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ELEC-005 — Presidential Result Transmission Integrity Amendments

A BILL

To amend chapter 1 of title 3, United States Code, to protect the integrity of official presidential-election result-transmission documents submitted to federal recipients and used in the recognition, preservation, or counting of presidential-election results, 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 “Presidential Result Transmission Integrity Amendments.”

SEC. 2. FALSE OR UNAUTHORIZED PRESIDENTIAL RESULT-TRANSMISSION DOCUMENTS.

Chapter 1 of title 3, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 12 the following:

§ 12A. False or unauthorized presidential result-transmission documents

(a) Definitions.

In this section:

  1. Federal recipient means Congress, either House of Congress, the President of the Senate, the Vice President acting in the capacity of President of the Senate, the Archivist of the United States, the National Archives and Records Administration, a federal court, a federal officer, a federal employee, or any person officially receiving, preserving, opening, tabulating, adjudicating, counting, recognizing, or transmitting presidential-election result documents under federal law.
  2. Presidential result-transmission document means a certificate of ascertainment, certificate of vote, elector appointment document, elector-vote document, presidential-election return, official presidential result certificate, transmittal document, or any paper, record, or electronic communication that purports to identify, appoint, certify, transmit, cast, record, authenticate, or report official presidential-election results, presidential-elector status, or presidential-elector votes for federal receipt, preservation, recognition, or counting.
  3. Presidential-elector document means a presidential result-transmission document that purports to identify, appoint, certify, transmit, cast, record, or authenticate the votes or status of presidential electors under the Electoral College system.
  4. Unauthorized presidential result-transmission document means a presidential result-transmission document that falsely purports to have been issued, authorized, certified, transmitted, or approved by a state official, state entity, court, elector, result-certifying authority, or federal recipient; falsely represents presidential-election results, presidential-elector appointment, or presidential-elector votes; bears or simulates a state seal, official attestation, certification, signature, authorization, or legal status without lawful authority; is transmitted or presented as operative when no lawful certificate, court order, or state or federal process has made it operative; or is materially misleading as to its legal effect, source, authority, or operative status.
  5. Contingent or disputed-result document means a presidential result-transmission document prepared solely to preserve a claim in a pending recount, contest, litigation, or other lawful proceeding, and that conspicuously states that it is conditional, nonoperative, and without legal effect unless and until a court or lawful authority determines that the results, electors, or votes identified in the document are legally operative.
  6. Knowingly means that the person is aware of the factual circumstances making the document unauthorized, false, fabricated, materially misleading, or nonoperative. Knowledge may be proved by circumstantial evidence.
  7. Material means capable of influencing, obstructing, delaying, confusing, or impairing the receipt, preservation, authentication, opening, tabulation, adjudication, counting, recognition, or public understanding of presidential result-transmission documents in a federal channel.

(b) Federal offense.

It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly to transmit, submit, file, present, deliver, cause to be delivered, or use an unauthorized presidential result-transmission document—

  1. to or before a federal recipient;
  2. for inclusion in, consideration by, or preservation for a federal presidential-result recognition or electoral-count process;
  3. for the purpose of influencing, obstructing, delaying, confusing, or impairing a proceeding under this chapter;
  4. for the purpose of causing Congress, either House of Congress, the President of the Senate, the Archivist, a federal court, or any federal officer or employee to treat the document as legally operative; or
  5. in a matter within the jurisdiction of the legislative, executive, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States.

(c) Aggravated offense.

A person commits an aggravated offense if the person violates subsection (b) and acts as an organizer, director, funder, legal architect, or principal coordinator; uses or causes use of a counterfeit, simulated, unauthorized, or materially misleading state seal, official signature, attestation, or certification; transmits the document to more than one federal recipient; coordinates the document's use with an effort to delay certification, obstruct recognition or counting of presidential-election results, pressure a federal official, or induce Congress to recognize or count results, electors, or votes not authorized by law; conceals material communications, funding, legal instructions, or coordination concerning the document; causes material public cost, security cost, delay, or administrative disruption; or acts after receiving notice from a state or federal official that the document is unauthorized or nonoperative.

(d) Attempt and conspiracy.

Any person who attempts or conspires to commit an offense under this section shall be punished in the same manner as a completed offense.

(e) Safe harbor for lawful contingent or disputed-result activity.

Subsection (b) does not prohibit preparation of a contingent or disputed-result document if a recount, election contest, judicial proceeding, or other lawful proceeding concerning presidential-election results, appointment of presidential electors, or presidential-elector votes is pending or reasonably imminent; the document is conspicuously labeled on each page as “CONTINGENT — NOT OPERATIVE UNLESS AUTHORIZED BY FINAL COURT ORDER OR LAWFUL CERTIFICATION” or substantially equivalent language; the document does not state or imply that the identified results, electors, or votes are presently operative; the document does not bear or simulate a state seal, official certification, official attestation, or public-office approval unless lawfully authorized; the document is not transmitted to a federal recipient as an operative certificate or result; and any transmission to a court, state official, federal recipient, party, candidate, or counsel includes a cover notice stating that the document is conditional, nonoperative, and submitted only to preserve a legal position pending final lawful determination.

(f) Loss of safe harbor.

The safe harbor under subsection (e) does not apply if a person knowingly transmits, uses, or describes the document as presently operative; conceals the contingent or disputed-result character of the document; submits the document to a federal recipient without the required cover notice; uses the document to induce delay, obstruction, or rejection of the lawful presidential result-recognition process; falsely represents that a court, state official, state entity, result-certifying authority, or federal authority has authorized the document; or continues to use or transmit the document after the relevant contest, recount, litigation, or proceeding has been finally resolved against the claimed result, slate, or vote.

(g) Federal recipient duties.

A federal recipient who receives a presidential result-transmission document that appears unauthorized, conflicting, nonoperative, or materially misleading shall, consistent with applicable law, preserve the document, mark or log the document as disputed or unauthorized pending verification, avoid treating the document as legally operative unless authorized under this chapter or other applicable federal law, refer apparent criminal conduct to the Department of Justice or other appropriate authority, and notify the Archivist and any other federal recipient reasonably likely to receive or rely upon the document.

(h) Civil enforcement by the United States.

The Attorney General may bring a civil action in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, or in the federal district where the document was transmitted, received, created, or used, to obtain declaratory relief, injunctive relief, corrective notice to federal recipients, preservation of documents and communications, restitution or reimbursement of public costs, civil penalties authorized by this section, and other equitable relief necessary to protect the federal presidential result-transmission process.

(i) Expedited review.

Any action under subsection (h) shall be advanced on the docket and expedited to the greatest practicable extent, consistent with the deadlines established by this chapter or other applicable federal presidential-election law.

(j) Penalties.

A person who violates subsection (b) shall be fined under title 18, imprisoned for not more than five years, or both. A person who violates subsection (c) shall be fined under title 18, imprisoned for not more than ten years, or both.

(k) Civil penalties and disqualification.

In a civil action brought by the United States, a court may impose a civil penalty proportionate to the seriousness of the violation, the person's role, the degree of knowing falsity, the number of recipients, public costs caused, and risk posed to the federal presidential result-transmission process. Upon conviction under this section, or upon clear and convincing evidence in a civil action under subsection (h), a court may disqualify the person from serving in a federal presidential result-transmission role created by federal law, including service as a presidential elector while the Electoral College remains in force, for a period not exceeding ten years if such relief is necessary to protect the integrity of the federal presidential result-transmission process.

(l) Relation to existing law.

This section supplements and does not limit sections 371, 1001, or 1512 of title 18, or any other federal or state criminal, civil, disciplinary, or election-law remedy.

(m) No preemption of state process.

Nothing in this section shall be construed to regulate the manner in which a state appoints presidential electors, determines presidential-election results, conducts a recount or contest, canvasses returns, certifies results, or resolves state-law presidential-election disputes before transmission to a federal recipient; prohibit a state from imposing additional civil, criminal, administrative, or election-law remedies; limit a court-ordered revised certificate or result determination; prohibit lawful advocacy, litigation, petitioning, or political speech; or authorize any federal official to choose among competing results, slates, or votes except as provided by this chapter or other applicable federal law.

(n) First Amendment rule of construction.

This section shall not be construed to criminalize political advocacy, public argument, litigation positions, lobbying, petitioning, commentary, legal analysis, or reporting unless the conduct includes knowing transmission, submission, filing, presentation, delivery, or use of an unauthorized presidential result-transmission document in a federal channel as prohibited by subsection (b).

SEC. 3. CLERICAL AMENDMENT.

The table of sections for chapter 1 of title 3, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 12 the following:

“12A. False or unauthorized presidential result-transmission documents.”

SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY.

If any provision or application of this Act is held invalid, the remainder shall not be affected.

Budgetary Impact Statement

Administrative workload is possible; no new appropriation is specified.

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

Drafting Notes

  • This draft is a targeted amendment to Title 3 and is drafted broadly enough to preserve the document-integrity principle if the Electoral College is replaced by another federal presidential result-transmission mechanism.
  • The statute attaches when a presidential result-transmission document enters, or is used for, a federal receipt, preservation, recognition, or counting channel.
  • Presidential-elector certificates remain covered as the current Electoral College implementation, but the statute is not limited to elector certificates as a conceptual matter.
  • The safe harbor is essential to distinguish lawful contingent legal-preservation activity from false present-tense certification.

Source Notes