I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4736 
To amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 to clarify the coverage 
of political activities directed within the United States by agents of 
foreign principals outside of the United States, to amend the Federal 
Election Campaign Act of 1971 to clarify the application of disclaimer 
rules for political advertisements which are disseminated online and to 
reduce the incidence of illicit foreign money in elections, to amend the 
Help America Vote Act of 2002 to prohibit the collection and trans-
mission of ballots by third parties in elections for Federal office and 
to prohibit the availability of funds under such Act to States which 
permit non-citizens to vote in elections for public office, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 18, 2019 
Mr. RODNEY
DAVIS
of Illinois (for himself, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Miss 
GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N of Puerto Rico, Mr. BACON, Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER, 
Mr. POSEY, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. WALKER, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. 
STAUBER, and Mr. STEUBE) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the 
Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined 
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 
to clarify the coverage of political activities directed with-
in the United States by agents of foreign principals 
outside of the United States, to amend the Federal Elec-
tion Campaign Act of 1971 to clarify the application 
of disclaimer rules for political advertisements which are 
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disseminated online and to reduce the incidence of illicit 
foreign money in elections, to amend the Help America 
Vote Act of 2002 to prohibit the collection and trans-
mission of ballots by third parties in elections for Federal 
office and to prohibit the availability of funds under 
such Act to States which permit non-citizens to vote 
in elections for public office, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Honest Elections Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
TITLE I—FOREIGN AGENTS REGISTRATION REFORM 
Sec. 101. Clarification of coverage of activities directed within the United 
States by agents outside of the United States. 
Sec. 102. Application of press exemption to other forms of media. 
Sec. 103. Treatment of activities to influence public opinion on elections as po-
litical activity. 
Sec. 104. Effective date. 
TITLE II—DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS FOR ONLINE POLITICAL 
ADVERTISEMENTS 
Sec. 201. Clarifying disclaimer requirements for online political advertisements. 
TITLE III—REDUCING ILLICIT FOREIGN MONEY IN ELECTIONS 
Sec. 301. Report on illicit foreign money in Federal elections. 
Sec. 302. Prohibition on contributions and donations by foreign nationals in 
connection with ballot initiatives and referenda. 
TITLE IV—PROHIBITING PAYMENT OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE 
FUNDS TO STATES ALLOWING BALLOT HARVESTING 
Sec. 401. Prohibition on payments to States allowing collection and trans-
mission of ballots by certain third parties. 
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TITLE V—PROHIBITING PAYMENT OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE 
FUNDS TO STATES ALLOWING VOTING BY NON-CITIZENS 
Sec. 501. Prohibition on payments to States allowing voting by non-citizens. 
TITLE I—FOREIGN AGENTS 
REGISTRATION REFORM 
SEC. 101. CLARIFICATION OF COVERAGE OF ACTIVITIES DI-
RECTED WITHIN THE UNITED STATES BY 
AGENTS OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES. 
(a) TREATMENT OF AGENTS ENGAGED IN ACTIVI-
TIES
AS AGENTS
OF FOREIGN PRINCIPALS.—Section 
1(c)(1) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, 
as amended (22 U.S.C. 611(c)(1)), is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (iii); 
(2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause (iv) 
and inserting ‘‘or’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new 
clause: 
‘‘(v) engages outside the United States in 
political activities for or in the interests of such 
foreign principal which are directed at persons 
within the United States, including activities 
consisting 
of 
communications 
disseminated 
within the United States through telecommuni-
cations or computer equipment or services, the 
Internet, broadcast, cable, satellite, print, or 
mail; and’’. 
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(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 9 of such 
Act (22 U.S.C. 619) is amended by striking the period 
at the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, and shall be ap-
plicable outside the United States to the extent described 
in section 1(c)(1)(v).’’. 
SEC. 102. APPLICATION OF PRESS EXEMPTION TO OTHER 
FORMS OF MEDIA. 
(a) APPLICATION.—Section 1(d) of the Foreign 
Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 
611(d)(1)), is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(d) The term ‘agent of a foreign principal’ does not 
include any bona fide media outlet organized under the 
laws of the United States or of any State or other place 
subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, or any 
bona fide media outlet for which there is on file with the 
United States Postal Service information in compliance 
with section 3685 of title 39, United States Code, pub-
lished in the United States, solely by virtue of any bona 
fide news or journalistic activities, including the solicita-
tion or acceptance of paid advertisements, subscriptions, 
free social media access which is made available to the 
general public, or other compensation therefor, so long as 
it is at least 80 per centum beneficially owned by, and 
its officers and directors, if any, are citizens of the United 
States, and such media outlet is not owned, directed, su-
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pervised, controlled, subsidized, or financed, and none of 
its policies are determined by, any foreign principal de-
fined in subsection (b), or by any agent of a foreign prin-
cipal required to register under this Act.’’. 
(b) DEFINITION.—Section 1 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 
611) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection: 
‘‘(q) The term ‘media outlet’ means any of the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(1) Any newspaper, magazine, or periodical. 
‘‘(2) Any broadcast, satellite or cable television 
or radio station. 
‘‘(3) Any Internet-based website, application, or 
platform.’’. 
SEC. 103. TREATMENT OF ACTIVITIES TO INFLUENCE PUB-
LIC OPINION ON ELECTIONS AS POLITICAL 
ACTIVITY. 
Section 1(o) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act 
of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 611(o)), is amended by 
striking the semicolon at the end and inserting the fol-
lowing: ‘‘, or with reference to public opinion about public 
officials, candidates, or elections of the United States.’’. 
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SEC. 104. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
The amendments made by this title shall apply with 
respect to activities carried out on or after the date of 
the enactment of this Act. 
TITLE 
II—DISCLAIMER 
RE-
QUIREMENTS 
FOR 
ONLINE 
POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENTS 
SEC. 201. CLARIFYING DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS FOR 
ONLINE POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENTS. 
(a) CLARIFICATION.—Section 318 of the Federal 
Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30120) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(e) APPLICATION OF REQUIREMENTS TO ONLINE 
COMMUNICATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) METHOD
OF
PROVISION
OF
INFORMA-
TION.—Except as provided in paragraph (2) or 
paragraph (3), a covered Internet communication 
shall provide the information required under this 
section on the face of the communication. 
‘‘(2) AUTHORIZING
USE
OF
ALTERNATIVE 
MECHANISMS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a cov-
ered Internet communication described in sub-
paragraph (C) of paragraph (4), the commu-
nication may provide the information required 
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under this section through the use of a techno-
logical mechanism described in subparagraph 
(B), so long as the communication presents an 
indicator described in subparagraph (C). 
‘‘(B) TECHNOLOGICAL
MECHANISM
DE-
SCRIBED.—A 
technological 
mechanism 
de-
scribed in this subparagraph is, with respect to 
a communication, any technology which enables 
the individual reading, observing, or listening to 
the communication to read, observe, or listen to 
the information required under this section 
without navigating more than one step away 
from the communication itself. Such mechanism 
may take any form, including hover-over, 
mouse-over, voice-over, rollover, pop-up screen, 
scrolling text, rotating panels, or click-through 
or hyperlink to a landing page. 
‘‘(C) INDICATOR
DESCRIBED.—An indi-
cator described in this subparagraph is, with re-
spect to a communication, any clear and con-
spicuous visible or audible element of the com-
munication that gives notice to the individual 
reading, observing, or listening to the commu-
nication that the individual may read, observe, 
or listen to the information required under this 
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section through a technological mechanism. An 
indicator may take any form, including words 
such as ‘Paid for by’, ‘Paid by’, ‘Sponsored by’, 
or ‘Ad by’, a website URL, an image, a sound, 
a symbol, or an icon. 
‘‘(3) WAIVER.—A disclaimer shall not be re-
quired for any covered Internet communication that 
cannot provide a clear and conspicuous statement of 
the information required under this section either on 
the face of communication or through the use of a 
technological mechanism under paragraph (2). 
‘‘(4) COVERED INTERNET COMMUNICATION DE-
FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘covered Inter-
net communication’ means any communication which 
is required to include information under this section 
and which is any of the following: 
‘‘(A) Any electronic mailing of more than 
500 substantially similar communications which 
is disseminated by a political committee. 
‘‘(B) Any communication disseminated on 
a publicly available website of a political com-
mittee. 
‘‘(C) Any communication placed for a fee 
on another person’s website or Internet-based 
application or platform.’’. 
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(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to communications 
made after the expiration of the 30-day period which be-
gins on the date of the enactment of this Act. 
TITLE III—REDUCING ILLICIT 
FOREIGN MONEY IN ELECTIONS 
SEC. 301. REPORT ON ILLICIT FOREIGN MONEY IN FED-
ERAL ELECTIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Federal Election 
Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) is 
amended by inserting after section 319 the following new 
section: 
‘‘SEC. 319A. REPORT ON PRESENCE OF ILLICIT FOREIGN 
MONEY. 
‘‘(a) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the end 
of each Federal election cycle, the Commission shall sub-
mit to Congress a report containing— 
‘‘(1) an analysis of the presence of illicit foreign 
money in such cycle; and 
‘‘(2) recommendations to address the presence 
of illicit foreign money in elections, as appropriate. 
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘Federal election cycle’ means 
the period which begins on the day after the date of 
a regularly scheduled general election for Federal of-
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fice and which ends on the date of the first regularly 
scheduled general election for Federal office held 
after such date. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘illicit foreign money’ means any 
disbursement by a foreign national (as defined in 
section 319(b)) prohibited under such section.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall apply with respect to the Federal elec-
tion cycle that began during November 2018, and each 
succeeding Federal election cycle. 
SEC. 302. PROHIBITION ON CONTRIBUTIONS AND DONA-
TIONS BY FOREIGN NATIONALS IN CONNEC-
TION 
WITH 
BALLOT 
INITIATIVES 
AND 
REFERENDA. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 319(a)(1)(A) of the Fed-
eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 
30121(a)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘election’’ and in-
serting the following: ‘‘election, including a State or local 
ballot initiative or referendum’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall apply with respect to elections held in 
2020 or any succeeding year. 
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TITLE 
IV—PROHIBITING 
PAY-
MENT OF ELECTION ASSIST-
ANCE FUNDS TO STATES AL-
LOWING 
BALLOT 
HAR-
VESTING 
SEC. 401. PROHIBITION ON PAYMENTS TO STATES ALLOW-
ING COLLECTION AND TRANSMISSION OF 
BALLOTS BY CERTAIN THIRD PARTIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title II of the Help 
America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21001 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new part: 
‘‘PART 
7—PROHIBITION 
ON 
PAYMENTS 
TO 
STATES 
ALLOWING 
COLLECTION 
AND 
TRANSMISSION OF BALLOTS BY CERTAIN 
THIRD PARTIES 
‘‘SEC. 297. ELIGIBILITY FOR PAYMENTS OF STATES ALLOW-
ING COLLECTION AND TRANSMISSION OF 
BALLOTS BY CERTAIN THIRD PARTIES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State is not eligible to receive 
funds under this Act unless the State has in effect a law 
that prohibits an individual from the knowing collection 
and transmission of a ballot in an election for Federal of-
fice that was mailed to another person, other than an indi-
vidual described as follows: 
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‘‘(1) An election official while engaged in offi-
cial duties as authorized by law. 
‘‘(2) An employee of the United States Postal 
Service while engaged in official duties as authorized 
by law. 
‘‘(3) Any other individual who is allowed by law 
to collect and transmit United States mail, while en-
gaged in official duties as authorized by law. 
‘‘(4) A family member, household member, or 
caregiver of the person to whom the ballot was 
mailed. 
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, 
with respect to a person to whom the ballot was mailed: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘caregiver’ means an individual 
who provides medical or health care assistance to 
such person in a residence, nursing care institution, 
hospice facility, assisted living center, assisted living 
facility, assisted living home, residential care institu-
tion, adult day health care facility, or adult foster 
care home. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘family member’ means an indi-
vidual who is related to such person by blood, mar-
riage, adoption or legal guardianship. 
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‘‘(3) The term ‘household member’ means an 
individual who resides at the same residence as such 
person.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
of such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating 
to section 296 the following new item: 
‘‘PART 7—PROHIBITION ON PAYMENTS TO STATES ALLOWING COLLECTION 
AND TRANSMISSION OF BALLOTS BY CERTAIN THIRD PARTIES 
‘‘Sec. 297. Eligibility for payments of States allowing collection and trans-
mission of ballots by certain third parties.’’. 
TITLE 
V—PROHIBITING 
PAY-
MENT OF ELECTION ASSIST-
ANCE FUNDS TO STATES AL-
LOWING VOTING BY NON-CITI-
ZENS 
SEC. 501. PROHIBITION ON PAYMENTS TO STATES ALLOW-
ING VOTING BY NON-CITIZENS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title II of the Help 
America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21001 et seq.), as 
amended by section 401, is further amended by adding 
at the end the following new part: 
‘‘PART 8—PROHIBITION ON PAYMENTS TO 
STATES ALLOWING VOTING BY NON-CITIZENS 
‘‘SEC. 298. ELIGIBILITY FOR PAYMENTS OF STATES ALLOW-
ING VOTING BY NON-CITIZENS. 
‘‘A State is not eligible to receive funds under this 
Act if the State allows an individual who is not a citizen 
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of the United States to vote in an election for public of-
fice.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
for such Act, as amended by section 401, is further 
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 
297 the following new item: 
‘‘PART 8—PROHIBITION ON PAYMENTS TO STATES ALLOWING VOTING BY 
NON-CITIZENS 
‘‘Sec. 298. Eligibility for payments of States allowing voting by non-citizens.’’. 
Æ 
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