119-hr4913

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4913 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 4913

 To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to protect 
 individuals who are lawfully registered to vote in elections for 
Federal office from bad faith challenges to their registration status, 
 and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 August 5, 2025

 Ms. Williams of Georgia (for herself, Ms. Ansari, Ms. Brown, Mr. 
Carson, Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, Ms. Clarke of New York, Ms. Crockett, 
 Mr. Evans of Pennsylvania, Mr. Figures, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Mr. 
 Green of Texas, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Mr. 
Krishnamoorthi, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Mr. Lynch, Ms. McClellan, Mrs. 
 McIver, Mr. Mfume, Mr. Mullin, Ms. Norton, Mrs. Ramirez, Ms. 
 Schakowsky, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Ms. Sewell, Ms. Simon, Ms. 
Strickland, Mrs. Sykes, Mr. Thanedar, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. 
Tlaib, Mr. Tonko, and Mr. Fields) introduced the following bill; which 
 was referred to the Committee on House Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to protect 
 individuals who are lawfully registered to vote in elections for 
Federal office from bad faith challenges to their registration status, 
 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 ``Countering Harassment and Applying 
Legal Liability to Effectively Nurture Government Election Stability 
Act'' or the ``CHALLENGES Act''.

SEC. 2. PROTECTIONS AGAINST BAD FAITH CHALLENGES TO VOTER REGISTRATION 
 STATUS.

    (a) Protections.--The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 
U.S.C. 20501 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

section 8 the 
following new section:

``

SEC. 8A. PROTECTIONS AGAINST BAD-FAITH CHALLENGES TO REGISTRATION 
 STATUS.

 ``

    (a) Protections Against Bad-Faith Challenges.--No person, other 
than a State or local election official, may submit to a State or local 
election official a formal challenge to the voter registration status 
of an individual who is registered to vote in elections for Federal 
office held in the State unless the person--
 ``

    (1) provides the official with clear and convincing 
 evidence generated by an inquiry into the specific individual's 
 voter registration status that offers proof that the individual 
 is not eligible to be registered to vote in elections for 
 Federal office in the State and is not generated by a mass 
 computerized data matching process;
 ``

    (2) presents the official with an oath or attestation of 
 such person under penalty of perjury that the person has 
 personal knowledge that the individual is not eligible to be 
 registered to vote in elections for Federal office in the 
 State; and
 ``

    (3) if the person is an individual, is registered to vote 
 in the same registrar's jurisdiction as the individual who is 
 the subject of the challenge.
 ``

    (b) Requirements for Online Portals Accepting Challenges.--A 
State or local election official who operates an online portal through 
which a person may submit a formal challenge to the voter registration 
status of an individual who is registered to vote in elections for 
Federal office held in the State--
 ``

    (1) shall reject a challenge submitted on the portal by a 
 person who does not include the person's name on the material 
 the person submits for the challenge; and
 ``

    (2) shall include on the portal information on the 
 prohibition under subsection

    (a) .''.

    (b) Enforcement.--

    (1) Private right of action.--

Section 11

    (b) of such Act (52 
 U.S.C. 20510

    (b) ) is amended by adding at the end the following 
 new paragraph:
 ``

    (4) In the case of a violation of 

section 8A--
 ``
        (A) the aggrieved person need not provide notice to the 
 chief election official of the State under paragraph

    (1) before 
 bringing a civil action under paragraph

    (2) ; and
 ``
        (B) in addition to declaratory and injunctive relief, the 
 civil action may be for compensatory damages equal to the 
 amount incurred by the aggrieved person due to the violation, 
 together with punitive damages in an amount not to exceed 
 $1,000 for each such violation.''.

    (2) Criminal penalties.--

Section 12 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 
 20511) is amended--
        (A) by striking ``A person'' and inserting ``

    (a) In 
 General.--A person''; and
        (B) by adding at the end the following new 
 subsection:
 ``

    (b) Knowing and Negligent False Challenge to Eligibility To 
Register To Vote.--In addition to any other penalty under this Act, 
if--
 ``

    (1) a person submits to a State or local election 
 official a formal challenge to the voter registration status of 
 an individual who is registered to vote in elections for 
 Federal office held in the State knowing and negligently 
 disregarding that the individual is eligible to be registered 
 to vote in elections for Federal office in the State; or
 ``

    (2) a person provides another person with information 
 alleging that an individual is not eligible to be registered to 
 vote in elections for Federal office held in a State knowing 
 that the information is false and with the reasonable 
 expectation that the person to whom the information is provided 
 will use the information to submit to a State or local election 
 official a formal challenge to the voter registration status of 
 the individual,
the person shall be fined in accordance with title 18, United States 
Code, imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both, except that if the 
person is not an individual, the amount of the fine shall be equal to 
$10,000 for each violation under this subsection.''.
            (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to a challenge to the voter registration status of 
an individual who is registered to vote in elections for Federal office 
in a State which is made after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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