I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5274 

To promote international exchanges on best election practices, cultivate more 

secure democratic institutions around the world, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 14, 2018 

Mr. CASTRO of Texas (for himself, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, and Mr. ROSKAM) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To promote international exchanges on best election practices, cultivate more secure democratic institutions 

around the world, 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 ‘‘Global Electoral Ex5 change Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that— 

8 (1) recent elections globally have illustrated the 

9 urgent need for the promotion and exchange of 


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1 international best election practices, particularly in 

2 the areas of cybersecurity, results transmission, 

3 transparency of electoral data, election dispute reso4 lution, and the elimination of discriminatory reg5 istration practices and other electoral irregularities; 

6 (2) the advancement of democracy worldwide 

7 promotes American interests, as stable democracies 

8 provide new market opportunities, improve global 

9 health outcomes, and promote economic freedom and 

10 regional security; 

11 (3) credible elections are the cornerstone of a 

12 healthy democracy and enable all persons to exercise 

13 their basic human right to have a say in how they 

14 are governed; 

15 (4) inclusive elections strengthen the credibility 

16 and stability of democracies more broadly, as demo17 cratic institutions flourish when representative of all 

18 groups of society; 

19 (5) at the heart of a strong election cycle is the 

20 professionalism of the election management body 

21 and an empowered civil society; and 

22 (6) the development of local expertise via peer23 to-peer learning and exchanges promotes the inde24 pendence of such bodies from internal and external 

25 influence. 


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1 SEC. 3. GLOBAL ELECTORAL EXCHANGE. 

2 (a) GLOBAL ELECTORAL EXCHANGE.—The Sec3 retary of State shall establish and administer a Global 

4 Electoral Exchange Program to promote the utilization of 

5 sound election administration practices in the United 

6 States and foreign countries. 

7 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Global Electoral 

8 Exchange Program described in subsection (a) shall in9 clude the promotion and exchange of international best 

10 election practices, including in the areas of cybersecurity, 

11 results transmission, transparency of electoral data, elec12 tion dispute resolution, the elimination of discriminatory 

13 registration practices and electoral irregularities, and 

14 other sound election administration practices. 

15 (c) EXCHANGE OF ELECTORAL AUTHORITIES.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State may, 

17 in consultation, as appropriate, with the United 

18 States Agency for International Development and re19 gionally focused independent agencies, make grants 

20 to any United States-based organization described in 

21 section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

22 1986 and exempt from tax under section 501(a) of 

23 such Code with experience in comparative election 

24 systems or subject matter expertise in the areas of 

25 election administration or electoral integrity that 


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1 submits an application in such form, and satisfying 

2 such requirements, as the Secretary may require. 

3 (2) TYPES OF GRANTS.—An organization de4 scribed in paragraph (1) may receive a grant for one 

5 or more of the following purposes: 

6 (A) To design and implement programs 

7 bringing election administrators and officials, 

8 including government officials, polling workers, 

9 civil society representatives, members of the ju10 diciary, and others who participate in the orga11 nization and administration of an election in a 

12 foreign country to the United States to study 

13 election procedures in the United States for 

14 educational purposes. 

15 (B) To design and implement programs 

16 taking United States or another country’s elec17 tion administrators and officials, including gov18 ernment officials, polling workers, civil society 

19 representatives, members of the judiciary, and 

20 others who participate in the organization and 

21 administration of elections for public office in 

22 the United States or such other countries to 

23 foreign countries to study election procedures in 

24 such countries for educational purposes. 


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1 (3) COORDINATION.—The Secretary of State 

2 shall coordinate with State and local governments in 

3 the United States, in addition to the governments of 

4 United States territories, to conduct exchanges 

5 under this section and may enter into memorandums 

6 of understanding with such governments to guide 

7 participation by such governments in the Global 

8 Electoral Exchange Program. 

9 (4) LIMITS ON ACTIVITIES.—Activities adminis10 tered under the Global Electoral Exchange Program 

11 may not— 

12 (A) include election observation for the 

13 purposes of discussing the validity or legitimacy 

14 of an election; or 

15 (B) facilitate any advocacy for a certain 

16 electoral result by a grantee when participating 

17 in the Program. 

18 (5) FURTHER LIMITS.—A recipient of a grant 

19 under the Global Electoral Exchange Program may 

20 use such grant for only the purpose for which such 

21 grant was awarded, unless otherwise authorized by 

22 the Secretary of State. 

23 (6) NOT DUPLICATIVE.—Grants made under 

24 this subsection may not be duplicative of any other 


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1 grants made under any other provision of law for 

2 similar or related purposes. 

3 SEC. 4. REPORT. 

4 (a) INTERNET.—The Secretary of State shall main5 tain a publically available Department of State website de6 tailing the Global Electoral Exchange Program, including 

7 a list of grants awarded under the Program and the 

8 amount awarded in each such grant, each annual report 

9 required under subsection (c), and other information at 

10 the discretion of the Secretary. 

11 (b) NOTIFICATION OF GRANTS.—Not later than 30 

12 days after each grant award under the Global Electoral 

13 Exchange Program under section 3, the Secretary of State 

14 shall publish on the website described in subsection (a) 

15 a summary of such grant, including criteria for selecting 

16 the grantee and any relevant agreements between the Sec17 retary of State and foreign governments, State and local 

18 governments in the United States, or the governments of 

19 United States territories that are associated with such 

20 grant. The Secretary shall notify the Committee on For21 eign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Com22 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate of such publica23 tion. 

24 (c) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act and every 

3 year thereafter, the Secretary of State shall publish 

4 on the website described in subsection (a) a report 

5 on the Global Electoral Exchange Program and no6 tify the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 

7 of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign 

8 Relations of the Senate of such report. 

9 (2) ELEMENTS.—The reports required by para10 graph (1) shall include the following: 

11 (A) A summary of all exchanges conducted 

12 under the Global Electoral Exchange Program, 

13 including criteria used to select grantees. 

14 (B) A summary of all memorandum of un15 derstandings with States, local governments, 

16 and territories in accordance with section 

17 3(c)(3). 

18 (d) ANNUAL RECOMMENDATIONS.—In conjunction 

19 with the annual reports required under subsection (c), the 

20 Secretary of State may provide recommendations for the 

21 improvement of the Global Electoral Exchange Program, 

22 based on the purposes under section 3(b), in a written re23 port to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 


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1 of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Rela2 tions of the Senate. 

Æ 


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