JK 1876 El 73-170 A R Jisc. publiCation U FEDERAL AND STATE PROVISIONS CONCERNING . ELECTION CRIMES, OFFENSES, AND CORRUPT PRACTICES . A?. <7 3 ^" ') y/it r Ilei /! f It" 1 _A r t jr d ' SANTA BARBARA .. r , ; i <: Y +.. Y. r 4 19 E74 f FEB 3 '41 DEPT 1/ GOVT. PUBLtCAIONS // r f . .- T. r " 7 r b e " L r JACK H. MASKELL Legislative Attorney I American Law Division 4 September 1, 1973 vi '6. y s, 7 .. I v1 lb TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Introduction.................................................. 1 Alabama ..................................................... 6 Alaska ...................................................... 11 Arizona....................................................... 13 Arkansas...................................................... 20 California.................................................... 22 Colorado...................................................... 27 Connecticut................................................... 30 Delaware...................................................... 34 Florida....................................................... 37 Georgia...................................................... 44 Hawaii........................................................ 47 Idaho......................................................... 49 Illinois...................................................... 50 Indiana....................................................... 52 Iowa ............................................................ 60 Kansas ......... ............................................. 64 Kentucky ................................................ ... .69 Louisiana..................................................... 7) Maine ............................................. ...... 76 Maryland ....................................................... 81 Massachusetts .............................................. 87 Michigan...................................................... 97 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS (contd) Page Minnesota...................................................... 105 Mississippi................................................... 112 Missouri...................................................... 116 Montana.......................................................122 Nebraska......................................................128 Nevada........................................................137 New Hampshire ................................................ 138 New Jersey .................................................. 145 New Mexico .................................................. 154 New York .................................................... 158 North Carolina .............................................. 165 North Dakota ................................................ 169 Ohio..........................................................174 Oklahoma......................................................184 Oregon........................................................189 Pennsylvania..................................................195 Rhode Island................................................. 200 South Carolina ............................................... 202 South Dakota ......................... ........................ .204 Tennessee ................................................... 209 Texas.........................................................213 Utah........................................................ 226 Vermont.......................................................232 Virginia .................................................... 235 Washington............................-.--...... -.-.. 239 / iii TABLE OF CONTENTS (contd) Page West Virginia................................................ 244 Wisconsin.....................................................250 Wyoming.......................................................260 Federal Statutes ............................................. 264 FEDERAL AND STATE PROVISIONS CONCERNING ELECTION CRIMES, OFFENSES, AND CORRUPT PRACTICES Introduction A. Fraudulent Voting and Registration. Generally, the Federal law and the laws of every state have some provi- sion which prohibits fraudulent registration and fraudulent voting. The prohibi- tion against fraudulent registration is usually accomplished by an outright prohi- bition against ones registering without the requisite qualifications. Otherwise, fraudulent registration is prohibited by statutes concerning false swearing, giving of false information, or by specifying the general qualifications for registering and a general penalty for violation of the provisions of the election code. Ad- ditionally, many states specifically prohibit an attempt to register fraudulently, dual registration, and aiding, abetting, or counselling another to register fraud- ulently. As in registration, every state and the Federal law have some provision which would work to prohibit fraudulent or illegal voting. As far as the informa- tion available at this time demonstrates, every state has a statute which specific- ally prohibits fraudulent or illegal voting except Idaho which repealed its crim- inal law prohibiting fraudulent voting, effective January 1, 1972. Idaho does have statutes, however, which prohibit the giving of false information pertaining to one's qualifications to register and a provision which states that to vote, one must be registered according to law. Similarly, the Federal law does not specifically prohibit fraudulent voting, but does prohibit the giving of false information to procure registration. As to statutes which prohibit voting in more than one state, certain state statutes do specifically mention residents of other states voting in their 2 CRS-2 elections. Florida Statutes Annotated, in section 104.181, and in the 1972-1973 Supplement thereto, states that it is "unlawful for any person to vote in any ...election in the state within one year of the time such person has voted in any election in any other state or country in which residence in such state or country at the time of the election there was a necessary qualification to such persons' right to vote there." This provision does not apply to new residents voting in the presidential election. Indiana Statutes Annotated, section 3-1-32-13, states that "Whoever passes from any other state into this state, and votes or attempts to vote at any voting precinct or ward of this state, not being at the time a bona fide resident of such voting precinct or ward, shall be guilty of a felony." New York Consoli- dated Laws, title 17, sec. 436(f) prohibits similar conduct of one being an inhab- itant of another state voting or attempting to vote in New York. Similarly, Ne- braska Revised Statutes, section 32-1204 provides penalty for a resident of another state voting in Nebraska. Kentucky in section 124.150, provides for the same. Missouri Annotated Statutes, section 129.460 prohibits any person from bringing into Missouri any person or persons resident in another state, "with the intent that such person so imported shall vote at any election within this state before they possess the requisite qualifications." New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated, section 54:11 provides that any person who has already voted in any other state will be considered to have chosen that state as his residence and will be disqualified to vote until he has gained a new residence. In addition to the general prohibition against voting within the state when one is not qualified, many states specifically prohibit an attempt to vote fraudulently, dual voting within the state, and aiding or counselling one to fraudulently vote. - - -- - - - ., - I-- - -- --"- - - -, -- - -, - ---- - , -- - - - - ---- ---- -- - - - ---- - -0 -, , - 0111151M CRS-3 B. Campaign Financing This survey deals specifically with four provisions concerning cam- paign financing. Reporting requirements, expenditure limitations, regulations on contributions, and the enumeration of lawful expenditures. 1. Reporting of Contributions and Expenditures 1/ At the present time, the election laws in all but eight states requires some reporting from, or on behalf of candidates for Federal and/or state offices. The state laws vary as to whether they are applicable to all candidates for elec- tive office, or only to state candidates or state political committees. The ma- jority of the states require reporting by candidates and committees of contribu- tions and expenditures over a certain amount, and a designation of the purposes of the expenditures. The requirement of the state laws also vary as to whether both a candidate and a committee must file, and as to whether the candidate and/or of committee must file a report of both contributions and expenditures, or only one these items. 2. Expenditure Limitations The items covered under expenditure limitations include overall limita- tions on campaign expenditures and selected restrictions on certain types of ex- jenditures or by specified persons or groups. Twenty-five states and the Federal 2/ law have provisions concerning expenditure limitations. The state laws which have such limitations vary as to whether they are applicable to candidates for Federal office. In any event, if such state restrictions are in conflict with the Federal provisions, a candidate for Federal office may spend up to the limit desig- nated in the Federal law by the provisions of the 1971 Federal Election Campaign Act: _Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Nevada, North Dakota, Rhode Island. 2/Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas,