S 916: Safeguard Fair Elections Act

• Criminalizes voter intimidation, threats, and coercion as Class H felonies, and intimidation or coercion of election workers as Class A1 misdemeanors, with civil rights of action available to aggrieved persons.

• Establishes automatic resignation from office and Class 1 misdemeanor penalties (up to $10,000 fine) for public officials who refuse to certify actual election results without substantial evidence.

• Restricts post-election audits to those conducted by nonpartisan officials using statistically sound methodology, and requires risk-limiting audits in each county after general elections without changing election results.

• Appropriates $250,000 in recurring funds for biennial security training for election officials and $2,000,000 in nonrecurring funds for a threat management capability to monitor threats against election officials and their families.

• Allows precinct election officials to request nondisclosure of personally identifiable information from public records when at risk of intimidation, and requires clear identification badges for election observers at voting places.