Restoring Integrity to America’s Elections Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 416 To restore integrity to America’s Elections. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 24, 2021 Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself and Mr. LUJA´N) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Ad- ministration A BILL To restore integrity to America’s Elections. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Restoring Integrity 4 to America’s Elections Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. MEMBERSHIP OF FEDERAL ELECTION COMMIS- 6 SION. 7 (a) REDUCTION IN NUMBER OF MEMBERS; REMOVAL 8 OF SECRETARY OF SENATE AND CLERK OF HOUSE AS 9 EX OFFICIO MEMBERS.— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S416.IS S416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 416 IS (1) IN GENERAL; QUORUM.—Section 306(a)(1) 1 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 2 U.S.C. 30106(a)(1)) is amended by striking the sec- 3 ond and third sentences and inserting the following: 4 ‘‘The Commission is composed of 5 members ap- 5 pointed by the President by and with the advice and 6 consent of the Senate, of whom no more than 2 may 7 be affiliated with the same political party. A member 8 shall be treated as affiliated with a political party if 9 the member was affiliated, including as a registered 10 voter, employee, consultant, donor, officer, or attor- 11 ney, with such political party or any of its can- 12 didates or elected public officials at any time during 13 the 5-year period ending on the date on which such 14 individual is nominated to be a member of the Com- 15 mission. A majority of the number of members of 16 the Commission who are serving at the time shall 17 constitute a quorum, except that 3 members shall 18 constitute a quorum if there are 4 members serving 19 at the time.’’. 20 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATING TO 21 REDUCTION IN NUMBER OF MEMBERS.—(A) The 22 second sentence of section 306(c) of such Act (52 23 U.S.C. 30106(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘affirma- 24 tive vote of 4 members of the Commission’’ and in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S416.IS S416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 416 IS serting ‘‘affirmative vote of a majority of the mem- 1 bers of the Commission who are serving at the 2 time’’. 3 (B) Such Act is further amended by striking 4 ‘‘affirmative vote of 4 of its members’’ and inserting 5 ‘‘affirmative vote of a majority of the members of 6 the Commission who are serving at the time’’ each 7 place it appears in the following sections: 8 (i) Section 309(a)(2) (52 U.S.C. 9 30109(a)(2)). 10 (ii) Section 309(a)(4)(A)(i) (52 U.S.C. 11 30109(a)(4)(A)(i)). 12 (iii) Section 309(a)(5)(C) (52 U.S.C. 13 30109(a)(5)(C)). 14 (iv) Section 309(a)(6)(A) (52 U.S.C. 15 30109(a)(6)(A)). 16 (v) Section 311(b) (52 U.S.C. 30111(b)). 17 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO 18 REMOVAL OF EX OFFICIO MEMBERS.—Section 19 306(a) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30106(a)) is amend- 20 ed by striking ‘‘(other than the Secretary of the Sen- 21 ate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives)’’ 22 each place it appears in paragraphs (4) and (5). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S416.IS S416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 416 IS (b) TERMS OF SERVICE.—Section 306(a)(2) of such 1 Act (52 U.S.C. 30106(a)(2)) is amended to read as fol- 2 lows: 3 ‘‘(2) TERMS OF SERVICE.— 4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the 5 Commission shall serve for a single term of 6 6 years. 7 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR INITIAL APPOINT- 8 MENTS.—Of the members first appointed to 9 serve terms that begin in January 2022, the 10 President shall designate 2 to serve for a 3-year 11 term. 12 ‘‘(C) NO REAPPOINTMENT PERMITTED.— 13 An individual who served a term as a member 14 of the Commission may not serve for an addi- 15 tional term, except that— 16 ‘‘(i) an individual who served a 3-year 17 term under subparagraph (B) may also be 18 appointed to serve a 6-year term under 19 subparagraph (A); and 20 ‘‘(ii) for purposes of this subpara- 21 graph, an individual who is appointed to 22 fill a vacancy under subparagraph (D) 23 shall not be considered to have served a 24 term if the portion of the unexpired term 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S416.IS S416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 416 IS the individual fills is less than 50 percent 1 of the period of the term. 2 ‘‘(D) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy occurring 3 in the membership of the Commission shall be 4 filled in the same manner as in the case of the 5 original appointment. Except as provided in 6 subparagraph (C), an individual appointed to 7 fill a vacancy occurring other than by the expi- 8 ration of a term of office shall be appointed 9 only for the unexpired term of the member he 10 or she succeeds. 11 ‘‘(E) LIMITATION ON SERVICE AFTER EX- 12 PIRATION OF TERM.—A member of the Com- 13 mission may continue to serve on the Commis- 14 sion after the expiration of the member’s term 15 for an additional period, but only until the ear- 16 lier of— 17 ‘‘(i) the date on which the member’s 18 successor has taken office as a member of 19 the Commission; or 20 ‘‘(ii) the expiration of the 1-year pe- 21 riod that begins on the last day of the 22 member’s term.’’. 23 (c) QUALIFICATIONS.—Section 306(a)(3) of such Act 24 (52 U.S.C. 30106(a)(3)) is amended to read as follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S416.IS S416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 416 IS ‘‘(3) QUALIFICATIONS.— 1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The President may 2 select an individual for service as a member of 3 the Commission if the individual has experience 4 in election law and has a demonstrated record 5 of integrity, impartiality, and good judgment. 6 ‘‘(B) ASSISTANCE OF BLUE RIBBON ADVI- 7 SORY PANEL.— 8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Prior to the regu- 9 larly scheduled expiration of the term of a 10 member of the Commission and upon the 11 occurrence of a vacancy in the membership 12 of the Commission prior to the expiration 13 of a term, the President shall convene a 14 Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel, that includes 15 individuals representing each major polit- 16 ical party and individuals who are inde- 17 pendent of a political party and that con- 18 sists of an odd number of individuals se- 19 lected by the President from retired Fed- 20 eral judges, former law enforcement offi- 21 cials, or individuals with experience in elec- 22 tion law, except that the President may not 23 select any individual to serve on the panel 24 who holds any public office at the time of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S416.IS S416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 416 IS selection. The President shall also make 1 reasonable efforts to encourage racial, eth- 2 nic, and gender diversity on the panel. 3 ‘‘(ii) RECOMMENDATIONS.—With re- 4 spect to each member of the Commission 5 whose term is expiring or each vacancy in 6 the membership of the Commission (as the 7 case may be), the Blue Ribbon Advisory 8 Panel shall recommend to the President at 9 least one but not more than 3 individuals 10 for nomination for appointment as a mem- 11 ber of the Commission. 12 ‘‘(iii) PUBLICATION.—At the time the 13 President submits to the Senate the nomi- 14 nations for individuals to be appointed as 15 members of the Commission, the President 16 shall publish the Blue Ribbon Advisory 17 Panel’s recommendations for such nomina- 18 tions. 19 ‘‘(iv) EXEMPTION FROM FEDERAL AD- 20 VISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—The Federal 21 Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 22 does not apply to a Blue Ribbon Advisory 23 Panel convened under this subparagraph. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S416.IS S416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 416 IS ‘‘(C) PROHIBITING ENGAGEMENT WITH 1 OTHER BUSINESS OR EMPLOYMENT DURING 2 SERVICE.—A member of the Commission shall 3 not engage in any other business, vocation, or 4 employment. Any individual who is engaging in 5 any other business, vocation, or employment at 6 the time of his or her appointment to the Com- 7 mission shall terminate or liquidate such activ- 8 ity no later than 90 days after such appoint- 9 ment.’’. 10 SEC. 3. ASSIGNMENT OF POWERS TO CHAIR OF FEDERAL 11 ELECTION COMMISSION. 12 (a) APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR BY PRESIDENT.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 306(a)(5) of the 14 Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 15 30106(a)(5)) is amended to read as follows: 16 ‘‘(5) CHAIR.— 17 ‘‘(A) INITIAL APPOINTMENT.—Of the 18 members first appointed to serve terms that 19 begin in January 2022, one such member (as 20 designated by the President at the time the 21 President submits nominations to the Senate) 22 shall serve as Chair of the Commission. 23 ‘‘(B) SUBSEQUENT APPOINTMENTS.—Any 24 individual who is appointed to succeed the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S416.IS S416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 416 IS member who serves as Chair of the Commission 1 for the term beginning in January 2022 (as 2 well as any individual who is appointed to fill 3 a vacancy if such member does not serve a full 4 term as Chair) shall serve as Chair of the Com- 5 mission. 6 ‘‘(C) VICE CHAIR.—The Commission shall 7 select, by majority vote of its members, one of 8 its members to serve as Vice Chair, who shall 9 act as Chair in the absence or disability of the 10 Chair or in the event of a vacancy in the posi- 11 tion of Chair.’’. 12 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 13 309(a)(2) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 30109(a)(2)) is 14 amended by striking ‘‘through its chairman or vice 15 chairman’’ and inserting ‘‘through the Chair’’. 16 (b) POWERS.— 17 (1) ASSIGNMENT OF CERTAIN POWERS TO 18 CHAIR.—Section 307(a) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 19 30107(a)) is amended to read as follows: 20 ‘‘(a) DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS BETWEEN CHAIR 21 AND COMMISSION.— 22 ‘‘(1) POWERS ASSIGNED TO CHAIR.— 23 ‘‘(A) ADMINISTRATIVE POWERS.—The 24 Chair of the Commission shall be the chief ad- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S416.IS S416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 416 IS ministrative officer of the Commission and shall 1 have the authority to administer the Commis- 2 sion and its staff, and (in consultation with the 3 other members of the Commission) shall have 4 the power— 5 ‘‘(i) to appoint and remove the staff 6 director of the Commission; 7 ‘‘(ii) to request the assistance (includ- 8 ing personnel and facilities) of other agen- 9 cies and departments of the United States, 10 whose heads may make such assistance 11 available to the Commission with or with- 12 out reimbursement; and 13 ‘‘(iii) to prepare and establish the 14 budget of the Commission and to make 15 budget requests to the President, the Di- 16 rector of the Office of Management and 17 Budget, and Congress. 18 ‘‘(B) OTHER POWERS.—The Chair of the 19 Commission shall have the power— 20 ‘‘(i) to appoint and remove the gen- 21 eral counsel of the Commission with the 22 concurrence of at least 2 other members of 23 the Commission; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S416.IS S416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 416 IS ‘‘(ii) to require by special or general 1 orders, any person to submit, under oath, 2 such written reports and answers to ques- 3 tions as the Chair may prescribe; 4 ‘‘(iii) to administer oaths or affirma- 5 tions; 6 ‘‘(iv) to require by subpoena, signed 7 by the Chair, the attendance and testimony 8 of witnesses and the production of all doc- 9 umentary evidence relating to the execu- 10 tion of its duties; 11 ‘‘(v) in any proceeding or investiga- 12 tion, to order testimony to be taken by 13 deposition before any person who is des- 14 ignated by the Chair, and shall have the 15 power to administer oaths and, in such in- 16 stances, to compel testimony and the pro- 17 duction of evidence in the same manner as 18 authorized under clause (iv); and 19 ‘‘(vi) to pay witnesses the same fees 20 and mileage as are paid in like cir- 21 cumstances in the courts of the United 22 States. 23 ‘‘(2) POWERS ASSIGNED TO COMMISSION.—The 24 Commission shall have the power— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S416.IS S416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 416 IS ‘‘(A) to initiate (through civil actions for 1 injunctive, declaratory, or other appropriate re- 2 lief), defend (in the case of any civil action 3 brought under section 309(a)(8) of this Act) or 4 appeal (including a proceeding before the Su- 5 preme Court on certiorari) any civil action in 6 the name of the Commission to enforce the pro- 7 visions of this Act and chapter 95 and chapter 8 96 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 9 through its general counsel; 10 ‘‘(B) to render advisory opinions under 11 section 308 of this Act; 12 ‘‘(C) to develop such prescribed forms and 13 to make, amend, and repeal such rules, pursu- 14 ant to the provisions of chapter 5 of title 5, 15 United States Code, as are necessary to carry 16 out the provisions of this Act and chapter 95 17 and chapter 96 of the Internal Revenue Code of 18 1986; 19 ‘‘(D) to conduct investigations and hear- 20 ings expeditiously, to encourage voluntary com- 21 pliance, and to report apparent violations to the 22 appropriate law enforcement authorities; and 23 ‘‘(E) to transmit to the President and Con- 24 gress not later than June 1 of each year a re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S416.IS S416 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 416 IS port which states in detail the activities of the 1 Commission in carrying out its duties under 2 this Act, and which includes any recommenda- 3 tions for any legislative or other action the 4 Commission considers appropriate. 5 ‘‘(3) PERMITTING COMMISSION TO EXERCISE 6 OTHER POWERS OF CHAIR.—With respect to any in- 7 vestigation, action, or proceeding, the Commission, 8 by an affirmative vote of a majority of the members 9 who are serving at the time, may exercise any of the 10 powers of the Chair described in paragraph (1)(B).’’. 11 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATING TO 12 PERSONNEL AUTHORITY.—Section 306(f) of suc [Text truncated for display. 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