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1 1 (July 19, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/govemge0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Con re &on I flesedrch Service horning Aecj have IeIa~ 'e 914 0 July 19, 2023 H.R. 4563, the American Confidence in Elections (ACE) Act H.R. 4563, the American Confidence in Elections (ACE) Act, proposes substantial changes to federal election administration and campaign finance law. The Committee on House Administration (CHA) ordered the bill to be reported, as amended, on July 13, 2023. CHA and its Subcommittee on Elections held a series of hearings in the 118th Congress leading up to introduction of the bill, including a joint hearing with the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability: * CHA Subcommittee on Elections, 2022 Midterms Look Back Series: Successes in the 2022 Midterm Elections, March 10, 2023; * CHA Subcommittee on Elections, 2022 Midterms Look Back Series: Election Observer Access, March 23, 2023; * CHA, 2022 Midterms Look Back Series: Government Voter Suppression in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, March 28, 2023; * CHA, American Confidence in Elections: State Tools to Promote Voter Confidence, April 27, 2023; * CHA, American Confidence in Elections: Protecting Political Speech, May 11, 2023; * CHA Subcommittee on Elections, American Confidence in Elections: Ensuring Every Eligible American has the Opportunity to Vote and for their Vote to Count According to Law, May 24, 2023; * CHA and House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, American Confidence in Elections: The Path to Election Integrity in the District of Columbia, June 7, 2023; * CHA, American Confidence in Elections: The Role of the Election Assistance Commission in Free, Fair, and Secure Elections, June 14, 2023; and * CHA, American Confidence in Elections: The Path to Election Integrity Across America, July 10, 2023. A version of this legislation introduced in the 117th Congress (H.R. 8528) did not advance beyond introduction. In the 116th and 117th Congresses, under the previous majority, another broad-based elections bill-the For the People Act of 2019 (H.R. 1) and 2021 (H.R. 1)-was introduced and passed by the House. This In Focus provides an overview of the version of the ACE Act in the 118th Congress. For a similar overview of the 117th Congress version of the For the People Act, see CRS In Focus IFi1097, H.R. 1 and S. 1: Overview and Related CRS Products, coordinated by R. Sam Garrett. Major Provisions The following subsections summarize some of the major provisions of the ACE Act. Congressional clients may contact the authors of this In Focus for more information. Election Administration There are two sections of the ACE Act that each address a range of elections issues. First, one section of the bill would direct the U.S. Election Assistance Commission's (EAC's) Standards Board and Local Leadership Council (LLC) to issue voluntary considerations for states about various aspects of election administration, from voter registration list maintenance to mail voting to post-election audits. The EAC was created by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) to help state and local officials improve election administration and voters participate in the electoral process. Its Standards Board and LLC are advisory bodies made up of state and local election officials and of local election officials, respectively. Second, another section would set various requirements for the administration of elections in the District of Columbia (DC). That section would codify or establish requirements for voter identification in DC elections; voter registration deadlines and list maintenance; election results reporting; provisional voting; post-election audits; election observer access; early voting; and mail ballot deadlines, drop boxes, transmission, collection, and signature verification. It would also prohibit DC from permitting noncitizens to vote in its elections or using ranked choice voting. Some aspects of election administration covered by those two sections of the bill are also a focus of other sections. Issues that appear in multiple other provisions include the following: * Election systems and security. The EAC, with support from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), issues voluntary federal guidelines for voting systems and oversees testing and certification of systems to the guidelines. The ACE Act would direct the EAC to issue similar guidelines for nonvoting election systems, such as electronic poll books, and NIST to report on its work supporting the EAC. The bill would also explicitly authorize use of certain HAVA funding for specified post-election audits and provide for information-sharing about election security threats, voluntary testing of election systems for cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and a study of domestic production of voting equipment. * Noncitizen voting. Noncitizens are prohibited by federal law from voting in federal elections; that prohibition does not extend to state and local elections, and some localities allow noncitizens to vote in local contests. The ACE Act would require those localities or

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