Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2007
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2007 - Amends the federal criminal code to make it unlawful for anyone before or during a federal election to knowingly communicate, or attempt to communicate, false election-related information about that election, with the intent to prevent another person from exercising the right to vote.
Increases from one year to five years' imprisonment the criminal penalty for intimidation of voters.
Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review and, if appropriate, amend the federal sentencing guidelines and policy statements applicable to persons convicted of any offense under this Act.
Authorizes any person to report to the Attorney General false election information or intimidation of voters.
Requires the Attorney General, immediately after receiving such a report, to consider and review it and, if there is a reasonable basis to find that a violation has occurred, to: (1) undertake all effective measures necessary to provide correct information to voters affected by the false information; and (2) refer the matter to the appropriate federal and state authorities for criminal prosecution or civil action after the election.
Directs the Attorney General to study and report to Congress on the feasibility of providing such corrective information through public service announcements, the emergency alert system, or other forms of public broadcast.
Requires the Attorney General to establish a Voting Integrity Task Force to carry out the requirements of this Act with respect to any general, primary, run-off, or special election for federal office.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House amended" stage on June 25, 2007. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on June 26, 2007: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 110th Congress (2007-08), 460 of the 11,228 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.1 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) introduced it on March 1, 2007, and 60 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 60 Democrats.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on March 1, 2007, 7180 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 7063 days ago, on June 26, 2007.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 110th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2009 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers