S. 1321 would broaden the coverage of current laws that prohibit the use of computers to interfere with voting systems. People who violate the bill’s provisions could be subject to criminal fines, so the federal government might collect additional fines under the legislation. Criminal fines are recorded as revenues, deposited in the Crime Victims Fund, and later spent without further appropriation action. CBO expects that any additional revenues and associated direct spending would not be significant because relatively few additional cases would probably be affected.
CBO has not reviewed S. 1321 for intergovernmental or private-sector mandates. Section 4 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act excludes from the application of that act any legislative provisions that would enforce constitutional rights of individuals. CBO has determined that this legislation falls within that exclusion because it would enforce constitutional voting rights by protecting the systems through which voting occurs.
