I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 97 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit certain deceptive practices 

in Federal elections, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 6, 2009 

Mr. CONYERS (for himself, Mr. NADLER of New York, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of 

California, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. 

DELAHUNT, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. COHEN, Mr. JOHNSON of 

Georgia, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 

PAYNE, Mrs. MALONEY, and Mr. SCHIFF) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit certain 

deceptive practices in Federal elections, 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 ‘‘Deceptive Practices 

5 and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON DECEPTIVE PRACTICES IN FED2 ERAL ELECTIONS. 

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

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘§ 618. Deceptive practices in Federal elections 

7 ‘‘(a) Whoever, within 60 days before a Federal elec8 tion, knowingly communicates election-related information 

9 about that election, knowing that information to be false, 

10 with the intent to prevent another person from exercising 

11 the right to vote in that election, or attempts to do so, 

12 shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 

13 5 years, or both. 

14 ‘‘(b) As used in this section— 

15 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Federal election’ means any gen16 eral, primary, run-off, or special election for the of17 fice of President, Vice President, presidential elector, 

18 Member of the Senate, Member of the House of 

19 Representatives, or Delegate or Commissioner from 

20 a territory or possession; and 

21 ‘‘(2) the term ‘election related information’ 

22 means information regarding— 

23 ‘‘(A) the time, place, or manner of con24 ducting the election; 

25 ‘‘(B) the qualifications for or restrictions 

26 on voter eligibility for the election, including— 


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1 ‘‘(i) any criminal penalties associated 

2 with voting in the election; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) information regarding a voter’s 

4 registration status or eligibility; 

5 ‘‘(C) with respect to a closed primary elec6 tion, the political party affiliation of any can7 didate for office, if the communication of the 

8 information also contains false information de9 scribed in subparagraph (A) or (B); or 

10 ‘‘(D) the explicit endorsement by any per11 son or organization of a candidate running for 

12 any office voted on in the election.’’. 

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

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

15 by adding at the end the following new item: 

‘‘618. Deceptive practices in Federal elections.’’. 

16 SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF PENALTY FOR VOTER INTIMIDA17 TION. 

18 Section 594 of title 18, United States Code, is 

19 amended by striking ‘‘one year’’ and inserting ‘‘5 years’’. 

20 SEC. 4. SENTENCING GUIDELINES. 

21 (a) REVIEW AND AMENDMENT.—Not later than 90 

22 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the United 

23 States Sentencing Commission, pursuant to its authority 

24 under section 994 of title 28, United States Code, and 

25 in accordance with this section, shall review and, if approVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:13 Jan 09, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H97.IH H97

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1 priate, amend the Federal sentencing guidelines and policy 

2 statements applicable to persons convicted of any offense 

3 under sections of title 18, United States Code, that are 

4 added or modified by this Act. 

5 (b) AUTHORIZATION.—The United States Sentencing 

6 Commission may, for the purposes of the amendments 

7 made pursuant to this section, amend the Federal sen8 tencing guidelines in accordance with the procedures set 

9 forth in section 21(a) of the Sentencing Act of 1987 (28 

10 U.S.C. 994 note) as though the authority under that sec11 tion had not expired. 

12 SEC. 5. REPORTING VIOLATIONS AND REMEDIAL ACTION. 

13 (a) REPORTING.—Any person may report to the At14 torney General any violation or possible violation of section 

15 594 or 618 of title 18, United States Code. 

16 (b) CORRECTIVE ACTION.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Immediately after receiving 

18 a report under subsection (a), the Attorney General 

19 shall consider and review such report and, if the At20 torney General determines that there is a reasonable 

21 basis to find that a violation has occurred, the Attor22 ney General shall— 

23 (A) undertake all effective measures nec24 essary to provide correct information to voters 

25 affected by the false information; 


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1 (B) refer any matter under the jurisdiction 

2 of the Civil Rights Division of the Department 

3 of Justice to such division for prosecution; and 

4 (C) refer the matter to the appropriate 

5 Federal and State authorities for criminal pros6 ecution or civil action after the election. 

7 (2) REGULATIONS.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

9 shall promulgate regulations regarding the 

10 methods and means of corrective actions to be 

11 taken under paragraph (1). Such regulations 

12 shall be developed in consultation with the Elec13 tion Assistance Commission, civil rights organi14 zations, voting rights groups, State and local 

15 election officials, voter protection groups, and 

16 other interested community organizations. 

17 (B) STUDY.— 

18 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney Gen19 eral, in consultation with the Federal Com20 munications Commission and the Election 

21 Assistance Commission, shall conduct a 

22 study on the feasibility of providing the 

23 corrective information under paragraph (1) 

24 through public service announcements, the 


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1 emergency alert system, or other forms of 

2 public broadcast. 

3 (ii) REPORT.—Not later than 180 

4 days after the date of the enactment of 

5 this Act, the Attorney General shall submit 

6 to Congress a report detailing the results 

7 of the study conducted under clause (i). 

8 (3) PUBLICIZING REMEDIES.—The Attorney 

9 General shall make public through the Internet, 

10 radio, television, and newspaper advertisements in11 formation on the responsibilities, contact informa12 tion, and complaint procedures applicable under this 

13 section. 

14 (c) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

16 any primary, general, or run-off election for Federal 

17 office, the Attorney General shall submit to Con18 gress a report compiling and detailing any allega19 tions of false information submitted pursuant to 

20 subsection (a) and relating to such election. 

21 (2) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted under 

22 paragraph (1) shall include— 

23 (A) detailed information on specific allega24 tions of deceptive tactics; 


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1 (B) statistical compilations of how many 

2 allegations were made and of what type; 

3 (C) the geographic locations of and the 

4 populations affected by the alleged deceptive in5 formation; 

6 (D) the status of the investigations of such 

7 allegations; 

8 (E) any corrective actions taken in re9 sponse to such allegations; 

10 (F) the rationale used for any corrective 

11 actions or for any refusal to pursue an allega12 tion; 

13 (G) the effectiveness of any such corrective 

14 actions; 

15 (H) whether a Voting Integrity Task Force 

16 was established with respect to such election, 

17 and, if so, how such task force was staffed and 

18 funded; 

19 (I) any referrals of information to other 

20 Federal, State, or local agencies; 

21 (J) any suit instituted under section 

22 2004(b)(2) of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 

23 1971(b)(2)) in connection with such allegations; 

24 and 


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1 (K) any criminal prosecution instituted 

2 under title 18, United States Code, in connec3 tion with such allegations. 

4 (3) REPORT MADE PUBLIC.—On the date that 

5 the Attorney General submits the report required 

6 under paragraph (1), the Attorney General shall also 

7 make the report publicly available through the Inter8 net and other appropriate means. 

9 (d) DELEGATION OF DUTIES.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 

11 delegate the responsibilities under this section to a 

12 Voting Integrity Task Force established under para13 graph (2). 

14 (2) VOTING INTEGRITY TASK FORCE.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

16 shall establish a Voting Integrity Task Force to 

17 carry out the requirements of this section with 

18 respect to any general, primary, run-off, or spe19 cial election for Federal office. 

20 (B) COMPOSITION.—Any Voting Integrity 

21 Task Force established under this paragraph 

22 shall be under the direction of the Assistant At23 torney General for the Civil Rights Division and 

24 the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal 

25 Division, jointly. 


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1 (e) FEDERAL OFFICE.—For purposes of this section, 

2 the term ‘‘Federal office’’ means the office of President, 

3 Vice President, presidential elector, Member of the Senate, 

4 Member of the House of Representatives, or Delegate or 

5 Commissioner from a territory or possession of the United 

6 States. 

Æ 


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