[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4714 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4714

 To prohibit the distribution of false AI-generated election media and 
 to amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to prohibit the 
  removal of names from voting rolls using unverified voter challenge 
                               databases.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                July 11 (legislative day, July 10), 2024

 Mr. Merkley (for himself, Mr. Padilla, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Welch, and Mr. 
  Whitehouse) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
         referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To prohibit the distribution of false AI-generated election media and 
 to amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to prohibit the 
  removal of names from voting rolls using unverified voter challenge 
                               databases.

    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 ``Fraudulent Artificial Intelligence 
Regulations (FAIR) Elections Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON FALSE AI-GENERATED ELECTION MEDIA.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Applicable federal election.--The term ``applicable 
        Federal election'' means any general, primary, runoff, or 
        special election held solely or in part for the purpose of 
        nominating or electing a candidate for the office of President, 
        Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, 
        Member of the House of Representatives, or Delegate or 
        Commissioner from a Territory or possession.
            (2) Election official.--The term ``election official'' 
        means any individual legally authorized to perform duties in 
        connection with an applicable Federal election, including 
        workers, volunteers, poll workers, and authorized poll 
        observers.
            (3) False ai-generated election media.--The term ``false 
        AI-generated election media'' means text. image, audio, or 
        video that--
                    (A) is the product of a computational process that 
                uses machine learning, natural language processing, 
                artificial intelligence techniques, or other 
                computational processing techniques of similar or 
                greater complexity; and
                    (B) either--
                            (i) contains materially false information 
                        relating to--
                                    (I) the time, place, or manner of 
                                holding any applicable Federal 
                                election; or
                                    (II) the qualifications for or 
                                restrictions on voter eligibility for 
                                any such election; or
                            (ii) falsely depicts an election official.
    (b) Prohibition.--Except as provided in subsection (c), a person 
may not--
            (1) knowingly distribute false AI-generated election media 
        described in subsection (a)(3)(B)(i) if such person--
                    (A) knows such media contains materially false 
                information described in such subsection; and
                    (B) has the purpose of impeding or preventing 
                another person from exercising the right to vote in an 
                applicable Federal election; or
            (2) knowingly distribute false AI-generated election media 
        described in subsection (a)(3)(B)(ii) if such person--
                    (A) knows the depiction of the election official in 
                such media is materially false; and
                    (B) has the intent to--
                            (i) intimidate or harass an election 
                        official; or
                            (ii) deter another person from exercising 
                        the right to vote in an applicable Federal 
                        election.
    (c) Inapplicability to Certain Entities.--This section shall not 
apply to the following:
            (1) A radio or television broadcasting station, a cable or 
        satellite television operator, programmer, or producer, or a 
        streaming service that broadcasts false AI-generated election 
        media prohibited by this section as part of a bona fide 
        newscast, news interview, news documentary, or on-the-spot 
        coverage of bona fide news events, if the broadcast clearly 
        acknowledges through content or a disclosure, in a manner that 
        can be easily heard or read by the average listener or viewer, 
        that the information contained in the media and described in 
        subsection (a)(2)(B) is false.
            (2) A regularly published newspaper, magazine, or other 
        periodical of general circulation, including an internet or 
        electronic publication, that routinely carries news and 
        commentary of general interest, and that publishes false AI-
        generated election media prohibited under this section, if the 
        publication clearly states that the information contained in 
        the media and described in subsection (a)(2)(B) is false.
    (d) Enforcement.--The Attorney General may bring a civil action 
against any person who violates subsection (b) in an appropriate United 
States District Court for such declaratory and injunctive relief 
(including a temporary restraining order, a permanent or temporary 
injunction, or other order).

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON REMOVAL OF NAMES FROM VOTING ROLLS USING 
              UNVERIFIED VOTER CHALLENGE DATABASES.

    (a) In General.--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. RESTRICTIONS ON REMOVAL OF VOTERS FROM OFFICIAL LISTS OF 
              VOTERS.

    ``(a) In General.--A State may not remove the name of any 
registrant from the official list of voters eligible to vote in 
elections for Federal office or take any action with respect to a voter 
eligibility challenge unless the registrant or voter is determined to 
be ineligible to vote based on--
            ``(1) source information received from governmental 
        entities and obtained by such entities in the course of 
        carrying out official actions or duties; and
            ``(2) source information approved by the Attorney General 
        as sufficient to protect the integrity and completeness of 
        voter registration lists.
    ``(b) Approval of Voter Information Data.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Attorney General, in consultation 
        with the Director of the National Institute of Standards and 
        Technology and the members of the Election Assistance 
        Commission, may approve source information under subsection 
        (a)(3) if such information meets the following requirements:
                    ``(A) The source information contains qualifying 
                data sets that allow the State match the individual 
                identified by the source information with an individual 
                on the official list of voters eligible to vote in 
                elections for Federal office.
                    ``(B) The source information is updated not less 
                than a monthly.
                    ``(C) The source information was not obtained in 
                violation of section 1030 of title 18, United States 
                Code (commonly known as the `Computer Fraud and Abuse 
                Act').
            ``(2) Qualifying data sets.--For purposes of paragraph 
        (1)(A), the term `qualifying data sets' means the following 
        sets of data with respect to an individual:
                    ``(A) Last name, first name, and full social 
                security number.
                    ``(B) Last name, first name, and driver's license 
                or other unique identifying number assigned by the 
                State.
                    ``(C) Last name, first name, last four digits of a 
                social security number, and date of birth.
                    ``(D) Last name, full social security number, and 
                date of birth.
    ``(c) Coordination With Other Methods.--Nothing in this section be 
construed to preclude--
            ``(1) the removal of names from official lists of voters on 
        a basis described in paragraph (3) (A) or (B) or (4)(A) of 
        section 8(a);
            ``(2) the removal of names from official lists of voters on 
        a basis described in section 8(c); or
            ``(3) correction of registration records pursuant to this 
        Act.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 8(a) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 
20507(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ``provide'' and inserting 
        ``subject to section 8A, provide''; and
            (2) in paragraph (4), by striking ``conduct'' and inserting 
        ``subject to section 8A, conduct''.

SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY.

    If any provision of this Act, or an amendment made by this Act, or 
the application of such provision to any person or circumstance, is 
held to be invalid, the remainder of this Act, or an amendment made by 
this Act, or the application of such provision to other persons or 
circumstances, shall not be affected.
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