§30121 — Title 52 Voting and Elections | U.S. Code

Summary

It is illegal for a foreign national, directly or through others, to give money or anything of value, or to promise to give it, for a federal, state, or local election. It is also illegal for them to give to a political party committee or to pay for independent spending or election-related ads. No one may ask for, accept, or take those kinds of contributions from a foreign national. Foreign national means either a foreign principal under U.S. foreign-affairs law (but not a U.S. citizen), or a person who is not a U.S. citizen or national and who is not a lawful permanent resident.

Title 52, §30121

Voting and Elections — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)It shall be unlawful for—

(1)a foreign national, directly or indirectly, to make—

(A)a contribution or donation of money or other thing of value, or to make an express or implied promise to make a contribution or donation, in connection with a Federal, State, or local election;

(B)a contribution or donation to a committee of a political party; or

(C)an expenditure, independent expenditure, or disbursement for an electioneering communication (within the meaning of section 30104(f)(3) of this title); or

(2)a person to solicit, accept, or receive a contribution or donation described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) from a foreign national.

(b)As used in this section, the term “foreign national” means—

(1)a foreign principal, as such term is defined by section 611(b) of title 22, except that the term “foreign national” shall not include any individual who is a citizen of the United States; or

(2)an individual who is not a citizen of the United States or a national of the United States (as defined in section 1101(a)(22) of title 8) and who is not lawfully admitted for permanent residence, as defined by section 1101(a)(20) of title 8.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was formerly classified to section 441e of Title 2, The Congress, prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

Prior Provisions

A prior section 319 of Pub. L. 92–225 was renumbered section 314, and is classified to section 30115 of this title. Another prior section 319 of Pub. L. 92–225 was renumbered section 318, and was classified to section 439b of Title 2, The Congress, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 96–187.

Amendments

2002—Pub. L. 107–155, § 303(1), substituted “Contributions and donations by foreign nationals” for “Contributions by foreign nationals” in section catchline. Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 107–155, § 303(2), added subsec. (a) and struck out former subsec. (a) which read as follows: “It shall be unlawful for a foreign national directly or through any other person to make any contribution of money or other thing of value, or to promise expressly or impliedly to make any such contribution, in connection with an election to any political office or in connection with any primary election, convention, or caucus held to select candidates for any political office; or for any person to solicit, accept, or receive any such contribution from a foreign national.” Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 107–155, § 317, inserted “or a national of the United States (as defined in section 1101(a)(22) of title 8)” after “United States”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2002 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 107–155 effective Nov. 6, 2002, see section 402 of Pub. L. 107–155, set out as an

Effective Date

of 2002 Amendment;

Regulations

note under section 30101 of this title.

§30121 Contributions and donations by foreign nationals

Summary

Title 52, §30121

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

Amendments

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Effective Date

Regulations

Citations & Metadata