Freedom from Intimidation in Elections Act

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.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)