118th CONGRESS 1st Session |
To prohibit agencies of the government from soliciting or entering into agreements with nongovernmental organizations to conduct voter registration or voter mobilization activities on the property or website of the agency or from using Federal funds to carry out activities directed under Executive Order 14019, and for other purposes.
July 6, 2023
Ms. Tenney (for herself and Mr. Ellzey) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Oversight and Accountability, Science, Space, and Technology, and Education and the Workforce, 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
To prohibit agencies of the government from soliciting or entering into agreements with nongovernmental organizations to conduct voter registration or voter mobilization activities on the property or website of the agency or from using Federal funds to carry out activities directed under Executive Order 14019, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
This Act may be cited as the “Promoting Free and Fair Elections Act of 2023”.
SEC. 2. Federal agency involvement in voter registration activities.
(a) Clarification of Federal agency involvement in voter registration activities.—Executive Order 14019 (86 Fed. Reg. 13623; relating to promoting access to voting) shall have no force or effect to the extent that it is inconsistent with section 7 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20506).
(b) Prohibiting promotion of voter registration by agencies.—
(1) AGREEMENTS WITH NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS.—None of the funds made available for the salaries and expenses of an agency may be used to solicit or enter into an agreement with a nongovernmental organization to conduct voter registration or voter mobilization activities, including registering voters or providing any person with voter registration materials, absentee or vote-by-mail ballot applications, voting instructions, or candidate-related information, on the property or website of the agency.
(2) ACTIVITIES UNDER EXECUTIVE ORDER 14019.—
(i) DELAY.—Except as provided in clause (ii), none of the funds made available for the salaries and expenses of an agency may be used to implement activities directed under Executive Order 14019 (86 Fed. Reg. 13623) until—
(I) in the case of an agency that is required to submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees under subparagraph (B)(i), 180 days after the agency submits the report; or
(II) in the case of an agency that is required to submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees under subparagraph (B)(ii), the date on which the agency submits the report.
(ii) EXCEPTION.—Clause (i) shall not apply to any activity described in section 7(c) of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20506(c)).
(B) REPORT.—Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the head of each agency shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees—
(i) a copy of the strategic plan of the agency for promoting voter registration and voter participation under section 3(b) of Executive Order 14019 (86 Fed. Reg. 13623) that the agency developed or submitted to the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy; or
(ii) if the agency did not develop or submit a plan described in clause (i) to the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, a certification signed by the head of the agency that the agency did not develop or submit such a plan.
(3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as provided in paragraph (2)(B), this section shall apply with respect to fiscal year 2023 and each succeeding fiscal year.
(c) Additional report on voter registration and mobilization.—Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the head of each agency shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report describing the activities carried out by the agency pursuant to sections 3 and 4 of Executive Order 14019 (86 Fed. Reg. 13623).
(d) Prohibiting voter registration and mobilization in Federal work-study programs.—Section 443(b)(1) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087–53(b)(1)) is amended—
(1) in subparagraph (C), by striking “and”;
(2) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as subparagraph (E); and
(3) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the following:
“(D) does not involve registering or mobilizing voters on or off the campus of the institution; and”.
(e) Definitions.—In this section:
(1) AGENCY.—The term “agency” has the meaning given the term in section 3502(1) of title 44, United States Code, except that for purposes of subsection (c)(2) such term does not include an independent regulatory agency as defined in section 3502(5) of title 44, United States Code.
(2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.—The term “appropriate congressional committees” means—
(A) the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate;
(B) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate;
(C) the Committee on House Administration of the House of Representatives; and
(D) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives.