U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), ranking member of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, along with Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), has introduced the Fraudulent Artificial Intelligence Regulations (FAIR) Elections Act.
The legislation aims to protect voters from the misuse of artificial intelligence to suppress voting and spread misinformation, particularly in the context of recent attacks on voting rights and election conspiracy theories promoted by the Trump Administration.
The FAIR Elections Act directly addresses the growing threat of AI-generated content designed to deceive voters. It bans the distribution of false AI-generated election content intended to prevent someone from voting, such as incorrect information about polling times, locations, or voter eligibility.
The bill also prohibits deepfakes targeting election officials and workers, aiming to shield them from harassment and abuse.
A key provision of the bill restricts the federal government from using tools that could lead to voter suppression. It specifically prohibits the comparison of federal personal data with state or local data to determine voter eligibility for federal elections.
This is a direct response to concerns about the Trump Administration’s use of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database, which critics say is error-prone and not designed for voter roll maintenance. At least 25 states have reportedly shared their voter data with the federal government for such checks, raising fears that eligible voters could be wrongly removed from the rolls.
“The strength of our democracy relies on our elections being safe, secure, and accessible,” said Senator Padilla. “As the use of AI spreads rapidly, we must ensure there are guardrails in place to prevent it from becoming a tool to suppress votes, spread disinformation, or purge eligible voters from the rolls.” Senator Merkley added, “The ballot box is the beating heart of democracy, and we must use every tool at our disposal to protect it.”
The bill also amends the National Voter Registration Act to ban voter roll removals unless a voter is proven ineligible using adequate and verified information. It grants voters the right to sue the federal government if they are wrongfully removed due to the use of federal databases like SAVE.
Additionally, it requires the Government Accountability Office to study the accuracy of such database checks and their impact on voter suppression.
The FAIR Elections Act is cosponsored by Senators Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.). It has garnered support from civil rights organizations including Public Citizen, Common Cause, and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
Craig Holman of Public Citizen stated, “The elections process is under attack… The FAIR Elections Act would provide valuable protections to the voter rolls and the electoral process itself.” Dan Vicuña of Common Cause emphasized the need for election laws to keep pace with digital age realities, noting that “bad actors are increasingly using new technologies like AI to mislead voters while flawed data systems put eligible Americans at risk of being wrongly removed from the rolls.”