House Passes Bill to Allow for Congressional Election Observers

The U.S. Capitol building in Washington on June 25, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The House overwhelmingly passed a bill on Sept. 25 requiring states to permit congressional observers to oversee elections for federal office.

The Confirmation Of Congressional Observer Access Act of 2024, or COCOA Act, passed 413–1. It now goes to President Joe Biden for his signature. The Senate passed the bill on Sept. 24 by unanimous consent, where there is no roll call, as no senators had objections to the measure.

While it is the responsibility of states to administer elections, Congress has the authority “to send congressional election observers to observe polling locations, any location where processing, scanning, tabulating, canvassing, recounting, auditing, or certifying voting results is occurring, or any other part of the process” related to a congressional election, according to the bill.

This is in accordance with Article I of the Constitution, part of which states, “Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties as each house may provide.”

The election observers would be appointed by the chairman and ranking member of the House Committee on House Administration and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration. The observers would be congressional staff members.

Under the bill, state and local election officials are allowed to remove congressional election observers if there is a reason to believe the official “has engaged in or imminently will engage in intimidation or deceptive practices prohibited by federal law, or in the disruption of voting, processing, scanning, tabulating, canvassing, or recounting of ballots, or the certification of results, a state or local election official may remove that observer from the area involved.”

An observer simply being present in any area in which a ballot is cast, processed, scanned, tabulated, canvassed, recounted, audited, or certified, including during pre- and post-election procedures and asking questions would not be enough of a reason to remove him or her, according to the bill.

While in attendance, observers are prohibited from handling any ballots or election equipment, whether voting or nonvoting, tabulating or nontabulating; interfering with voters; or otherwise interfering with the election administration process.

Under the legislation, the committee from which the observer was designated must be informed of the action within 24 hours. The appointer of the removed observer, whether a chairman or ranking member of the House or Senate committee, could also appoint a replacement congressional observer.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the White House to ask if it supports the bill.