I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4064 
To amend title 18, United States Code, and the Help America Vote Act 
of 2002 to provide increased protections for election workers and voters 
in elections for Federal office, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 22, 2021 
Mr. SARBANES (for himself, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Mr. 
ALLRED, and Mr. JONES) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Com-
mittee on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend title 18, United States Code, and the Help Amer-
ica Vote Act of 2002 to provide increased protections 
for election workers and voters in elections for Federal 
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. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preventing Election 
Subversion Act of 2021’’. 
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SEC. 2. HARASSMENT OF ELECTION OFFICIALS PROHIB-
ITED. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 29 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new section: 
‘‘§ 612. Harassment of election-related officials 
‘‘(a) HARASSMENT
OF ELECTION WORKERS.—It 
shall be unlawful for any person, whether acting under 
color of law or otherwise, to intimidate, threaten, coerce, 
harass, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, coerce or har-
ass an election worker described in subsection (b) with in-
tent to impede, intimidate, or interfere with such official 
while engaged in the performance of official duties, or with 
intent to retaliate against such official on account of the 
performance of official duties. 
‘‘(b) ELECTION WORKER DESCRIBED.—An election 
worker as described in this section is any individual who 
is an election official, poll worker, or an election volunteer 
in connection with an election for a Federal office. 
‘‘(c) PENALTY.—Any person who violates subsection 
(a) shall be fined not more than $100,000, imprisoned for 
not more than 5 years, or both.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
for chapter 29 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 
by adding at the end the following new item: 
‘‘612. Harassment of election-related officials.’’. 
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SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF ELECTION WORKERS. 
Paragraph (2) of section 119(b) of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph 
(C); 
(2) by adding ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph 
(D); and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph: 
‘‘(E) any individual who is an election offi-
cial, a poll worker, or an election volunteer in 
connection with an election for a Federal of-
fice;’’. 
SEC. 4. RESTRICTIONS ON REMOVAL OF LOCAL ELECTION 
ADMINISTRATORS IN ADMINISTRATION OF 
ELECTIONS FOR FEDERAL OFFICE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find-
ings: 
(1) Congress has explicit and broad authority to 
regulate the time, place, and manner of Federal elec-
tions under the Elections Clause under article I, sec-
tion 4, clause 1 of the Constitution, including by es-
tablishing standards for the fair, impartial, and uni-
form administration of Federal elections by State 
and local officials. 
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(2) The Elections Clause was understood from 
the framing of the Constitution to contain ‘‘words of 
great latitude’’, granting Congress broad power over 
Federal elections and a plenary right to preempt 
State regulation in this area. As made clear at the 
Constitutional Convention and the State ratification 
debates that followed, this grant of congressional au-
thority was meant to ‘‘insure free and fair elec-
tions’’, promote the uniform administration of Fed-
eral elections, and ‘‘preserve and restore to the peo-
ple their equal and sacred rights of election.’’. 
(3) In the founding debates on the Elections 
Clause, many delegates also argued that a broad 
grant of authority to Congress over Federal elections 
was necessary to check any ‘‘abuses that might be 
made of the discretionary power’’ to regulate the 
time, place, and manner of elections granted the 
States, including attempts at partisan entrenchment, 
malapportionment, and the exclusion of political mi-
norities. As the Supreme Court has recognized, the 
Elections Clause empowers Congress to ‘‘protect the 
elections on which its existence depends’’, Ex parte 
Yarbrough, 110 U.S. 651, 658 (1884), and ‘‘protect 
the citizen in the exercise of rights conferred by the 
Constitution of the United States essential to the 
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healthy organization of the government itself’’, id. at 
666. 
(4) The Elections Clause grants Congress ‘‘ple-
nary and paramount jurisdiction over the whole sub-
ject’’ of Federal elections, Ex parte Siebold, 100 
U.S. 371, 388 (1879), allowing Congress to imple-
ment ‘‘a complete code for congressional elections’’. 
Smiley v. Holm, 285 U.S. 355, 366 (1932). The 
Elections Clause, unlike, for example, the Commerce 
Clause, has been found to grant Congress the au-
thority to compel States to alter their regulations as 
to Federal elections, id. at 366–67, even if these al-
terations would impose additional costs on the 
States to execute or enforce. Association of Commu-
nity Organizations for Reform Now v. Miller, 129 
F.3d 833 (6th Cir. 1997). 
(5) The phrase ‘‘manner of holding elections’’ 
in the Elections Clause has been interpreted by the 
Supreme Court to authorize Congress to regulate all 
aspects of the Federal election process, including 
‘‘notices, registration, supervision of voting, protec-
tion of voters, prevention of fraud and corrupt prac-
tices, counting of votes, duties of inspectors and can-
vassers, and the making and publication of election 
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returns’’. Smiley v. Holm, 285 U.S. 355, 366 
(1932). 
(6) The Supreme Court has recognized the 
broad ‘‘substantive scope’’ of the Elections Clause 
and upheld Federal laws promulgated thereunder 
regulating redistricting, voter registration, campaign 
finance, primary elections, recounts, party affiliation 
rules, and balloting. 
(7) The authority of Congress under the Elec-
tions Clause also entails the power to ensure en-
forcement of its laws regulating Federal elections. 
‘‘[I]f Congress has the power to make regulations, it 
must have the power to enforce them.’’. Ex parte 
Siebold, 100 U.S. 371, 387 (1879). The Supreme 
Court has noted that there can be no question that 
Congress may impose additional penalties for of-
fenses committed by State officers in connection 
with Federal elections even if they differ from the 
penalties prescribed by State law for the same acts. 
Id. at 387–88. 
(8) The fair and impartial administration of 
Federal elections by State and local officials is cen-
tral to ‘‘the successful working of this government’’, 
Ex parte Yarbrough, 110 U.S. 651, 666 (1884), and 
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