Election Worker and Polling Place Protection Act
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Election Worker and Polling Place Protection Act
This bill expands criminal civil rights offenses involving interference with federally protected activities.
Current law prohibits the use of force or threat of force to injure, intimidate, or interfere with an individual because of that individual's participation in certain enumerated federally protected activities (e.g., voting or jury duty).
This bill broadens the scope of prohibited conduct to include violence or threat of harm to any person or property to injure, intimidate, or interfere with an individual because of that individual's participation in a federally protected activity.
Additionally, with respect to voting activities, the bill extends protection to an individual who participates in an election as an agent, contractor, or vendor. Current law already protects an individual who participates as a candidate, voter, poll watcher, or election official.
Finally, the bill establishes new offenses involving physical damage to or threats to physically damage a polling place, tabulation center, or other election infrastructure.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on October 4, 2021. 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 October 4, 2021: 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 Senate
- Passage by the House
- 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 117th Congress (2021-22), 362 of the 15,242 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 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?
Jon Ossoff (D-GA) introduced it on October 4, 2021. No cosponsors are recorded.
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 October 4, 2021, 1802 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 1802 days ago, on October 4, 2021.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 117th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2023 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
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers