II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4069 

To prohibit deceptive practices in Federal elections. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 16, 2006 

Mr. OBAMA introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

To prohibit deceptive practices in Federal elections. 

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 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DECEPTIVE PRACTICES IN ELECTIONS. 

7 (a) CIVIL ACTION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (b) of section 

9 2004 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1971(b)) is 

10 amended— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘No person’’ and inserting 

12 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(1) No person’’; and 

2 (B) by inserting at the end the following 

3 new paragraph: 

4 ‘‘(2) No person, whether acting under color of 

5 law or otherwise, shall knowingly deceive any other 

6 person regarding— 

7 ‘‘(A) the time, place, or manner of con8 ducting a general, primary, run-off, or special 

9 election for the office of President, Vice Presi10 dent, presidential elector, Member of the Sen11 ate, Member of the House of Representatives, 

12 or Delegate or Commissioner from a territory 

13 or possession; 

14 ‘‘(B) the qualifications for or restrictions 

15 on voter eligibility for any election described in 

16 subparagraph (A); 

17 ‘‘(C) the political party affiliation of any 

18 candidate running in any election described in 

19 subparagraph (A); or 

20 ‘‘(D) the sponsor, endorser, or originator 

21 of any electronic, written, or telephonic commu22 nication, or any other public communication (as 

23 defined under section 301(22) of the Federal 

24 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 

25 431(22))), that promotes, supports, attacks, or 


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1 opposes a clearly identified candidate in any 

2 election described in subparagraph (A).’’. 

3 (2) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (c) of sec5 tion 2004 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 

6 1971(c)) is amended— 

7 (i) by striking ‘‘Whenever any person’’ 

8 and inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘(1) Whenever any person’’; and 

10 (ii) by adding at the end the following 

11 new paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(2) Any person aggrieved by a violation of 

13 subsection (b)(2) may institute a civil action or other 

14 proper proceeding for preventive relief, including an 

15 application in a United States district court for a 

16 permanent or temporary injunction, restraining 

17 order, or other order.’’. 

18 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

19 (i) Subsection (e) of section 2004 of 

20 the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1971(e)) 

21 is amended by striking ‘‘subsection (c)’’ 

22 and inserting ‘‘subsection (c)(1)’’. 

23 (ii) Subsection (g) of section 2004 of 

24 the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1971(g)) 


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1 is amended by striking ‘‘subsection (c)’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘subsection (c)(1)’’. 

3 (b) CRIMINAL PENALTY.—Section 594 of title 18, 

4 United States Code, is amended— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘Whoever’’ and inserting the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(a) INTIMIDATION.—Whoever’’; 

8 (2) by inserting ‘‘by any means, including by 

9 means of written, electronic, or telephonic commu10 nications,’’ after ‘‘any other person’’; and 

11 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(b) DECEPTIVE ACTS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful 

15 for any person to knowingly deceive another 

16 person regarding— 

17 ‘‘(i) the time, place, or manner of an 

18 election described in subparagraph (B), or 

19 the qualifications for or restrictions on 

20 voter eligibility for any such election, with 

21 the intent to prevent such person from ex22 ercising the right to vote in such election; 

23 ‘‘(ii) the political party affiliation of 

24 any candidate running in any election de25 scribed in subparagraph (B); 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the sponsor, endorser, or origi2 nator of any electronic, written, or tele3 phonic communication, or any other public 

4 communication (as defined under section 

5 301(22) of the Federal Election Campaign 

6 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(22))), that pro7 motes, supports, attacks, or opposes a 

8 clearly identified candidate in any election 

9 described in subparagraph (B). 

10 ‘‘(B) ELECTION.—An election described in 

11 this subparagraph is any general, primary, run12 off, or special election for the office of Presi13 dent, Vice President, presidential elector, Mem14 ber of the Senate, Member of the House of 

15 Representatives, Delegate of the District of Co16 lumbia, or Resident Commissioner. 

17 ‘‘(2) PENALTY.—Any person who violates para18 graph (1) shall be fined not more than $100,000, 

19 imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both.’’. 

20 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

21 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

22 of this Act. 

23 SEC. 3. REPORTING FALSE ELECTION INFORMATION. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any person may report to the As25 sistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division of 


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1 the Department of Justice, or the designee of such Assist2 ant Attorney General, any act of deception regarding— 

3 (1) the time, place, or manner of conducting a 

4 general, primary, run-off, or special election for Fed5 eral office; 

6 (2) the qualifications for or restrictions on voter 

7 eligibility for any general, primary, run-off, or spe8 cial election for Federal office; 

9 (3) the political party affiliation of any can10 didate in any general, primary, run-off, or special 

11 election for Federal office; or 

12 (4) the sponsor, endorser, or originator of any 

13 electronic, written, or telephonic communication, or 

14 any other public communication (as defined under 

15 section 301(22) of the Federal Election Campaign 

16 Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(22))), that promotes, 

17 supports, attacks, or opposes a clearly identified can18 didate in any general, primary, run-off, or special 

19 election for Federal office. 

20 (b) CORRECTIVE ACTION.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para22 graph (2), not later than 48 hours after receiving a 

23 report under subsection (a), the Assistant Attorney 

24 General shall investigate such report and, if the As25 sistant Attorney General determines that an act of 


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1 deception described in subsection (a) occurred, 

2 shall— 

3 (A) undertake all effective measures nec4 essary to provide correct information to voters 

5 affected by the deception, and 

6 (B) refer the matter to the appropriate 

7 Federal and State authorities for criminal pros8 ecution. 

9 (2) REPORTS WITHIN 72 HOURS OF AN ELEC10 TION.—If a report under subsection (a) is received 

11 within 72 hours before the election described in such 

12 subsection, the Assistant Attorney General shall im13 mediately investigate such report and, if the Assist14 ant Attorney General determines that an act of de15 ception described in subsection (a) occurred, shall 

16 immediately undertake all effective measures nec17 essary to provide correct information to voters af18 fected by the deception. 

19 (3) REGULATIONS.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

21 shall promulgate regulations regarding the 

22 methods and means of corrective actions to be 

23 taken under paragraphs (1) and (2). Such regu24 lations shall be developed in consultation with 

25 the Election Assistance Commission, civil rights 


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1 organizations, voting rights groups, State elec2 tion officials, voter protection groups, and other 

3 interested community organizations. 

4 (B) STUDY.— 

5 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney Gen6 eral, in consultation with the Federal Com7 munications Commission and the Election 

8 Assistance Commission, shall conduct a 

9 study on the feasibility of providing the 

10 corrective information under paragraphs 

11 (1) and (2) through public service an12 nouncements, the emergency alert system, 

13 or other forms of public broadcast. 

14 (ii) REPORT.—Not later than 180 

15 days after the date of the enactment of 

16 this Act, the Attorney General shall submit 

17 to Congress a report detailing the results 

18 of the study conducted under clause (i). 

19 (c) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

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

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

22 office, the Attorney General shall submit to the ap23 propriate committees of Congress a report compiling 

24 and detailing any allegations of deceptive practices 


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1 submitted pursuant to subsection (a) and relating to 

2 such election. 

3 (2) CONTENTS.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each report submitted 

5 under paragraph (1) shall include— 

6 (i) detailed information on specific al7 legations of deceptive tactics; 

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

10 (iii) the effectiveness of any such cor11 rective actions; 

12 (iv) any suit instituted under section 

13 2004(b)(2) of the Revised Statutes (42 

14 U.S.C. 1971(b)(2)) in connection with such 

15 allegations; 

16 (v) statistical compilations of how 

17 many allegations were made and of what 

18 type; 

19 (vi) the geographic locations of and 

20 the populations affected by the alleged de21 ceptive information; and 

22 (vii) the status of the investigations of 

23 such allegations. 

24 (B) EXCEPTION.—The Attorney General 

25 may withhold any information that the Attorney 


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1 General determines would unduly interfere with 

2 an on-going investigation. 

3 (3) REPORT MADE PUBLIC.—The Attorney 

4 General shall make the report required under para5 graph (1) publicly available through the Internet 

6 and other appropriate means. 

7 (d) FEDERAL OFFICE.—For purposes of this section, 

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

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

10 Member of the House of Representatives, or Delegate or 

11 Commissioner from a territory or possession of the United 

12 States. 

13 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

14 are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General 

15 such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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