I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3094 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to improve the fairness 

and accuracy of voter registration in elections for Federal office, establish 

a uniform standard for the treatment of provisional ballots cast at 

an incorrect polling place, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 28, 2005 

Mr. HOYER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on House Administration 

A BILL 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to improve 

the fairness and accuracy of voter registration in elections for Federal office, establish a uniform standard 

for the treatment of provisional ballots cast at an incorrect polling place, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Secure America’s Vote 

5 Act of 2005’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. IMPROVING FAIRNESS AND ACCURACY OF VOTER 

2 REGISTRATION. 

3 (a) EMPHASIZING CITIZENSHIP REQUIREMENT ON

4 VOTER REGISTRATION FORMS.—Paragraph (4) of section 

5 303(b) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 

6 15483(b)(4)) is amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(4) EMPHASIZING CITIZENSHIP REQUIREMENT

8 ON VOTER REGISTRATION FORMS.—The Commission 

9 shall revise the mail voter registration form devel10 oped under section 9(a)(2) of the National Voter 

11 Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–(a)(2)) 

12 so that the form provides a more prominent empha13 sis of the requirement that an individual must be a 

14 citizen of the United States to register to vote in 

15 elections for Federal office.’’. 

16 (b) PROHIBITING REJECTION OF APPLICATION FOR

17 ERRORS CORRECTABLE BY STATE.—Section 

18 303(a)(5)(A)(iii) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

19 15483(a)(5)(A)(iii)) is amended to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(iii) PROHIBITING REJECTION OF AP21 PLICATION FOR ERRORS CORRECTABLE BY

22 STATE.—A State shall not reject an appli23 cation for voter registration for Federal of24 fice solely on the grounds that the indi25 vidual failed to provide the information re26 quired under clause (i) or made an error in 
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1 providing such information, if with reason2 able effort the State would be able to pro3 vide the correct information.’’. 

4 (c) PREVENTING INCORRECT REMOVAL OF ELIGIBLE

5 VOTERS FROM VOTER REGISTRATION LIST.— 

6 (1) REQUIRING DATABASES TO MEET ACCURACY

7 STANDARDS.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 303(a) of such 

9 Act (42 U.S.C. 15483(a)) is amended by add10 ing at the end the following new paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(6) REQUIRING DATABASES USED TO REMOVE

12 VOTERS TO MEET ACCURACY STANDARDS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

14 other provision of this subsection or any provi15 sion of the National Voter Registration Act of 

16 1993, a State may not remove an individual 

17 from the official list of eligible voters for elec18 tions for Federal office in the State by reason 

19 of felony status or by reason of the death of the 

20 registrant unless the applicable database meets 

21 accuracy standards established by the Director 

22 of the National Institute of Standards and 

23 Technology in consultation with the Commis24 sion. 
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1 ‘‘(B) APPLICABLE DATABASE DEFINED.— 

2 In this paragraph, the term ‘applicable data3 base’ means— 

4 ‘‘(i) in the case of an individual re5 movable from the official list of eligible 

6 voters by reason of felony status, the data7 base used by the State to determine the in8 dividual’s felony status; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an individual re10 movable from the official list of eligible 

11 voters by reason of death, the database 

12 used by the State to determine which indi13 viduals have died.’’. 

14 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

15 303(a)(2)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

16 15483(a)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘The 

17 appropriate’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided 

18 in paragraph (6), the appropriate’’. 

19 (C) DEADLINE FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF

20 STANDARDS.—The Director of the National In21 stitute of Standards and Technology shall es22 tablish the accuracy standards described in sec23 tion 303(a)(6) of the Help America Vote Act of 

24 2002 (as added by subparagraph (A)) not later 

25 than January 1, 2006. 
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1 (2) PUBLICATION OF LIST OF INDIVIDUALS RE2 MOVED FROM COMPUTERIZED LIST.—Section 303(a) 

3 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15483(a)), as amended by 

4 paragraph (1), is further amended by adding at the 

5 end the following new paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(7) PUBLIC NOTICE OF INDIVIDUALS RE7 MOVED FROM COMPUTERIZED LIST.—Not later than 

8 45 days before the date of any Federal election held 

9 in the State, each State shall notify the public, by 

10 posting on the Internet on the public web site of the 

11 chief State election official and through such other 

12 methods as the State considers appropriate, of— 

13 ‘‘(A) all names which have been removed 

14 from the computerized list established and 

15 maintained under this section since the later of 

16 the most recent election for Federal office held 

17 in the State or the day of the most recent pre18 vious public notice provided under this section; 

19 ‘‘(B) the criteria, processes, and proce20 dures used to determine which names were re21 moved; and 

22 ‘‘(C) information on the steps an individual 

23 may take to appeal the removal of the individ24 ual’s name from the list and reinstate the indi25 vidual to the list prior to the election.’’. 
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1 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO

2 APPLICABILITY OF DEFINITION OF CHIEF STATE

3 ELECTION OFFICIAL.—Section 253(e) of such Act 

4 (42 U.S.C. 15403(e)) is amended by striking ‘‘this 

5 subtitle’’ and inserting ‘‘this Act’’. 

6 (4) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 303(d)(1) of 

7 such Act (42 U.S.C. 15483(d)(1)) is amended— 

8 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘sub9 paragraph (B)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs 

10 (B) and (C)’’; and 

11 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

12 subparagraph: 

13 ‘‘(C) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN REQUIRE14 MENTS.—Each State shall be required to com15 ply with the requirements of paragraph (6) of 

16 subsection (a) (relating to accuracy standards 

17 for databases used for voter removal) and para18 graph (7) of subsection (a) (relating to public 

19 notice of individuals removed from the comput20 erized list) not later than January 1, 2006.’’. 
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1 SEC. 3. UNIFORM STANDARD FOR TREATMENT OF PROVI2 SIONAL BALLOTS CAST AT INCORRECT POLL3 ING PLACES. 

4 Section 302(a)(4) of the Help America Vote Act of 

5 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15482(a)(4)) is amended to read as fol6 lows: 

7 ‘‘(4)(A) An individual’s provisional ballot shall 

8 be counted as a vote in an election for Federal office 

9 if the appropriate State or local election official to 

10 whom the ballot or voter information is transmitted 

11 under paragraph (3) determines that the individual 

12 is eligible under State law to vote in that election— 

13 ‘‘(i) at the polling place at which the indi14 vidual cast the provisional ballot; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) at any other polling place at which 

16 votes are cast, in the same election for the same 

17 Federal office, which is located— 

18 ‘‘(I) in the case of elections held prior 

19 to 2008, in the registrar’s jurisdiction (or, 

20 at the option of the State, in the State), or 

21 ‘‘(II) in the case of elections held dur22 ing 2008 or any subsequent year, in the 

23 State. 

24 ‘‘(B) The appropriate State or local election of25 ficial shall ensure that, at each polling place for an 
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1 election for Federal office, a list is available which 

2 shows—

3 ‘‘(i) all individuals registered to vote in 

4 that election at all polling places located in the 

5 registrar’s jurisdiction; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) for each such individual, the polling 

7 place at which the individual is registered. 

8 ‘‘(C) In this paragraph, the term ‘registrar’s ju9 risdiction’ has the meaning given such term in sec10 tion 8(j) of the National Voter Registration Act of 

11 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–6(j)).’’. 

12 SEC. 4. ADDITIONAL SECURITY REQUIREMENTS FOR VOT13 ING SYSTEMS. 

14 Section 301(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

15 (42 U.S.C. 15481(a)) is amended by adding at the end 

16 the following new paragraphs: 

17 ‘‘(7) SECURITY STANDARDS FOR VOTING SYS18 TEMS USED IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.—

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No voting system may 

20 be used in an election for Federal office in a 

21 State unless the manufacturer of the system, 

22 the manufacturer of the software used in con23 nection with the system for the election (here24 after in this paragraph referred to as the ‘elec25 tion software’), and the chief State election offi-
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1 cial of the State meet the applicable require2 ments described in subparagraph (B). 

3 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS DESCRIBED.—The 

4 requirements described in this subparagraph 

5 with respect to a voting system used in a State 

6 are as follows: 

7 ‘‘(i) The chief State election official 

8 shall ensure that all custodians of the elec9 tion software digitally sign the software (in 

10 accordance with standards established by 

11 the National Institute of Standards and 

12 Technology), shall provide the Commission 

13 with information on the steps taken to en14 sure that these custodians meet this re15 quirement, and shall make the information 

16 provided to the Commission available to 

17 the public by posting the information on 

18 the Internet on the public web site of the 

19 chief State election official. 

20 ‘‘(ii) The manufacturer of the system 

21 and the manufacturer of the election soft22 ware shall each provide the Commission 

23 and the chief State election official with 

24 updated information regarding the identi25 fication of each individual who participated 
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1 in the writing of the software, including 

2 specific information regarding whether the 

3 individual has ever been convicted of a fel4 ony or of any crime involving election 

5 fraud. 

6 ‘‘(iii) The manufacturer of the system 

7 and the manufacturer of the election soft8 ware (as the case may be) shall provide the 

9 source code, object code, and executable 

10 representation of the software to the Com11 mission and the chief State election offi12 cial, and shall notify the chief State elec13 tion official immediately if the manufac14 turer alters such codes. 

15 ‘‘(iv) The manufacturer of the system 

16 and the manufacturer of the election soft17 ware shall meet standards established by 

18 the Commission to prevent the existence or 

19 appearance of any conflict of interest with 

20 respect to candidates for public office and 

21 political parties, including standards to en22 sure that each such manufacturer and its 

23 officers and directors do not hold positions 

24 of authority in any political party or in any 

25 partisan political campaign. 
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1 ‘‘(C) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF CERTAIN

2 INFORMATION.—Upon request by any member 

3 of the public, the Commission or each chief 

4 State election official shall make available on a 

5 timely basis any information provided to or 

6 maintained by the Commission or the official 

7 under subparagraph (B)(iii). 

8 ‘‘(8) PROHIBITION OF USE OF WIRELESS COM9 MUNICATIONS DEVICES IN VOTING SYSTEMS.—No 

10 voting system shall contain, use, or be accessible by 

11 any wireless, power-line, or concealed communication 

12 device. 

13 ‘‘(9) PROHIBITING CONNECTION OF SYSTEM OR

14 TRANSMISSION OF SYSTEM INFORMATION OVER THE

15 INTERNET.—No component of any voting system 

16 upon which votes are cast shall be connected to the 

17 Internet.’’. 

18 SEC. 5. PUBLICATION OF STATE ELECTION LAWS. 

19 (a) REQUIRING STATES TO MAKE ELECTION LAWS

20 AVAILABLE TO PUBLIC.—Section 302(b) of the Help 

21 America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15482) is amend22 ed— 

23 (1) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para24 graph (3); and 
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1 (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol2 lowing new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION OF STATE ELECTION

4 LAWS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) REGULAR REPUBLICATION DURING

6 ELECTION YEARS.—The chief State election of7 ficial of each State shall publish all State laws, 

8 regulations, procedures, and practices relating 

9 to Federal elections on January 1 of each year 

10 in which there is a regularly scheduled election 

11 for a Federal office (beginning with 2006). 

12 ‘‘(B) MAINTENANCE ON THE INTERNET.— 

13 Each State shall be required to post on the 

14 Internet on the public web site of the chief 

15 State election official all of the material re16 ferred to in paragraph (1), and to update the 

17 contents of such site to reflect revisions to such 

18 material not later than 24 hours after a revi19 sion is made.’’. 

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 302 of 

21 such Act (42 U.S.C. 15482) is amended— 

22 (1) in subsection (b)(3) (as redesignated by 

23 subsection (a)(1)), by striking ‘‘this section’’ and in24 serting ‘‘paragraph (1)’’; and 
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1 (2) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘Each State’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in subsection 

3 (b)(2), each State’’. 

4 SEC. 6. CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR VOTER SUPPRESSION. 

5 Section 905 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

6 (42 U.S.C. 15544) is amended by adding at the end the 

7 following new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(c) VOTER SUPPRESSION.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It is unlawful for any per10 son— 

11 ‘‘(A) to assert to any State election official 

12 that an individual is not eligible to vote in an 

13 election for Federal office, unless the assertion 

14 is made in good faith on the basis of facts 

15 known to the person making the assertion; or 

16 ‘‘(B) to knowingly provide any person with 

17 false information regarding an individual’s eligi18 bility to vote in an election for Federal office or 

19 regarding the time, place, or manner of voting 

20 in such an election. 

21 ‘‘(2) PENALTY.—A person who violates para22 graph (1) shall be fined in accordance with title 18, 

23 United States Code, or imprisoned for not more 

24 than 1 year, or both, for each such violation.’’. 
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1 SEC. 7. ESTABLISHMENT OF BEST PRACTICES FOR TREAT2 MENT OF BALLOTS OF ABSENT UNIFORMED 

3 SERVICES VOTERS AND OVERSEAS VOTERS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 1, 2006, 

5 the Election Assistance Commission, working in coopera6 tion with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, 

7 and the Attorney General, shall establish best practice 

8 guidelines for the treatment of absentee ballots of absent 

9 uniformed services voters and overseas voters to ensure 

10 the timely delivery of ballots to such voters and the timely 

11 return of ballots from such voters. 

12 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘absent 

13 uniformed services voter’’ and ‘‘overseas voter’’ have the 

14 meaning given such terms in section 107 of the Uniformed 

15 and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 

16 1973ff–6). 

17 SEC. 8. SIMULTANEOUS TRANSMISSION OF BUDGET RE18 QUESTS OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMIS19 SION TO PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part 1 of subtitle A of title II of 

21 the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15321 et 

22 seq.) is amended by inserting after section 209 the fol23 lowing new section: 

24 ‘‘SEC. 209A. SUBMISSION OF BUDGET REQUESTS. 

25 ‘‘Whenever the Commission submits any budget esti26 mate or request to the President or the Director of the 
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1 Office of Management and Budget, it shall concurrently 

2 transmit a copy of such estimate or request to the Con3 gress.’’. 

4 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

5 for part 1 of subtitle A of title II of such Act is amended 

6 by inserting after the item relating to section 209 the fol7 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 209A. Submission of budget requests.’’. 

8 SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

9 Except as otherwise provided, the amendments made 

10 by this Act shall apply with respect to elections for Federal 

11 office held in 2006 and each year thereafter. 

Æ