Proposal would bar intimidation tied to federal election duties

A person would be barred from intimidating, threatening, or coercing someone for performing federal election duties or because of their current or past role. It covers people administering federal elections, including vote counting, canvassing, and certification, and people carrying out Election Assistance Commission duties.

In certain lawsuits, a visible firearm, imitation firearm, or antique firearm would create a presumption that a person violated an election intimidation rule. For voter intimidation cases, the firearm must be visible while the person interacts with or observes someone voting, helping a voter, or performing specified election duties. For election worker cases, it must be visible while the person interacts with or observes someone administering elections or because of that person's current or past role. The presumption would apply unless the person showed otherwise by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning their evidence made it more likely than not that they did not violate the rule. State and local officers acting within their official duties would not face the presumption, but a court could still consider their firearm. National Guard members would not be exempt.

A court could grant relief in a lawsuit about voter or election worker intimidation, including reasonable temporary limits on a defendant carrying firearms. The lawsuit must seek to enforce the voter or election worker intimidation rules. The court would decide what relief is appropriate.