On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) joined U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) in introducing the Preventing Foreign Interference in American Elections Act which seeks to prevent foreign nationals from improperly influencing American elections. The bill will prohibit Chinese, Iranian and other foreign nationals from funneling money through a complicated web of entities to tip the scales in elections in Wyoming and across the country.
“Elections in our country should be decided by the American people, not foreign nationals trying to sway the outcome by funneling money to candidates or ballot harvesting initiatives,” said Lummis. “I’m proud to join my colleagues in introducing this commonsense legislation to safeguard our elections from foreign interference and give the power back to the American people.”
The legislation is supported by some of the leading election integrity organizations including, the Honest Elections Project, the Heritage Foundation and Americans for Public Trust.
The Preventing Foreign Interference in American Elections Act:
· Prevents circumvention of the ban on “indirect” election-related contributions by foreign nationals by expressly covering any donation with an express or implied instruction (including involving intermediaries or conduits) that results in the donation being used for prohibited U.S. election-related activity.
· Prohibits foreign-national contributions for ballot harvesting, get-out-the-vote activity, public communications that promote a political party or “Zuckerbucks”-type election administration activity.
· Bars foreign nationals from donating in connection with state ballot initiatives.
· Prohibits overbroad investigations or pretextual government collection or disclosure of Americans’ nonprofit donor information for the purpose of intimidation or chilling Americans’ free-speech rights.
Full text of the Preventing Foreign Interference in American Elections Act can be found here.
