14 istrative or legal remedies as prescribed in para15 graph (2)’’; 

16 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

17 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 

18 (i) in clause (ii)— 

19 (I) in subclause (I)— 

20 (aa) by inserting ‘‘to the 

21 President or the President’s des22 ignee if the matter involves em23 ployees of the Executive Office of 

24 the President or’’ after ‘‘may rec25 ommend’’; 


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1 (bb) by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

2 the end; and 

3 (II) in subclause (II)— 

4 (aa) by inserting ‘‘President 

5 or’’ after ‘‘determines that the’’; 

6 and 

7 (bb) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the 

8 end; 

9 (ii) in subclause (II) of clause (iii)— 

10 (I) by striking ‘‘notify in writ11 ing,’’ and inserting ‘‘advise the Presi12 dent in writing or order’’; 

13 (II) by inserting ‘‘take appro14 priate disciplinary action including 

15 reprimand, suspension, demotion, or 

16 dismissal against the officer or em17 ployee’’ after ‘‘employee’s agency’’; 

18 and 

19 (III) by striking ‘‘of the officer’s 

20 or employee’s noncompliance, except 

21 that, if the officer or employee in22 volved is the agency head, the notifi23 cation shall instead be submitted to 

24 the President and Congress and’’; and 

25 (iii) by striking clause (iv); 


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1 (B) in subparagraph (B)(i)— 

2 (i) by striking ‘‘subparagraph (A)(iii) 

3 or (iv)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (A)’’; 

4 (ii) by inserting ‘‘(I)’’ before ‘‘In 

5 order to’’; and 

6 (iii) by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(II)(aa) The Director may secure directly 

9 from any agency information necessary to en10 able the Director to carry out this Act. Upon 

11 request of the Director, the head of such agency 

12 shall furnish that information to the Director. 

13 ‘‘(bb) The Director may require by sub14 poena the production of all information, docu15 ments, reports, answers, records, accounts, pa16 pers, and other data in any medium and docu17 mentary evidence necessary in the performance 

18 of the functions assigned by this Act, which 

19 subpoena, in the case of refusal to obey, shall 

20 be enforceable by order of any appropriate 

21 United States district court.’’; 

22 (C) in subparagraph (B)(ii)(I)— 

23 (i) by striking ‘‘Subject to clause (iv) 

24 of this subparagraph, before’’ and insert25 ing ‘‘Before’’; and 


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1 (ii) by striking ‘‘subparagraphs (A) 

2 (iii) or (iv)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph 

3 (A)(iii)’’; 

4 (D) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by striking 

5 ‘‘Subject to clause (iv) of this subparagraph, 

6 before’’ and inserting ‘‘Before’’; and 

7 (E) in subparagraph (B)(iv)— 

8 (i) by striking ‘‘title 2’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘title I’’; and 

10 (ii) by striking ‘‘section 206’’ and in11 serting ‘‘section 104’’; 

12 (3) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘(iv),’’; and 

13 (4) by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(5)(A) The Office of Government Ethics shall 

16 provide, on the official website of the Office, public 

17 access to records made available by agencies of all 

18 conflicts of interest and ethics laws, rules and regu19 lations, recusals, waivers and exemptions, ethics ad20 visory opinions, ethics agreements of senior executive 

21 branch personnel and employee certificates of dives22 titure, financial disclosure reports, compliance re23 views, enforcement actions, and any other public 

24 records concerning conflicts of interest and ethics 

25 records for the executive branch required by law. 


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1 ‘‘(B) All financial disclosure reports and 

2 records related to conflict of interest waivers and 

3 other records of ethics determinations deemed public 

4 information by the Director or by law shall be made 

5 available to the public either by internet link to such 

6 information if publicly available, or at no charge on 

7 the website of the Office of Government Ethics in a 

8 searchable, sortable, and downloadable format, and 

9 at reasonable fees for reproduction of paper docu10 ments at the Office of Government Ethics.’’. 

11 (d) DEFINITIONS.—Section 402 of the Ethics in Gov12 ernment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by add13 ing at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(g) For purposes of this title— 

15 ‘‘(1) the term ‘agency’ shall include the Execu16 tive Office of the President; and 

17 ‘‘(2) the term ‘officer or employee’ shall include 

18 any individual occupying a position, providing any 

19 official services, or acting in an advisory capacity, in 

20 the White House or the Executive Office of the 

21 President. 

22 ‘‘(h) In this title, a reference to the head of an agency 

23 shall include the President or the President’s designee. 

24 ‘‘(i) The Director shall not be required to obtain the 

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1 cy of the United States, including the Office of Manage2 ment and Budget, before submitting to Congress, or any 

3 committee or subcommittee thereof, any information, re4 ports, recommendations, testimony, or comments, if such 

5 submissions include a statement indicating that the views 

6 expressed therein are those of the Director and do not nec7 essarily represent the views of the President.’’. 

8 SEC. 8035. AGENCY ETHICS OFFICIALS TRAINING AND DU9 TIES. 

10 Section 403 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 

11 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(c)(1) All designated agency ethics officials and al14 ternate designated agency ethics officials shall register 

15 with, and report to, the Director as well as with the ap16 pointing authority of the official. 

17 ‘‘(2) The Director shall provide ethics education and 

18 training to all designated and alternate designated agency 

19 ethics officials in a time and manner deemed appropriate 

20 by the Director. 

21 ‘‘(d)(1) The head of each agency shall ensure that 

22 all records and information provided to the Director under 

23 this Act shall be provided, to the greatest extent prac24 ticable, in a searchable, sortable, and downloadable for25 mat. 


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1 ‘‘(2) The head of each agency shall post on the offi2 cial website of the agency each recusal, waiver, exemption, 

3 ethics advisory opinion, ethics agreement, and certificate 

4 of divestiture issued by the agency under this Act and its 

5 implanting regulations.’’. 

6 Subtitle E—Conflicts From 

7 Political Fundraising 

8 SEC. 8041. SHORT TITLE. 

9 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Conflicts from Po10 litical Fundraising Act of 2019’’. 

11 SEC. 8042. DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN TYPES OF CONTRIBU12 TIONS. 

13 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 109 of the Ethics in Gov14 ernment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

15 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through 

16 (19) as paragraphs (5) through (22), respectively; 

17 and 

18 (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(2) ‘covered contribution’ means a payment, 

21 advance, forbearance, rendering, or deposit of 

22 money, or any thing of value— 

23 ‘‘(A)(i) that— 

24 ‘‘(I) is— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) made by or on behalf of a 

2 covered individual; or 

3 ‘‘(bb) solicited in writing by or at 

4 the request of a covered individual; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(II) is made— 

7 ‘‘(aa) to a political organization, 

8 as defined in section 527 of the Inter9 nal Revenue Code of 1986; or 

10 ‘‘(bb) to an organization— 

11 ‘‘(AA) that is described in 

12 paragraph (4) or (6) of section 

13 501(c) of the Internal Revenue 

14 Code of 1986 and exempt from 

15 tax under section 501(a) of such 

16 Code; and 

17 ‘‘(BB) that promotes or op18 poses changes in Federal laws or 

19 regulations that are (or would 

20 be) administered by the agency in 

21 which the covered individual has 

22 been nominated for appointment 

23 to a covered position or is serving 

24 in a covered position; or 

25 ‘‘(ii) that is— 


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1 ‘‘(I) solicited in writing by or on be2 half of a covered individual; and 

3 ‘‘(II) made— 

4 ‘‘(aa) by an individual or entity 

5 the activities of which are subject to 

6 Federal laws or regulations that are 

7 (or would be) administered by the 

8 agency in which the covered individual 

9 has been nominated for appointment 

10 to a covered position or is serving in 

11 a covered position; and 

12 ‘‘(bb) to— 

13 ‘‘(AA) a political organiza14 tion, as defined in section 527 of 

15 the Internal Revenue Code of 

16 1986; or 

17 ‘‘(BB) an organization that 

18 is described in paragraph (4) or 

19 (6) of section 501(c) of the Inter20 nal Revenue Code of 1986 and 

21 exempt from tax under section 

22 501(a) of such Code; and 

23 ‘‘(B) that is made to an organization de24 scribed in item (aa) or (bb) of clause (i)(II) or 

25 clause (ii)(II)(bb) of subparagraph (A) for 


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1 which the total amount of such payments, ad2 vances, forbearances, renderings, or deposits of 

3 money, or any thing of value, during the cal4 endar year in which it is made is not less than 

5 the contribution limitation in effect under sec6 tion 315(a)(1)(A) of the Federal Election Cam7 paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30116(a)(1)(A)) 

8 for elections occurring during such calendar 

9 year; 

10 ‘‘(3) ‘covered individual’ means an individual 

11 who has been nominated or appointed to a covered 

12 position; and 

13 ‘‘(4) ‘covered position’— 

14 ‘‘(A) means— 

15 ‘‘(i) a position described under sec16 tions 5312 through 5316 of title 5, United 

17 States Code; 

18 ‘‘(ii) a position placed in level IV or V 

19 of the Executive Schedule under section 

20 5317 of title 5, United States Code; 

21 ‘‘(iii) a position as a limited term ap22 pointee, limited emergency appointee, or 

23 noncareer appointee in the Senior Execu24 tive Service, as defined under paragraphs 


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1 (5), (6), and (7), respectively, of section 

2 3132(a) of title 5, United States Code; and 

3 ‘‘(iv) a position in the executive 

4 branch of the Government of a confidential 

5 or policy-determining character under 

6 schedule C of subpart C of part 213 of 

7 title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(B) does not include a position if the in10 dividual serving in the position has been ex11 cluded from the application of section 

12 101(f)(5);’’. 

13 (b) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS.—The Ethics in 

14 Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

15 (1) in section 101— 

16 (A) in subsection (a)— 

17 (i) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘With18 in’’; 

19 (ii) by striking ‘‘unless’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘and, if the individual is assuming a cov21 ered position, the information described in 

22 section 102(j), except that, subject to para23 graph (2), the individual shall not be re24 quired to file a report if’’; and 


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1 (iii) by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(2) If an individual has left a position described in 

4 subsection (f) that is not a covered position and, within 

5 30 days, assumes a position that is a covered position, the 

6 individual shall, within 30 days of assuming the covered 

7 position, file a report containing the information described 

8 in section 102(j)(2)(A).’’; 

9 (B) in subsection (b)(1), in the first sen10 tence, by inserting ‘‘and the information re11 quired by section 102(j)’’ after ‘‘described in 

12 section 102(b)’’; 

13 (C) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘and, if 

14 the individual is serving in a covered position, 

15 the information required by section 

16 102(j)(2)(A)’’ after ‘‘described in section 

17 102(a)’’; and 

18 (D) in subsection (e), by inserting ‘‘and, if 

19 the individual was serving in a covered position, 

20 the information required by section 

21 102(j)(2)(A)’’ after ‘‘described in section 

22 102(a)’’; and 

23 (2) in section 102— 

24 (A) in subsection (g), by striking ‘‘Political 

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1 vided in subsection (j), political campaign 

2 funds’’; and 

3 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(j)(1) In this subsection— 

5 ‘‘(A) the term ‘applicable period’ means— 

6 ‘‘(i) with respect to a report filed pursuant 

7 to subsection (a) or (b) of section 101, the year 

8 of filing and the 4 calendar years preceding the 

9 year of the filing; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) with respect to a report filed pursuant 

11 to subsection (d) or (e) of section 101, the pre12 ceding calendar year; and 

13 ‘‘(B) the term ‘covered gift’ means a gift that— 

14 ‘‘(i) is made to a covered individual, the 

15 spouse of a covered individual, or the dependent 

16 child of a covered individual; 

17 ‘‘(ii) is made by an entity described in item 

18 (aa) or (bb) of section 109(2)(A)(i)(II); and 

19 ‘‘(iii) would have been required to be re20 ported under subsection (a)(2) if the covered in21 dividual had been required to file a report 

22 under section 101(d) with respect to the cal23 endar year during which the gift was made. 

24 ‘‘(2)(A) A report filed pursuant to subsection (a), (b), 

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1 clude, for each covered contribution during the applicable 

2 period— 

3 ‘‘(i) the date on which the covered contribution 

4 was made; 

5 ‘‘(ii) if applicable, the date or dates on which 

6 the covered contribution was solicited; 

7 ‘‘(iii) the value of the covered contribution; 

8 ‘‘(iv) the name of the person making the cov9 ered contribution; and 

10 ‘‘(v) the name of the person receiving the cov11 ered contribution. 

12 ‘‘(B)(i) Subject to clause (ii), a covered contribution 

13 made by or on behalf of, or that was solicited in writing 

14 by or on behalf of, a covered individual shall constitute 

15 a conflict of interest, or an appearance thereof, with re16 spect to the official duties of the covered individual. 

17 ‘‘(ii) The Director of the Office of Government Ethics 

18 may exempt a covered contribution from the application 

19 of clause (i) if the Director determines the circumstances 

20 of the solicitation and making of the covered contribution 

21 do not present a risk of a conflict of interest and the ex22 emption of the covered contribution would not affect ad23 versely the integrity of the Government or the public’s con24 fidence in the integrity of the Government. 


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1 ‘‘(3) A report filed pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) 

2 of section 101 by a covered individual shall include the 

3 information described in subsection (a)(2) with respect to 

4 each covered gift received during the applicable period.’’. 

5 (c) PROVISION OF REPORTS AND ETHICS AGREE6 MENTS TO CONGRESS.—Section 105 of the Ethics in Gov7 ernment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by add8 ing at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(e) Not later than 30 days after receiving a written 

10 request from the Chairman or Ranking Member of a com11 mittee or subcommittee of either House of Congress, the 

12 Director of the Office of Government Ethics shall provide 

13 to the Chairman and Ranking Member each report filed 

14 under this title by the covered individual and any ethics 

15 agreement entered into between the agency and the cov16 ered individual.’’. 

17 (d) RULES ON ETHICS AGREEMENTS.—The Director 

18 of the Office of Government Ethics shall promptly issue 

19 rules regarding how an agency in the executive branch 

20 shall address information required to be disclosed under 

21 the amendments made by this subtitle in drafting ethics 

22 agreements between the agency and individuals appointed 

23 to positions in the agency. 

24 (e) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 


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1 (1) The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 

2 U.S.C. App.) is amended— 

3 (A) in section 101(f)— 

4 (i) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘sec5 tion 109(12)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

6 109(15)’’; 

7 (ii) in paragraph (10), by striking 

8 ‘‘section 109(13)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

9 109(16)’’; 

10 (iii) in paragraph (11), by striking 

11 ‘‘section 109(10)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

12 109(13)’’; and 

13 (iv) in paragraph (12), by striking 

14 ‘‘section 109(8)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

15 109(11)’’; 

16 (B) in section 103(l)— 

17 (i) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘sec18 tion 109(12)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

19 109(15)’’; and 

20 (ii) in paragraph (10), by striking 

21 ‘‘section 109(13)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

22 109(16)’’; and 

23 (C) in section 105(b)(3)(A), by striking 

24 ‘‘section 109(8) or 109(10)’’ and inserting ‘‘sec25 tion 109(11) or 109(13)’’. 


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1 (2) Section 3(4)(D) of the Lobbying Disclosure 

2 Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602(4)(D)) is amended by 

3 striking ‘‘section 109(13)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

4 109(16)’’. 

5 (3) Section 21A of the Securities Exchange Act 

6 of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78u–1) is amended— 

7 (A) in subsection (g)(2)(B)(ii), by striking 

8 ‘‘section 109(11) of the Ethics in Government 

9 Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 109(11)))’’ and in10 serting ‘‘section 109 of the Ethics in Govern11 ment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.))’’; and 

12 (B) in subsection (h)(2)— 

13 (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

14 ‘‘section 109(8) of the Ethics in Govern15 ment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 109(8))’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘section 109 of the Ethics in 

17 Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.)’’; 

18 and 

19 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

20 ‘‘section 109(10) of the Ethics in Govern21 ment Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 

22 109(10))’’ and inserting ‘‘section 109 of 

23 the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 

24 U.S.C. App.)’’. 


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1 (4) Section 499(j)(2) of the Public Health Serv2 ice Act (42 U.S.C. 290b(j)(2)) is amended by strik3 ing ‘‘section 109(16) of the Ethics in Government 

4 Act of 1978’’ and inserting ‘‘section 109 of the Eth5 ics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.)’’. 

6 Subtitle F—Transition Team Ethics 

7 SEC. 8051. SHORT TITLE. 

8 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Transition Team 

9 Ethics Improvement Act’’. 

10 SEC. 8052. PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ETHICS PROGRAMS. 

11 The Presidential Transition Act of 1963 (3 U.S.C. 

12 102 note) is amended— 

13 (1) in section 3(f), by adding at the end the fol14 lowing new paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(3) The President-elect shall submit to the Com16 mittee on Oversight and Reform of the House of Rep17 resentatives and the Committee on Homeland Security 

18 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report with a 

19 list of— 

20 ‘‘(A) any individual for whom an application for 

21 a security clearance was submitted, not later than 

22 10 days after the date on which the application was 

23 submitted; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) any individual provided a security clear2 ance, not later than 10 days after the date on which 

3 the security clearance was provided.’’; 

4 (2) in section 4— 

5 (A) in subsection (a)— 

6 (i) in paragraph (3), by striking 

7 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

8 (ii) by redesignating paragraph (4) as 

9 paragraph (5); and 

10 (iii) by inserting after paragraph (3) 

11 the following: 

12 ‘‘(4) the term ‘nonpublic information’— 

13 ‘‘(A) means information from the Federal 

14 Government that a transition team member ob15 tains as part of the employment of such mem16 ber that the member knows or reasonably 

17 should know has not been made available to the 

18 general public; and 

19 ‘‘(B) includes information that has not 

20 been released to the public that a transition 

21 team member knows or reasonably should 

22 know— 

23 ‘‘(i) is exempt from disclosure under 

24 section 552 of title 5, United States Code, 


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1 or otherwise protected from disclosure by 

2 law; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) is not authorized by the appro4 priate agency or official to be released to 

5 the public; and’’; and 

6 (B) in subsection (g)— 

7 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘No8 vember’’ and inserting ‘‘October’’; and 

9 (ii) by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(3) ETHICS PLAN.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each memorandum of 

13 understanding under paragraph (1) shall in14 clude an agreement that the eligible candidate 

15 will implement and enforce an ethics plan to 

16 guide the conduct of the transition beginning on 

17 the date on which the eligible candidate be18 comes the President-elect. 

19 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The ethics plan shall 

20 include, at a minimum— 

21 ‘‘(i) a description of the ethics re22 quirements that will apply to all transition 

23 team members, including specific require24 ments for transition team members who 


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1 will have access to nonpublic or classified 

2 information; 

3 ‘‘(ii) a description of how the transi4 tion team will— 

5 ‘‘(I) address the role on the tran6 sition team of— 

7 ‘‘(aa) registered lobbyists 

8 under the Lobbying Disclosure 

9 Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et 

10 seq.) and individuals who were 

11 formerly registered lobbyists 

12 under that Act; 

13 ‘‘(bb) persons registered 

14 under the Foreign Agents Reg15 istration Act, as amended (22 

16 U.S.C. 611 et seq.), foreign na17 tionals, and other foreign agents; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(cc) transition team mem20 bers with sources of income or 

21 clients that are not disclosed to 

22 the public; 

23 ‘‘(II) prohibit a transition team 

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1 tion 208 of title 18, United States 

2 Code, from working on particular 

3 matters involving specific parties that 

4 affect the interests of such member; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(III) address how the covered 

7 eligible candidate will address their 

8 own personal financial conflicts of in9 terest during a Presidential term if 

10 the covered eligible candidate becomes 

11 the President-elect; 

12 ‘‘(iii) a Code of Ethical Conduct, to 

13 which each transition team member will 

14 sign and be subject to, that reflects the 

15 content of the ethics plans under this para16 graph and at a minimum requires each 

17 transition team member to— 

18 ‘‘(I) seek authorization from 

19 transition team leaders or their des20 ignees before seeking, on behalf of the 

21 transition, access to any nonpublic in22 formation; 

23 ‘‘(II) keep confidential any non24 public information provided in the 

25 course of the duties of the member 


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1 with the transition and exclusively use 

2 such information for the purposes of 

3 the transition; and 

4 ‘‘(III) not use any nonpublic in5 formation provided in the course of 

6 transition duties, in any manner, for 

7 personal or private gain for the mem8 ber or any other party at any time 

9 during or after the transition; and 

10 ‘‘(iv) a description of how the transi11 tion team will enforce the Code of Ethical 

12 Conduct, including the names of the tran13 sition team members responsible for en14 forcement, oversight, and compliance. 

15 ‘‘(C) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.—The transi16 tion team shall make the ethics plan described 

17 in this paragraph publicly available on the 

18 internet website of the General Services Admin19 istration the earlier of— 

20 ‘‘(i) the day on which the memo21 randum of understanding is completed; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) October 1.’’; and 

23 (3) in section 6(b)— 

24 (A) in paragraph (1)— 


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1 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

2 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

3 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

4 the period at the end and inserting a semi5 colon; and 

6 (iii) by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(C) a list of all positions each transition team 

9 member has held outside the Federal Government 

10 for the previous 12-month period, including paid and 

11 unpaid positions; 

12 ‘‘(D) sources of compensation for each transi13 tion team member exceeding $5,000 a year for the 

14 previous 12-month period; 

15 ‘‘(E) a description of the role of each transition 

16 team member, including a list of any policy issues 

17 that the member expects to work on, and a list of 

18 agencies the member expects to interact with, while 

19 serving on the transition team; 

20 ‘‘(F) a list of any issues from which each tran21 sition team member will be recused while serving as 

22 a member of the transition team pursuant to the 

23 transition team ethics plan outlined in section 

24 4(g)(3); and 


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1 ‘‘(G) an affirmation that no transition team 

2 member has a financial conflict of interest that pre3 cludes the member from working on the matters de4 scribed in subparagraph (E).’’; 

5 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘not 

6 later than 2 business days’’ after ‘‘public’’; and 

7 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(3) The head of a Federal department or agency, 

9 or their designee, shall not permit access to the Federal 

10 department or agency, or employees of such department 

11 or agency, that would not be provided to a member of the 

12 public for any transition team member who does not make 

13 the disclosures listed under paragraph (1).’’. 

14 Subtitle G—Ethics Pledge for Sen15 ior Executive Branch Employees 

16 SEC. 8061. SHORT TITLE. 

17 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Ethics in Public 

18 Service Act’’. 

19 SEC. 8062. ETHICS PLEDGE REQUIREMENT FOR SENIOR EX20 ECUTIVE BRANCH EMPLOYEES. 

21 The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. 

22 App. 101 et seq.) is amended by inserting after title I the 

23 following new title: 


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1 ‘‘TITLE II—ETHICS PLEDGE 

2 ‘‘SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS. 

3 ‘‘For the purposes of this title, the following defini4 tions apply: 

5 ‘‘(1) The term ‘executive agency’ has the mean6 ing given that term in section 105 of title 5, United 

7 States Code, and includes the Executive Office of 

8 the President, the United States Postal Service, and 

9 Postal Regulatory Commission, but does not include 

10 the Government Accountability Office. 

11 ‘‘(2) The term ‘appointee’ means any full-time, 

12 noncareer Presidential or Vice Presidential ap13 pointee, noncareer appointee in the Senior Executive 

14 Service (or other SES-type system), or appointee to 

15 a position that has been excepted from the competi16 tive service by reason of being of a confidential or 

17 policymaking character (Schedule C and other posi18 tions excepted under comparable criteria) in an exec19 utive agency, but does not include any individual ap20 pointed as a member of the Senior Foreign Service 

21 or solely as a uniformed service commissioned offi22 cer. 

23 ‘‘(3) The term ‘gift’ means anything having 

24 monetary value. 


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1 ‘‘(4) The term ‘covered executive branch offi2 cial’ and ‘lobbyist’ have the meanings given those 

3 terms in section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 

4 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1602). 

5 ‘‘(5) The term ‘registered lobbyist or lobbying 

6 organization’ means a lobbyist or an organization fil7 ing a registration pursuant to section 4(a) of the 

8 Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 

9 1603(a)), and in the case of an organization filing 

10 such a registration, ‘registered lobbyist’ includes 

11 each of the lobbyists identified therein. 

12 ‘‘(6) The term ‘lobby’ and ‘lobbied’ mean to act 

13 or have acted as a registered lobbyist. 

14 ‘‘(7) The term ‘former employer’ is any person 

15 for whom the appointee has within the 2 years prior 

16 to the date of his or her appointment served as an 

17 employee, officer, director, trustee, or general part18 ner, except that ‘former employer’ does not include 

19 any executive agency or other entity of the Federal 

20 Government, State or local government, the District 

21 of Columbia, Native American tribe, or any United 

22 States territory or possession. 

23 ‘‘(8) The term ‘former client’ is any person for 

24 whom the appointee served personally as agent, at25 torney, or consultant within the 2 years prior to the 


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1 date of his or her appointment, but excluding in2 stances where the service provided was limited to a 

3 speech or similar appearance. It does not include cli4 ents of the appointee’s former employer to whom the 

5 appointee did not personally provide services. 

6 ‘‘(9) The term ‘directly and substantially re7 lated to my former employer or former clients’ 

8 means matters in which the appointee’s former em9 ployer or a former client is a party or represents a 

10 party. 

11 ‘‘(10) The term ‘participate’ means to partici12 pate personally and substantially. 

13 ‘‘(11) The term ‘post-employment restrictions’ 

14 includes the provisions and exceptions in section 

15 207(c) of title 18, United States Code, and the im16 plementing regulations. 

17 ‘‘(12) The term ‘Government official’ means 

18 any employee of the executive branch. 

19 ‘‘(13) The term ‘Administration’ means all 

20 terms of office of the incumbent President serving at 

21 the time of the appointment of an appointee covered 

22 by this title. 

23 ‘‘(14) The term ‘pledge’ means the ethics 

24 pledge set forth in section 202 of this title. 


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1 ‘‘(15) All references to provisions of law and 

2 regulations shall refer to such provisions as in effect 

3 on the date of enactment of this title. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 202. ETHICS PLEDGE. 

5 ‘‘Each appointee in every executive agency appointed 

6 on or after the date of enactment of this section shall be 

7 required to sign an ethics pledge upon appointment. The 

8 pledge shall be signed and dated within 30 days of taking 

9 office and shall include, at a minimum, the following ele10 ments: 

11 ‘‘ ‘As a condition, and in consideration, of my employ12 ment in the United States Government in a position in13 vested with the public trust, I commit myself to the fol14 lowing obligations, which I understand are binding on me 

15 and are enforceable under law: 

16 ‘‘ ‘(1) Lobbyist Gift Ban.—I will not accept 

17 gifts from registered lobbyists or lobbying organiza18 tions for the duration of my service as an appointee. 

19 ‘‘ ‘(2) Revolving Door Ban; Entering Govern20 ment.— 

21 ‘‘ ‘(A) All Appointees Entering Govern22 ment.—I will not, for a period of 2 years from 

23 the date of my appointment, participate in any 

24 particular matter involving specific party or 

25 parties that is directly and substantially related 


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1 to my former employer or former clients, in2 cluding regulations and contracts. 

3 ‘‘ ‘(B) Lobbyists Entering Government.—If 

4 I was a registered lobbyist within the 2 years 

5 before the date of my appointment, in addition 

6 to abiding by the limitations of subparagraph 

7 (A), I will not for a period of 2 years after the 

8 date of my appointment: 

9 ‘‘ ‘(i) participate in any particular 

10 matter on which I lobbied within the 2 

11 years before the date of my appointment; 

12 ‘‘ ‘(ii) participate in the specific issue 

13 area in which that particular matter falls; 

14 or 

15 ‘‘ ‘(iii) seek or accept employment with 

16 any executive agency that I lobbied within 

17 the 2 years before the date of my appoint18 ment. 

19 ‘‘ ‘(3) Revolving Door Ban; Appointees Leaving 

20 Government.— 

21 ‘‘ ‘(A) All Appointees Leaving Govern22 ment.—If, upon my departure from the Govern23 ment, I am covered by the post-employment re24 strictions on communicating with employees of 

25 my former executive agency set forth in section 


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1 207(c) of title 18, United States Code, I agree 

2 that I will abide by those restrictions for a pe3 riod of 2 years following the end of my appoint4 ment. 

5 ‘‘ ‘(B) Appointees Leaving Government To 

6 Lobby.—In addition to abiding by the limita7 tions of subparagraph (A), I also agree, upon 

8 leaving Government service, not to lobby any 

9 covered executive branch official or noncareer 

10 Senior Executive Service appointee for the re11 mainder of the Administration. 

12 ‘‘ ‘(4) Employment Qualification Commit13 ment.—I agree that any hiring or other employment 

14 decisions I make will be based on the candidate’s 

15 qualifications, competence, and experience. 

16 ‘‘ ‘(5) Assent to Enforcement.—I acknowledge 

17 that title II of the Ethics in Government Act of 

18 1978, which I have read before signing this docu19 ment, defines certain of the terms applicable to the 

20 foregoing obligations and sets forth the methods for 

21 enforcing them. I expressly accept the provisions of 

22 that title as a part of this agreement and as binding 

23 on me. I understand that the terms of this pledge 

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1 strictions applicable to me by virtue of Federal Gov2 ernment service.’ ’’. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 203. WAIVER. 

4 ‘‘(a) The President or the President’s designee may 

5 grant to any current or former appointee a written waiver 

6 of any restrictions contained in the pledge signed by such 

7 appointee if, and to the extent that, the President or the 

8 President’s designee certifies (in writing) that— 

9 ‘‘(1) the literal application of the restriction is 

10 inconsistent with the purposes of the restriction; or 

11 ‘‘(2) it is in the public interest to grant the 

12 waiver. 

13 ‘‘(b) Any waiver under this section shall take effect 

14 when the certification is signed by the President or the 

15 President’s designee. 

16 ‘‘(c) For purposes of subsection (a)(2), the public in17 terest shall include exigent circumstances relating to na18 tional security or to the economy. De minimis contact with 

19 an executive agency shall be cause for a waiver of the re20 strictions contained in paragraph (2)(B) of the pledge. 

21 ‘‘SEC. 204. ADMINISTRATION. 

22 ‘‘(a) The head of each executive agency shall, in con23 sultation with the Director of the Office of Government 

24 Ethics, establish such rules or procedures (conforming as 

25 nearly as practicable to the agency’s general ethics rules 


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1 and procedures, including those relating to designated 

2 agency ethics officers) as are necessary or appropriate to 

3 ensure— 

4 ‘‘(1) that every appointee in the agency signs 

5 the pledge upon assuming the appointed office or 

6 otherwise becoming an appointee; 

7 ‘‘(2) that compliance with paragraph (2)(B) of 

8 the pledge is addressed in a written ethics agree9 ment with each appointee to whom it applies; 

10 ‘‘(3) that spousal employment issues and other 

11 conflicts not expressly addressed by the pledge are 

12 addressed in ethics agreements with appointees or, 

13 where no such agreements are required, through eth14 ics counseling; and 

15 ‘‘(4) compliance with this title within the agen16 cy. 

17 ‘‘(b) With respect to the Executive Office of the 

18 President, the duties set forth in subsection (a) shall be 

19 the responsibility of the Counsel to the President. 

20 ‘‘(c) The Director of the Office of Government Ethics 

21 shall— 

22 ‘‘(1) ensure that the pledge and a copy of this 

23 title are made available for use by agencies in ful24 filling their duties under subsection (a); 


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1 ‘‘(2) in consultation with the Attorney General 

2 or the Counsel to the President, when appropriate, 

3 assist designated agency ethics officers in providing 

4 advice to current or former appointees regarding the 

5 application of the pledge; 

6 ‘‘(3) adopt such rules or procedures as are nec7 essary or appropriate— 

8 ‘‘(A) to carry out the responsibilities as9 signed by this subsection; 

10 ‘‘(B) to apply the lobbyist gift ban set 

11 forth in paragraph 1 of the pledge to all execu12 tive branch employees; 

13 ‘‘(C) to authorize limited exceptions to the 

14 lobbyist gift ban for circumstances that do not 

15 implicate the purposes of the ban; 

16 ‘‘(D) to make clear that no person shall 

17 have violated the lobbyist gift ban if the person 

18 properly disposes of a gift; 

19 ‘‘(E) to ensure that existing rules and pro20 cedures for Government employees engaged in 

21 negotiations for future employment with private 

22 businesses that are affected by their official ac23 tions do not affect the integrity of the Govern24 ment’s programs and operations; and 


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1 ‘‘(F) to ensure, in consultation with the 

2 Director of the Office of Personnel Manage3 ment, that the requirement set forth in para4 graph (4) of the pledge is honored by every em5 ployee of the executive branch; 

6 ‘‘(4) in consultation with the Director of the 

7 Office of Management and Budget, report to the 

8 President on whether full compliance is being 

9 achieved with existing laws and regulations gov10 erning executive branch procurement lobbying disclo11 sure and on steps the executive branch can take to 

12 expand to the fullest extent practicable disclosure of 

13 such executive branch procurement lobbying and of 

14 lobbying for Presidential pardons, and to include in 

15 the report both immediate action the executive 

16 branch can take and, if necessary, recommendations 

17 for legislation; and 

18 ‘‘(5) provide an annual public report on the ad19 ministration of the pledge and this title. 

20 ‘‘(d) All pledges signed by appointees, and all waiver 

21 certifications with respect thereto, shall be filed with the 

22 head of the appointee’s agency for permanent retention 

23 in the appointee’s official personnel folder or equivalent 

24 folder.’’. 


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1 Subtitle H—Severability 

2 SEC. 8071. SEVERABILITY. 

3 If any provision of this title or any amendment made 

4 by this title, or any application of such provision or 

5 amendment to any person or circumstance, is held to be 

6 unconstitutional, the remainder of the provisions of this 

7 title and the amendments made by this title, and the appli8 cation of the provision or amendment to any other person 

9 or circumstance, shall not be affected. 

10 TITLE IX—CONGRESSIONAL 

11 ETHICS REFORM 

Subtitle A—Requiring Members of Congress To Reimburse Treasury for 

Amounts Paid as Settlements and Awards Under Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 

Sec. 9001. Requiring Members of Congress to reimburse Treasury for amounts 

paid as settlements and awards under Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 in all cases of employment discrimination 

acts by Members. 

Subtitle B—Conflicts of Interests 

Sec. 9101. Prohibiting Members of House of Representatives from serving on 

boards of for-profit entities. 

Sec. 9102. Conflict of interest rules for Members of Congress and congressional 

staff. 

Sec. 9103. Exercise of rulemaking powers. 

Subtitle C—Campaign Finance and Lobbying Disclosure 

Sec. 9201. Short title. 

Sec. 9202. Requiring disclosure in certain reports filed with Federal Election 

Commission of persons who are registered lobbyists. 

Sec. 9203. Effective date. 

Subtitle D—Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports 

Sec. 9301. Short title. 

Sec. 9302. Definitions. 

Sec. 9303. Establishment of online portal for congressionally mandated reports. 

Sec. 9304. Federal agency responsibilities. 

Sec. 9305. Removing and altering reports. 

Sec. 9306. Relationship to the Freedom of Information Act. 


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Sec. 9307. Implementation. 

Subtitle E—Severability 

Sec. 9401. Severability. 

1 Subtitle A—Requiring Members of 

2 Congress To Reimburse Treas3 ury for Amounts Paid as Settle4 ments and Awards Under Con5 gressional Accountability Act of 

6 1995 

7 SEC. 9001. REQUIRING MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO REIM8 BURSE TREASURY FOR AMOUNTS PAID AS 

9 SETTLEMENTS AND AWARDS UNDER CON10 GRESSIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 1995 

11 IN ALL CASES OF EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINA12 TION ACTS BY MEMBERS. 

13 (a) REQUIRING REIMBURSEMENT.—Clause (i) of sec14 tion 415(d)(1)(C) of the Congressional Accountability Act 

15 of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1415(d)(1)(C)), as amended by section 

16 111(a) of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 

17 Reform Act, is amended to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(i) a violation of section 201(a) or 

19 section 206(a); or’’. 

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO NOTI21 FICATION OF POSSIBILITY OF REIMBURSEMENT.—Clause 

22 (i) of section 402(b)(2)(B) of the Congressional Account23 ability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1402(b)(2)(B)), as amended 


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1 by section 102(a) of the Congressional Accountability Act 

2 of 1995 Reform Act, is amended to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(i) a violation of section 201(a) or 

4 section 206(a); or’’. 

5 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

6 this section shall take effect as if included in the enact7 ment of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 Re8 form Act. 

9 Subtitle B—Conflicts of Interests 

10 SEC. 9101. PROHIBITING MEMBERS OF HOUSE OF REP11 RESENTATIVES FROM SERVING ON BOARDS 

12 OF FOR-PROFIT ENTITIES. 

13 Rule XXIII of the Rules of the House of Representa14 tives is amended— 

15 (1) by redesignating clause 19 as clause 20; 

16 and 

17 (2) by inserting after clause 18 the following 

18 new clause: 

19 ‘‘19. A Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner 

20 may not serve on the board of directors of any for-profit 

21 entity.’’. 

22 SEC. 9102. CONFLICT OF INTEREST RULES FOR MEMBERS 

23 OF CONGRESS AND CONGRESSIONAL STAFF. 

24 No Member, officer, or employee of a committee or 

25 Member of either House of Congress may knowingly use 


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1 his or her official position to introduce or aid the progress 

2 or passage of legislation, a principal purpose of which is 

3 to further only his or her pecuniary interest, only the pecu4 niary interest of his or her immediate family, or only the 

5 pecuniary interest of a limited class of persons or enter6 prises, when he or she, or his or her immediate family, 

7 or enterprises controlled by them, are members of the af8 fected class. 

9 SEC. 9103. EXERCISE OF RULEMAKING POWERS. 

10 The provisions of this subtitle are enacted by the 

11 Congress— 

12 (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 

13 the House of Representatives and the Senate, re14 spectively, and as such they shall be considered as 

15 part of the rules of each House, respectively, or of 

16 that House to which they specifically apply, and 

17 such rules shall supersede other rules only to the ex18 tent that they are inconsistent therewith; and 

19 (2) with full recognition of the constitutional 

20 right of either House to change such rules (so far 

21 as relating to such House) at any time, in the same 

22 manner, and to the same extent as in the case of 

23 any other rule of such House. 


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1 Subtitle C—Campaign Finance and 

2 Lobbying Disclosure 

3 SEC. 9201. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Connecting Lobby5 ists and Electeds for Accountability and Reform Act’’ or 

6 the ‘‘CLEAR Act’’. 

7 SEC. 9202. REQUIRING DISCLOSURE IN CERTAIN REPORTS 

8 FILED WITH FEDERAL ELECTION COMMIS9 SION OF PERSONS WHO ARE REGISTERED 

10 LOBBYISTS. 

11 (a) REPORTS FILED BY POLITICAL COMMITTEES.— 

12 Section 304(b) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

13 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30104(b)) is amended— 

14 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

15 (7); 

16 (2) by striking the period at the end of para17 graph (8) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

18 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

19 paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(9) if any person identified in subparagraph 

21 (A), (E), (F), or (G) of paragraph (3) is a registered 

22 lobbyist under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, 

23 a separate statement that such person is a reg24 istered lobbyist under such Act.’’. 


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1 (b) REPORTS FILED BY PERSONS MAKING INDE2 PENDENT EXPENDITURES.—Section 304(c)(2) of such 

3 Act (52 U.S.C. 30104(c)(2)) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara5 graph (B); 

6 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub7 paragraph (C) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

8 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub9 paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(D) if the person filing the statement, or a 

11 person whose identification is required to be dis12 closed under subparagraph (C), is a registered lob13 byist under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, a 

14 separate statement that such person is a registered 

15 lobbyist under such Act.’’. 

16 (c) REPORTS FILED BY PERSONS MAKING DIS17 BURSEMENTS FOR ELECTIONEERING COMMUNICA18 TIONS.—Section 304(f)(2) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

19 30104(f)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the fol20 lowing new subparagraph: 

21 ‘‘(G) If the person making the disburse22 ment, or a contributor described in subpara23 graph (E) or (F), is a registered lobbyist under 

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1 rate statement that such person or contributor 

2 is a registered lobbyist under such Act.’’. 

3 (d) REQUIRING COMMISSION TO ESTABLISH LINK TO

4 WEBSITES OF CLERK OF HOUSE AND SECRETARY OF

5 SENATE.—Section 304 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30104), 

6 as amended by section 4308(a), is amended by adding at 

7 the end the following new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(k) REQUIRING INFORMATION ON REGISTERED

9 LOBBYISTS TO BE LINKED TO WEBSITES OF CLERK OF

10 HOUSE AND SECRETARY OF SENATE.— 

11 ‘‘(1) LINKS TO WEBSITES.—The Commission 

12 shall ensure that the Commission’s public database 

13 containing information described in paragraph (2) is 

14 linked electronically to the websites maintained by 

15 the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the 

16 House of Representatives containing information 

17 filed pursuant to the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 

18 1995. 

19 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—The informa20 tion described in this paragraph is each of the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(A) Information disclosed under para23 graph (9) of subsection (b). 

24 ‘‘(B) Information disclosed under subpara25 graph (D) of subsection (c)(2). 


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1 ‘‘(C) Information disclosed under subpara2 graph (G) of subsection (f)(2).’’. 

3 SEC. 9203. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

4 The amendments made by this subtitle shall apply 

5 with respect to reports required to be filed under the Fed6 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 on or after the expira7 tion of the 90-day period which begins on the date of the 

8 enactment of this Act. 

9 Subtitle D—Access to 

10 Congressionally Mandated Reports 

11 SEC. 9301. SHORT TITLE. 

12 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Access to Congres13 sionally Mandated Reports Act’’. 

14 SEC. 9302. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this subtitle: 

16 (1) CONGRESSIONALLY MANDATED REPORT.— 

17 The term ‘‘congressionally mandated report’’— 

18 (A) means a report that is required to be 

19 submitted to either House of Congress or any 

20 committee of Congress, or subcommittee there21 of, by a statute, resolution, or conference report 

22 that accompanies legislation enacted into law; 

23 and 


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1 (B) does not include a report required 

2 under part B of subtitle II of title 36, United 

3 States Code. 

4 (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

5 the Director of the Government Publishing Office. 

6 (3) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 

7 agency’’ has the meaning given that term under sec8 tion 102 of title 40, United States Code, but does 

9 not include the Government Accountability Office. 

10 (4) OPEN FORMAT.—The term ‘‘open format’’ 

11 means a file format for storing digital data based on 

12 an underlying open standard that— 

13 (A) is not encumbered by any restrictions 

14 that would impede reuse; and 

15 (B) is based on an underlying open data 

16 standard that is maintained by a standards or17 ganization. 

18 (5) REPORTS ONLINE PORTAL.—The term ‘‘re19 ports online portal’’ means the online portal estab20 lished under section (3)(a). 

21 SEC. 9303. ESTABLISHMENT OF ONLINE PORTAL FOR CON22 GRESSIONALLY MANDATED REPORTS. 

23 (a) REQUIREMENT TO ESTABLISH ONLINE POR24 TAL.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall 

3 establish and maintain an online portal accessible by 

4 the public that allows the public to obtain electronic 

5 copies of all congressionally mandated reports in one 

6 place. The Director may publish other reports on the 

7 online portal. 

8 (2) EXISTING FUNCTIONALITY.—To the extent 

9 possible, the Director shall meet the requirements 

10 under paragraph (1) by using existing online portals 

11 and functionality under the authority of the Direc12 tor. 

13 (3) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out this sub14 title, the Director shall consult with the Clerk of the 

15 House of Representatives, the Secretary of the Sen16 ate, and the Librarian of Congress regarding the re17 quirements for and maintenance of congressionally 

18 mandated reports on the reports online portal. 

19 (b) CONTENT AND FUNCTION.—The Director shall 

20 ensure that the reports online portal includes the fol21 lowing: 

22 (1) Subject to subsection (c), with respect to 

23 each congressionally mandated report, each of the 

24 following: 


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1 (A) A citation to the statute, conference 

2 report, or resolution requiring the report. 

3 (B) An electronic copy of the report, in4 cluding any transmittal letter associated with 

5 the report, in an open format that is platform 

6 independent and that is available to the public 

7 without restrictions, including restrictions that 

8 would impede the re-use of the information in 

9 the report. 

10 (C) The ability to retrieve a report, to the 

11 extent practicable, through searches based on 

12 each, and any combination, of the following: 

13 (i) The title of the report. 

14 (ii) The reporting Federal agency. 

15 (iii) The date of publication. 

16 (iv) Each congressional committee re17 ceiving the report, if applicable. 

18 (v) The statute, resolution, or con19 ference report requiring the report. 

20 (vi) Subject tags. 

21 (vii) A unique alphanumeric identifier 

22 for the report that is consistent across re23 port editions. 

24 (viii) The serial number, Super25 intendent of Documents number, or other 


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1 identification number for the report, if ap2 plicable. 

3 (ix) Key words. 

4 (x) Full text search. 

5 (xi) Any other relevant information 

6 specified by the Director. 

7 (D) The date on which the report was re8 quired to be submitted, and on which the report 

9 was submitted, to the reports online portal. 

10 (E) Access to the report not later than 30 

11 calendar days after its submission to Congress. 

12 (F) To the extent practicable, a permanent 

13 means of accessing the report electronically. 

14 (2) A means for bulk download of all congres15 sionally mandated reports. 

16 (3) A means for downloading individual reports 

17 as the result of a search. 

18 (4) An electronic means for the head of each 

19 Federal agency to submit to the reports online por20 tal each congressionally mandated report of the 

21 agency, as required by section 4. 

22 (5) In tabular form, a list of all congressionally 

23 mandated reports that can be searched, sorted, and 

24 downloaded by— 


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1 (A) reports submitted within the required 

2 time; 

3 (B) reports submitted after the date on 

4 which such reports were required to be sub5 mitted; and 

6 (C) reports not submitted. 

7 (c) NONCOMPLIANCE BY FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

8 (1) REPORTS NOT SUBMITTED.—If a Federal 

9 agency does not submit a congressionally mandated 

10 report to the Director, the Director shall to the ex11 tent practicable— 

12 (A) include on the reports online portal— 

13 (i) the information required under 

14 clauses (i), (ii), (iv), and (v) of subsection 

15 (b)(1)(C); and 

16 (ii) the date on which the report was 

17 required to be submitted; and 

18 (B) include the congressionally mandated 

19 report on the list described in subsection 

20 (b)(5)(C). 

21 (2) REPORTS NOT IN OPEN FORMAT.—If a Fed22 eral agency submits a congressionally mandated re23 port that is not in an open format, the Director shall 

24 include the congressionally mandated report in an25 other format on the reports online portal. 


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1 (d) FREE ACCESS.—The Director may not charge a 

2 fee, require registration, or impose any other limitation 

3 in exchange for access to the reports online portal. 

4 (e) UPGRADE CAPABILITY.—The reports online por5 tal shall be enhanced and updated as necessary to carry 

6 out the purposes of this subtitle. 

7 SEC. 9304. FEDERAL AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES. 

8 (a) SUBMISSION OF ELECTRONIC COPIES OF RE9 PORTS.—Concurrently with the submission to Congress of 

10 each congressionally mandated report, the head of the 

11 Federal agency submitting the congressionally mandated 

12 report shall submit to the Director the information re13 quired under subparagraphs (A) through (D) of section 

14 3(b)(1) with respect to the congressionally mandated re15 port. Nothing in this subtitle shall relieve a Federal agen16 cy of any other requirement to publish the congressionally 

17 mandated report on the online portal of the Federal agen18 cy or otherwise submit the congressionally mandated re19 port to Congress or specific committees of Congress, or 

20 subcommittees thereof. 

21 (b) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 240 days after the 

22 date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office 

23 of Management and Budget, in consultation with the Di24 rector, shall issue guidance to agencies on the implementa25 tion of this Act. 


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1 (c) STRUCTURE OF SUBMITTED REPORT DATA.— 

2 The head of each Federal agency shall ensure that each 

3 congressionally mandated report submitted to the Director 

4 complies with the open format criteria established by the 

5 Director in the guidance issued under subsection (b). 

6 (d) POINT OF CONTACT.—The head of each Federal 

7 agency shall designate a point of contact for congression8 ally mandated report. 

9 (e) LIST OF REPORTS.—As soon as practicable each 

10 calendar year (but not later than April 1), and on a rolling 

11 basis during the year if feasible, the Librarian of Congress 

12 shall submit to the Director a list of congressionally man13 dated reports from the previous calendar year, in consulta14 tion with the Clerk of the House of Representatives, which 

15 shall— 

16 (1) be provided in an open format; 

17 (2) include the information required under 

18 clauses (i), (ii), (iv), (v) of section 3(b)(1)(C) for 

19 each report; 

20 (3) include the frequency of the report; 

21 (4) include a unique alphanumeric identifier for 

22 the report that is consistent across report editions; 

23 (5) include the date on which each report is re24 quired to be submitted; and 


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1 (6) be updated and provided to the Director, as 

2 necessary. 

3 SEC. 9305. REMOVING AND ALTERING REPORTS. 

4 A report submitted to be published to the reports on5 line portal may only be changed or removed, with the ex6 ception of technical changes, by the head of the Federal 

7 agency concerned if— 

8 (1) the head of the Federal agency consults 

9 with each congressional committee to which the re10 port is submitted; and 

11 (2) Congress enacts a joint resolution author12 izing the changing or removal of the report. 

13 SEC. 9306. RELATIONSHIP TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMA14 TION ACT. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this subtitle shall be 

16 construed to— 

17 (1) require the disclosure of information or 

18 records that are exempt from public disclosure under 

19 section 552 of title 5, United States Code; or 

20 (2) to impose any affirmative duty on the Di21 rector to review congressionally mandated reports 

22 submitted for publication to the reports online portal 

23 for the purpose of identifying and redacting such in24 formation or records. 


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1 (b) REDACTION OF INFORMATION.—The head of a 

2 Federal agency may redact information required to be dis3 closed under this Act if the information would be properly 

4 withheld from disclosure under section 552 of title 5, 

5 United States Code, and shall— 

6 (1) redact information required to be disclosed 

7 under this subtitle if disclosure of such information 

8 is prohibited by law; 

9 (2) redact information being withheld under 

10 this subsection prior to submitting the information 

11 to the Director; 

12 (3) redact only such information properly with13 held under this subsection from the submission of 

14 information or from any congressionally mandated 

15 report submitted under this subtitle; 

16 (4) identify where any such redaction is made 

17 in the submission or report; and 

18 (5) identify the exemption under which each 

19 such redaction is made. 

20 SEC. 9307. IMPLEMENTATION. 

21 Except as provided in section 9304(b), this subtitle 

22 shall be implemented not later than 1 year after the date 

23 of enactment of this Act and shall apply with respect to 

24 congressionally mandated reports submitted to Congress 


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1 on or after the date that is 1 year after such date of enact2 ment. 

3 Subtitle E—Severability 

4 SEC. 9401. SEVERABILITY. 

5 If any provision of this title or amendment made by 

6 this title, or the application of a provision or amendment 

7 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu8 tional, the remainder of this title and amendments made 

9 by this title, and the application of the provisions and 

10 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be 

11 affected by the holding. 

12 TITLE X—PRESIDENTIAL AND 

13 VICE PRESIDENTIAL TAX 

14 TRANSPARENCY 

Sec. 10001. Presidential and Vice Presidential tax transparency. 

15 SEC. 10001. PRESIDENTIAL AND VICE PRESIDENTIAL TAX 

16 TRANSPARENCY. 

17 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

18 (1) The term ‘‘covered candidate’’ means a can19 didate of a major party in a general election for the 

20 office of President or Vice President. 

21 (2) The term ‘‘major party’’ has the meaning 

22 given the term in section 9002 of the Internal Rev23 enue Code of 1986. 


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1 (3) The term ‘‘income tax return’’ means, with 

2 respect to an individual, any return (as such term is 

3 defined in section 6103(b)(1) of the Internal Rev4 enue Code of 1986) of such individual other than— 

5 (A) information returns issued to persons 

6 other than such individual, and 

7 (B) declarations of estimated tax. 

8 (4) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

9 of the Treasury or the delegate of the Secretary. 

10 (b) DISCLOSURE.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

12 (A) CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENT AND

13 VICE PRESIDENT.—Not later than the date that 

14 is 15 days after the date on which an individual 

15 becomes a covered candidate, the individual 

16 shall submit to the Federal Election Commis17 sion a copy of the individual’s income tax re18 turns for the 10 most recent taxable years for 

19 which a return has been filed with the Internal 

20 Revenue Service. 

21 (B) PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT.— 

22 With respect to each taxable year for an indi23 vidual who is the President or Vice President, 

24 not later than the due date for the return of tax 

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1 mit to the Federal Election Commission a copy 

2 of the individual’s income tax returns for the 

3 taxable year and for the 9 preceding taxable 

4 years. 

5 (C) TRANSITION RULE FOR SITTING PRESI6 DENTS AND VICE PRESIDENTS.—Not later than 

7 the date that is 30 days after the date of enact8 ment of this section, an individual who is the 

9 President or Vice President on such date of en10 actment shall submit to the Federal Election 

11 Commission a copy of the income tax returns 

12 for the 10 most recent taxable years for which 

13 a return has been filed with the Internal Rev14 enue Service. 

15 (2) FAILURE TO DISCLOSE.—If any require16 ment under paragraph (1) to submit an income tax 

17 return is not met, the chairman of the Federal Elec18 tion Commission shall submit to the Secretary a 

19 written request that the Secretary provide the Fed20 eral Election Commission with the income tax re21 turn. 

22 (3) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.—The chairman of 

23 the Federal Election Commission shall make publicly 

24 available each income tax return submitted under 

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1 vided under section 6103(l)(23) of the Internal Rev2 enue Code of 1986 (as added by this section). 

3 (4) TREATMENT AS A REPORT UNDER THE

4 FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN ACT OF 1971.—For 

5 purposes of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

6 1971, any income tax return submitted under para7 graph (1) or provided under section 6103(l)(23) of 

8 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as added by 

9 this section) shall, after redaction under paragraph 

10 (3) or subparagraph (B)(ii) of such section, be treat11 ed as a report filed under the Federal Election Cam12 paign Act of 1971. 

13 (c) DISCLOSURE OF RETURNS OF PRESIDENTS AND

14 VICE PRESIDENTS AND CERTAIN CANDIDATES FOR

15 PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 6103(l) of the Inter17 nal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at 

18 the end the following new paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(23) DISCLOSURE OF RETURN INFORMATION

20 OF PRESIDENTS AND VICE PRESIDENTS AND CER21 TAIN CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESI22 DENT.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Upon written request 

24 by the chairman of the Federal Election Com25 mission under section 10001(b)(2) of the For 


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1 the People Act of 2019, the Secretary shall pro2 vide copies of any return which is so requested 

3 to officers and employees of the Federal Elec4 tion Commission whose official duties require 

5 access to such return under this paragraph. 

6 ‘‘(B) DISCLOSURE TO THE PUBLIC.— 

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The chairman of 

8 the Federal Election Commission shall 

9 make publicly available any return which is 

10 provided under subparagraph (A). 

11 ‘‘(ii) REDACTION OF CERTAIN INFOR12 MATION.—Before making publicly available 

13 under clause (i) any return, the chairman 

14 of the Federal Election Commission shall 

15 redact such information as the Federal 

16 Election Commission and the Secretary 

17 jointly determine is necessary for pro18 tecting against identity theft, such as so19 cial security numbers.’’. 

20 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

21 6103(p)(4) of such Code is amended— 

22 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

23 (A) by striking ‘‘or (22)’’ and inserting ‘‘(22), 

24 or (23)’’, and 


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1 (B) in subparagraph (F)(ii) by striking ‘‘or 

2 (22)’’ and inserting ‘‘(22), or (23)’’. 

3 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

4 by this subsection shall apply to disclosures made on 

5 or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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