New Federal Law Criminalizes Intentional Election Lies and AI Disinformation within 60 Days of a Vote

If you’re a busy person trying to navigate the mess of information around election time, this bill is a big deal. The Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2025 is essentially the federal government saying, “We’re drawing a hard line against election lies intended to stop people from voting.” It creates new federal crimes and civil penalties specifically targeting the spread of false information about when, where, or how to vote, especially in the crucial two months leading up to a federal election.

The 60-Day Disinformation Lockdown

This legislation focuses on making it illegal to communicate information that you know is materially false, if your intent is to stop someone from voting. This new rule kicks in 60 days before any federal election—Presidential, Senate, or House. For example, if someone texts a neighborhood that the polling place has moved across town, knowing that’s a lie, and their goal is to suppress the vote, that’s now a federal crime (SEC. 3).

Crucially, the bill doesn't just target old-school flyers; it specifically calls out AI-generated election lies. If you use generative AI systems (like deepfakes or fake text generators) to create and spread materially false election information within that 60-day window, intending to stop someone from voting, you face the same penalties: a fine and up to one year in prison (SEC. 3). This is the government trying to get ahead of the curve on new technology being used for voter suppression, recognizing that a sophisticated deepfake video telling people to vote on the wrong day could cause chaos.

Empowering Citizens and Election Officials to Fight Back

One of the biggest practical changes here is who gets to sue. Previously, fighting voter suppression often relied on government action. This bill grants private rights of action, meaning if you are targeted by these deceptive communications, you can sue the person or group responsible in federal court for an injunction to stop the behavior and recover your attorney’s fees (SEC. 3). This gives everyday citizens and civil rights groups a direct tool to fight disinformation in real-time.

Even more interesting, the bill gives election officials—the local clerks and workers who run the polls—the right to sue people who intimidate voters or mess with the process at or near polling places (SEC. 6). If you're a poll worker, this is a huge boost; it gives you legal standing to defend your site against threats or harassment, treating you as an “aggrieved person” under the law.

The Federal Fact-Checker Steps In

What happens if a major lie about the election starts spreading rapidly and local officials can’t keep up? This bill tasks the Attorney General (AG) with stepping in. If the AG gets a credible report of widespread, materially false information and decides state or local officials “have not done enough to quickly correct it,” the AG must issue a public correction (SEC. 4). This correction must be objective, only include information necessary to fix the lie, and must be distributed in a way that reaches the people who heard the false information.

This is a powerful new authority for the Department of Justice. While the bill mandates that the AG’s action must be objective and non-partisan, the decision on whether local officials have “done enough” is subjective, giving the AG significant discretion. This means the federal government now has the final say on correcting widespread election disinformation, which could be a rapid defense against foreign interference but also raises questions about centralized authority over election messaging.

Protecting the People Who Count the Votes

Finally, the bill addresses the growing problem of intimidation aimed at election workers after the ballots are cast. It amends the National Voter Registration Act to explicitly make it a crime to intimidate anyone involved in processing, tallying, canvassing, or certifying election results (SEC. 7). This means the people working late nights to ensure your vote is counted—the election officials, the canvassers, the certification board members—are now explicitly protected under federal law against intimidation, recognizing that the threat to democracy doesn't end when the polls close.