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