H.R. 1474 – Strengthening Elections Through Intelligence Act

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Updated April 14, 2026 at 2:23 AM UTC

The Strengthening Elections Through Intelligence Act would require the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to deliver a comprehensive threat assessment before every regularly scheduled federal election. The assessment must identify risks to election infrastructure—including cyber threats from foreign states and terrorist groups—and suggest ways to mitigate them. The information is sent to state election officials and key congressional committees, helping them prepare for and protect upcoming elections.

Key Provisions

The DNI must submit the assessment no later than 180 days before each general election for federal office.
The assessment must cover the full range of threats to election infrastructure and include mitigation recommendations.
Copies of the assessment are sent to each state's chief election official, the House Homeland Security and Administration committees, and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Rules, and Administration committees, plus any other appropriate committees.
If new threat information emerges, the DNI must issue an updated assessment promptly.
The law takes effect for the November 2020 election and all subsequent federal elections.

Legislative Activity

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1 earlier action

HouseIntro Referral Latest Action

Referred to the House Committee on Intelligence (Permanent Select).

Intelligence (Permanent Select) Committee

February 28, 2019

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HouseIntro Referral

Introduced in House

February 28, 2019

HouseIntro Referral

Referred to the House Committee on Intelligence (Permanent Select).

Intelligence (Permanent Select) Committee

February 28, 2019

Bill Text

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Introduced in HouseIssued February 28, 2019

I

116th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 1474

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

February 28, 2019

Ms. Spanberger introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

A BILL

To require the Director of National Intelligence to submit a pre-election threat assessment prior to each regularly scheduled general election for Federal office, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Strengthening Elections Through Intelligence Act.

2.

Pre-election threat assessments

(a)

Submission of assessment by DNI

Not later than 180 days before the date of each regularly scheduled general election for Federal office, the Director of National Intelligence shall submit an assessment of the full scope of threats to election infrastructure, including cybersecurity threats posed by state actors and terrorist groups, and recommendations to address or mitigate the threats, as developed by the Secretary and Chairman, to—

(1)

the chief State election official of each State;

(2)

the Committees on Homeland Security and House Administration of the House of Representatives and the Committees on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Rules and Administration of the Senate; and

(3)

any other appropriate congressional committees.

(b)

Updates to initial assessments

If, at any time after submitting an assessment with respect to an election under subsection (a), the Director of National Intelligence determines that the assessment should be updated to reflect new information regarding the threats involved, the Director shall submit a revised assessment under such subsection.

(c)

Definitions

In this section, the following definitions apply:

(1)

The term Chairman means the chair of the Election Assistance Commission.

(2)

The term chief State election official means, with respect to a State, the individual designated by the State under section 10 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20509) to be responsible for coordination of the State’s responsibilities under such Act.

(3)

The term election infrastructure means storage facilities, polling places, and centralized vote tabulation locations used to support the administration of elections for public office, as well as related information and communications technology, including voter registration databases, voting machines, electronic mail and other communications systems (including electronic mail and other systems of vendors who have entered into contracts with election agencies to support the administration of elections, manage the election process, and report and display election results), and other systems used to manage the election process and to report and display election results on behalf of an election agency.

(4)

The term Secretary means the Secretary of Homeland Security.

(5)

The term State has the meaning given such term in section 901 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21141).

(d)

Effective date

This Act shall apply with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for Federal office held in November 2020 and each succeeding regularly scheduled general election for Federal office.