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FBI outlines what constitutes a federal election crime

FBI Cincinnati
Posted

While local and state law enforcement officials are largely responsible for enforcing election laws, the FBI said it could get involved in many circumstances.

Those include when:

  • A ballot includes one or more Federal candidates
  • Election or polling place officials abuse their office
  • The conduct involves false voter registration
  • The crime is motivated by hostility toward protected minority groups
  • The activity violates federal campaign finance law

If one of the above criteria is met, the following would be a violation of federal election law:

  • Giving false information when registering to vote
  • Voting more than once
  • Changing ballot markings or otherwise tampering with ballots
  • Vote buying
  • Threatening voters with physical or financial harm
  • Intentionally lying about the time, manner, or place of an election to prevent qualified voters from voting
  • Political fundraising by federal employees
  • Campaign contributions above legal limits
  • Conduit contributions/straw donor schemes
  • Contributions from foreign or other prohibited sources
  • Use of campaign funds for personal or unauthorized purposes

The FBI said the following do not violate federal law:

  • Giving voters rides to the polls or time off to vote
  • Offering voters a stamp to mail a ballot
  • Making false claims about oneself or another candidate
  • Forging or faking nominating petitions
  • Campaigning too close to polling places
  • Honest mistakes by poll workers
  • Lack of immediate election results while ballots are counted

The FBI offered the following advice to voters before heading to the polls:

  • Know when, where, and how you will vote.
  • Seek out election information from trustworthy sources, verify who produced the content, and consider their intent.
  • Report potential election crimes—such as disinformation about the manner, time, or place of voting—to the FBI.
  • If appropriate, make use of in-platform tools offered by social media companies for reporting suspicious posts that appear to be spreading false or inconsistent information about voting and elections.
  • Research individuals and entities to whom you are making political donations. If something seems suspicious, reconsider the donation.