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ELEC-003 — Election Personnel Protection Amendments to the Help America Vote Act of 2002

A BILL

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to establish voluntary formula payments to States that enact and maintain politically neutral election-personnel protection laws, to restrict Federal administration of those payments to ministerial and fiscal functions, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “Election Personnel Protection Amendments to the Help America Vote Act of 2002.”

SEC. 2. ELECTION PERSONNEL PROTECTION PAYMENTS.

The Help America Vote Act of 2002 is amended by adding at the end the following new title:

TITLE X—ELECTION PERSONNEL PROTECTION PAYMENTS

SEC. 1001. PURPOSES.

The purposes of this title are—

  1. to support State protection of election personnel and qualifying family or household members from threats, violence, coercive intimidation, unlawful disclosure of personal information, retaliation, and operational disruption arising from election duties;
  2. to preserve continuity of polling, counting, tabulation, canvassing, recount, certification, records administration, and related election functions;
  3. to encourage enactment of politically neutral State protection regimes without directing the manner in which States administer elections;
  4. to provide a voluntary and dedicated Federal financial backstop through automatic formula payments; and
  5. to prohibit use of those payments as leverage over any other election law, policy, procedure, decision, outcome, or dispute.

SEC. 1002. DEFINITIONS.

In this title:

  1. Commission means the Election Assistance Commission.
  2. Covered election personnel means a current, former, prospective, permanent, or temporary State or local election official, employee, poll worker, canvasser, contractor, vendor employee, volunteer, or other person performing an authorized election function.
  3. Covered family or household member means a spouse, domestic partner, child, parent, sibling, dependent, household member, or other person targeted because of the election duties of covered election personnel.
  4. Election function includes voter registration, ballot preparation, polling-place operation, ballot custody, counting, tabulation, auditing, recounting, canvassing, certification, records administration, equipment support, election-security support, and adjudicative or ministerial duties assigned by State law.
  5. Protection-purpose expenditure means an expenditure authorized under section 1006.
  6. Qualifying State law means a State statute satisfying section 1004.
  7. Reserve threshold means the amount determined under section 1006(d).
  8. State has the meaning given that term under section 901 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002.
  9. Unobligated Federal balance means the amount of payments received by a State under this title, including interest credited under section 1006(c), that has not been obligated for a protection-purpose expenditure as of the close of a fiscal year.

SEC. 1003. VOLUNTARY FORMULA PAYMENTS.

(a) Payments required.

For each fiscal year for which amounts are appropriated under section 1014, the Commission shall make a payment to each eligible State in the amount determined under section 1005 and adjusted, if applicable, under section 1006(e).

(b) Voluntary participation.

A State is not required to enact or maintain a qualifying State law. A State that does not do so is ineligible only for payments under this title.

(c) No effect on other assistance.

Eligibility or ineligibility under this title may not affect the eligibility of a State or political subdivision for any payment, grant, reimbursement, cooperative agreement, or other assistance under any other provision of this Act or any other Federal law.

(d) No matching requirement.

A State may not be required to provide matching funds as a condition of receiving a payment under this title.

(e) Voluntary State and local supplementation preserved.

Nothing in subsection (d) or any other provision of this title prohibits a State or political subdivision from voluntarily appropriating, matching, supplementing, or expending non-Federal funds for purposes consistent with this title and the qualifying State law.

SEC. 1004. SOLE SUBSTANTIVE ELIGIBILITY CONDITION; QUALIFYING STATE LAW.

(a) Sole condition.

The enactment and continued maintenance of a qualifying State law is the sole substantive condition of eligibility for a payment under this title.

(b) Required protections.

A State law qualifies under this section only if it—

  1. protects covered election personnel when targeted because of an election function;
  2. extends appropriate protection to covered family or household members targeted for the same reason;
  3. requires politically neutral administration without regard to party, candidate, viewpoint, ideology, election outcome, or the perceived political effect of an official act;
  4. establishes a statewide mechanism for prompt reporting, threat assessment, referral, and coordination using one or more existing State offices;
  5. authorizes emergency protective assistance, which may include residential or workplace security, law-enforcement patrol or escort, temporary relocation, legal assistance, and counseling;
  6. provides an expedited judicial process for protective relief consistent with due process and the First Amendment;
  7. protects residential and other sensitive personal information through address confidentiality, redaction, access control, data minimization, or comparable measures, to the maximum extent permitted by law;
  8. provides civil or criminal remedies for true threats, coercive intimidation, retaliation, targeted family harm, unlawful disclosure of protected personal information, false emergency reports, bomb threats, swatting, or comparable misconduct, while preserving constitutionally protected speech;
  9. requires continuity-of-operations planning for polling places, election offices, ballot-storage facilities, counting and tabulation centers, canvassing and certification bodies, and other election facilities proportionate to State and local risk;
  10. authorizes workforce support reasonably related to threat-driven attrition, including training, counseling, temporary staffing, security-related leave, accommodations, recruitment, retention, or reimbursement of necessary security costs;
  11. provides for aggregate public reporting that protects personal, investigative, and security-sensitive information;
  12. applies equally to State and local election personnel without regard to partisan affiliation or the identity of the alleged offender; and
  13. remains legally operative regardless of whether the State receives Federal funds under this title.

(c) State control of methods.

Except for the minimum protections expressly stated in subsection (b), the form, institutional placement, procedures, enforcement mechanisms, offense grading, remedies, and methods of compliance shall be determined exclusively by the State.

(d) No prospective incorporation of Federal guidance.

A qualifying State law may not be required to incorporate, comply with, or remain consistent with a regulation, guidance document, policy statement, executive order, model practice, or other administrative material issued after enactment of this title.

SEC. 1005. ALLOTMENT FORMULA.

(a) Base allotment.

From the amount appropriated for a fiscal year, the Commission shall first allot to each eligible State a base amount equal to 0.5 percent of the total amount available.

(b) Population allotment.

The remainder shall be allotted among eligible States in proportion to each State’s voting-age population, as determined by the most recent decennial census or annual Census Bureau estimate selected by Congress in appropriations law.

(c) Territories and minimum allotment adjustments.

Congress may specify by law a minimum allotment or territorial adjustment, provided that the formula is objective, uniform, and not dependent on discretionary scoring or policy review by the Commission.

(d) No discretionary adjustment.

Except for the automatic carryover adjustment required by section 1006(e), the Commission may not increase, decrease, withhold, accelerate, delay, or redirect an allotment based on—

  1. the Commission’s evaluation of the merits or effectiveness of a State election policy;
  2. an election outcome;
  3. a dispute concerning voter eligibility, registration, voting methods, ballot access, counting, canvassing, recounts, certification, elector appointment, or election litigation;
  4. the political affiliation of any State or local official; or
  5. any factor not expressly stated in this section.

SEC. 1006. PERMITTED USES; CARRYOVER; BALANCE ADJUSTMENT.

(a) Permitted uses.

A State may use payments under this title only for—

  1. emergency protection, temporary relocation, residential or workplace security, law-enforcement support, legal assistance, counseling, and related aid for covered persons;
  2. address-confidentiality systems, records redaction, data minimization, secure communications, and digital-privacy measures;
  3. facility hardening and security for polling places, election offices, ballot-storage facilities, counting and tabulation centers, canvassing and certification locations, and related sites;
  4. continuity planning, backup facilities, emergency staffing, secure relocation of operations, communications, equipment, ballot and record transfer, and public notification during disruption;
  5. threat-reporting, assessment, triage, referral, and coordination systems;
  6. training on threat recognition, reporting, de-escalation, digital privacy, records protection, and continuity procedures;
  7. temporary staffing, security-related leave, accommodations, recruitment, retention, and reimbursement of necessary out-of-pocket security costs in jurisdictions experiencing documented threat-related disruption or attrition;
  8. grants or reimbursements to local governments for the purposes stated in this section; and
  9. reasonable administrative costs directly attributable to this title, subject to a percentage cap fixed by Congress.

(b) State election-personnel protection fund.

A State receiving a payment under this title shall hold such amounts in a State election-personnel protection fund or a separately accounted subaccount of an existing State election fund. Amounts in the fund, including interest credited under subsection (c), shall be used only for protection-purpose expenditures.

(c) Availability until expended; interest.

Amounts paid to a State under this title shall remain available until expended for protection-purpose expenditures, subject to this title. Interest earned on such amounts shall be credited to the fund described in subsection (b) and used only for protection-purpose expenditures.

(d) Reserve threshold.

For each eligible State and fiscal year, the reserve threshold shall equal the greater of—

  1. 25 percent of the State’s allotment for the fiscal year before application of subsection (e); or
  2. 18 months of the State’s average monthly protection-purpose expenditures under this title during the preceding 24 months.

For a State that has received payments under this title for fewer than 24 months, the reserve threshold shall equal 25 percent of the State’s allotment for the fiscal year before application of subsection (e).

(e) Automatic carryover adjustment.

If, as of the close of a fiscal year, a State’s unobligated Federal balance exceeds the reserve threshold, the State’s next payment under section 1003 shall be reduced by the amount of the excess. The Commission shall apply this subsection ministerially and may not waive, increase, decrease, suspend, accelerate, delay, or otherwise modify the reserve threshold or adjustment for any State.

(f) No forfeiture while State remains eligible.

Except as provided in subsection (e) and sections 1007(d) and 1011, a State that continues to maintain a qualifying State law shall not be required to return an unobligated Federal balance solely because the balance remains unexpended at the close of a fiscal year.

SEC. 1007. STATE CERTIFICATION.

(a) Submission.

To receive a payment, the chief State election official and the attorney general of the State, or equivalent State legal officer, shall jointly submit to the Commission—

  1. a certification that a qualifying State law is in force;
  2. the full text and citation of that law;
  3. a provision-by-provision crosswalk identifying the State provision corresponding to each requirement of section 1004(b); and
  4. a certification that amounts received will be used only for protection-purpose expenditures.

(b) No State plan.

The Commission may not require a State plan, implementation narrative, needs assessment, public-comment process, performance benchmark, or substantive program approval as a condition of payment.

(c) Continuing certification.

A State shall notify the Commission of any repeal or material amendment of the qualifying State law. Eligibility for future payments ends when the law no longer satisfies section 1004.

Repeal or amendment of a qualifying State law does not authorize recovery of amounts lawfully obligated before the change, except in cases of fraud, false certification, or expenditure outside section 1006.

(e) Unobligated balances after loss of eligibility.

If a State ceases to maintain a qualifying State law, the State may liquidate amounts lawfully obligated before the date of ineligibility for a period of 180 days after that date. Any remaining unobligated Federal balance after that period shall be returned to the United States. This subsection does not authorize withholding or offset of unrelated Federal assistance.

SEC. 1008. MINISTERIAL REVIEW AND AUTOMATIC QUALIFICATION.

(a) Limited review.

The Commission may determine only whether the submission facially identifies a State statutory provision corresponding to each requirement of section 1004(b).

(b) Automatic qualification.

A State shall be deemed eligible 30 days after a complete submission unless, before that date, the Commission issues a written determination identifying each specific requirement of section 1004(b) for which no corresponding State statutory provision has been identified.

(c) No policy judgment.

The Commission may not deny eligibility because it would have selected a different institutional structure, remedy, procedure, penalty, enforcement priority, or method of compliance.

(d) Cure.

A State may cure an identified deficiency by submitting an amended citation, crosswalk, or State enactment. Eligibility shall attach upon cure without loss of eligibility for future fiscal years.

(e) No deference.

In any judicial proceeding under section 1012, no deference shall be afforded to the Commission’s interpretation of this title.

SEC. 1009. PROHIBITION ON ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS, WAIVERS, AND DISCRETIONARY SCORING.

The Commission, the President, and every other Federal officer or entity are prohibited from—

  1. imposing a condition of eligibility not expressly stated in this title;
  2. establishing a competitive application process;
  3. scoring or ranking States;
  4. requiring adherence to Federal best practices, model policies, guidance, or recommendations;
  5. waiving an express statutory requirement for a particular State;
  6. conditioning payment on cooperation with an unrelated Federal election initiative;
  7. conditioning payment on a State’s position in litigation or an election dispute;
  8. using payment timing or administration to reward, punish, pressure, or influence a State or political subdivision; or
  9. delegating to another Federal entity authority prohibited by this section.

SEC. 1010. FEDERAL NONINTERFERENCE AND JURISDICTIONAL FIREWALL.

(a) Rule of construction.

Nothing in this title authorizes the Commission or any other Federal officer or entity to direct, supervise, regulate, approve, disapprove, investigate, or otherwise influence—

  1. voter qualifications or eligibility;
  2. voter registration;
  3. ballot access or ballot design;
  4. voting methods or voting equipment;
  5. polling-place procedures;
  6. ballot custody, counting, tabulation, or auditing;
  7. canvassing, recounts, or certification;
  8. appointment of presidential electors;
  9. adjudication of an election contest or dispute;
  10. a State or local enforcement priority unrelated to expenditure of funds under this title; or
  11. an election outcome.

(b) No enlargement of Commission authority.

Authority provided by this title is limited to receipt of certifications, objective eligibility review, calculation and payment of formula allotments, fiscal reporting, audit, and recovery for fraud or unauthorized expenditure. This title may not be construed to enlarge the Commission’s jurisdiction, regulatory authority, investigatory authority, or supervisory authority under any other law.

(c) No individual case files.

A State may not be required to disclose to the Commission the identity, address, threat file, security plan, protected personal information, or case-specific investigative information of any covered person, except to the minimum extent necessary to investigate suspected fraud in the expenditure of Federal funds and subject to appropriate confidentiality protections.

SEC. 1011. FISCAL REPORTING, AUDIT, AND RECOVERY.

(a) Limited reporting.

A State receiving a payment shall report annually only—

  1. amounts received, obligated, expended, and unobligated;
  2. the State’s unobligated Federal balance and reserve threshold;
  3. any automatic carryover adjustment applied or anticipated under section 1006(e);
  4. amounts distributed to local governments;
  5. expenditures by the categories listed in section 1006; and
  6. material findings of fraud or misuse.

(b) Audit scope.

An audit under this title shall be limited to whether funds were expended for a purpose authorized by section 1006, whether a certification under section 1007 was materially false, and whether the unobligated Federal balance and reserve threshold were calculated according to section 1006.

(c) Recovery.

The United States may recover only amounts obtained by material fraud, expended outside section 1006, or required to be returned under section 1007(e). Recovery may not be based on disagreement with a State’s election policy, protective judgment, enforcement priority, or method of compliance.

(d) No cross-program offset.

Amounts recoverable under this section may not be collected by withholding or offsetting unrelated Federal assistance.

SEC. 1012. EXPEDITED JUDICIAL REVIEW.

(a) Cause of action.

A State aggrieved by a denial, withholding, delay, reduction, or recovery action under this title may bring a civil action in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit or the circuit in which the State capital is located.

(b) Expedited consideration.

The court shall expedite the action to the greatest practicable extent.

(c) Standard of review.

The court shall review de novo all questions of law and statutory eligibility. The Commission bears the burden of identifying the specific unmet statutory requirement or unauthorized expenditure.

(d) Relief.

The court may order payment, prohibit an unlawful condition, set aside an unlawful withholding or recovery, and grant other appropriate declaratory or injunctive relief.

SEC. 1013. RELATION TO FEDERAL CRIMINAL LAW.

Nothing in this title expands or limits Federal criminal jurisdiction. Federal investigation and prosecution of independently defined Federal offenses shall remain separate from payment administration under this title and may not be used to supervise State election administration.

SEC. 1014. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2027 and each succeeding fiscal year to carry out this title.

No amount appropriated under this section may be transferred to another Federal election program or used for a purpose other than this title.

SEC. 1015. SEVERABILITY.

If any provision of this title or its application is held invalid, the remainder of the title and its application to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected.

SEC. 3. CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.

The table of contents of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 is amended by adding at the end the following:

“TITLE X—ELECTION PERSONNEL PROTECTION PAYMENTS

“Sec. 1001. Purposes.

“Sec. 1002. Definitions.

“Sec. 1003. Voluntary formula payments.

“Sec. 1004. Sole substantive eligibility condition; qualifying State law.

“Sec. 1005. Allotment formula.

“Sec. 1006. Permitted uses; carryover; balance adjustment.

“Sec. 1007. State certification.

“Sec. 1008. Ministerial review and automatic qualification.

“Sec. 1009. Prohibition on additional conditions, waivers, and discretionary scoring.

“Sec. 1010. Federal noninterference and jurisdictional firewall.

“Sec. 1011. Fiscal reporting, audit, and recovery.

“Sec. 1012. Expedited judicial review.

“Sec. 1013. Relation to Federal criminal law.

“Sec. 1014. Authorization of appropriations.

“Sec. 1015. Severability.”

Budgetary Impact Statement

Budget authority is likely required; no dollar estimate is assigned pending source-backed cost data.

Note: Preliminary ARRP assessment only; not a CBO, OMB, agency, or legislative-counsel score.

Drafting Notes

  • This is a first working draft. Final codification placement and section numbering should be conformed to the current structure of HAVA and the Office of the Law Revision Counsel’s classification practices.
  • HAVA presently contains Titles I through IX; this draft therefore adds a new Title X rather than conflicting with the existing Title IV enforcement provisions.
  • The title is intentionally self-contained and does not amend existing HAVA voting-system requirements, State-plan provisions, or complaint procedures.
  • The draft creates a new dedicated funding stream; no existing HAVA, highway, justice, homeland-security, or other funds are placed at risk.
  • The formula is objective and noncompetitive. The specific base percentage, population methodology, reserve threshold, and balance-adjustment mechanics remain provisional and require fiscal modeling.
  • The draft prohibits a federally required State match while preserving voluntary State and local supplementation.
  • Unobligated Federal balances remain available until expended while the State remains eligible, subject to a nondiscretionary soft cap that reduces future payments when balances exceed the statutory reserve threshold.
  • The EAC’s role is ministerial and fiscal. The bill denies substantive rulemaking, discretionary scoring, waiver, plan-approval, and election-policy authority.
  • Section 1004 is designed to correspond to the Model State Election Personnel Protection and Continuity Act. The federal minimums should be rechecked against every later revision of the model State act.
  • The judicial-review provision should be reviewed for sovereign-standing, venue, timing, and Administrative Procedure Act interaction.
  • The authorization level, administrative-cost cap, territorial formula, and treatment of the District of Columbia and Commonwealths require separate fiscal and statutory review.
  • The bill should be reviewed for Appointments Clause, nondelegation, Spending Clause, anti-commandeering, First Amendment, due-process, and federalism concerns before being treated as final legislative text.

Source Notes