Election Official Integrity Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1274 To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit campaign activities by chief State election administration officials. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 24, 2021 Mrs. MCBATH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration A BILL To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit campaign activities by chief State election ad- ministration officials. 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 ‘‘Election Official Integ- 4 rity Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES BY CHIEF 6 STATE ELECTION ADMINISTRATION OFFI- 7 CIALS. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Federal Election 9 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) is 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1274.IH H1274 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1274 IH amended by inserting after section 319 the following new 1 section: 2 ‘‘CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES BY CHIEF STATE ELECTION 3 ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS 4 ‘‘SEC. 319A. (a) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful 5 for a chief State election administration official to take 6 an active part in political management or in a political 7 campaign with respect to any election for Federal office 8 over which such official has supervisory authority. 9 ‘‘(b) CHIEF STATE ELECTION ADMINISTRATION OF- 10 FICIAL.—The term ‘chief State election administration of- 11 ficial’ means the highest State official with responsibility 12 for the administration of Federal elections under State 13 law. 14 ‘‘(c) ACTIVE PART IN POLITICAL MANAGEMENT OR 15 IN A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN.—The term ‘active part in po- 16 litical management or in a political campaign’ means— 17 ‘‘(1) holding any position (including any unpaid 18 or honorary position) with an authorized committee 19 of a candidate, or participating in any decision-mak- 20 ing of an authorized committee of a candidate; 21 ‘‘(2) the use of official authority or influence 22 for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the 23 result of an election for Federal office; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1274.IH H1274 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1274 IH ‘‘(3) the solicitation, acceptance, or receipt of a 1 contribution from any person on behalf of a can- 2 didate for Federal office; and 3 ‘‘(4) any other act which would be prohibited 4 under paragraph (2) or (3) of section 7323(b) of 5 title 5, United States Code, if taken by an individual 6 to whom such paragraph applies (other than any 7 prohibition on running for public office). 8 ‘‘(d) EXCEPTION IN CASE OF RECUSAL FROM AD- 9 MINISTRATION OF ELECTIONS INVOLVING OFFICIAL OR 10 IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—This section does not apply 12 to a chief State election administration official with 13 respect to an election for Federal office in which the 14 official or an immediate family member of the offi- 15 cial is a candidate, but only if— 16 ‘‘(A) such official recuses himself or herself 17 from all of the official’s responsibilities for the 18 administration of such election; and 19 ‘‘(B) the official who assumes responsi- 20 bility for supervising the administration of the 21 election does not report directly to such official. 22 ‘‘(2) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER DEFINED.— 23 In paragraph (1), the term ‘immediate family mem- 24 ber’ means, with respect to a candidate, a father, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1274.IH H1274 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1274 IH mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, husband, 1 wife, father-in-law, or mother-in-law.’’. 2 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 3 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to elections for 4 Federal office held after December 2021. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 Mar 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1274.IH H1274 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS