Sponsors (35)
The bill strengthens federal tools to detect, correct, and punish deceptive election practices—helping protect voters and vulnerable communities—but expands federal enforcement, reporting, and criminal penalties in ways that could chill speech, raise privacy and resource concerns, and provoke state–federal conflicts.
All eligible voters: receive more accurate, corrected information about when, where, and how to vote (including prohibitions on fake polling places), reducing the risk of being misled before Federal elections.
Racial, ethnic, and language-minority communities: gain stronger protections and visibility against targeted deceptive practices that have historically suppressed turnout.
Voters and the election process: the bill prohibits use of AI and other synthetic means to produce false election information intended to suppress voting, reducing risk from deceptive synthetic content.
Speakers, publishers, and political advocates: face criminal and civil penalties for communicating false information near elections, risking a chilling effect on lawful political speech and public debate.
State and local election officials: may view expanded DOJ corrective communications and notification duties as federal intrusion into state-managed elections, increasing state–federal tension and legal disputes.
Individuals and small actors: could face severe criminal penalties (fines and up to 1 year imprisonment) for ambiguous or minor misinformation incidents, raising risks of disproportionate punishment.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Introduced August 5, 2025 by Jennifer McClellan · Last progress August 5, 2025
Makes it a federal offense and a civil violation to intentionally communicate materially false information about when, where, how to vote or about voter eligibility/registration in federal elections within 60 days of the election, and bans using artificial intelligence to generate such false communications with intent to impede voting. It authorizes the Attorney General to publicly correct false information when local or state officials have not done so, requires post-election DOJ reports on deceptive-practice allegations, expands who may sue and who counts as an aggrieved person, and explicitly bars paying people to refrain from voting. The measure also extends protections against intimidation to people processing, scanning, tabulating, canvassing, or certifying ballots and election results.