| Summary |
The bill creates the Freedom From Intimidation In Elections Act,
which prohibits any individual from intimidating, threatening, or coercing
or attempting to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any individual for:
•
Voting or attempting to vote;
•
Urging or aiding any individual to vote or attempt to vote;
•
Exercising any powers or duties to administer elections,
including vote counting, canvassing, and election
certification; or
•
The individual's status as a past or present participant in the
administration of elections.
The bill specifies that an individual who carries a visible firearm,
imitation firearm, or toy firearm while interacting with or observing any
of the specified election-related activities is presumed, in the absence of
any affirmative showing to the contrary, to have engaged in intimidation
prohibited by the bill.
An aggrieved individual, an election official, a designated election
official, the secretary of state, or the attorney general may enforce the
provisions of the bill. A suit brought by an election official, a designated
election official, the secretary of state, or the attorney general does not
preclude a contemporaneous private suit by an aggrieved individual to
enforce the provisions of the bill.
In a suit to enforce the provisions of the bill, a court may grant
relief enjoining the use or carrying of firearms by a defendant beyond the
areas defined in current law. To prevail in a suit to enforce the provisions
of the bill, a plaintiff is not required to prove that a defendant intended to
intimidate, threaten, or coerce any individual, except to prove an attempt
to intimidate, threaten, or coerce.
|
