Sec. 6. Voter protection and security in automatic registration
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An individual shall not be prosecuted under any Federal or State law, adversely affected in any civil adjudication concerning immigration status or naturalization, or subject to an allegation in any legal proceeding that the individual is not a citizen of the United States for any of the following reasons: The individual notifies an election office of the individual’s automatic registration to vote. The individual is not eligible to vote in elections for Federal office but was automatically registered to vote due to individual or applicable agency error.
The individual was automatically registered to vote at an address that is not the correct residential address of the individual. The individual declined the opportunity to register to vote or did not make an affirmation of citizenship when registering to vote, including through automatic registration. The automatic registration (as defined in section 5A of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993) of any individual, or the fact that an individual declined the opportunity to register to vote or did not make an affirmation of citizenship (including through automatic registration), may not be used as evidence against that individual in any State or Federal law enforcement proceeding or any civil adjudication concerning immigration status or naturalization, and the lack of knowledge or willfulness of the individual in such registration may be demonstrated by the testimony of the individual alone.
Nothing in subsection
(a)or
(b)shall be construed to prohibit or restrict any action under color of law against an individual who— knowingly and willfully makes a false statement to effectuate or perpetuate automatic voter registration by any individual; or casts a ballot knowingly and willfully in violation of State law or the laws of the United States. Each State shall maintain for at least 2 years, and shall make available for public inspection (and, where available, photocopying at a reasonable cost), including in electronic form and through electronic methods, all records of changes to voter records, including removals, the reasons for removals, and updates. Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, in consultation with State and local election officials representing geographic and socio-economic diversity, and the Election Assistance Commission, shall, after providing the public with notice and the opportunity to comment— establish standards governing the comparison of data for voter registration list maintenance purposes, identifying as part of those standards the specific data elements, the matching rules used, and how a State may use the data to determine and deem that an individual is ineligible under State law to vote in an election, or to deem a record to be a duplicate or outdated; ensure that the standards developed under this paragraph are uniform and nondiscriminatory and are applied in a uniform and nondiscriminatory manner; not later than 45 days after the deadline for public notice and comment; publish the standards developed under this paragraph on the website of the National Institute of Standards and Technology; and make the standards developed under this paragraph available in written form upon request; and ensure that the standards developed under this paragraph are maintained and updated in a manner that reflects innovations and best practices in the security of database management. Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall, after providing the public with notice and the opportunity to comment, publish privacy and security standards for voter registration information not later than 45 days after the deadline for public notice and comment. The standards developed under this paragraph shall require the chief State election official of each State to adopt a policy that shall specify— each class of users who have authorized access to the computerized statewide voter registration list— specifying for each class the permission and levels of access to be granted; and setting forth other safeguards to protect the privacy, security, and accuracy of the information on voter registration lists; and security safeguards to protect personal information transmitted through— the information transmittal processes of section 5A(b) of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993; any telephone interface; the maintenance of the voter registration database; and any audit procedure to track access to the system. The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall ensure that the standards developed under this paragraph are maintained and updated in a manner that reflects innovations and best practices in the privacy and security of voter registration information. Each chief State election official of the State shall annually file with the Election Assistance Commission a statement certifying to the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology that the State is in compliance with the standards developed under paragraphs
(2)and (3), which requirement may be met if the chief State election official submits to the Election Assistance Commission a statement that states, _____ hereby certifies that _____ is in compliance with the standards referred to in paragraphs
(2)and
(3)of section 6(d) of the , with the blank spaces to be completed with the name of the relevant State. Register America to Vote Act of 2023 . The chief State election official of a State shall— publish on the website of the chief State election official the policies and procedures established under this section; and make those policies and procedures available in written form upon public request. If a State does not timely file the certification required under subparagraph (A), it shall not receive any payment under this Act for the upcoming fiscal year in which the State fails to make such certification. In the case of a State that requires State legislation to carry out an activity covered by any certification submitted under this paragraph— for a period of not more than 2 years, the State shall be permitted to make the certification notwithstanding that the legislation has not been enacted on the date on which the State submits the certification; and the State shall submit an additional certification once such legislation is enacted. No person acting under color of law may discriminate against any individual based on, or use for any purpose other than voter registration, election administration, juror selection, or enforcement relating to an election crime, any of the following: Voter registration records. The declination of an individual to register to vote or complete an affirmation of citizenship under section 5A of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. The voter registration status of an individual. Information collected under this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall not be used for commercial purposes. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit the transmission, exchange, or dissemination of information for political purposes, including the support of campaigns for election for Federal, State, or local public office or the activities of political committees (including committees of political parties) under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 ( 52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq. ).
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Sec. 6
Voter protection and security in automatic registration
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