I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4494 
To promote election integrity, voter confidence, and faith in elections by 
removing Federal impediments to, providing State tools for, and estab-
lishing voluntary considerations to support effective State administration 
of Federal elections and improving election administration in the District 
of Columbia, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 6, 2023 
Ms. LEE of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committees 
on the Judiciary, Oversight and Accountability, Science, Space, and Tech-
nology, Ways and Means, and Education and the Workforce, for a period 
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To promote election integrity, voter confidence, and faith 
in elections by removing Federal impediments to, pro-
viding State tools for, and establishing voluntary consid-
erations to support effective State administration of Fed-
eral elections and improving election administration in 
the District of Columbia, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ensuring Faith in Our 
Elections Act’’. 
SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
The table of contents of this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title. 
Sec. 2. Table of contents. 
TITLE I—FINDINGS RELATING TO ELECTION ADMINISTRATION 
Sec. 101. Findings Relating to Election Administration. 
TITLE II—VOLUNTARY CONSIDERATIONS FOR STATE 
ADMINISTRATION OF FEDERAL ELECTIONS 
Sec. 111. Short title. 
Sec. 112. Election integrity voluntary considerations. 
TITLE III—REQUIREMENTS TO PROMOTE INTEGRITY IN 
ELECTION ADMINISTRATION 
Sec. 121. Ensuring only eligible American citizens may participate in Federal 
elections. 
Sec. 122. State reporting requirements with respect to voter list maintenance. 
Sec. 123. Contents of State mail voter registration form. 
Sec. 124. Provision of photographic citizen voter identification tools for State 
use. 
Sec. 125. Confirming access for Congressional election observers. 
Sec. 126. Use of requirements payments for post-election audits. 
Sec. 127. Certain tax benefits and simplification with respect to election work-
ers. 
Sec. 128. Voluntary guidelines with respect to nonvoting election technology. 
Sec. 129. Status reports by National Institute of Standards and Technology. 
Sec. 130. Requirements with respect to election mail. 
Sec. 131. Clarification of right of State to appeal decisions through duly au-
thorized representative. 
Sec. 132. Federal agency involvement in voter registration activities. 
Sec. 133. Prohibition on use of Federal funds for election administration in 
States that permit ballot harvesting. 
Sec. 134. Clarification with respect to Federal election record-keeping require-
ment. 
Sec. 135. Clarification of rules with respect to hiring of election workers. 
Sec. 136. United States Postal Service coordination with States to ensure mail-
ing addresses. 
Sec. 137. State defined. 
TITLE IV—DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ELECTION INTEGRITY AND 
VOTER CONFIDENCE 
Sec. 141. Short title. 
Sec. 142. Requirements for elections in District of Columbia. 
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Sec. 143. Effective date. 
TITLE V—ADMINISTRATION OF THE ELECTION ASSISTANCE 
COMMISSION 
Sec. 151. Short title. 
Sec. 152. Findings relating to the administration of the Election Assistance 
Commission. 
Sec. 153. Requirements with respect to staff and funding of the Election As-
sistance Commission. 
Sec. 154. General requirements for payments made by Election Assistance 
Commission. 
Sec. 155. Executive Board of the Standards Board authority to enter into con-
tracts. 
Sec. 156. Election Assistance Commission primary role in election administra-
tion. 
TITLE VI—PROHIBITION ON INVOLVEMENT IN ELECTIONS BY 
FOREIGN NATIONALS 
Sec. 161. Prohibition on contributions and donations by foreign nationals in 
connection with ballot initiatives and referenda. 
Sec. 162. Prohibiting providing assistance to foreign nationals in making con-
tributions or donations in connection with elections. 
TITLE VII—CONSTITUTIONAL EXPERTS PANEL WITH RESPECT 
TO PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS 
Sec. 171. Short title. 
Sec. 172. Establishment of panel of constitutional experts. 
TITLE I—FINDINGS RELATING 
TO ELECTION ADMINISTRATION 
SEC. 101. FINDINGS RELATING TO ELECTION ADMINISTRA-
TION. 
(a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that constitutional scholar Robert Natelson has done 
invaluable work with respect to the history and under-
standing of the Elections Clause. 
(b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Constitution reserves to the States the 
primary authority to set election legislation and ad-
minister elections—the ‘‘times, places, and manner 
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of holding of elections’’—and Congress’ power in 
this space is purely secondary to the States’ power 
and is to be employed only in the direst of cir-
cumstances. History, precedent, the Framers’ words, 
debates concerning ratification, the Supreme Court, 
and the Constitution itself make it exceedingly clear 
that Congress’ power over elections is not unfet-
tered. 
(2) The Framing Generation grappled with the 
failure of the Articles of Confederation, which pro-
vided for only a weak national government incapable 
of preserving the Union. Under the Articles, the 
States had exclusive authority over Federal elections 
held within their territory; but, given the difficulties 
the national government had experienced with State 
cooperation (e.g., the failure of Rhode Island to send 
delegates to the Confederation Congress), the Fed-
eralists, including Alexander Hamilton, were con-
cerned with the possibility that the States, in an ef-
fort to destroy the Federal Government, simply 
might not hold elections or that an emergency, such 
as an invasion or insurrection, might prevent the op-
eration of a State’s government, leaving the Con-
gress without Members and the Federal Government 
unable to respond. 
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(3) Quite plainly, Alexander Hamilton, a lead-
ing Federalist and proponent of our Constitution, 
understood the Elections Clause as serving only as 
a sort of emergency fail-safe, not as a cudgel used 
to nationalize our elections process. Writing as 
Publius to the people of New York, Hamilton fur-
ther expounds on the correct understanding of the 
Elections Clause: ‘‘T[he] natural order of the subject 
leads us to consider, in this place, that provision of 
the Constitution which authorizes the national legis-
lature to regulate, in the last resort, the election of 
its own members.’’. Alexander Hamilton (writing as 
Publius), Federalist no. 59, Concerning the Power of 
Congress to Regulate the Election of Members, N.Y. 
PACKET (Fri., Feb. 22, 1788). 
(4) When questioned at the States’ constitu-
tional ratifying conventions with respect to this pro-
vision, the Federalists confirmed this understanding 
of a constitutionally limited, secondary congressional 
power under article 1, section 4. (‘‘[C]onvention del-
egate James McHenry added that the risk to the 
Federal Government [without a fail-safe provision] 
might not arise from state malice: An insurrection 
or rebellion might prevent a state legislature from 
administering an election.’’); (‘‘An occasion may 
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arise when the exercise of this ultimate power of 
Congress may be necessary . . . if a State should be 
involved in war, and its legislature could not assem-
ble, (as was the case of South Carolina and occa-
sionally of some other States, during the [Revolu-
tionary] war).’’); (‘‘Sir, let it be remembered that 
this power can only operate in a case of necessity, 
after the factious or listless disposition of a par-
ticular state has rendered an interference essential 
to the salvation of the general government.’’). See 
Robert G. Natelson, The Original Scope of the Con-
gressional Power to Regulate Elections, 13 U. PA. 
J. CONST. L. 1, 12–13 (Nov. 2010). 
(5) John Jay made similar claims in New York. 
And, as constitutional scholar Robert Natelson notes 
in his invaluable article, The Original Scope of the 
Congressional Power to Regulate Elections, ‘‘Alex-
ander Contee Hanson, a member of Congress whose 
pamphlet supporting the Constitution proved pop-
ular, stated flatly that Congress would exercise its 
times, places, and manner authority only in cases of 
invasion, legislative neglect or obstinate refusal to 
pass election laws [providing for the election of 
Members of Congress], or if a state crafted its elec-
tion laws with a ‘sinister purpose’ or to injure the 
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general government.’’ Cementing his point, Hanson 
goes further to decree, ‘‘The exercise of this power 
must at all times be so very invidious, that congress 
will not venture upon it without some very cogent 
and substantial reason.’’. Alexander Contee Hanson 
(writing as Astrides), Remarks on the Proposed 
Plan: 31 January, reprinted in John P. Kaminski, 
Gaspare J. Saladino, and Richard Leffler (eds.), 3 
Commentaries on the Constitution, public and pri-
vate 18 December 1787 to 31 January 1788 522– 
26 (1984). 
(6) In fact, had the alternate view of the Elec-
tions Clause been accepted at the time of the Con-
stitution’s drafting—that is, that it offers Congress 
unfettered power over Federal elections—it is likely 
that the Constitution would not have been ratified or 
that an amendment to this language would have 
been required. 
(7) Indeed, at least seven of the original 13 
States—over half and enough to prevent the Con-
stitution from being ratified—expressed specific con-
cerns with the language of the Elections Clause. See 
1 Annals of Cong. 799 (1789), Joseph Gales (ed.) 
(1834). However, ‘‘[l]eading Federalists . . .’’ as-
sured them ‘‘. . . that, even without amendment, 
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the [Elections] Clause should be construed as lim-
ited to emergencies’’. Three States, New York, 
North Carolina, and Rhode Island, specifically made 
their ratification contingent on this understanding 
being made express. Ratification of the Constitution 
by the State of New York (July 26, 1788) (‘‘Under 
these impressions and declaring that the rights 
aforesaid cannot be abridged or violated, and the 
Explanations aforesaid are consistent with the said 
Constitution, And in confidence that the Amend-
ments which have been proposed to the said Con-
stitution will receive early and mature Consideration: 
We the said Delegates, in the Name and in [sic] the 
behalf of the People of the State of New York Do 
by these presents Assent to and Ratify the said Con-
stitution. In full Confidence . . . that the Congress 
will not make or alter any Regulation in this State 
respecting the times places and manner of holding 
Elections for Senators or Representatives unless the 
Legislature of this State shall neglect or refuse to 
make laws or regulations for the purpose, or from 
any circumstance be incapable of making the same, 
and that in those cases such power will only be exer-
cised until the Legislature of this State shall make 
provision in the Premises’’); Ratification of the Con-
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stitution by the State of North Carolina (Nov. 21, 
1789) (‘‘That Congress shall not alter, modify, or 
interfere in the times, places, or manner of holding 
elections for senators and representatives, or either 
of them, except when the legislature of any State 
shall neglect, refuse or be disabled by invasion or re-
bellion, to prescribe the same.’’); Ratification of the 
Constitution by the State of Rhode Island (May 29, 
1790) (‘‘Under these impressions, and declaring, 
that the rights aforesaid cannot be abridged or vio-
lated, and that the explanations aforesaid, are con-
sistent with the said constitution, and in confidence 
that the amendments hereafter mentioned, will re-
ceive an early and mature consideration, and con-
formably to the fifth article of said constitution, 
speedily become a part thereof; We the said dele-
gates, in the name, and in [sic] the behalf of the 
People, of the State of Rhode-Island and Provi-
dence-Plantations, do by these Presents, assent to, 
and ratify the said Constitution. In full confidence 
. . . That the Congress will not make or alter any 
regulation in this State, respecting the times, places 
and manner of holding elections for senators and 
representatives, unless the legislature of this State 
shall neglect, or refuse to make laws or regulations 
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for the purpose, or from any circumstance be in-
capable of making the same; and that [i]n those 
cases, such power will only be exercised, until the 
legislature of this State shall make provision in the 
Premises[.]’’). 
(8) Congress finds that the Framers designed 
and the ratifying States understood the Elections 
Clause to serve solely as a protective backstop to en-
sure the preservation of the Federal Government, 
not as a font of limitless power for Congress to 
wrest control of Federal elections from the States. 
(9) This understanding was also reinforced by 
debate during the First Congress that convened 
under 
the 
Constitution 
where 
Representative 
Aedanus Burke proposed a constitutional amend-
ment to limit the Times, Places and Manner Clause 
to emergencies. Although the amendment failed, 
those on both sides of the Burke amendment debate 
already understood the Elections Clause to limit 
Federal elections power to emergencies. 
(10) History clearly shows that even in the first 
Congress that convened under the Constitution, it 
was acknowledged and understood through the de-
bates that ensued over the Elections Clause provi-
sion that Congress’ control over elections is limited. 
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(11) Similarly, proponent Representative Smith 
of South Carolina also believed the original text of 
the Elections Clause already limited the Federal 
Government’s power over Federal elections to emer-
gencies and so thought there would be no harm in 
supporting an amendment to make that language ex-
press. Annals of Congress 801 (1789) Joseph Gales 
Edition. A Century of Lawmaking for a New Na-
tion: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 
1774–1875 (loc.gov). So, even the records of the 
First Congress reflect a recognition of the emer-
gency nature of congressional power over Federal 
elections. 
(12) Similarly, the Supreme Court has sup-
ported this understanding. In Smiley v. Holm, the 
Court held that Article 1, Section 4 of the Constitu-
tion reserved to the States the primary ‘‘. . . au-
thority to provide a complete code for congressional 
elections, not only as to times and places, but in re-
lation to notices, registration, supervision of voting, 
protection of voters, prevention of fraud and corrupt 
practices, counting of votes, duties of inspectors and 
canvassers, and making and publication of election 
returns; in short, to enact the numerous require-
ments as to procedure and safeguards which experi-
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ence shows are necessary in order to enforce the 
fundamental right involved. And these requirements 
would be nugatory if they did not have appropriate 
sanctions in the definition of offenses and punish-
ments. All this is comprised in the subject of ‘times, 
places and manner of holding elections’, and involves 
lawmaking in its essential features and most impor-
tant aspect.’’. Smiley v. Holm, 285 U.S. 355, 366 
(1932). 
(13) This holding is consistent with the under-
standing of the Elections Clause since the framing 
of the Constitution. The Smiley Court also held that 
while Congress maintains the authority to ‘‘. . . sup-
plement these State regulations or [to] substitute its 
own[]’’, such authority remains merely ‘‘a general 
supervisory power over the whole subject.’’. Id. 
(14) More recently, the Court noted in Arizona 
v. Inter-Tribal Council of Ariz., Inc. that ‘‘[t]his 
grant of congressional power [that is, the fail-safe 
provision in the Elections Clause] was the Framers’ 
insurance against the possibility that a State would 
refuse to provide for the election of representatives 
to the Federal Congress.’’. Arizona v. Inter-Tribal 
Council of Arizona, Inc., 570 U.S. 1, 7–9 (2013). 
The Court explained that the Elections Clause ‘‘. . . 
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imposes [upon the States] the duty . . . to prescribe 
the time, place, and manner of electing Representa-
tives and Senators[.]’’. Id. at 8. And, while, as the 
Court noted, ‘‘[t]he power of Congress over the 
‘Times, Places, and Manner’ of congressional elec-
tions is paramount, and may be exercised at any 
time, and to any extent which it deems expedient; 
and so far as it is exercised, and no farther, the reg-
ulations effected supersede those of the State which 
are inconsistent therewith[]’’, Id. at 9, the Inter- 
Tribal Court explained, quoting extensively from the 
Federalist no. 59, that it was clear that the congres-
sional fail-safe included in the Elections Clause was 
intended for the sorts of governmental self-preserva-
tion discussed here: ‘‘[E]very government ought to 
contain 
in 
itself 
the 
means 
of 
its 
own 
preservation[.]’’; ‘‘[A]n exclusive power of regulating 
elections for the national government, in the hands 
of the State legislatures, would leave the existence of 
the Union entirely at their mercy. They could at any 
moment annihilate it by neglecting to provide for the 
choice of persons to administer its affairs.’’. Id. at 
8. 
(15) It is clear in every respect that the con-
gressional fail-safe described in the Elections Clause 
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vests purely secondary authority over Federal elec-
tions in the Federal legislative branch and that the 
primary authority rests with the States. Congres-
sional authority is intended to be, and as a matter 
of constitutional fact is, limited to addressing the 
worst imaginable issues, such as invasion or other 
matters that might lead to a State not electing rep-
resentatives to constitute the two Houses of Con-
gress. Congress’ authority has never extended to the 
day-to-day authority over the ‘‘Times, Places and 
Manner of Election’’ that the Constitution clearly re-
serves to the States. 
(16) Congress must act within the bounds of its 
constitutional authority when enacting legislation 
concerning the administration of our nation’s elec-
tions. 
TITLE II—VOLUNTARY CONSID-
ERATIONS FOR STATE ADMIN-
ISTRATION 
OF 
FEDERAL 
ELECTIONS 
SEC. 111. SHORT TITLE. 
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Voluntarily Offered 
Tools for Election Reforms by States Act’’ or the ‘‘VOT-
ERS Act’’. 
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SEC. 112. ELECTION INTEGRITY VOLUNTARY CONSIDER-
ATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title II of the Help 
America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20981 et seq.) is 
amended— 
(1) by redesignating section 247 as section 248; 
and 
(2) by inserting after section 246 the following 
new section: 
‘‘SEC. 247. RELEASE OF VOLUNTARY CONSIDERATIONS BY 
STANDARDS BOARD WITH RESPECT TO ELEC-
TION ADMINISTRATION. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Standards Board shall draw 
from experiences in their home jurisdictions and informa-
tion voluntarily provided by and between States on what 
has worked and not worked and release voluntary consid-
erations with respect to the administration of an election 
for Federal office. 
‘‘(b) MATTERS TO CONSIDER.—In releasing the vol-
untary considerations under subsection (a), the Standards 
Board shall examine and consolidate information provided 
by States and release considerations with respect to each 
of the following categories: 
‘‘(1) The process for the administration of bal-
lots delivered by mail, including— 
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‘‘(A) deadlines for the return and receipt 
of such ballots to the appropriate election offi-
cial; 
‘‘(B) the design of such ballots, including 
the envelopes used to deliver the ballots; 
‘‘(C) the process for requesting and track-
ing the return of such ballots; and 
‘‘(D) the processing of such ballots upon 
receipt by the appropriate election official, in-
cluding the schedule for counting the ballots 
and the reporting of the unofficial results of 
such counting. 
‘‘(2) The signature verification procedures used 
to verify the identity of voters in an election, which 
shall include an evaluation of human and machine 
methods of signature verification, an assessment of 
the training provided to individuals tasked to carry 
out such verification procedures, and the proposal of 
other less subjective methods of confirming the iden-
tity of a voter such as requiring the identification 
number of a valid government-issued photo identi-
fication or the last four digits of the voter’s social 
security number to be provided along with the vot-
er’s signature. 
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‘‘(3) The processes used to carry out mainte-
nance of the official list of persons registered to vote 
in each State. 
‘‘(4) Rules and requirements with respect to the 
access provided to election observers. 
‘‘(5) The processes used to ensure the timely 
and accurate reporting of the unofficial results of 
ballot counting in each polling place in a State and 
the reporting of the unofficial results of such count-
ing. 
‘‘(6) The methods used to recruit poll workers 
and designate the location of polling places during a 
pandemic, natural disaster, or other emergency. 
‘‘(7) The education of the public with respect to 
the certification and testing of voting machines prior 
to the use of such machines in an election for Fed-
eral office, including education with respect to how 
such machines are tested for accuracy and logic. 
‘‘(8) The processes and procedures used to 
carry out a post-election audit. 
‘‘(9) The processes and procedures used to en-
sure a secure chain of custody with respect to ballots 
and election equipment. 
‘‘(c) RELEASE OF VOLUNTARY CONSIDERATIONS.— 
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‘‘(1) DEADLINE FOR RELEASE.—Not later than 
6 months after the date of the enactment of the 
ACE Act, the Standards Board shall release vol-
untary considerations with respect to each of the 
categories described in subsection (b). 
‘‘(2) TRANSMISSION
AND
NOTIFICATION
RE-
QUIREMENTS.—Not later than 15 days after the 
date the Standards Board releases voluntary consid-
erations with respect to a category described in sub-
section (b), the Commission shall— 
‘‘(A) transmit the considerations to the 
chief State election official of each State and 
the elected leadership of the legislature of each 
State, including the elected leadership of any 
committee of the legislature of a State with ju-
risdiction with respect to elections; 
‘‘(B) make the considerations available on 
a publicly accessible Government website; and 
‘‘(C) notify and transmit the consider-
ations to the chair and ranking minority mem-
ber of the Committee on House Administration 
of the House of Representatives and the chair 
and ranking minority member of the Committee 
on Rules and Administration of the Senate. 
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‘‘(d) USE OF REQUIREMENTS PAYMENTS FOR IMPLE-
MENTATION OF VOLUNTARY CONSIDERATIONS.—A State 
may use a requirements payment provided under this Act 
to implement any of the voluntary considerations released 
under subsection (a). 
‘‘(e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-
tion may be construed— 
‘‘(1) to require compliance with the voluntary 
considerations released under subsection (a), includ-
ing as a condition of the receipt of Federal funds; 
or 
‘‘(2) to treat the lack of compliance with such 
considerations as a violation of the Voting Rights 
Act of 1965 or to treat compliance with such consid-
erations as a defense against an alleged violation of 
such Act.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
of such Act is amended— 
(1) by redesignating the item relating to section 
247 as relating to section 248; and 
(2) by inserting after the item relating to sec-
tion 246 the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 247. Release of voluntary considerations by Standards Board with respect 
to election administration.’’. 
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TITLE 
III—REQUIREMENTS 
TO 
PROMOTE 
INTEGRITY 
IN 
ELECTION ADMINISTRATION 
SEC. 121. ENSURING ONLY ELIGIBLE AMERICAN CITIZENS 
MAY PARTICIPATE IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 
‘‘Non-Citizens: Outlawed from Voting in Our Trusted 
Elections Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘NO VOTE for Non-Citi-
zens Act of 2023’’. 
(b) FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.— 
(1) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(A) Every eligible person who wishes to 
cast a ballot in a Federal election must be per-
mitted to do so according to law, and their bal-
lot must be examined according to law, and, if 
it meets all lawful requirements, counted. 
(B) Congress has long required States to 
maintain Federal voter registration lists in a 
manner that promotes voter confidence. 
(C) The changes included herein are not 
intended to be an expansion of Federal power 
but rather a clarification of State authority. 
(D) The Fifteenth Amendment, the Nine-
teenth Amendment, the Twenty-Fourth Amend-
ment, and the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
01:34 Aug 04, 2023
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kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS