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ELEC-013 — Federal Candidate Access and Debate Transparency Act

A BILL

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to establish a federal candidate-access filing interface, publication requirements, notice-and-cure floors, and certification-status reporting for elections for Federal office and presidential elector elections; to amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require transparency for candidate-debate criteria connected to Federal Election Commission debate treatment or Federal public benefits; 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 "Federal Candidate Access and Debate Transparency Act."

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

The purposes of this Act are:

  1. to reduce unnecessary procedural barriers that make Federal candidate access depend on a preexisting party apparatus rather than voter support, lawful eligibility, and administrable filing rules;
  2. to create a standardized Federal filing interface through which covered candidates may submit baseline candidate-access information for transmission to State election officials;
  3. to preserve State authority over neutral substantive ballot-access requirements, including signature thresholds, party-recognition rules, elector-slate rules, anti-fraud safeguards, ballot-order rules, and final certification procedures;
  4. to require timely public notice of State candidate-access requirements, prompt defect notice, meaningful cure opportunities for technical defects, and public certification-status reporting;
  5. to improve voter information by requiring transparent candidate-selection criteria for covered debates that receive Federal public benefits or seek Federal Election Campaign Act debate treatment;
  6. to prevent debate criteria from using major-party nomination as a functional proxy while avoiding compelled private press hosting or editorial control; and
  7. to assign administration to the Election Assistance Commission, Federal Election Commission, Department of Justice, and courts according to their existing institutional roles.

TITLE I - FEDERAL CANDIDATE ACCESS FILING INTERFACE

SEC. 101. HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT AMENDMENTS.

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

TITLE XII - FEDERAL CANDIDATE ACCESS INTERFACE

SEC. 1201. DEFINITIONS.

In this title:

  1. Commission means the Election Assistance Commission.
  2. Covered candidate means a candidate for Federal office, or a candidate for President or Vice President seeking access to the ballot for a presidential elector election, who submits or intends to submit candidate-access materials to a covered State.
  3. Covered election means an election for Federal office or a presidential elector election.
  4. Covered State means a State, the District of Columbia, or a territory to the extent the jurisdiction administers a covered election.
  5. Federal access form means the standardized candidate-access filing form and electronic submission format established under section 1202.
  6. Federal candidate-access rule means a requirement of this title governing the Federal access form, publication of State requirements, notice of defects, cure of technical defects, certification-status reporting, or public dashboard reporting, and does not include a State substantive ballot-access requirement preserved under section 1204.
  7. Material defect means a defect that prevents a State election official from determining candidate identity, office sought, candidate consent, elector-slate consent, signature sufficiency, filing timeliness, fee payment, eligibility certification, or compliance with a substantive State ballot-access requirement.
  8. Presidential candidate packet means the Federal access form, any required State supplement, elector-slate materials, candidate and vice-presidential candidate consents, petition materials if applicable, fee materials if applicable, and supporting documentation submitted by or for a presidential or vice-presidential candidate.
  9. State supplement means a State-specific form, attestation, petition page, elector-slate document, fee schedule, or instruction that is required by State law and published under section 1203.
  10. Technical defect means a missing field, formatting error, clerical error, incomplete attachment, signature-page irregularity, notarization defect, elector-contact defect, committee-identification defect, or comparable defect that can be corrected without changing the candidate, office sought, elector slate, signers, filing timeliness, signature sufficiency, candidate eligibility, or substantive basis for ballot access.

SEC. 1202. FEDERAL ACCESS FORM AND CLEARINGHOUSE.

(a) Establishment.

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this title, the Commission shall establish a Federal access form and an electronic clearinghouse through which a covered candidate may submit baseline candidate-access information for transmission to covered States.

(b) Contents.

The Federal access form shall permit a covered candidate to provide:

  1. the candidate's legal name, ballot name if different, office sought, party or independent designation if applicable, contact information, and authorized filing agent;
  2. for a presidential candidate, the name, consent, and contact information of the vice-presidential candidate;
  3. the candidate's principal campaign committee, Federal Election Commission identification number if available, treasurer, and campaign contact information;
  4. the State or States for which the candidate seeks ballot access or certification status;
  5. the ballot-access route claimed in each State, including party nomination, independent petition, minor-party petition, new-party filing, write-in registration, elector-slate filing, or other route provided by State law;
  6. elector-slate information for presidential elector elections, including elector names, consents, substitutions if permitted, and certifications required by State law;
  7. petition metadata, signature totals, circulator information, filing dates, and related attachments where State law requires petition materials;
  8. fee-payment information or fee-waiver information where State law requires a filing fee;
  9. candidate eligibility, consent, anti-fraud, and penalty-of-perjury certifications; and
  10. any other baseline information reasonably necessary to transmit candidate-access materials to covered States.

(c) Transmission to States.

The Commission shall transmit a covered candidate's submitted Federal access form and associated materials to each covered State identified by the candidate not later than 1 business day after receipt, except that the Commission may adopt reasonable cybersecurity, authentication, and file-integrity procedures.

(d) No ballot entitlement.

Submission, receipt, or transmission of a Federal access form does not itself entitle a candidate to ballot placement, write-in recognition, elector certification, debate inclusion, public funds, or any other status under State or Federal law.

(e) Accessibility and languages.

The Commission shall design the Federal access form and clearinghouse to meet accessibility standards and shall provide plain-language instructions. The Commission may provide translations or language-access tools, but a covered State may require an English-language legal filing where State law so provides.

SEC. 1203. STATE SUPPLEMENTS AND PUBLICATION OF REQUIREMENTS.

(a) Publication.

For each regularly scheduled general election for Federal office and each presidential elector election, a covered State shall publish candidate-access requirements in a machine-readable and human-readable format not later than 360 days before the election, or as soon as practicable after a statutory, regulatory, judicial, or emergency change.

(b) Required contents.

The published requirements shall include:

  1. each filing deadline, cure deadline, challenge deadline, withdrawal deadline, elector-substitution deadline, and certification deadline;
  2. each candidate-access route available under State law;
  3. signature thresholds, geographic-distribution rules, petition-page rules, circulator rules, notarization rules, witness rules, and signer-eligibility rules;
  4. filing fees, fee waivers, oath requirements, elector-slate requirements, party-recognition requirements, independent-candidate requirements, write-in requirements, and substitution rules;
  5. required State supplements and the information that each supplement requires beyond the Federal access form;
  6. the State office or officer responsible for receiving, reviewing, challenging, curing, accepting, rejecting, and certifying filings;
  7. defect-notice procedures and cure procedures;
  8. challenge procedures, hearing procedures, judicial-review routes, and emergency contact information; and
  9. the State's certification-status categories and public reporting method.

(c) Nonduplication.

A covered State may not reject a covered candidate's filing solely because the candidate used the Federal access form to provide information that is identical in substance to information requested on a State form, except to the extent a State supplement is required by State law and published under this section.

(d) Unpublished procedural conditions.

A covered State may not reject a covered candidate's filing for failure to satisfy an unpublished procedural condition unless the condition is expressly required by State statute, State constitution, binding court order, or Federal law and the State provides a prompt cure opportunity where cure is practicable.

(e) Emergency changes.

If a covered State changes a candidate-access requirement after the publication deadline under subsection (a), the State shall publish the change, notify affected candidates who have filed through the Federal access form or the State filing system, and provide a reasonable transition or cure period unless a court order or Federal law requires immediate effect.

SEC. 1204. BASELINE ACCEPTANCE AND STATE AUTHORITY.

(a) Baseline acceptance.

For a covered election, a covered State shall accept the Federal access form as satisfying baseline candidate-identity, office-sought, candidate-consent, campaign-contact, Federal committee-identification, and filing-agent information requirements to the extent the Federal access form contains the required information.

(b) State supplements preserved.

Nothing in this title prohibits a covered State from requiring a State supplement, petition page, fee, elector-slate document, oath, signature verification, party-recognition filing, independent-candidate filing, write-in filing, or other material required by State law, provided that the requirement is published under section 1203 and administered consistently with this title and other applicable law.

(c) Presidential elector elections.

For a presidential elector election, this title establishes a Federal filing interface, notice floor, cure floor, and reporting floor. It does not require a State to appoint electors in any particular manner, alter the number of electors, recognize a party, accept an elector slate, or place a candidate on the ballot unless the candidate satisfies applicable State and Federal law.

(d) Congressional elections.

For elections for Senator or Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, Congress, this title establishes Federal candidate-access administration rules under article I, section 4 of the Constitution. A Federal candidate-access rule may require publication, common filing information, notice, technical cure, and certification-status reporting, but may not create a ballot-placement entitlement independent of applicable State and Federal law.

(e) State substantive standards preserved.

Nothing in this title preempts a neutral, nondiscriminatory State substantive ballot-access requirement, signature threshold, elector-slate requirement, filing-fee requirement, party-recognition requirement, sore-loser rule, ballot-order rule, anti-fraud rule, or certification rule except to the extent the requirement conflicts with this title or another Federal law.

SEC. 1205. NOTICE AND CURE.

(a) Defect notice.

If a covered State determines that a covered candidate's filing contains a defect, the State shall provide written notice that identifies each defect, states whether the defect is technical or material, identifies the authority for the requirement, and states the available cure method and deadline.

(b) Cure period.

A covered State shall provide a reasonable cure period for a technical defect. The cure period shall be not less than 5 business days after notice unless an election, ballot-printing, certification, court-ordered, or statutory deadline makes a shorter period necessary.

(c) Material defects.

This title does not require a covered State to permit cure of a material defect that cannot be corrected without changing the candidate, office sought, elector slate, signers, filing timeliness, or substantive basis for ballot access, but the State shall identify the defect and the legal basis for rejection.

(d) Signature, deadline, eligibility, and fraud rules preserved.

Nothing in this section requires a covered State to treat a signature insufficiency, missed filing deadline, candidate ineligibility, elector ineligibility, fraudulent submission, forged signature, or failure to satisfy a published substantive ballot-access requirement as a technical defect.

(e) Immaterial defects.

A covered State may not reject a covered candidate's filing solely for an immaterial paperwork defect if candidate identity, office sought, consent, filing timeliness, and substantive ballot-access eligibility are otherwise established and the defect can be corrected without prejudice to orderly administration.

(f) Expedited notice.

During the 45-day period before a ballot-printing, certification, or judicial-review deadline, a covered State shall provide defect notice as soon as practicable and by the fastest reliable method designated by the candidate.

SEC. 1206. CERTIFICATION-STATUS REPORTING AND PUBLIC DASHBOARD.

(a) State reporting.

For each covered candidate who files through the Federal access form or requests Federal certification-status reporting, a covered State shall report to the Commission each material certification-status change not later than 1 business day after the change.

(b) Status categories.

The Commission shall establish standard certification-status categories, including:

  1. not filed;
  2. filed;
  3. pending review;
  4. deficiency notice issued;
  5. cure pending;
  6. challenged;
  7. accepted for filing;
  8. rejected;
  9. certified for ballot placement;
  10. certified for write-in recognition;
  11. court-ordered;
  12. withdrawn; and
  13. final.

(c) Public dashboard.

The Commission shall maintain a public dashboard that displays certification-status information reported under this section, the date of the most recent State update, and links to State candidate-access requirements published under section 1203.

(d) Disclaimer.

The public dashboard shall state that the covered State's official certification decision controls and that the Commission's dashboard is a public reporting and transmission tool unless another Act of Congress provides otherwise.

(e) Data integrity.

The Commission may establish cybersecurity, authentication, audit-log, correction, and dispute-notation procedures for certification-status reporting.

SEC. 1207. GUIDANCE, GRANTS, AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.

(a) Guidance.

Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this title, the Commission shall issue guidance, model State supplement templates, and technical standards for the Federal access form, State publication files, cure notices, and certification-status reporting.

(b) Consultation.

In issuing guidance, the Commission shall consult with State and local election officials, the Federal Election Commission, the Department of Justice, disability-rights organizations, language-access experts, election-security experts, candidate representatives from major-party, minor-party, and independent campaigns, and public-interest organizations.

(c) Grants.

The Commission may make grants to covered States to implement this title, including grants for portal integration, publication systems, cybersecurity, accessibility, language access, staff training, and public certification-status reporting.

(d) No discretionary approval.

The Commission may not approve, disapprove, delay, condition, or supervise a State's substantive ballot-access law except as expressly provided by this title or another Act of Congress.

SEC. 1208. ENFORCEMENT.

(a) Civil action by Attorney General.

The Attorney General may bring a civil action for declaratory or injunctive relief to enforce this title.

(b) Civil action by covered candidate.

A covered candidate aggrieved by a violation of this title may bring a civil action for declaratory or injunctive relief in the United States district court for the district in which the covered State's chief election officer is located or in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

(c) Expedited proceedings.

A court hearing an action under this section shall expedite proceedings to the greatest extent practicable when relief is sought before a filing, cure, challenge, ballot-printing, certification, or election deadline.

(d) Timing, laches, and anti-disruption rule.

A court may not grant relief that would delay ballot printing, alter a final certification, reopen an expired filing period, or require emergency ballot reprinting unless the covered candidate acted with reasonable diligence, the violation is clear, the requested relief is narrowly tailored to a Federal candidate-access rule, and the public interest in orderly election administration does not outweigh the injury. Nothing in this subsection limits a court's authority to grant prospective declaratory relief, require future compliance, or preserve evidence for post-election reporting.

(e) No automatic ballot placement.

Relief under this section shall be limited to enforcing Federal candidate-access rules and shall not include automatic ballot placement, elector recognition, write-in recognition, debate inclusion, or public funding unless expressly authorized by another provision of Federal law.

(f) No damages.

This section does not create a damages remedy against a State, political subdivision, election official, election worker, or Federal officer.

(g) Federal Election Commission jurisdiction preserved.

Nothing in this title gives the Federal Election Commission jurisdiction over State ballot-access administration except as provided in the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 or another Act of Congress.

TITLE II - DEBATE-CRITERIA TRANSPARENCY AND PUBLIC-BENEFIT CONDITIONS

SEC. 201. FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN ACT DEFINITIONS.

Section 30101 of title 52, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

  1. The term "covered debate" means a candidate debate, candidate forum, or comparable public candidate event for an election for Federal office or for President or Vice President that seeks treatment as a candidate debate under regulations of the Commission or accepts a Federal public benefit.
  2. The term "debate access criterion" means a rule, threshold, measurement, poll, ballot-access requirement, fundraising requirement, petition requirement, public-support measure, documentation requirement, deadline, or discretionary standard used to determine whether a candidate is invited to, excluded from, or placed in a tier within a covered debate.
  3. The term "Federal public benefit" means Federal funds, a Federal grant, Federal property or facilities made available on preferential terms, federally authorized public-broadcasting support, or an official Federal institutional partnership. The term does not include generally available press access, ordinary news coverage, a privately negotiated broadcast, a university facility made available on ordinary market terms, or generally available tax-exempt status.
  4. The term "public-benefit debate sponsor" means a person or organization that stages, finances, co-sponsors, or controls a covered debate.

SEC. 202. DEBATE-CRITERIA TRANSPARENCY.

Chapter 301 of title 52, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end a new section, to be numbered and placed by the Office of Law Revision Counsel, as follows:

Debate-criteria transparency and public-benefit conditions.

  1. A public-benefit debate sponsor shall publish each debate access criterion not later than 60 days before the covered debate, or as soon as practicable if the covered debate is scheduled less than 60 days before the event.

  2. The published criteria shall identify:

  3. each ballot-access threshold, certification-status rule, electoral-vote calculation, polling threshold, fundraising threshold, donor threshold, petition threshold, or other public-support measure;
  4. each poll, polling organization, polling field date, sample requirement, methodology requirement, averaging method, and margin-of-error treatment used for qualification;
  5. each deadline for submitting evidence, curing deficiencies, requesting reconsideration, or challenging a sponsor decision;
  6. whether submitted, pending, accepted, certified, court-ordered, or final ballot-access status will be counted for qualification;
  7. each sponsor, co-sponsor, funder, broadcaster, institutional partner, and Federal public benefit connected to the covered debate; and

  8. each alternative qualification path other than national polling, if any.

  9. For a general-election covered debate for President or Vice President, a public-benefit debate sponsor may not use nomination by a particular political party as the sole criterion for participation or use a debate access criterion that is a functional proxy for nomination by a particular political party.

  10. If a general-election covered debate for President or Vice President uses a polling threshold, the public-benefit debate sponsor shall provide at least one alternative qualification path that considers ballot access, certification status, petition support, small-donor support, prior electoral support, or another objective measure of demonstrated public support.

  11. A public-benefit debate sponsor shall provide a candidate who submits timely qualification evidence with a written decision that identifies the evidence accepted, the evidence rejected, the criteria applied, the certification-status treatment used, and any reconsideration procedure.

  12. A public-benefit debate sponsor shall retain qualification records, communications with candidates concerning qualification, and evidence submitted by candidates for not less than 3 years after the covered debate.

  13. A public-benefit debate sponsor may structure a covered debate through tiers, multiple forums, preliminary forums, candidate-information formats, regional events, or other neutral formats if the structure and criteria are published in advance and are not designed to promote, advance, or exclude a candidate because of party identity.

  14. Nothing in this section requires a private press entity, broadcaster, nonprofit organization, educational institution, or other private person to stage, host, broadcast, invite a candidate to, or carry a debate unless the person seeks Federal Election Campaign Act debate treatment or accepts a Federal public benefit conditioned on compliance with this section.

  15. Nothing in this section authorizes the Commission or any other Federal officer to control debate questions, editorial content, broadcast format, news coverage, commentary, moderator selection, candidate speech, or journalistic judgment.

  16. A candidate seeking pre-debate review of a sponsor's qualification decision shall submit a written request to the Commission not later than 5 business days after receiving the decision, except that the Commission may accept a later request for good cause when the sponsor issued the decision less than 15 days before the covered debate.

SEC. 203. FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT.

(a) Regulations.

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Election Commission shall promulgate regulations to implement title II and the amendments made by title II.

(b) Existing debate rule.

The Commission shall conform regulations governing candidate debates, including section 110.13 of title 11, Code of Federal Regulations, to the requirements of this title.

(c) Enforcement.

The Commission may enforce title II and the amendments made by title II under section 30109 of title 52, United States Code, including through conciliation, civil penalties, and civil actions where authorized by that section.

(d) Expedited declaratory review.

For a written request submitted under section 202(10), the Commission shall, to the greatest extent practicable, issue an expedited advisory opinion, declaratory ruling, or written staff recommendation before the covered debate. If the Commission cannot act before the covered debate because of time, lack of a quorum, or failure to obtain the votes required by section 30109 of title 52, United States Code, the Commission shall publish the request, the sponsor's response if any, and a post-debate status notice.

(e) Debate treatment and Federal public-benefit consequence.

The Commission may deny, revoke, condition, or decline to recognize Federal Election Campaign Act debate treatment for a covered debate that materially violates the debate-criteria publication, recordkeeping, or neutrality requirements of this title.

The head of a Federal agency that provides a Federal public benefit for a covered debate may condition, suspend, deny, or recover the benefit for a material violation of title II if the condition is stated before the benefit is accepted, the sponsor receives notice and an opportunity to respond, and the remedy does not compel hosting, broadcasting, editorial content, or candidate inclusion.

(f) Department of Justice referrals.

The Commission may refer knowing and willful violations to the Attorney General under section 30109(a)(5)(C) of title 52, United States Code.

(f) Deadlock and delay.

Nothing in this section limits any statutory remedy available when the Commission dismisses a complaint, fails to act, lacks a quorum, or deadlocks under section 30109 of title 52, United States Code.

TITLE III - COORDINATION, REPORTS, EFFECTIVE DATES, AND RULES OF CONSTRUCTION

SEC. 301. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

(a) Election Assistance Commission report.

Not later than 180 days after each regularly scheduled general election for Federal office, the Election Assistance Commission shall submit to Congress and make public a report on implementation of title I, including State publication compliance, Federal access form use, defect notices, cure outcomes, certification-status reporting, candidate and State feedback, accessibility, language access, cybersecurity, administrative burdens, and recommendations for technical improvements.

(b) Federal Election Commission report.

Not later than 180 days after each regularly scheduled general election for Federal office, the Federal Election Commission shall submit to Congress and make public a report on implementation of title II, including covered debate criteria, sponsor compliance, enforcement matters, advisory opinions, complaints, Commission deadlocks, public-benefit conditions, and recommendations for improving debate transparency while preserving press freedom.

(c) No recommendation for automatic ballot entitlement.

A report under this section may recommend technical improvements, but may not be construed to recommend automatic ballot access, automatic debate inclusion, or displacement of State substantive ballot-access law unless Congress expressly enacts such a rule.

SEC. 302. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.

Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall be construed to:

  1. compel a private press entity, broadcaster, nonprofit organization, educational institution, or private person to host, broadcast, sponsor, or include a candidate in a debate;
  2. authorize Federal control over debate questions, editorial content, news coverage, commentary, moderator selection, or journalistic judgment;
  3. require a State to place a candidate on a ballot solely because the candidate submitted a Federal access form;
  4. displace a neutral and nondiscriminatory State substantive ballot-access requirement except to the extent the requirement conflicts with this Act or another Federal law;
  5. alter the constitutional method by which a State appoints presidential electors;
  6. limit the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, the Help America Vote Act of 2002, the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, or any more protective State law;
  7. impair party associational rights, candidate constitutional rights, voter constitutional rights, or State interests in orderly administration, ballot integrity, voter clarity, and fraud prevention; or
  8. prevent a State from providing broader candidate-access rights, longer cure periods, clearer publication, additional public dashboards, or more protective procedural safeguards.

SEC. 303. SEVERABILITY.

If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by this Act, or the application of such provision or amendment to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of this Act, the amendments made by this Act, and the application of such provision or amendment to any other person or circumstance shall not be affected.

SEC. 304. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this Act and the amendments made by this Act, including:

  1. grants to covered States for publication systems, portal integration, certification-status reporting, accessibility, cybersecurity, language access, staff training, and technical support;
  2. amounts for the Election Assistance Commission to develop and maintain the Federal access form, clearinghouse, public dashboard, technical standards, and guidance;
  3. amounts for the Federal Election Commission to conduct rulemaking, maintain debate-criteria records, process expedited debate-criteria review requests, and report to Congress;
  4. amounts for the Department of Justice to enforce title I and provide technical assistance concerning civil enforcement; and
  5. amounts for independent evaluation of administrative burden, accessibility, cybersecurity, and implementation after the first covered general election.

SEC. 305. EFFECTIVE DATES.

(a) Title I.

Title I and the amendments made by title I shall apply to regularly scheduled general elections for Federal office and presidential elector elections beginning 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act.

(b) Title II.

Title II and the amendments made by title II shall apply to covered debates held 180 days or more after the date of enactment of this Act.

(c) Rulemaking and guidance.

Federal agencies may issue regulations, guidance, forms, technical standards, and grant notices before the effective dates in subsections (a) and (b).

Budgetary Impact Statement

Budget authority may be required for Election Assistance Commission form development, limited technical assistance, public certification-status reporting, Federal Election Commission rulemaking, expedited debate-criteria review, public-benefit compliance review, public reporting, independent evaluation, and Department of Justice enforcement. Preliminary ARRP assessment estimates modest discretionary costs, likely in the range of $10,000,000 to $35,000,000 over five fiscal years if State grants remain limited to voluntary technical assistance and implementation support. Larger State modernization grants would require separate congressional judgment and are not assumed in this estimate. This conservative range is benchmarked against low-end CBO administrative-process estimates for reporting, review, rulemaking, and database work, and against election-security grant tranches as an upper-scale comparator rather than a model for this bill.

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

Drafting Notes

  • This draft amends existing election-law frameworks rather than creating a detached code.
  • Title I uses HAVA because the central administrative remedy is a Federal election-administration interface: common filing, publication, notice, cure, and status reporting.
  • Title II uses FECA because debate transparency is tied to the existing FEC candidate-debate rule, FEC debate treatment, and campaign-finance enforcement machinery.
  • The draft gives State-compliance enforcement to DOJ and candidate-initiated injunctive actions because the EAC is not designed as the primary civil-enforcement body.
  • The draft gives debate-rule enforcement to the FEC because the FEC administers and enforces FECA, while recognizing existing Commission deadlock and referral limits.
  • The constitutional strategy is to standardize the doorway rather than create a national ballot entitlement: the Federal form, status dashboard, notice, and cure floors reduce procedural gatekeeping while preserving State substantive ballot-access law.
  • The presidential-election provisions require close Article II review. They are drafted as filing-interface, notice, reporting, and public-benefit conditions rather than a direct command changing elector appointment.
  • The congressional-election provisions have a stronger Elections Clause foundation and now state that the Federal rule is an administrative publication, filing, notice, cure, and status-reporting rule rather than an independent ballot-placement entitlement.
  • The debate provisions avoid compelled private hosting and editorial control. They condition FEC debate treatment and defined Federal public benefits on transparent criteria and alternative objective qualification paths.
  • The debate-cycle remedy now includes an expedited review request and a public post-debate notice if FEC deadlock, quorum, or timing prevents pre-debate action; it still needs direct FEC matter-file and First Amendment review.
  • The candidate-civil-action section now includes diligence, laches, anti-disruption, and no-automatic-ballot-placement limits to reduce late-election litigation risk.
  • The next internal check should test the revised HAVA fit, FECA fit, EAC/FEC/DOJ role allocation, First Amendment and press-freedom limits, Article II and Elections Clause authority, Spending Clause support, state-administration burden, cost, and interaction with ELEC-012 and ELEC-015.

Source Notes