I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1281 

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

in Federal elections, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 1, 2007 

Mr. EMANUEL (for himself, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. HOLT, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. 

HONDA, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Ms. CORRINE

BROWN of Florida, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. 

COHEN, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. 

ENGEL, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. AL GREEN of 

Texas, Mr. HARE, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of 

Texas, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of 

California, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 

ORTIZ, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. REYES, Mr. RUSH, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of 

California, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. 

SHULER, Mr. SIRES, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. WATERS, and Ms. WOOLSEY) 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Deceptive Practices 

3 and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2007’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON DECEPTIVE PRACTICES IN FED5 ERAL ELECTIONS. 

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

7 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘§ 618. Deceptive practices in Federal elections 

10 ‘‘(a) Whoever, within 60 days before a Federal elec11 tion, knowingly communicates false election-related infor12 mation about that election, with intent to prevent another 

13 person from exercising the right to vote in that election, 

14 or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title or im15 prisoned not more than 5 years, or both. 

16 ‘‘(b) As used in this section— 

17 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Federal election’ means any gen18 eral, primary, run-off, or special election for the of19 fice of President, Vice President, presidential elector, 

20 Member of the Senate, Member of the House of 

21 Representatives, or Delegate or Commissioner from 

22 a territory or possession; and 

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

24 means information regarding— 

25 ‘‘(A) the time, place, or manner of con26 ducting the election; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the qualifications for or restrictions 

2 on voter eligibility for the election, including— 

3 ‘‘(i) any criminal penalties associated 

4 with voting in the election by ineligible vot5 ers; or 

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

7 registration status or eligibility; 

8 ‘‘(C) with respect to a closed primary elec9 tion, the political party affiliation of any can10 didate for office, if the communication of the 

11 information also contains false information de12 scribed in subparagraph (A) or (B); or 

13 ‘‘(D) the explicit endorsement by any per14 son or organization of a candidate running for 

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

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

17 for chapter 29 of title 18 is amended by adding at the 

18 end the following new item: 

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

19 SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF PENALTY FOR VOTER INTIMIDA20 TION. 

21 Section 594(a) of title 18, United States Code, is 

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

23 SEC. 4. SENTENCING GUIDELINES. 

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

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


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1 States Sentencing Commission, pursuant to its authority 

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

3 in accordance with this section, shall review and, if appro4 priate, amend the Federal sentencing guidelines and policy 

5 statements applicable to persons convicted of any offense 

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

7 added or modified by this Act. 

8 (b) AUTHORIZATION.—The United States Sentencing 

9 Commission may, for the purposes of the amendments 

10 made pursuant to this section, amend the Federal sen11 tencing guidelines in accordance with the procedures set 

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

13 U.S.C. 994 note) as though the authority under that sec14 tion had not expired. 

15 SEC. 5. REPORTING VIOLATIONS AND REMEDIAL ACTION. 

16 (a) REPORTING.—Any person may report to the At17 torney General any violation or possible violation of section 

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

19 (b) CORRECTIVE ACTION.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Immediately after receiving 

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

22 shall consider and review such report and, if the At23 torney General determines that there is a reasonable 

24 basis to find that a violation has occurred, the Attor25 ney General shall— 


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1 (A) undertake all effective measures nec2 essary to provide correct information to voters 

3 affected by the false information; 

4 (B) refer any matter under the jurisdiction 

5 of the Civil Rights Division of the Department 

6 of Justice to such division for prosecution; and 

7 (C) refer the matter to the appropriate 

8 Federal and State authorities for criminal pros9 ecution or civil action after the election. 

10 (2) REGULATIONS.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

12 shall promulgate regulations regarding the 

13 methods and means of corrective actions to be 

14 taken under paragraph (1). Such regulations 

15 shall be developed in consultation with the Elec16 tion Assistance Commission, civil rights organi17 zations, voting rights groups, State and local 

18 election officials, voter protection groups, and 

19 other interested community organizations. 

20 (B) STUDY.— 

21 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney Gen22 eral, in consultation with the Federal Com23 munications Commission and the Election 

24 Assistance Commission, shall conduct a 

25 study on the feasibility of providing the 


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1 corrective information under paragraph (1) 

2 through public service announcements, the 

3 emergency alert system, or other forms of 

4 public broadcast. 

5 (ii) REPORT.—Not later than 180 

6 days after the date of the enactment of 

7 this Act, the Attorney General shall submit 

8 to Congress a report detailing the results 

9 of the study conducted under clause (i). 

10 (3) PUBLICIZING REMEDIES.—The Attorney 

11 General shall make public through the Internet, 

12 radio, television, and newspaper advertisements in13 formation on the responsibilities, contact informa14 tion, and complaint procedures applicable under this 

15 section. 

16 (c) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

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

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

19 office, the Attorney General shall submit to Con20 gress a report compiling and detailing any allega21 tions of false information submitted pursuant to 

22 subsection (a) and relating to such election. 

23 (2) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted under 

24 paragraph (1) shall include— 


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1 (A) detailed information on specific allega2 tions of deceptive tactics; 

3 (B) statistical compilations of how many 

4 allegations were made and of what type; 

5 (C) the geographic locations of and the 

6 populations affected by the alleged deceptive in7 formation; 

8 (D) the status of the investigations of such 

9 allegations. 

10 (E) any corrective actions taken in re11 sponse to such allegations; 

12 (F) the rationale used for any corrective 

13 actions or for any refusal to pursue an allega14 tion; 

15 (G) the effectiveness of any such corrective 

16 actions; 

17 (H) whether a Voting Integrity Task Force 

18 was established with respect to such election, 

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

20 funded; 

21 (I) any referrals of information to other 

22 Federal, State, or local agencies; 

23 (J) any suit instituted under section 

24 2004(b)(2) of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 


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1 1971(b)(2)) in connection with such allegations; 

2 and 

3 (K) any criminal prosecution instituted 

4 under title 18, United States Code in connec5 tion with such allegations. 

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

7 the Attorney General submits the report required 

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

9 make the report publicly available through the Inter10 net and other appropriate means. 

11 (d) DELEGATION OF DUTIES.— 

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

13 delegate the responsibilities under this section to a 

14 Voting Integrity Task Force established under para15 graph (2). 

16 (2) VOTING INTEGRITY TASK FORCE.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

18 shall establish a Voting Integrity Task Force to 

19 carry out the requirements of this section with 

20 respect to any general, primary, run-off, or spe21 cial election for Federal office. 

22 (B) COMPOSITION.—Any Voting Integrity 

23 Task Force established under paragraph (1) 

24 shall be under the direction of the Assistant At25 torney General for the Civil Rights Division and 


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1 the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal 

2 Division, jointly. 

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

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

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

6 Member of the House of Representatives, or Delegate or 

7 Commissioner from a territory or possession of the United 

8 States. 

Æ 


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