IB 

Union Calendar No. 61 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1281 

[Report No. 110–101] 

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 

APRIL 18, 2007 

Additional sponsors: Mr. RANGEL, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. CLAY, Mrs. MALONEY

of New York, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. GONZALEZ, Ms. LINDA T. 

SA ́NCHEZ of California, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. CUELLAR, Ms. 

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. WATT, Mr. 

WYNN, and Mr. PRICE of North Carolina 

APRIL 18, 2007 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 


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[Omit the part struck through] 

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 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON DECEPTIVE PRACTICES IN FED7 ERAL ELECTIONS. 

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

9 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘§ 618. Deceptive practices in Federal elections 

12 ‘‘(a) Whoever, within 60 days before a Federal elec13 tion, knowingly communicates false election-related infor14 mation about that election, with intent to prevent another 

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

16 or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title or im17 prisoned not more than 5 years, or both. 

18 ‘‘(b) As used in this section— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Federal election’ means any gen2 eral, primary, run-off, or special election for the of3 fice of President, Vice President, presidential elector, 

4 Member of the Senate, Member of the House of 

5 Representatives, or Delegate or Commissioner from 

6 a territory or possession; and 

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

8 means information regarding— 

9 ‘‘(A) the time, place, or manner of con10 ducting the election; 

11 ‘‘(B) the qualifications for or restrictions 

12 on voter eligibility for the election, including— 

13 ‘‘(i) any criminal penalties associated 

14 with voting in the election by ineligible vot15 ers; or 

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

17 registration status or eligibility; 

18 ‘‘(C) with respect to a closed primary elec19 tion, the political party affiliation of any can20 didate for office, if the communication of the 

21 information also contains false information de22 scribed in subparagraph (A) or (B); or 

23 ‘‘(D) the explicit endorsement by any per24 son or organization of a candidate running for 

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


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

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

3 end the following new item: 

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

4 SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF PENALTY FOR VOTER INTIMIDA5 TION. 

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

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

8 SEC. 4. SENTENCING GUIDELINES. 

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

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

11 States Sentencing Commission, pursuant to its authority 

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

13 in accordance with this section, shall review and, if appro14 priate, amend the Federal sentencing guidelines and policy 

15 statements applicable to persons convicted of any offense 

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

17 added or modified by this Act. 

18 (b) AUTHORIZATION.—The United States Sentencing 

19 Commission may, for the purposes of the amendments 

20 made pursuant to this section, amend the Federal sen21 tencing guidelines in accordance with the procedures set 

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

23 U.S.C. 994 note) as though the authority under that sec24 tion had not expired. 


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1 SEC. 5. REPORTING VIOLATIONS AND REMEDIAL ACTION. 

2 (a) REPORTING.—Any person may report to the At3 torney General any violation or possible violation of section 

4 594 or 618 of title 18, United States Code. 

5 (b) CORRECTIVE ACTION.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Immediately after receiving 

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

8 shall consider and review such report and, if the At9 torney General determines that there is a reasonable 

10 basis to find that a violation has occurred, the Attor11 ney General shall— 

12 (A) undertake all effective measures nec13 essary to provide correct information to voters 

14 affected by the false information; 

15 (B) refer any matter under the jurisdiction 

16 of the Civil Rights Division of the Department 

17 of Justice to such division for prosecution; and 

18 (C) refer the matter to the appropriate 

19 Federal and State authorities for criminal pros20 ecution or civil action after the election. 

21 (2) REGULATIONS.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

23 shall promulgate regulations regarding the 

24 methods and means of corrective actions to be 

25 taken under paragraph (1). Such regulations 

26 shall be developed in consultation with the ElecVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:53 Apr 19, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1281.RH H1281

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1 tion Assistance Commission, civil rights organi2 zations, voting rights groups, State and local 

3 election officials, voter protection groups, and 

4 other interested community organizations. 

5 (B) STUDY.— 

6 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney Gen7 eral, in consultation with the Federal Com8 munications Commission and the Election 

9 Assistance Commission, shall conduct a 

10 study on the feasibility of providing the 

11 corrective information under paragraph (1) 

12 through public service announcements, the 

13 emergency alert system, or other forms of 

14 public broadcast. 

15 (ii) REPORT.—Not later than 180 

16 days after the date of the enactment of 

17 this Act, the Attorney General shall submit 

18 to Congress a report detailing the results 

19 of the study conducted under clause (i). 

20 (3) PUBLICIZING REMEDIES.—The Attorney 

21 General shall make public through the Internet, 

22 radio, television, and newspaper advertisements in23 formation on the responsibilities, contact informa24 tion, and complaint procedures applicable under this 

25 section. 


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1 (c) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

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

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

4 office, the Attorney General shall submit to Con5 gress a report compiling and detailing any allega6 tions of false information submitted pursuant to 

7 subsection (a) and relating to such election. 

8 (2) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted under 

9 paragraph (1) shall include— 

10 (A) detailed information on specific allega11 tions of deceptive tactics; 

12 (B) statistical compilations of how many 

13 allegations were made and of what type; 

14 (C) the geographic locations of and the 

15 populations affected by the alleged deceptive in16 formation; 

17 (D) the status of the investigations of such 

18 allegations. 

19 (E) any corrective actions taken in re20 sponse to such allegations; 

21 (F) the rationale used for any corrective 

22 actions or for any refusal to pursue an allega23 tion; 

24 (G) the effectiveness of any such corrective 

25 actions; 


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1 (H) whether a Voting Integrity Task Force 

2 was established with respect to such election, 

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

4 funded; 

5 (I) any referrals of information to other 

6 Federal, State, or local agencies; 

7 (J) any suit instituted under section 

8 2004(b)(2) of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 

9 1971(b)(2)) in connection with such allegations; 

10 and 

11 (K) any criminal prosecution instituted 

12 under title 18, United States Code in connec13 tion with such allegations. 

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

15 the Attorney General submits the report required 

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

17 make the report publicly available through the Inter18 net and other appropriate means. 

19 (d) DELEGATION OF DUTIES.— 

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

21 delegate the responsibilities under this section to a 

22 Voting Integrity Task Force established under para23 graph (2). 

24 (2) VOTING INTEGRITY TASK FORCE.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

2 shall establish a Voting Integrity Task Force to 

3 carry out the requirements of this section with 

4 respect to any general, primary, run-off, or spe5 cial election for Federal office. 

6 (B) COMPOSITION.—Any Voting Integrity 

7 Task Force established under paragraph (1) 

8 shall be under the direction of the Assistant At9 torney General for the Civil Rights Division and 

10 the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal 

11 Division, jointly. 

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

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

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

15 Member of the House of Representatives, or Delegate or 

16 Commissioner from a territory or possession of the United 

17 States. 


ccoleman on PRODPC74 with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 61 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1281 

[Report No. 110

–101] 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit 

and for other purposes. certain deceptive practices in Federal elections, 

APRIL 18, 2007 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


ccoleman on PRODPC74 with BILLS