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.

Bill: 118-hr-4544
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Edwards, Chuck [R-NC-11]
Introduced: 2023-07-11
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Latest action: action_date: 2023-07-11
text: Referred to the House Committee on House Administration.

Summaries:
action_date: 2023-07-11
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><strong>No Federal Funds for Ballot Harvesting Act</strong></p> <p>This bill requires each state, in order to receive federal funds for election administration, to prohibit the knowing collection and transmission of a ballot in a federal election that was mailed to another person (commonly referred to as ballot harvesting), with exceptions.</p>

tv_txt: I 118th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 4544 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.

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; (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 election, as well as from other stakeholders, that individuals 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 significant vulnerabilities in the chain-of-custody of ballots because individuals collecting ballots are not required 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 harvesting in the State; (5) ballot harvesting invites electioneering activity at home and weakens States’ long-standing voter protection procedures, which remain in place at polling locations, creating the possibility of undue influence 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)). 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: 908. Prohibition on Federal funds for election administration for States allowing collection and transmission of ballots by certain third parties (a) In general Notwithstanding any other provision 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 election for Federal office that was mailed to another person, other than an individual described as follows: (1) An election official while engaged in official 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 authorized by law. (3) Any other individual who is allowed by law to collect and transmit United States mail, while engaged 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 institution, adult day health care facility, or adult foster care home. (2) The term family member means an individual who is related to such person by blood, marriage, adoption or legal guardianship. (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 adding at the end the following new item: Sec. 908. Prohibition on Federal funds for election administration for States allowing collection and transmission of ballots by certain third parties. .