292 
‘‘Sec. 513. Certification. 
‘‘Subtitle C—Requirements for Candidates Certified as Participating 
Candidates 
‘‘Sec. 521. Contribution and expenditure requirements. 
‘‘Sec. 522. Administration of campaign. 
‘‘Sec. 523. Preventing unnecessary spending of public funds. 
‘‘Sec. 524. Remitting unspent funds after election. 
‘‘Subtitle D—Enhanced Match Support 
‘‘Sec. 531. Enhanced support for general election. 
‘‘Sec. 532. Eligibility. 
‘‘Sec. 533. Amount. 
‘‘Sec. 534. Waiver of authority to retain portion of unspent funds after elec-
tion. 
‘‘Subtitle E—Administrative Provisions 
‘‘Sec. 541. Freedom From Influence Fund. 
‘‘Sec. 542. Reviews and reports by Government Accountability Office. 
‘‘Sec. 543. Administration by Commission. 
‘‘Sec. 544. Violations and penalties. 
‘‘Sec. 545. Appeals process. 
‘‘Sec. 546. Indexing of amounts. 
‘‘Sec. 547. Election cycle defined. 
Sec. 5112. Contributions and expenditures by multicandidate and political party 
committees on behalf of participating candidates. 
Sec. 5113. Prohibiting use of contributions by participating candidates for pur-
poses other than campaign for election. 
Sec. 5114. Effective date. 
Subtitle C—Presidential Elections 
Sec. 5200. Short title. 
PART 1—PRIMARY ELECTIONS 
Sec. 5201. Increase in and modifications to matching payments. 
Sec. 5202. Eligibility requirements for matching payments. 
Sec. 5203. Repeal of expenditure limitations. 
Sec. 5204. Period of availability of matching payments. 
Sec. 5205. Examination and audits of matchable contributions. 
Sec. 5206. Modification to limitation on contributions for Presidential primary 
candidates. 
Sec. 5207. Use of Freedom From Influence Fund as source of payments. 
PART 2—GENERAL ELECTIONS 
Sec. 5211. Modification of eligibility requirements for public financing. 
Sec. 5212. Repeal of expenditure limitations and use of qualified campaign con-
tributions. 
Sec. 5213. Matching payments and other modifications to payment amounts. 
Sec. 5214. Increase in limit on coordinated party expenditures. 
Sec. 5215. Establishment of uniform date for release of payments. 
Sec. 5216. Amounts in Presidential Election Campaign Fund. 
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Sec. 5217. Use of general election payments for general election legal and account-
ing compliance. 
Sec. 5218. Use of Freedom From Influence Fund as source of payments. 
PART 3—EFFECTIVE DATE 
Sec. 5221. Effective date. 
Subtitle D—Personal Use Services as Authorized Campaign Expenditures 
Sec. 5301. Short title; findings; purpose. 
Sec. 5302. Treatment of payments for child care and other personal use services 
as authorized campaign expenditure. 
Subtitle E—Severability 
Sec. 5401. Severability. 
Subtitle A—Findings Relating to 
Citizens United Decision 
SEC. 5001. FINDINGS RELATING TO CITIZENS UNITED DECI-
SION. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The American Republic was founded on the 
principle that all people are created equal, with rights 
and responsibilities as citizens to vote, be represented, 
speak, debate, and participate in self-government on 
equal terms regardless of wealth. To secure these 
rights and responsibilities, our Constitution not only 
protects the equal rights of all Americans but also 
provides checks and balances to prevent corruption 
and prevent concentrated power and wealth from un-
dermining effective self-government. 
(2) The Supreme Court’s decisions in Citizens 
United v. Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S. 310 
(2010) and McCutcheon v. FEC, 572 U.S. 185 (2014), 
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as well as other court decisions, erroneously invali-
dated even-handed rules about the spending of money 
in local, State, and Federal elections. These flawed de-
cisions have empowered large corporations, extremely 
wealthy individuals, and special interests to dominate 
election spending, corrupt our politics, and degrade 
our democracy through tidal waves of unlimited and 
anonymous spending. These decisions also stand in 
contrast to a long history of efforts by Congress and 
the States to regulate money in politics to protect de-
mocracy, and they illustrate a troubling deregulatory 
trend in campaign finance-related court decisions. 
Additionally, an unknown amount of foreign money 
continues to be spent in our political system as sub-
sidiaries of foreign-based corporations and hostile for-
eign actors sometimes connected to nation-States work 
to influence our elections. 
(3) The Supreme Court’s misinterpretation of the 
Constitution to empower monied interests at the ex-
pense of the American people in elections has seri-
ously eroded over 100 years of congressional action to 
promote fairness and protect elections from the toxic 
influence of money. 
(4) In 1907, Congress passed the Tillman Act in 
response to the concentration of corporate power in 
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the post-Civil War Gilded Age. The Act prohibited 
corporations from making contributions in connection 
with Federal elections, aiming ‘‘not merely to prevent 
the subversion of the integrity of the electoral process 
[but] . . . to sustain the active, alert responsibility of 
the individual citizen in a democracy for the wise 
conduct of government’’. 
(5) By 1910, Congress began passing disclosure 
requirements and campaign expenditure limits, and 
dozens of States passed corrupt practices Acts to pro-
hibit corporate spending in elections. States also en-
acted campaign spending limits, and some States 
limited the amount that people could contribute to 
campaigns. 
(6) In 1947, the Taft-Hartley Act prohibited cor-
porations and unions from making campaign con-
tributions or other expenditures to influence elections. 
In 1962, a Presidential commission on election spend-
ing recommended spending limits and incentives to 
increase small contributions from more people. 
(7) The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 
(FECA), as amended in 1974, required disclosure of 
contributions and expenditures, imposed contribution 
and expenditure limits for individuals and groups, 
set spending limits for campaigns, candidates, and 
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groups, implemented a public funding system for 
Presidential campaigns, and created the Federal Elec-
tion Commission to oversee and enforce the new rules. 
(8) In the wake of Citizens United and other 
damaging Federal court decisions, Americans have 
witnessed an explosion of outside spending in elec-
tions. Outside spending increased nearly 900 percent 
between the 2008 and 2016 Presidential election 
years. Indeed, the 2018 elections once again made 
clear the overwhelming political power of wealthy spe-
cial interests, to the tune of over $5,000,000,000. And 
as political entities adapt to a post- Citizens United, 
post-McCutcheon landscape, these trends are getting 
worse, as evidenced by the experience in the 2018 
midterm congressional elections, where outside spend-
ing more than doubled from the previous midterm 
cycle. 
(9) The torrent of money flowing into our polit-
ical system has a profound effect on the democratic 
process for everyday Americans, whose voices and pol-
icy preferences are increasingly being drowned out by 
those of wealthy special interests. The more campaign 
cash from wealthy special interests can flood our elec-
tions, the more policies that favor those interests are 
reflected in the national political agenda. When it 
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comes to policy preferences, our Nation’s wealthiest 
tend to have fundamentally different views than do 
average Americans when it comes to issues ranging 
from unemployment benefits to the minimum wage to 
health care coverage. 
(10) The Court has tied the hands of Congress 
and the States, severely restricting them from setting 
reasonable limits on campaign spending. For exam-
ple, the Court has held that only the Government’s in-
terest in preventing quid pro quo corruption, like 
bribery, or the appearance of such corruption, can 
justify limits on campaign contributions. More broad-
ly, the Court has severely curtailed attempts to reduce 
the ability of the Nation’s wealthiest and most power-
ful to skew our democracy in their favor by buying 
outsized influence in our elections. Because this dis-
tortion of the Constitution has prevented truly mean-
ingful regulation or reform of the way we finance 
elections in America, a constitutional amendment is 
needed to achieve a democracy for all the people. 
(11) Since the landmark Citizens United deci-
sion, 19 States and nearly 800 municipalities, in-
cluding large cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chi-
cago, and Philadelphia, have gone on record sup-
porting a constitutional amendment. Transcending 
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political leanings and geographic location, voters in 
States and municipalities across the country that 
have placed amendment questions on the ballot have 
routinely supported these initiatives by considerably 
large margins. 
(12) At the same time millions of Americans 
have signed petitions, marched, called their Members 
of Congress, written letters to the editor, and other-
wise demonstrated their public support for a constitu-
tional amendment to overturn Citizens United that 
will allow Congress to reign in the outsized influence 
of unchecked money in politics. Dozens of organiza-
tions, representing tens of millions of individuals, 
have come together in a shared strategy of supporting 
such an amendment. 
(13) In order to protect the integrity of democ-
racy and the electoral process and to ensure political 
equality for all, the Constitution should be amended 
so that Congress and the States may regulate and set 
limits on the raising and spending of money to influ-
ence elections and may distinguish between natural 
persons and artificial entities, like corporations, that 
are created by law, including by prohibiting such ar-
tificial entities from spending money to influence elec-
tions. 
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Subtitle B—Congressional Elections 
SEC. 5100. SHORT TITLE. 
This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Government By the 
People Act of 2019’’. 
PART 1—MY VOICE VOUCHER PILOT PROGRAM 
SEC. 5101. ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Federal Election Commis-
sion (hereafter in this part referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’) 
shall establish a pilot program under which the Commission 
shall select 3 eligible States to operate a voucher pilot pro-
gram which is described in section 5102 during the pro-
gram operation period. 
(b) ELIGIBILITY OF STATES.—A State is eligible to be 
selected to operate a voucher pilot program under this part 
if, not later than 180 days after the beginning of the pro-
gram application period, the State submits to the Commis-
sion an application containing— 
(1) information and assurances that the State 
will operate a voucher program which contains the 
elements described in section 5102(a); 
(2) information and assurances that the State 
will establish fraud prevention mechanisms described 
in section 5102(b); 
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(3) information and assurances that the State 
will establish a commission to oversee and implement 
the program as described in section 5102(c); 
(4) information and assurances that the State 
will carry out a public information campaign as de-
scribed in section 5102(d); 
(5) information and assurances that the State 
will submit reports as required under section 5103; 
and 
(6) such other information and assurances as the 
Commission may require. 
(c) SELECTION OF PARTICIPATING STATES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 
the beginning of the program application period, the 
Commission shall select the 3 States which will oper-
ate voucher pilot programs under this part. 
(2) CRITERIA.—In selecting States for the oper-
ation of the voucher pilot programs under this part, 
the Commission shall apply such criteria and metrics 
as the Commission considers appropriate to determine 
the ability of a State to operate the program success-
fully, and shall attempt to select States in a variety 
of geographic regions and with a variety of political 
party preferences. 
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(3) NO SUPERMAJORITY REQUIRED FOR SELEC-
TION.—The selection of States by the Commission 
under this subsection shall require the approval of 
only half of the Members of the Commission. 
(d) DUTIES OF STATES DURING PROGRAM PREPARA-
TION PERIOD.—During the program preparation period, 
each State selected to operate a voucher pilot program under 
this part shall take such actions as may be necessary to 
ensure that the State will be ready to operate the program 
during the program operation period, and shall complete 
such actions not later than 90 days before the beginning 
of the program operation period. 
(e) TERMINATION.—Each voucher pilot program under 
this part shall terminate as of the first day after the pro-
gram operation period. 
(f) REIMBURSEMENT OF COSTS.— 
(1) REIMBURSEMENT.—Upon receiving the re-
port submitted by a State under section 5103(a) with 
respect to an election cycle, the Commission shall 
transmit a payment to the State in an amount equal 
to the reasonable costs incurred by the State in oper-
ating the voucher pilot program under this part dur-
ing the cycle. 
(2) SOURCE
OF
FUNDS.—Payments to States 
under the program shall be made using amounts in 
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the Freedom From Influence Fund under section 541 
of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (as 
added by section 5111), hereafter referred to as the 
‘‘Fund’’. 
(3) MANDATORY
REDUCTION
OF
PAYMENTS
IN 
CASE OF INSUFFICIENT AMOUNTS IN FREEDOM FROM 
INFLUENCE FUND.— 
(A) ADVANCE AUDITS BY COMMISSION.—Not 
later than 90 days before the first day of each 
program operation period, the Commission 
shall— 
(i) audit the Fund to determine wheth-
er, after first making payments to partici-
pating candidates under title V of the Fed-
eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (as 
added by section 5111), the amounts re-
maining in the Fund will be sufficient to 
make payments to States under this part in 
the amounts provided under this subsection; 
and 
(ii) submit a report to Congress de-
scribing the results of the audit. 
(B) REDUCTIONS
IN
AMOUNT
OF
PAY-
MENTS.— 
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(i) AUTOMATIC
REDUCTION
ON
PRO 
RATA BASIS.—If, on the basis of the audit 
described in subparagraph (A), the Commis-
sion determines that the amount antici-
pated to be available in the Fund with re-
spect to an election cycle involved is not, or 
may not be, sufficient to make payments to 
States under this part in the full amount 
provided under this subsection, the Commis-
sion shall reduce each amount which would 
otherwise be paid to a State under this sub-
section by such pro rata amount as may be 
necessary to ensure that the aggregate 
amount of payments anticipated to be made 
with respect to the cycle will not exceed the 
amount anticipated to be available for such 
payments in the Fund with respect to such 
cycle. 
(ii) RESTORATION OF REDUCTIONS IN 
CASE
OF
AVAILABILITY
OF
SUFFICIENT 
FUNDS DURING ELECTION CYCLE.—If, after 
reducing the amounts paid to States with 
respect to an election cycle under clause (i), 
the Commission determines that there are 
sufficient amounts in the Fund to restore 
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the amount by which such payments were 
reduced (or any portion thereof), to the ex-
tent that such amounts are available, the 
Commission may make a payment on a pro 
rata basis to each such State with respect to 
the cycle in the amount by which such 
State’s payments were reduced under clause 
(i) (or any portion thereof, as the case may 
be). 
(iii) NO
USE
OF
AMOUNTS
FROM 
OTHER SOURCES.—In any case in which 
the Commission determines that there are 
insufficient moneys in the Fund to make 
payments to States under this part, moneys 
shall not be made available from any other 
source for the purpose of making such pay-
ments. 
(3) CAP ON AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.—The aggre-
gate amount of payments made to any State with re-
spect to any program operation period may not ex-
ceed $10,000,000. If the State determines that the 
maximum payment amount under this paragraph 
with respect to the program operation period involved 
is not, or may not be, sufficient to cover the reason-
able costs incurred by the State in operating the pro-
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gram under this part for such period, the State shall 
reduce the amount of the voucher provided to each 
qualified individual by such pro rata amount as may 
be necessary to ensure that the reasonable costs in-
curred by the State in operating the program will not 
exceed the amount paid to the State with respect to 
such period. 
SEC. 5102. VOUCHER PROGRAM DESCRIBED. 
(a) GENERAL ELEMENTS OF PROGRAM.— 
(1) ELEMENTS DESCRIBED.—The elements of a 
voucher pilot program operated by a State under this 
part are as follows: 
(A) The State shall provide each qualified 
individual upon the individual’s request with a 
voucher worth $25 to be known as a ‘‘My Voice 
Voucher’’ during the election cycle which will be 
assigned a routing number and which at the op-
tion of the individual will be provided in either 
paper or electronic form. 
(B) Using the routing number assigned to 
the My Voice Voucher, the individual may sub-
mit the My Voice Voucher in either electronic or 
paper form to qualified candidates for election 
for the office of Representative in, or Delegate or 
Resident Commissioner to, the Congress and allo-
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cate such portion of the value of the My Voice 
Voucher in increments of $5 as the individual 
may select to any such candidate. 
(C) If the candidate transmits the My Voice 
Voucher to the Commission, the Commission 
shall pay the candidate the portion of the value 
of the My Voice Voucher that the individual allo-
cated to the candidate, which shall be considered 
a contribution by the individual to the candidate 
for purposes of the Federal Election Campaign 
Act of 1971. 
(2) DESIGNATION OF QUALIFIED INDIVIDUALS.— 
For purposes of paragraph (1)(A), a ‘‘qualified indi-
vidual’’ with respect to a State means an indi-
vidual— 
(A) who is a resident of the State; 
(B) who will be of voting age as of the date 
of the election for the candidate to whom the in-
dividual submits a My Voice Voucher; and 
(C) who is not prohibited under Federal 
law from making contributions to candidates for 
election for Federal office. 
(3) TREATMENT
AS
CONTRIBUTION
TO
CAN-
DIDATE.—For purposes of the Federal Election Cam-
paign Act of 1971, the submission of a My Voice 
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Voucher to a candidate by an individual shall be 
treated as a contribution to the candidate by the indi-
vidual in the amount of the portion of the value of 
the Voucher that the individual allocated to the can-
didate. 
(b) FRAUD PREVENTION MECHANISM.—In addition to 
the elements described in subsection (a), a State operating 
a voucher pilot program under this part shall permit an 
individual to revoke a My Voice Voucher not later than 2 
days after submitting the My Voice Voucher to a candidate. 
(c) OVERSIGHT COMMISSION.—In addition to the ele-
ments described in subsection (a), a State operating a 
voucher pilot program under this part shall establish a com-
mission or designate an existing entity to oversee and im-
plement the program in the State, except that no such com-
mission or entity may be comprised of elected officials. 
(d) PUBLIC INFORMATION CAMPAIGN.—In addition to 
the elements described in subsection (a), a State operating 
a voucher pilot program under this part shall carry out 
a public information campaign to disseminate awareness 
of the program among qualified individuals. 
SEC. 5103. REPORTS. 
(a) PRELIMINARY REPORT.—Not later than 6 months 
after the first election cycle of the program operation period, 
a State which operates a voucher pilot program under this 
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part shall submit a report to the Commission analyzing the 
operation and effectiveness of the program during the cycle 
and including such other information as the Commission 
may require. 
(b) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after the 
end of the program operation period, the State shall submit 
a final report to the Commission analyzing the operation 
and effectiveness of the program and including such other 
information as the Commission may require. 
(c) REPORT BY COMMISSION.—Not later than the end 
of the first election cycle which begins after the program 
operation period, the Commission shall submit a report to 
Congress which summarizes and analyzes the results of the 
voucher pilot program, and shall include in the report such 
recommendations as the Commission considers appropriate 
regarding the expansion of the pilot program to all States 
and territories, along with such other recommendations and 
other information as the Commission considers appro-
priate. 
SEC. 5104. DEFINITIONS. 
(a) ELECTION CYCLE.—In this part, the term ‘‘election 
cycle’’ means the period beginning on the day after the date 
of the most recent regularly scheduled general election for 
Federal office and ending on the date of the next regularly 
scheduled general election for Federal office. 
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‘‘TITLE V—SMALL DOLLAR FI-
NANCING 
OF 
CONGRES-
SIONAL 
ELECTION 
CAM-
PAIGNS 
‘‘Subtitle A—Benefits 
‘‘SEC. 501. BENEFITS FOR PARTICIPATING CANDIDATES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If a candidate for election to the 
office of Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commis-
sioner to, the Congress is certified as a participating can-
didate under this title with respect to an election for such 
office, the candidate shall be entitled to payments as pro-
vided under this title. 
‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.—The amount of a pay-
ment made under this title shall be equal to 600 percent 
of the amount of qualified small dollar contributions re-
ceived by the candidate since the most recent payment made 
to the candidate under this title during the election cycle, 
without regard to whether or not the candidate received any 
of the contributions before, during, or after the Small Dollar 
Democracy qualifying period applicable to the candidate 
under section 511(c). 
‘‘(c) LIMIT ON AGGREGATE AMOUNT OF PAYMENTS.— 
The aggregate amount of payments made to a participating 
candidate with respect to an election cycle under this title 
may not exceed 50 percent of the average of the 20 greatest 
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amounts of disbursements made by the authorized commit-
tees of any winning candidate for the office of Representa-
tive in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Con-
gress during the most recent election cycle, rounded to the 
nearest $100,000. 
‘‘SEC. 502. PROCEDURES FOR MAKING PAYMENTS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall make a 
payment under section 501 to a candidate who is certified 
as a participating candidate upon receipt from the can-
didate of a request for a payment which includes— 
‘‘(1) a statement of the number and amount of 
qualified small dollar contributions received by the 
candidate since the most recent payment made to the 
candidate under this title during the election cycle; 
‘‘(2) a statement of the amount of the payment 
the candidate anticipates receiving with respect to the 
request; 
‘‘(3) a statement of the total amount of payments 
the candidate has received under this title as of the 
date of the statement; and 
‘‘(4) such other information and assurances as 
the Commission may require. 
‘‘(b) RESTRICTIONS ON SUBMISSION OF REQUESTS.— 
A candidate may not submit a request under subsection (a) 
unless each of the following applies: 
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‘‘(1) The amount of the qualified small dollar 
contributions in the statement referred to in sub-
section (a)(1) is equal to or greater than $5,000, un-
less the request is submitted during the 30-day period 
which ends on the date of a general election. 
‘‘(2) The candidate did not receive a payment 
under this title during the 7-day period which ends 
on the date the candidate submits the request. 
‘‘(c) TIME OF PAYMENT.—The Commission shall, in 
coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury, take such 
steps as may be necessary to ensure that the Secretary is 
able to make payments under this section from the Treasury 
not later than 2 business days after the receipt of a request 
submitted under subsection (a). 
‘‘SEC. 503. USE OF FUNDS. 
‘‘(a) USE OF FUNDS FOR AUTHORIZED CAMPAIGN EX-
PENDITURES.—A candidate shall use payments made under 
this title, including payments provided with respect to a 
previous election cycle which are withheld from remittance 
to the Commission in accordance with section 524(a)(2), 
only for making direct payments for the receipt of goods 
and services which constitute authorized expenditures (as 
determined in accordance with title III) in connection with 
the election cycle involved. 
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‘‘(b) PROHIBITING USE OF FUNDS FOR LEGAL EX-
PENSES, FINES, OR PENALTIES.—Notwithstanding title III, 
a candidate may not use payments made under this title 
for the payment of expenses incurred in connection with 
any action, claim, or other matter before the Commission 
or before any court, hearing officer, arbitrator, or other dis-
pute resolution entity, or for the payment of any fine or 
civil monetary penalty. 
‘‘SEC. 504. QUALIFIED SMALL DOLLAR CONTRIBUTIONS DE-
SCRIBED. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In this title, the term ‘qualified 
small dollar contribution’ means, with respect to a can-
didate and the authorized committees of a candidate, a con-
tribution that meets the following requirements: 
‘‘(1) The contribution is in an amount that is— 
‘‘(A) not less than $1; and 
‘‘(B) not more than $200. 
‘‘(2)(A) The contribution is made directly by an 
individual to the candidate or an authorized com-
mittee of the candidate and is not— 
‘‘(i) forwarded from the individual making 
the contribution to the candidate or committee 
by another person; or 
‘‘(ii) received by the candidate or committee 
with the knowledge that the contribution was 
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made at the request, suggestion, or recommenda-
tion of another person. 
‘‘(B) In this paragraph— 
‘‘(i) the term ‘person’ does not include an 
individual (other than an individual described 
in section 304(i)(7) of the Federal Election Cam-
paign Act of 1971), a political committee of a 
political party, or any political committee which 
is not a separate segregated fund described in 
section 316(b) of the Federal Election Campaign 
Act of 1971 and which does not make contribu-
tions or independent expenditures, does not en-
gage in lobbying activity under the Lobbying 
Disclosure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), 
and is not established by, controlled by, or affili-
ated with a registered lobbyist under such Act, 
an agent of a registered lobbyist under such Act, 
or an organization which retains or employs a 
registered lobbyist under such Act; and 
‘‘(ii) a contribution is not ‘made at the re-
quest, suggestion, or recommendation of another 
person’ solely on the grounds that the contribu-
tion is made in response to information provided 
to the individual making the contribution by 
any person, so long as the candidate or author-
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ized committee does not know the identity of the 
person who provided the information to such in-
dividual. 
‘‘(3) The individual who makes the contribution 
does not make contributions to the candidate or the 
authorized committees of the candidate with respect to 
the election involved in an aggregate amount that ex-
ceeds the amount described in paragraph (1)(B), or 
any contribution to the candidate or the authorized 
committees of the candidate with respect to the elec-
tion involved that otherwise is not a qualified small 
dollar contribution. 
‘‘(b) TREATMENT
OF MY VOICE VOUCHERS.—Any 
payment received by a candidate and the authorized com-
mittees of a candidate which consists of a My Voice Voucher 
under the Government By the People Act of 2019 shall be 
considered a qualified small dollar contribution for pur-
poses of this title, so long as the individual making the pay-
ment meets the requirements of paragraphs (2) and (3) of 
subsection (a). 
‘‘(c) RESTRICTION
ON
SUBSEQUENT
CONTRIBU-
TIONS.— 
‘‘(1) PROHIBITING DONOR FROM MAKING SUBSE-
QUENT NONQUALIFIED CONTRIBUTIONS DURING ELEC-
TION CYCLE.— 
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which are attributable to the qualified small dol-
lar contribution made by the individual in-
volved. 
‘‘(3) NO EFFECT ON ABILITY TO MAKE MULTIPLE 
CONTRIBUTIONS.—Nothing in this section may be 
construed to prohibit an individual from making 
multiple qualified small dollar contributions to any 
candidate or any number of candidates, so long as 
each contribution meets each of the requirements of 
paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (a). 
‘‘(d) 
NOTIFICATION
REQUIREMENTS
FOR
CAN-
DIDATES.— 
‘‘(1) NOTIFICATION.—Each authorized committee 
of a candidate who seeks to be a participating can-
didate under this title shall provide the following in-
formation in any materials for the solicitation of con-
tributions, including any internet site through which 
individuals may make contributions to the committee: 
‘‘(A) A statement that if the candidate is 
certified as a participating candidate under this 
title, the candidate will receive matching pay-
ments in an amount which is based on the total 
amount of qualified small dollar contributions 
received. 
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‘‘(B) A statement that a contribution which 
meets the requirements set forth in subsection (a) 
shall be treated as a qualified small dollar con-
tribution under this title. 
‘‘(C) A statement that if a contribution is 
treated as qualified small dollar contribution 
under this title, the individual who makes the 
contribution may not make any contribution to 
the candidate or the authorized committees of the 
candidate during the election cycle which is not 
a qualified small dollar contribution. 
‘‘(2) ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF MEETING RE-
QUIREMENTS.—An authorized committee may meet 
the requirements of paragraph (1)— 
‘‘(A) by including the information described 
in paragraph (1) in the receipt provided under 
section 512(b)(3) to a person making a qualified 
small dollar contribution; or 
‘‘(B) by modifying the information it pro-
vides to persons making contributions which is 
otherwise required under title III (including in-
formation it provides through the internet). 
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‘‘Subtitle B—Eligibility and 
Certification 
‘‘SEC. 511. ELIGIBILITY. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A candidate for the office of Rep-
resentative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the 
Congress is eligible to be certified as a participating can-
didate under this title with respect to an election if the can-
didate meets the following requirements: 
‘‘(1) The candidate files with the Commission a 
statement of intent to seek certification as a partici-
pating candidate. 
‘‘(2) The candidate meets the qualifying require-
ments of section 512. 
‘‘(3) The candidate files with the Commission a 
statement certifying that the authorized committees of 
the candidate meet the requirements of section 504(d). 
‘‘(4) Not later than the last day of the Small 
Dollar Democracy qualifying period, the candidate 
files with the Commission an affidavit signed by the 
candidate and the treasurer of the candidate’s prin-
cipal campaign committee declaring that the can-
didate— 
‘‘(A) has complied and, if certified, will 
comply with the contribution and expenditure 
requirements of section 521; 
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‘‘(B) if certified, will run only as a partici-
pating candidate for all elections for the office 
that such candidate is seeking during that elec-
tion cycle; and 
‘‘(C) has either qualified or will take steps 
to qualify under State law to be on the ballot. 
‘‘(b) GENERAL
ELECTION.—Notwithstanding sub-
section (a), a candidate shall not be eligible to be certified 
as a participating candidate under this title for a general 
election or a general runoff election unless the candidate’s 
party nominated the candidate to be placed on the ballot 
for the general election or the candidate is otherwise quali-
fied to be on the ballot under State law. 
‘‘(c) SMALL DOLLAR DEMOCRACY QUALIFYING PERIOD 
DEFINED.—The term ‘Small Dollar Democracy qualifying 
period’ means, with respect to any candidate for an office, 
the 180-day period (during the election cycle for such office) 
which begins on the date on which the candidate files a 
statement of intent under section 511(a)(1), except that such 
period may not continue after the date that is 30 days be-
fore the date of the general election for the office. 
‘‘SEC. 512. QUALIFYING REQUIREMENTS. 
‘‘(a) RECEIPT OF QUALIFIED SMALL DOLLAR CON-
TRIBUTIONS.—A candidate for the office of Representative 
in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress 
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meets the requirement of this section if, during the Small 
Dollar Democracy qualifying period described in section 
511(c), each of the following occurs: 
‘‘(1) Not fewer than 1,000 individuals make a 
qualified small dollar contribution to the candidate. 
‘‘(2) The candidate obtains a total dollar amount 
of qualified small dollar contributions which is equal 
to or greater than $50,000. 
‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS
RELATING
TO
RECEIPT
OF 
QUALIFIED SMALL DOLLAR CONTRIBUTION.—Each quali-
fied small dollar contribution— 
‘‘(1) may be made by means of a personal check, 
money order, debit card, credit card, electronic pay-
ment account, or any other method deemed appro-
priate by the Commission; 
‘‘(2) shall be accompanied by a signed statement 
(or, in the case of a contribution made online or 
through other electronic means, an electronic equiva-
lent) containing the contributor’s name and address; 
and 
‘‘(3) shall be acknowledged by a receipt that is 
sent to the contributor with a copy (in paper or elec-
tronic form) kept by the candidate for the Commis-
sion. 
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‘‘(c) VERIFICATION OF CONTRIBUTIONS.—The Com-
mission shall establish procedures for the auditing and 
verification of the contributions received and expenditures 
made by participating candidates under this title, includ-
ing procedures for random audits, to ensure that such con-
tributions and expenditures meet the requirements of this 
title. 
‘‘SEC. 513. CERTIFICATION. 
‘‘(a) DEADLINE AND NOTIFICATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 business 
days after a candidate files an affidavit under section 
511(a)(4), the Commission shall— 
‘‘(A) determine whether or not the candidate 
meets the requirements for certification as a par-
ticipating candidate; 
‘‘(B) if the Commission determines that the 
candidate meets such requirements, certify the 
candidate as a participating candidate; and 
‘‘(C) notify the candidate of the Commis-
sion’s determination. 
‘‘(2) DEEMED
CERTIFICATION
FOR
ALL
ELEC-
TIONS IN ELECTION CYCLE.—If the Commission cer-
tifies a candidate as a participating candidate with 
respect to the first election of the election cycle in-
volved, the Commission shall be deemed to have cer-
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‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—For purposes of this 
subsection, the term ‘direct contribution’ means, 
with respect to a candidate, a contribution which 
is made directly by an individual to the can-
didate or an authorized committee of the can-
didate and is not— 
‘‘(i) forwarded from the individual 
making the contribution to the candidate or 
committee by another person; or 
‘‘(ii) received by the candidate or com-
mittee with the knowledge that the contribu-
tion was made at the request, suggestion, or 
recommendation of another person. 
‘‘(B) OTHER
DEFINITIONS.—In subpara-
graph (A)— 
‘‘(i) the term ‘person’ does not include 
an individual (other than an individual de-
scribed in section 304(i)(7) of the Federal 
Election Campaign Act of 1971), a political 
committee of a political party, or any polit-
ical committee which is not a separate seg-
regated fund described in section 316(b) of 
the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 
and which does not make contributions or 
independent expenditures, does not engage 
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