S. 4893 · 116th Congress
Protect Election Integrity Act of 2020
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Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 116th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.
R
HawleySponsorNo cosponsors.
This bill requires states to establish certain election measures. It also prohibits ballot harvesting in federal elections.
What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in Senate · Nov 12, 2020
Protect Election Integrity Act of 2020
This bill requires states to establish certain election measures. It also prohibits ballot harvesting in federal elections.
Specifically, the bill requires each state, in order to receive certain election assistance funds, to
- prohibit the knowing collection and transmission of a ballot that was mailed to another person (commonly referred to as ballot harvesting), with exceptions;
- permit poll watching by at least two appointed campaign representatives per campaign;
- require absentee and mail-in ballots to be counted and recorded immediately upon receipt without disclosing any results until after the closure of polling places on election day;
- require continuous counting of ballots after the closure of polling places on election day;
- install video surveillance of ballot drop boxes;
- require each supervisor of elections to make publicly available a report outlining preparations for the upcoming general election; and
- require an audit of municipal voting systems.
Finally, the bill generally prohibits ballot harvesting in federal elections, which is the process of collecting vote-by-mail ballots from voters and returning them to the polling place or election office. A violator is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term of up to five years, or both.
Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov
About this bill and sources
Official title: Protect Election Integrity Act of 2020
Latest action (Nov 12, 2020): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics · Origin: Senate · Introduced: Nov 12, 2020
Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)
No recorded floor vote found.