I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8753 
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to provide for the establishment 
of election integrity measures by States and to prohibit ballot harvesting 
in Federal elections. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 16, 2020 
Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on 
House Administration, 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 Help America Vote Act of 2002 to provide 
for the establishment of election integrity measures by 
States and to prohibit ballot harvesting in Federal elec-
tions. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protect Election Integ-
rity Act of 2020’’. 
SEC. 2. ELECTION INTEGRITY MEASURES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.— 
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(1) REQUIREMENT.—Subtitle D of title II of 
the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 
20901 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new part: 
‘‘PART 7—ELECTION INTEGRITY MEASURES 
‘‘SEC. 297. ELIGIBILITY FOR PAYMENTS OF STATES LACK-
ING ELECTION INTEGRITY MEASURES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State is not eligible to receive 
funds under this Act unless the State meets the following 
requirements with respect to each election held on or after 
January 1, 2021: 
‘‘(1) COLLECTION AND TRANSMISSION OF BAL-
LOTS.—The State has in effect a law that prohibits 
an individual from the knowing collection and trans-
mission of a ballot that was mailed to another per-
son, other than an individual described as follows: 
‘‘(A) An election official while engaged in 
official duties as authorized by law. 
‘‘(B) An employee of the United States 
Postal Service while engaged in official duties 
as authorized by law. 
‘‘(C) Any other individual who is allowed 
by law to collect and transmit United States 
mail, while engaged in official duties as author-
ized by law. 
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‘‘(D) A family member, household member, 
or caregiver of the person to whom the ballot 
was mailed. 
‘‘(2) OBSERVATION.—The State has in effect a 
law that permits the observation of polling places or 
counting of ballots, at any site where voting or ballot 
counting is occurring, by at least 2 appointed cam-
paign representatives per campaign. 
‘‘(3) RECORD.—The State has in effect a law 
requiring that mail-in or absentee ballots be counted 
and recorded immediately upon receipt, with no re-
sults to be disclosed until after the closure of polling 
places on the date of the election. 
‘‘(4) BALLOT COUNTING.—The State has in ef-
fect a law providing that after the closure of polling 
places on the date of the election, ballot counting be-
gins and does not stop, for any reason except immi-
nent emergency, until all ballots are counted. 
‘‘(5) SURVEILLANCE.—The State has in effect 
a law that provides for round-the-clock video surveil-
lance monitoring of absentee ballot drop boxes, with 
unedited footage to be made available upon request 
to members of the public at no charge. 
‘‘(6) REPORT.—The State has in effect a law 
that each supervisor of elections must post a report 
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on the official website of such supervisor at least 3 
months before a general election for Federal office 
which outlines preparations for the upcoming gen-
eral election. Each report under this paragraph must 
include, at a minimum, the following elements: 
‘‘(A) The anticipated staffing levels during 
the early voting period, on election day, and 
after election day. 
‘‘(B) The anticipated amount of automatic 
tabulating equipment at each early voting site 
and polling place. 
‘‘(7) CERTIFICATION.—The State has in effect 
a law providing that following the certification of the 
election, the municipal entity responsible for certi-
fying the election shall conduct a manual audit or an 
automated, independent audit of the voting systems 
used in randomly selected precincts. The resulting 
report must be made available to the public within 
15 days after completion of the audit. 
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
‘‘(1) 
APPOINTED
CAMPAIGN
REPRESENTA-
TIVE.—The term ‘appointed campaign representa-
tive’ means, with respect to the official campaign of 
a candidate appearing on a ballot, an individual au-
thorized to observe voting procedures or the count-
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ing of ballots by the campaign, but not the can-
didate himself or herself. A political committee 
formed for the specific purpose of expressly advo-
cating the passage or defeat of an issue on the ballot 
may also authorize appointed campaign representa-
tives. 
‘‘(2) CAREGIVER.—The term ‘caregiver’ means, 
with respect to a person, 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 institution, adult day 
health care facility, or adult foster care home. 
‘‘(3) FAMILY
MEMBER.—The term ‘family 
member’ means, with respect to a person, an indi-
vidual who is related to such person by blood, mar-
riage, adoption, or legal guardianship. 
‘‘(4) HOUSEHOLD MEMBER.—The term ‘house-
hold member’ means, with respect to a person, an 
individual who resides at the same residence as such 
person.’’. 
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con-
tents of such Act is amended by inserting after the 
item relating to section 296 the following new item: 
‘‘PART 7—ELECTION INTEGRITY MEASURES 
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‘‘Sec. 297. Eligibility for payments of States lacking election integrity meas-
ures.’’. 
(b) PROHIBITION ON BALLOT HARVESTING IN FED-
ERAL ELECTIONS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Chapter 29 of title 18, 
United States Code is amended by adding at the end 
the following new section: 
‘‘§ 612. Prohibition on ballot harvesting in Federal 
elections 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any per-
son to knowingly collect and transmit a ballot in an elec-
tion for Federal office that was mailed to another person, 
other than an individual described as follows: 
‘‘(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) PENALTY.—Any person who violates subsection 
(a) shall be fined not more than $10,000 for each ballot 
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