Since the 2016 election cycle, the policy community has focused on what roles the federal government plays—or could play—in protecting U.S. elections from foreign interference. Recent reports suggest that attempts to interfere with the 2018 election cycle also are under way. Congress is responsible for overseeing the federal presence in campaigns and elections, both with respect to traditional policy challenges and new ones. This report is intended to help Congress understand how the statutes and agencies it has created affect U.S. campaigns and elections. Currently, no single agency or statute provides overarching coordination. As this report shows, at least 22 congressional committees; 17 federal departments or independent agencies (plus the Intelligence Community and the federal judiciary); 9 federal statutes; and several constitutional provisions can affect the federal role in campaigns and elections. As this report discusses The federal role in campaigns and elections is limited, but can be extensive in those areas in which the federal government is involved. Congress has expanded the federal role in campaigns and elections in the past 50 years, particularly in campaign finance and voting rights. Campaigns and elections are different things and are regulated differently. The federal government plays relatively little role in regulating campaigns, except for campaign finance. The federal government primarily supports states in administering elections. Existing campaigns and elections policy primarily focuses on electioneering and voting. Topics such as issue advocacy or general attempts to influence public opinion are not necessarily regulated under federal law that covers campaigns and elections. The Election Assistance Commission and Federal Election Commission are the only two agencies devoted solely to campaigns and elections. The Justice Department administers and enforces some elections statutes. Agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security are now more involved with elections than in the past. Several other agencies also play roles in campaigns and elections. The following pages are based on CRS research of statutory references to campaigns and elections; legislative or other congressional activity; federal agency documents and websites; and media accounts. Citations appear throughout, including to other CRS products that provide additional detail. This report does not track legislation. U.S. Code citations appear throughout this report. Title 52 citations reflect a 2014 "editorial reclassification" of federal election law. Some provisions noted in this report are now codified in Title 52 but were previously located in Titles 2 and 42 of the Code . As the Office of Law Revision Counsel (the House office that maintains the U.S. Code ) explains, "No statutory text is altered by such editorial reclassification projects, other than necessary updates to references to reflect the reorganization. Relevant provisions are merely transferred from one place to another in the Code." The report addresses those areas of law and public policy that most directly and routinely affect federal campaigns and elections. It does not attempt to cover every instance of federal involvement in this policy area. Other agencies or provisions in law or regulation that are not addressed here might be relevant in specific cases. For example, a campaign finance investigation might involve banking law, but because banking law typically is not a campaign finance policy or election administration matter in the United States, the report does not address it. The report also excludes agencies that Congress generally has prohibited from elections involvement, or in which involvement has merely been proposed. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), for example, meets both criteria. As another CRS report explains, "evaluating the authority of Congress to establish standardized election procedures would appear to require a consideration of a variety of different proposals and scenarios." This report does not provide such a legal or constitutional analysis. In practice, the federal and state governments share responsibility for administering, regulating, or supporting campaigns and elections in the United States. Finally, in some cases, the federal government's activities and authorities change over time, or new information becomes available. This report will be updated in the future to reflect major developments or new information. Two themes organize the analysis: categories and roles . Categories refer to six broad policy areas discussed in the following pages. These include campaign finance; election administration; election security; redistricting; qualifications and contested elections; and voting rights. The report also briefly discusses other areas of law that can substantially affect campaigns, elections, or both. Roles refer to specific governmental responsibilities within the categories. These roles refer to what the federal government does to support, regulate, or fund aspects of U.S. campaigns or elections. The Appendix at the end of this report lists the roles organized by category. For example, the Election Administration category includes the Voters—Registration role. Importantly, these categories and roles are not definitive, and not necessarily mutually exclusive. What one reader would characterize as Election Administration , another might view as more appropriately Voting Rights . C ampaigns and elections are distinct concepts. This distinction affects the federal government's role in both. Practically and simply, campaigns are about persuading voters in an effort to win elections. Voters express their campaign preferences by casting ballots in elections. Except for campaign finance policy, U.S. campaigns are subject to relatively little regulation. Elections in the United States are highly regulated and primarily a state-level responsibility. There is no uniform standard for campaign conduct in the United States. Primarily, federal policy regulates how campaigns and related entities raise and spend money. Most regulation of campaign conduct rests in campaign finance law. This includes topics such as permissible and prohibited sources of contributions and expenditures (including a broad prohibition on fundraising, spending, and certain campaign involvement by foreign nationals); contribution limits; permissible and prohibited uses of campaign funds; public disclosure of contributions and expenditures; and disclaimers required for political advertising. Most of these provisions apply to a limited set of actors known as "political committees." These are candidate campaign committees, party committees, and political action committees (PACs). In addition, campaign finance policy primarily affects activities that explicitly advocate for election or defeat of political candidates, or, in some cases, certain preelection advertising that mentions candidates but does not explicitly call for election or defeat. Other areas of law and regulation sometimes affect campaigns, but do not specifically address campaign conduct. For example, state or local property law might govern disputes over campaign assets. In general, however, barring some other provision of federal, state, or local law (such as corporate law, or law prohibiting race-based discrimination), federal campaign finance policy is silent on topics such as campaign management, including strategy, theme, and message; field activities (e.g., get-out-the-vote [GOTV] efforts); voter targeting; strategic relationships among political committees and other organizations, provided that they do not violate prohibitions on coordination or result in prohibited in-kind contributions; use of political consultants and vendors; and commercial transactions, provided that they are at fair-market value. Consequently, the federal government plays relatively little role in campaign conduct. As discussed below, the federal role in elections also is limited but far greater. The federal role in elections is limited yet complicated. The Constitution and federalism limit the federal government's roles to specific tasks, many of which support states, territories, and localities. Within its purview, however, the federal government's duties can involve multiple statutes, agencies, and areas of public policy. Table 1 below provides a brief overview of the major functions performed by the federal government and by the states. The Appendix at the end of this report provides additional detail and cites relevant federal statutes. Federal roles in elections include activities such as providing Census Bureau data to the states to facilitate redistricting; since 2002, providing some funding to states to upgrade election equipment; facilitating voluntary information-sharing and "best practices" among states; regulating campaign finance in federal elections; prohibiting voter discrimination based on color, race, or language in U.S. elections; facilitating access to absentee voting by members of the uniformed services and overseas civilians, and their families; and assisting states with election security to respond to threats that are beyond normal state or local capabilities. Most aspects of voting and administering elections are notably absent from this list because they fall to the states. In general, state and local government roles in elections include activities such as managing and implementing all aspects of election administration and voting; choosing voting methods and purchasing equipment; determining voter eligibility and identification requirements, provided that they are consistent with federal law (e.g., do not discriminate based on race); and securing election systems and polling places. To summarize, states, territories, and local election jurisdictions (often counties) do most of the work of administering federal elections. They also retain most authority over how those elections are conducted. The federal government primarily supports state, territorial, and local election jurisdictions. The federal government also is responsible for ensuring that state, territorial, and local jurisdictions administer their elections consistent with federal law. The Constitution and federal statutes establish the federal role in U.S. campaigns and elections. The following discussion addresses constitutional provisions; statutes that primarily regulate campaigns and elections; and, finally, statutes that can affect campaigns and elections but primarily address other policy issues. The Appendix at the end of this report provides citations to other areas of law that may be relevant in specific cases but are not otherwise addressed in the report. The U.S. Constitution recognizes states' primary roles in election administration but also provides specific powers and responsibilities for the federal government. Article I sets criteria for House and Senate elections. In addition, the Elections Clause assigns states with setting the "Times, Places and Manner" for House and Senate elections, but also permits Congress to "make or alter such Regulations," except for the "Places of chusing Senators." Article I requires a decennial census, the basis of congressional apportionment. Subsequent amendments (discussed below) affect some of these provisions. Article I also grants the House and Senate authority over "Judg[ing] the Elections" for each chamber. Article II sets criteria for presidential elections. This includes allocating presidential electors among the states, permitting Congress to "determine the Time of chusing" presidential electors, and specifying that Congress may determine a nationwide date for presidential electors to cast ballots.