S. 5124 — Stop Harassment and Intimidations in Elections through Legal Defenses (SHIELD) Our Elections Act

This section establishes a private right of action permitting any aggrieved person to sue in district court for declaratory or injunctive relief to prevent or stop violations of 18 U.S.C. §§ 592, 593, or 594. It authorizes courts to award reasonable attorneys' fees and litigation costs to prevailing parties other than the United States and preserves all other available remedies.

This section extends the statute of limitations to nine years after the date of the offense for violations of 18 U.S.C. §§ 592 (troops at polls), 593 (interference by armed forces), and 594 (voter intimidation), section 11 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and section 12 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.

This section prohibits State or Federal law enforcement from seizing election records, papers, or equipment covered by section 301 of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 before any recount, audit, or legal challenge to the election results is conclusively resolved. It creates an exception only upon a U.S. district court finding of clear and convincing evidence that the items are at risk of destruction, in which case the items remain in joint custody and subject to chain-of-custody documentation with continued access for the relevant election official.

This section authorizes the Election Assistance Commission to make grants to States to establish and administer qualifying absentee ballot tracking programs. It requires such programs to track and confirm receipt of mail-in and absentee ballots for Federal elections, provide voters with six specific items of status information (including application receipt and ballot acceptance or rejection reasons within one day), make certain data available to political parties and voter registration organizations, and offer online or toll-free telephone access. The section authorizes $50,000,000 for these grants in fiscal year 2027, with funds remaining available until expended.