I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4544 
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to prohibit the use of Federal 
funds for election administration in States that permit ballot harvesting. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 11, 2023 
Mr. EDWARDS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on House Administration 
A BILL 
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to prohibit 
the use of Federal funds for election administration in 
States that permit ballot harvesting. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 
‘‘No Federal Funds for Ballot Harvesting Act’’. 
(b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 
(1) the right to vote is a fundamental right of 
citizens of the United States, as described by the 
Constitution of the United States; 
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(2) the Committee on House Administration of 
the House of Representatives, which is charged with 
investigating election irregularities, received reports 
through its official Election Observer Program for 
the 2018 general election and the 2020 general elec-
tion, as well as from other stakeholders, that individ-
uals other than voters themselves were depositing 
large amounts of absentee ballots at polling places 
throughout California and other States, a practice 
colloquially known as ‘‘ballot harvesting’’; 
(3) the practice of ballot harvesting creates sig-
nificant vulnerabilities in the chain-of-custody of bal-
lots because individuals collecting ballots are not re-
quired to be registered voters and are not required 
to identify themselves at a voter’s home, and the 
State does not track how many ballots are harvested 
in an election; 
(4) in North Carolina, a congressional election 
was invalidated due to fraud associated with ballot 
harvesting committed by a political operative, and it 
is unlikely such activity would have been detected 
were it not for the prohibition against ballot har-
vesting in the State; 
(5) ballot harvesting invites electioneering activ-
ity at home and weakens States’ long-standing voter 
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protection procedures, which remain in place at poll-
ing locations, creating the possibility of undue influ-
ence over voters by political operatives and other bad 
actors; and 
(6) the Supreme Court of the United States has 
affirmed State authority to restrict ballot harvesting 
(Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, 141 S. 
Ct. 2321 (2021)). 
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS FOR 
ELECTION ADMINISTRATION IN STATES THAT 
PERMIT BALLOT HARVESTING. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Help America Vote Act of 
2002 (52 U.S.C. 20901 et seq.) is amended by adding at 
the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 908. PROHIBITION ON FEDERAL FUNDS FOR ELEC-
TION ADMINISTRATION FOR STATES ALLOW-
ING COLLECTION AND TRANSMISSION OF 
BALLOTS BY CERTAIN THIRD PARTIES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro-
vision of law, no Federal funds may be used to administer 
any election for Federal office in a State unless the State 
has in effect a law that prohibits an individual from the 
knowing collection and transmission of a ballot in an elec-
tion for Federal office that was mailed to another person, 
other than an individual 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 or other commercial common carrier engaged 
in similar activities while engaged in duties author-
ized 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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