1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2018 . 2. Findings Congress makes the following findings: (1) The right to vote by casting a ballot for one's preferred candidate is a fundamental right accorded to United States citizens by the Constitution, and the unimpeded exercise of this right is essential to the functioning of our democracy. (2) Historically, certain citizens, especially racial, ethnic, and language minorities, were prevented from voting because of significant barriers such as literacy tests, poll taxes, and property ownership requirements. (3) Some of these barriers were removed by the 15th, 19th, and 24th Amendments to the Constitution. (4) Despite the elimination of some of these barriers to the polls, the integrity of today's elections is threatened by newer tactics aimed at suppressing voter turnout. These tactics include deceptive practices , which involve the dissemination of false or misleading information intended to prevent voters from casting their ballots, prevent voters from voting for the candidate of their choice, intimidate the electorate, and undermine the integrity of the electoral process. (5) Furthermore, since the decision in Shelby County v. Holder in which the Supreme Court struck down the coverage formula used by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to determine which States with a history of racial discrimination must affirmatively receive government permission before changing local voting laws, there have been Federal court decisions finding or affirming that States or localities intentionally discriminated against African Americans and other voters of color. (6) Denials of the right to vote, and deceptive practices designed to prevent members of racial, ethnic, and language minorities from exercising that right, are an outgrowth of discriminatory history, including slavery. Measures to combat denials of that right are a legitimate exercise of congressional power under article I, section 4 and article II, section 1