House Passes Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act

June 25, 2007

The House has passed the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act, H.R. 1281, which would prohibit and punish deceptive practices that aim to keep voters away from the polls on Election Day. This bill protects every American citizen's right to vote by making voter deception, for the first time, a crime, by increasing the penalty for voter intimidation, and by calling upon the Justice Department to correct and prevent misinformation campaigns.

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Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement upon passage:

"The right to vote is the very foundation of our democracy. More than 40 years ago, the Voting Rights Act guaranteed millions of Americans an equal opportunity to participate in the electoral process. Unfortunately, the problems with voting in the last four election cycles have many Americans concerned their voices will not be heard.
"In recent elections, voter suppression tactics using misinformation and deception targeted at minority voters have persisted. Disenfranchising voters through deception about time, place, or eligibility for voting must be illegal.
"House Democrats are committed to protecting the right of every American to vote and to restore confidence in our electoral system.
"That is why we are working in Congress on comprehensive election reform -- from the voter-verified paper trail bill, to legislation that prohibits disruptive robocalls in the middle of the night without attribution, and today's legislation to end voter suppression and deceptive practices."

Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel, who sponsored the bill, speaks in favor of the bill:

Rep. Emanuel:

"They intimidated voters, using leaflets to falsify voting places, days of voting, what information was required to vote. Phone calls had been used. All typess of information to basically dissuade Americans from exercising their right to vote. That used to be, through the 60's, the early 50's, the 40's, the 30's, etc, that was the voice of our state governments and apparatus. To intimidate voters. That insane act of intimidation in communities across America and in neighborhoods, that baton had been passed to state parties, who are doing the same thing, suppressing peoples' right to exercise their right to vote."

Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, who helped pass the bill through committee, speaks in favor of the bill:

Chairman Conyers:

"Obviously, there is no more important issue that comes before this Congress than protecting the right to vote. It is the cornerstone right of our democracy. Without it, all other rights and privileges enjoyed by us are in jeopardy. Protecting this right, however, has not been an easy task. Historically it was not until passage of the 1965 Voter Rights Act that we began to accord the highest meaning to that right. Less than 40 years later, however, we endured the debacle of the Florida 2000 Presidential Election. And the problems continue. In the most recent midterm and presidential elections, we learned of numerous incidents which -- in which deceptive practices were used to thwart and frustrate citizens from exercising the right to vote."