Honest Elections Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4736 To amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 to clarify the coverage of political activities directed within the United States by agents of foreign principals outside of the United States, to amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to clarify the application of disclaimer rules for political advertisements which are disseminated online and to reduce the incidence of illicit foreign money in elections, to amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to prohibit the collection and trans- mission of ballots by third parties in elections for Federal office and to prohibit the availability of funds under such Act to States which permit non-citizens to vote in elections for public office, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 18, 2019 Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois (for himself, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Miss GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N of Puerto Rico, Mr. BACON, Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER, Mr. POSEY, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. WALKER, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. STAUBER, and Mr. STEUBE) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 to clarify the coverage of political activities directed with- in the United States by agents of foreign principals outside of the United States, to amend the Federal Elec- tion Campaign Act of 1971 to clarify the application of disclaimer rules for political advertisements which are VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:20 Oct 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H4736.IH H4736 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4736 IH disseminated online and to reduce the incidence of illicit foreign money in elections, to amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to prohibit the collection and trans- mission of ballots by third parties in elections for Federal office and to prohibit the availability of funds under such Act to States which permit non-citizens to vote in elections for public office, and for other purposes. 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Honest Elections Act’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 6 this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. TITLE I—FOREIGN AGENTS REGISTRATION REFORM Sec. 101. Clarification of coverage of activities directed within the United States by agents outside of the United States. Sec. 102. Application of press exemption to other forms of media. Sec. 103. Treatment of activities to influence public opinion on elections as po- litical activity. Sec. 104. Effective date. TITLE II—DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS FOR ONLINE POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENTS Sec. 201. Clarifying disclaimer requirements for online political advertisements. TITLE III—REDUCING ILLICIT FOREIGN MONEY IN ELECTIONS Sec. 301. Report on illicit foreign money in Federal elections. Sec. 302. Prohibition on contributions and donations by foreign nationals in connection with ballot initiatives and referenda. TITLE IV—PROHIBITING PAYMENT OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE FUNDS TO STATES ALLOWING BALLOT HARVESTING Sec. 401. Prohibition on payments to States allowing collection and trans- mission of ballots by certain third parties. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:20 Oct 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H4736.IH H4736 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4736 IH TITLE V—PROHIBITING PAYMENT OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE FUNDS TO STATES ALLOWING VOTING BY NON-CITIZENS Sec. 501. Prohibition on payments to States allowing voting by non-citizens. TITLE I—FOREIGN AGENTS 1 REGISTRATION REFORM 2 SEC. 101. CLARIFICATION OF COVERAGE OF ACTIVITIES DI- 3 RECTED WITHIN THE UNITED STATES BY 4 AGENTS OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES. 5 (a) TREATMENT OF AGENTS ENGAGED IN ACTIVI- 6 TIES AS AGENTS OF FOREIGN PRINCIPALS.—Section 7 1(c)(1) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, 8 as amended (22 U.S.C. 611(c)(1)), is amended— 9 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (iii); 10 (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause (iv) 11 and inserting ‘‘or’’; and 12 (3) by adding at the end the following new 13 clause: 14 ‘‘(v) engages outside the United States in 15 political activities for or in the interests of such 16 foreign principal which are directed at persons 17 within the United States, including activities 18 consisting of communications disseminated 19 within the United States through telecommuni- 20 cations or computer equipment or services, the 21 Internet, broadcast, cable, satellite, print, or 22 mail; and’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:17 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4736.IH H4736 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4736 IH (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 9 of such 1 Act (22 U.S.C. 619) is amended by striking the period 2 at the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, and shall be ap- 3 plicable outside the United States to the extent described 4 in section 1(c)(1)(v).’’. 5 SEC. 102. APPLICATION OF PRESS EXEMPTION TO OTHER 6 FORMS OF MEDIA. 7 (a) APPLICATION.—Section 1(d) of the Foreign 8 Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 9 611(d)(1)), is amended to read as follows: 10 ‘‘(d) The term ‘agent of a foreign principal’ does not 11 include any bona fide media outlet organized under the 12 laws of the United States or of any State or other place 13 subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, or any 14 bona fide media outlet for which there is on file with the 15 United States Postal Service information in compliance 16 with section 3685 of title 39, United States Code, pub- 17 lished in the United States, solely by virtue of any bona 18 fide news or journalistic activities, including the solicita- 19 tion or acceptance of paid advertisements, subscriptions, 20 free social media access which is made available to the 21 general public, or other compensation therefor, so long as 22 it is at least 80 per centum beneficially owned by, and 23 its officers and directors, if any, are citizens of the United 24 States, and such media outlet is not owned, directed, su- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:17 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4736.IH H4736 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4736 IH pervised, controlled, subsidized, or financed, and none of 1 its policies are determined by, any foreign principal de- 2 fined in subsection (b), or by any agent of a foreign prin- 3 cipal required to register under this Act.’’. 4 (b) DEFINITION.—Section 1 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 5 611) is amended by adding at the end the following new 6 subsection: 7 ‘‘(q) The term ‘media outlet’ means any of the fol- 8 lowing: 9 ‘‘(1) Any newspaper, magazine, or periodical. 10 ‘‘(2) Any broadcast, satellite or cable television 11 or radio station. 12 ‘‘(3) Any Internet-based website, application, or 13 platform.’’. 14 SEC. 103. TREATMENT OF ACTIVITIES TO INFLUENCE PUB- 15 LIC OPINION ON ELECTIONS AS POLITICAL 16 ACTIVITY. 17 Section 1(o) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act 18 of 1938, as amended (22 U.S.C. 611(o)), is amended by 19 striking the semicolon at the end and inserting the fol- 20 lowing: ‘‘, or with reference to public opinion about public 21 officials, candidates, or elections of the United States.’’. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:17 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4736.IH H4736 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4736 IH SEC. 104. EFFECTIVE DATE. 1 The amendments made by this title shall apply with 2 respect to activities carried out on or after the date of 3 the enactment of this Act. 4 TITLE II—DISCLAIMER RE- 5 QUIREMENTS FOR ONLINE 6 POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENTS 7 SEC. 201. CLARIFYING DISCLAIMER REQUIREMENTS FOR 8 ONLINE POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENTS. 9 (a) CLARIFICATION.—Section 318 of the Federal 10 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30120) is 11 amended by adding at the end the following new sub- 12 section: 13 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION OF REQUIREMENTS TO ONLINE 14 COMMUNICATIONS.— 15 ‘‘(1) METHOD OF PROVISION OF INFORMA- 16 TION.—Except as provided in paragraph (2) or 17 paragraph (3), a covered Internet communication 18 shall provide the information required under this 19 section on the face of the communication. 20 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZING USE OF ALTERNATIVE 21 MECHANISMS.— 22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a cov- 23 ered Internet communication described in sub- 24 paragraph (C) of paragraph (4), the commu- 25 nication may provide the information required 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:17 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4736.IH H4736 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4736 IH under this section through the use of a techno- 1 logical mechanism described in subparagraph 2 (B), so long as the communication presents an 3 indicator described in subparagraph (C). 4 ‘‘(B) TECHNOLOGICAL MECHANISM DE- 5 SCRIBED.—A technological mechanism de- 6 scribed in this subparagraph is, with respect to 7 a communication, any technology which enables 8 the individual reading, observing, or listening to 9 the communication to read, observe, or listen to 10 the information required under this section 11 without navigating more than one step away 12 from the communication itself. Such mechanism 13 may take any form, including hover-over, 14 mouse-over, voice-over, rollover, pop-up screen, 15 scrolling text, rotating panels, or click-through 16 or hyperlink to a landing page. 17 ‘‘(C) INDICATOR DESCRIBED.—An indi- 18 cator described in this subparagraph is, with re- 19 spect to a communication, any clear and con- 20 spicuous visible or audible element of the com- 21 munication that gives notice to the individual 22 reading, observing, or listening to the commu- 23 nication that the individual may read, observe, 24 or listen to the information required under this 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:17 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4736.IH H4736 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4736 IH section through a technological mechanism. An 1 indicator may take any form, including words 2 such as ‘Paid for by’, ‘Paid by’, ‘Sponsored by’, 3 or ‘Ad by’, a website URL, an image, a sound, 4 a symbol, or an icon. 5 ‘‘(3) WAIVER.—A disclaimer shall not be re- 6 quired for any covered Internet communication that 7 cannot provide a clear and conspicuous statement of 8 the information required under this section either on 9 the face of communication or through the use of a 10 technological mechanism under paragraph (2). 11 ‘‘(4) COVERED INTERNET COMMUNICATION DE- 12 FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘covered Inter- 13 net communication’ means any communication which 14 is required to include information under this section 15 and which is any of the following: 16 ‘‘(A) Any electronic mailing of more than 17 500 substantially similar communications which 18 is disseminated by a political committee. 19 ‘‘(B) Any communication disseminated on 20 a publicly available website of a political com- 21 mittee. 22 ‘‘(C) Any communication placed for a fee 23 on another person’s website or Internet-based 24 application or platform.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:17 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4736.IH H4736 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4736 IH (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 1 this section shall apply with respect to communications 2 made after the expiration of the 30-day period which be- 3 gins on the date of the enactment of this Act. 4 TITLE III—REDUCING ILLICIT 5 FOREIGN MONEY IN ELECTIONS 6 SEC. 301. REPORT ON ILLICIT FOREIGN MONEY IN FED- 7 ERAL ELECTIONS. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Federal Election 9 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) is 10 amended by inserting after section 319 the following new 11 section: 12 ‘‘SEC. 319A. REPORT ON PRESENCE OF ILLICIT FOREIGN 13 MONEY. 14 ‘‘(a) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the end 15 of each Federal election cycle, the Commission shall sub- 16 mit to Congress a report containing— 17 ‘‘(1) an analysis of the presence of illicit foreign 18 money in such cycle; and 19 ‘‘(2) recommendations to address the presence 20 of illicit foreign money in elections, as appropriate. 21 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section: 22 ‘‘(1) The term ‘Federal election cycle’ means 23 the period which begins on the day after the date of 24 a regularly scheduled general election for Federal of- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:17 Oct 27, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4736.IH H4736 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4736 IH fice and which ends on the date of the first regularly 1 scheduled general election for Federal office held 2 after such date. 3 ‘‘(2) The term ‘illicit foreign money’ means any 4 disbursement by a foreign national (as defined in 5 section 319(b)) prohibited under such section.’’. 6 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 7 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to the Federal elec- 8 tion cycle that began during November 2018, and each 9 succeeding Federal election cycle. 10 SEC. 302. PROHIBITION ON CONTRIBUTIONS AND DONA- 11 TIONS BY FOREIGN NATIONALS IN CONNEC- 12 TION WITH BALLOT INITIATIVES AND 13 REFERENDA. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 319(a)(1)(A) of the Fed- 15 eral Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 16 30121(a)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘election’’ and in- 17 serting the following: ‘‘election, including a State or local 18 ballot initiative or referendum’’. 19 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 20 this section shall apply with respect to elections held in 21 2020 or any succeeding year. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:20 Oct 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4736.IH H4736 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 4736 IH TITLE IV—PROHIBITING PAY- 1 MENT OF ELECTION ASSIST- 2 ANCE FUNDS TO STATES AL- 3 LOWING BALLOT HAR- 4 VESTING 5 SEC. 401. PROHIBITION ON PAYMENTS TO STATES ALLOW- 6 ING COLLECTION AND TRANSMISSION OF 7 BALLOTS BY CERTAIN THIRD PARTIES. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title II of the Help 9 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21001 et seq.) is 10 amended by adding at the end the following new part: 11 ‘‘PART 7—PROHIBITION ON PAYMENTS TO 12 STATES ALLOWING COLLECTION AND 13 TRANSMISSION OF BALLOTS BY CERTAIN 14 THIRD PARTIES 15 ‘‘SEC. 297. ELIGIBILITY FOR P [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]