[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 19 (Wednesday, January 31, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1428-S1430]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. OBAMA (for himself, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Cardin, 
        Mr. Feingold, Mr. Kerry, Mrs. Feinstein, Mrs. Clinton, Mrs. 
        Boxer, and Mr. Kennedy):
  S. 453. A bill to prohibit deceptive practices in Federal elections; 
to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. OBAMA. Mr. President, I am pleased to introduce a bill today that 
seeks to address the all-too-common efforts to deceive voters in order 
to keep them away from the polls.
  It's hard to imagine that we even need a bill like this. But, 
unfortunately, there are people who will stop at nothing to try to 
deceive voters and keep them away from the polls. What's worse, these 
practices often target and exploit vulnerable populations, such as 
minorities, the disabled, or the poor.
  We saw countless examples in this past election. Some of us remember 
the thousands of Latino voters in Orange County, California, who 
received letters warning them in Spanish that, ``if you are an 
immigrant, voting in a federal election is a crime that can result in 
incarceration.''
  Or the voters in Maryland who received a ``democratic sample ballot'' 
featuring a Republican candidate for Governor and a Republican 
candidate for U.S. Senator.
  Or the voters in Virginia who received calls from a so-called 
``Virginia Elections Commission'' informing them--falsely--that they 
were ineligible to vote.
  Or the voters who were told that they couldn't vote if they had 
family members who had been convicted of a crime.
  Of course, these so-called warnings have no basis in fact, and are 
made with only one goal in mind--to keep Americans away from the polls. 
We see these problems year after year and election and after election, 
and my hope is that this bill will finally stop these practices in time 
for the next election.
  That is why I am reintroducing the Deceptive Practices and Voter 
Intimidation Prevention Act. It's a bill that makes voter intimidation 
and deception punishable by law, and it contains strong penalties so 
that people who commit these crimes suffer more than just a slap on the 
wrist. The bill also seeks to address the real harm of these crimes--
people who are prevented from voting by misinformation--by establishing 
a process for reaching out to these misinformed voters with accurate 
information so they can cast their votes in time.
  Senator Schumer has joined me in introducing this legislation, and we 
are joined by our colleagues, Senator Patrick Leahy, Chairman of the 
Judiciary Committee, and Senators Cardin, Feingold, Kerry, Feinstein 
and Clinton as original co-sponsors to this bill.
  There are some issues in this country that are inherently difficult 
and political. Making sure that every American can cast a ballot 
shouldn't be one of them. There is no place for politics in this 
debate--no room for those who feel that they can gain a partisan 
advantage by keeping people away from the polls. It's time to get this 
done in a bipartisan fashion, and I believe this bill can make it 
happen.
  I ask unanimous consent that a New York Times editorial from January 
31, 2007, be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the editorial was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                [From the New York Times, Jan. 31, 2007]

                          Honesty in Elections

       On Election Day last fall in Maryland, fliers were handed 
     out in black neighborhoods with the heading ``Democratic 
     Sample Ballot'' and photos of black Democratic leaders--and 
     boxes checked off beside the names of the Republican 
     candidates for senator and governor. They were a blatant 
     attempt to fool black voters into thinking the Republican 
     candidates were endorsed by black Democrats. In Orange 
     County, Calif., 14,000 Latino voters got letters in Spanish 
     saying it was a crime for immigrants to vote in a federal 
     election. It didn't say that immigrants who are citizens have 
     the right to vote.
       Dirty tricks like these turn up every election season, in 
     large part because they are so rarely punished. But two 
     Democratic senators, Barack Obama of Illinois and Charles 
     Schumer of New York, are introducing a bill today that would 
     make deceiving or intimidating voters a federal crime with 
     substantial penalties.
       The bill aims at some of the most commonly used deceptive 
     political tactics. It makes it a crime to knowingly tell 
     voters the wrong day for an election. There have been 
     numerous reports of organized efforts to use telephones, 
     leaflets or posters to tell voters, especially in minority 
     areas, not to vote on Election Day because voting has been 
     postponed.
       The bill would also criminalize making false claims to 
     voters about who has endorsed a candidate, or wrongly telling 
     people--like immigrants who are registered voters in Orange 
     County--that they cannot vote.
       Along with defining these crimes and providing penalties of 
     up to five years' imprisonment, the bill would require the 
     Justice Department to counteract deceptive election 
     information that has been put out, and to report to Congress 
     after each election on what deceptive practices occurred and 
     what the Justice Department did about them.
       The bill would also allow individuals to go to court to 
     stop deceptive practices while they are happening. That is 
     important, given how uninterested the current Justice 
     Department has proved to be in cracking down on election 
     season dirty tricks.
       The bill is careful to avoid infringing on First Amendment 
     rights, and that is the right course. But in steering clear 
     of regulating speech, it is not clear how effective the 
     measure would be in addressing one of the worst dirty tricks 
     of last fall's election: a particular kind of deceptive 
     ``robocall'' that was used against Democratic Congressional 
     candidates. These calls, paid for by the Republicans, sounded 
     as if they had come from the Democrat; when a recipient hung 
     up, the call was repeated over and over. The intent was 
     clearly to annoy the recipients so they would not vote for 
     the Democrat.
       While there are already laws that can be used against this 
     sort of deceptive telephone harassment, a more specific bill 
     aimed directly at these calls is needed. But the bill being 
     introduced today is an important step toward making elections 
     more honest and fair. There is no reason it should not be 
     passed by Congress unanimously.

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I rise today to join with Senator Obama 
in introducing landmark legislation to protect the most sacred right of 
our democracy: the right to vote. The Obama-Schumer Deceptive Practices 
and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2007 will end the deceptive 
practices that have become far too common in recent elections.
  At the outset, I want to commend my colleague from Illinois, Senator 
Obama, for his leadership on this important issue. It has been a great 
pleasure to work with him to draft this bill. I am also proud that we 
are joined by Senators Leahy, Cardin, Feingold, Kerry, Feinstein, and 
Clinton as original cosponsors of this legislation.
  We all know that there is an urgent need for this legislation. The 
right to vote is the wellspring of our democracy. Yet Americans have 
been profoundly shocked and disgusted in recent elections to see so 
many cynical attempts to lie to voters in order to keep them from 
casting their ballots.
  Let me give just a few examples. In last year's mid-term election, 
letters in Spanish were sent to voters in Orange County, CA, stating 
that it is a crime for an immigrant to vote. In fact, immigrants who 
are naturalized citizens have the right to vote just as any other 
American citizen does.
  In 2006, as well, fliers were handed out on election day in Maryland 
that gave the impression that top Republican candidates for office were 
Democratic candidates and were endorsed by prominent African Americans. 
These fliers were a clear and deliberate attempt to mislead voters.
  In Virginia, registered voters received recorded calls that falsely 
stated that the recipient of the call was registered in another State 
and would face criminal charges if they came to the polls.
  These dirty tricks are not new. In 2002, fliers were distributed in 
public housing complexes in Louisiana, telling people that they could 
cast their votes 3 days after election day if the weather was bad.
  These schemes insult the intelligence of those they target, and they 
insult our democracy. Yet they actually seem to be growing more common. 
The shameful reality is that today, Federal law does not prohibit 
wrongdoers from spreading these lies.
  It is high time for Congress to do something about this disgraceful 
state of affairs. The Obama-Schumer bill creates a new offense of voter 
deception. Under our legislation, anyone who intentionally lies to 
voters about certain key information will now face both civil penalties 
and criminal punishment of up to 5 years in prison or a $100,000 fine.
  The Obama-Schumer bill covers the facts that are most critical for 
reaching the polls--facts like where, when,

[[Page S1429]]

and how you can vote; whether you are eligible to vote; or whether an 
organization has actually endorsed a candidate. When voters are being 
misled about these core facts, the right to vote is nothing more than a 
hollow promise. It is a real threat to the right to vote when criminal 
elements are deliberately lying about something as basic--yet as 
important--as the date of the election. These types of lies are the 
poll taxes of today. They are being used to build a barrier around 
polling places and to disenfranchise voters in the most cynical and 
destructive way.
  Even when misinformation campaigns are not successful, because voters 
are too smart and too determined to reach the polls, these deceptive 
practices make a mockery out of the great tradition of American 
democracy. These despicable attempts have gone unpunished for far too 
long. The Obama-Schumer bill provides strong penalties to deter and 
punish the offense of voter deception.
  The Obama-Schumer bill will also increase the maximum penalty for 
voter intimidation from 1 year to 5 years in prison. Someone who tries 
to keep voters away from the polls with threats should not be released 
with a slap on the wrist, and our bill will create real penalties for 
this crime.
  Finally, our legislation also ensures that lies do not go unanswered 
and pass for truth. Under the Obama-Schumer bill, the Department of 
Justice will be responsible for getting the correct information out to 
voters so that they can get to the polls and cast their vote without 
undue confusion.
  As a check on whether elections are being tainted by these practices, 
after each election, the Attorney General will have to report to 
Congress about allegations of voter deception and how they were 
handled. We want to make sure that the Department of Justice uses the 
new tools that would be provided under this bill. The Attorney 
General's reports will give us a foundation for vigorous oversight.
  Let me also be clear about what this legislation does not do. Senator 
Obama and I have taken great care to craft a bill that will not run 
afoul of the first amendment or prevent Americans from expressing their 
political opinions. Our bill strikes a balance between the need for 
political debate and the fundamental right to vote. It is narrowly 
tailored: it applies only to activities within 60 days prior to an 
election, and it covers only the key facts that voters need to reach 
the polls and cast their votes without interference. This bill will not 
limit legitimate debate, and it will not punish honest mistakes. It is 
clear from the dirty tricks that America has witnessed in recent 
elections that the Congress has a compelling interest in protecting the 
right to vote by regulating false speech that disenfranchises voters. 
We have a responsibility to act on that interest for the sake of all 
Americans.
  The Obama-Schumer Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation 
Prevention Act of 2007 will finally criminalize efforts to keep voters 
away from the polls with deliberate lies. I hope and trust that the 
Congress will take up our bill and pass it without delay.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today, I join Senators Obama, Schumer, 
Cardin, Feinstein, Feingold, Clinton, and Kerry to introduce the 
Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2007, a 
measure that would create new protections and expand existing 
protections against the use of deceptive practices in elections.
  There are few things as critical to the fabric of our Nation, and to 
American citizenship, as voting. The right to vote and to have your 
vote count is a foundational right, like our first amendment rights, 
because it secures the effectiveness of other protections. The 
legitimacy of our government is dependent on the access all Americans 
have to the political process.
  We saw last year in nearly 20 hearings in the House and Senate on the 
reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act that there is a continuing 
need for the vital voting rights protections that landmark civil rights 
law provides for all Americans. But our need to protect the effective 
access of voters to the political process does not stop with those 
vital protections against discrimination. I am concerned about 
increasing efforts on behalf of some candidates and political parties 
to interfere with recent elections and undermine the participation of 
many voters. So today we take another step toward protecting the 
exercise of the effective exercise of voting rights by ensuring that 
the access to vote is not undermined by those who would take away that 
access through deceit and false information.
  The Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2007 
would provide additional tools and criminal penalties to help combat 
the kinds of practices used during the 2006 midterms in places like 
Maryland and Virginia. In Maryland, Republican leaders admitted to 
distributing misleading flyers in African-American communities on 
election day suggesting that prominent African-American Democrats 
supported Republican candidates. In Virginia, the FBI has investigated 
calls received by many voters in heavily Democratic precincts directing 
them to the wrong polling sites, giving incorrect information about 
their eligibility to vote, or encouraging them not to vote on election 
day. I supported a similar bill, S. 1975, in the last Congress, and I 
hope that we can move forward in this Congress.
  Regrettably, the problems leading up to and on election day last year 
were not limited to a few isolated incidents. In the ninth precinct in 
Tucson, AZ, an area with a heavy percentage of Latino voters, it has 
been reported that three vigilantes armed with a clipboard, a video 
camera, and a visible firearm stopped only Latino voters as they 
entered and exited the polls on election day, issuing implied and overt 
threats. In Orange County, CA, Republican congressional candidate Tan 
Nguyen admitted that his campaign staffer sent letters to 73,000 
households, spreading misinformation about voting requirements 
apparently designed to suppress Latino voter turnout.
  In letters to the Attorney General and other officials at the Justice 
Department and in oversight hearings last November and 2 weeks ago, we 
have asked the Justice Department for more information about what it 
has been doing to investigate and combat these practices. In the 
information we have obtained so far, it is apparent that the Justice 
Department has not done enough and additional tools are needed.
  The Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2007 
would expand the conduct currently prohibited by law to include the 
dissemination of false information within 60 days of an election about 
the time, place, and manner of the election, the qualifications for 
voter eligibility, or the sponsor of public communications about an 
election. In addition, it would provide new means of enforcing these 
prohibitions and combating such dissemination: it creates a private 
right of action for persons aggrieved by the dissemination of such 
false information; it provides criminal penalties for such false 
dissemination of up to 5 years and $100,000; and it provides that any 
person may report such false dissemination to the Attorney General, and 
if it is determined that such information is false or deliberately 
misleading, the Justice Department would be required to take action to 
provide corrective information. In addition, this bill provides an 
additional tool for effective oversight by requiring the Attorney 
General to report to Congress on allegations of the dissemination of 
false information within 90 days of an election.
  By passing this bill and enacting it into law, we can continue our 
march towards a more inclusive democracy for all Americans.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, it's a privilege to join Senator Obama 
and our other colleagues in sponsoring the Deceptive Practices and 
Voter Intimidation Prevention Act, because it addresses an essential 
aspect of voting rights. For too long, we've ignored the festering 
problem of deceptive practices intended to intimidate and deceive 
voters in our national elections and suppress the vote of certain 
minority groups for partisan gain. The problem is a continuing threat 
to our democracy, and it's up to our new Congress to outlaw such 
practices, and I commend the Senator from Illinois for his leadership 
on this basic challenge.
  In doing so, we must be vigilant to ensure that the bill does not 
erode the important division of responsibility in the Department of 
Justice between civil rights enforcement by the Civil Rights Division 
and the efforts by the Criminal Division to combat voter fraud. That 
division of responsibility is essential to convincing voters, 
particularly those in poor or minority communities to have the trust 
necessary to work with the Civil Rights Division and to inform it of 
possible civil rights violations. The bill should clearly provide that, 
as traditionally has been the case, the Voting Section of the Civil 
Rights Division may not investigate matters of voter fraud, although it

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may provide technical advice and assistance to other parts of the 
Department in carrying out the requirements of this legislation.
  We also need to guarantee that additional resources are appropriated 
to carry out the bill's requirements, so that resources will not be 
diverted from other important law enforcement activities of the 
Department.
  In addition, we must ensure that the bill's civil and criminal 
provisions are not misused to erode voter participation even further, 
particularly among poor and minority voters by wrongly targeting voter 
registration activities or chilling legitimate get-out-the-vote efforts 
by organizations serving the public interest.
  I look forward very much to working with my colleagues to deal with 
these specific issues, and to enact this important new measure as part 
of our fundamental responsibility to protect the most basic right in 
our democracy, the right to vote.
                                 ______