I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6872 

To protect election workers and polling places. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2022 

Mr. LEVIN of Michigan (for himself, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Ms. 

BOURDEAUX, Mr. CARSON, Mr. CLEAVER, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. 

COOPER, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. 

JONES, Mr. KILDEE, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mrs. MCBATH, Mr. MCGOVERN, 

Ms. NORTON, Ms. PORTER, Ms. ROSS, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. DAVID SCOTT

of Georgia, Ms. SLOTKIN, Mr. VARGAS, and Mr. MOULTON) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To protect election workers and polling places. 

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 ‘‘Election Worker and 

5 Polling Place Protection Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ELECTION WORKER AND POLLING PLACE PROTEC2 TION. 

3 Section 11 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 

4 U.S.C. 10307) is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(f)(1) Whoever, whether or not acting under color 

7 of law, by force or threat of force, or violence, or threat 

8 of harm to any person or property, willfully intimidates 

9 or interferes with, or attempts to intimidate or interfere 

10 with, the ability of any person or any class of persons to 

11 vote or qualify to vote, or to qualify or act as a poll watch12 er, or any legally authorized election official, in any pri13 mary, special, or general election, or any person who is, 

14 or is employed by, an agent, contractor, or vendor of a 

15 legally authorized election official assisting in the adminis16 tration of any primary, special, or general election, shall 

17 be fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned not more 

18 than one year, or both; and if bodily injury results from 

19 the acts committed in violation of this paragraph or if 

20 such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened 

21 use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, shall be 

22 fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than 

23 5 years, or both. 

24 ‘‘(2) Whoever, whether or not acting under color of 

25 law, willfully physically damages or threatens to physically 

26 damage any physical property being used as a polling 


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1 place or tabulation center or other election infrastructure, 

2 with the intent to interfere with the administration of an 

3 election or the tabulation or certification of votes, shall 

4 be fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned not more 

5 than one year, or both; and if bodily injury results from 

6 the acts committed in violation of this paragraph or if 

7 such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened 

8 use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, shall be 

9 fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than 

10 5 years, or both. 

11 ‘‘(3) For purposes of this subsection, de minimus 

12 damage or threats of de minimus damage to physical prop13 erty shall not be considered a violation of this subsection. 

14 ‘‘(4) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘elec15 tion infrastructure’ means any office of an election official, 

16 staff, worker, or volunteer or any physical, mechanical, or 

17 electrical device, structure, or tangible item used in the 

18 process of creating, distributing, voting, returning, count19 ing, tabulating, auditing, storing, or other handling of 

20 voter registration or ballot information. 

21 ‘‘(g) No prosecution of any offense described in this 

22 subsection may be undertaken by the United States, ex23 cept under the certification in writing of the Attorney Gen24 eral, or a designee, that— 

25 ‘‘(1) the State does not have jurisdiction; 


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1 ‘‘(2) the State has requested that the Federal 

2 Government assume jurisdiction; or 

3 ‘‘(3) a prosecution by the United States is in 

4 the public interest and necessary to secure substan5 tial justice.’’. 

Æ 


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