,i  #aafth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #hbhe  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,september #ag1      
#bjbj,ms4 ,gabbard 7for herself and ,mr4
 ,rodney ,davis of ,illinois7 introduced
 the following bill2 which was referred 
to the ,committee on ,house             
,administration  ,a ,,bill  ,to amend   
the ,help ,america ,vote ,act of #bjjb  
to prohibit payments under such ,act to 
,states which permit ballot harvesting1 
and for other purposes4  #a4 ,short     
,title ,this ,act may be cited as the   
,election ,fraud ,prevention ,act4  #b4 
,findings ,congress finds the following3
 7#a7 ,the elections clause in the      
,united ,states ,constitution provides  
the ,states the responsibility of the   
administration of the elections process 
within their jurisdictions4  7#b7 ,free 
and fair elections are the lock and key 
to the democratic process in the ,united
 ,states and it is ,congress' duty to   
protect and uphold the responsibility of
 the ,states to conduct an election     

process with the utmost integrity       
regardless of political party           
affiliation4  7#c7 ,depending on the    
,state or locality1 voters have the     
option of leaving their mail ballots in 
a drop box1 having their ballots        
collected and submitted by a third      
party1 or returning them at the polls or
 a local election office4  7#d7         
,third-party collection of ballots1     
which some refer to as ballot           
harvesting1 is a practice long used by  
special-interest groups and both major  
political parties that is viewed either 
as a voter service that boosts voter    
turnout or an activity that has the     
potential to make elections vulnerable  
to fraud4  7#e7 ,today1 several ,states 
have allowed or tried to limit ballot   
harvesting by restricting who can turn  
in another person's ballot4 ,nine       
,states allow a family member to return 
a ballot for a voter1 #bg ,states allow 
voters to designate someone to return   
their ballot for them1 although some of 

these ,states have placed limits on who 
may collect the ballots or how many they
 may collect1 and #ac ,states are silent
 on the issue of ballot collection4  #c4
 ,prohibition on payments to ,states    
allowing collection and transmission of 
ballots by certain third parties  7a7   
,in ,general ,subtitle ,d of title ,,ii 
of the ,help ,america ,vote ,act of     
#bjjb 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #bajja et seq47 is 
amended by adding at the end the        
following new part3  #g ,prohibition on 
,payments to ,states ,allowing          
,collection and ,transmission of        
,ballots by ,certain ,third ,parties    
#big ,eligibility for payments of states
 allowing collection and transmission of
 ballots by certain third parties  7a7  
,in ,general ,a ,state is not eligible  
to receive funds under this ,act unless 
the ,state has in effect a law that     
prohibits an individual from the knowing
 collection and transmission of a ballot
 in an election for ,federal office that
 was mailed to another person1 other    

than an individual described as follows3
 7#a7 ,an election official while       
engaged in official duties as authorized
 by law4  7#b7 ,an employee of the      
,united ,states ,postal ,service while  
engaged in official duties as authorized
 by law4  7#c7 ,any other individual who
 is allowed by law to collect and       
transmit ,united ,states mail1 while    
engaged in official duties as authorized
 by law4  7#d7 ,a family member1        
household member1 or caregiver of the   
person to whom the ballot was mailed4   
7b7 ,definitions ,for purposes of this  
section1 with respect to a person to    
whom the ballot was mailed3 7#a7 ,the   
term caregiver means an individual who  
provides medical or health care         
assistance to such person in a          
residence1 nursing care institution1    
hospice facility1 assisted living       
center1 assisted living facility1       
assisted living home1 residential care  
institution1 adilt day health care      
facility1 or adult foster care home4    

7#b7 ,the term family member means an   
individual who is related to such person
 by blood1 marriage1 adoption or legal  
guardianship4  7#c7 ,the term household 
member means an individual who resides  
at the same residence as such person4  4
  7b7 ,clerical ,amendment ,the table of
 contents of such ,act is amended by    
inserting after the item relating to    
section #bif the following new item3    
,part #g--,prohibition on ,payments to  
,states ,allowing ,collection and       
,transmission of ,ballots by ,certain   
,third ,parties ,sec4 #big ,eligibility 
for payments of ,states allowing        
collection and transmission of ballots  
by certain third parties4  4