I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2017 

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

of the Election Assistance Commission, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 16, 2013 

Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania (for himself, Ms. LOFGREN, and Mr. VARGAS) 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 operations of the Election Assistance Commission, 

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; FINDINGS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘EAC Improvements Act of 2013’’. 

6 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) The elections for Federal office which were 

8 held in November 2012 were plagued with a number 

9 of serious problems, including— 


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1 (A) long lines at polling places; 

2 (B) poll workers who were trained inad3 equately; 

4 (C) the reduction of hours for early voting; 

5 and 

6 (D) the imposition of practices which re7 stricted eligible individuals from voting, such as 

8 requirements to produce photo identification. 

9 (2) At the time these problems were developing, 

10 the Election Assistance Commission, an agency of 

11 the Federal Government which was established to 

12 assist the States in the administration of elections, 

13 lacked a quorum in its membership and therefore 

14 could not meet, appoint an executive director or gen15 eral counsel, or otherwise take any actions to pre16 vent these problems from occurring. 

17 (3) The inability of the Commission to carry 

18 out its duties meant that it could not convene its 

19 Standards Board, a collection of State and local 

20 election officials with the authority to review guide21 lines for the voluntary standards applicable to the 

22 voting systems used to administer these elections 

23 and to make recommendations for best practices for 

24 election administration. 


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1 (4) The inability of the Commission to carry 

2 out its duties meant that no new laboratories could 

3 be certified to develop and test the equipment used 

4 in these elections. 

5 (5) The Election Assistance Commission should 

6 be allowed to investigate fully the problems which 

7 plagued the elections held in November 2012 and to 

8 develop solutions. 

9 (6) The Election Assistance Commission should 

10 be given the tools it needs to carry out its mission 

11 in a manner immune from illogic and partisan bick12 ering, so that it can provide States and others in13 volved in the administration of elections with the 

14 guidance that will enable them to provide each cit15 izen who wishes to participate in the electoral proc16 ess the ability to do so. 

17 (7) The Election Assistance Commission should 

18 be permitted to provide to taxpayers and election of19 ficials accurate information on the voting equipment 

20 used to administer elections and to hold the vendors 

21 of such equipment accountable for any problems that 

22 may arise with its use. 

23 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF COMMISSION. 

24 (a) REAUTHORIZATION.—Section 210 of the Help 

25 America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15330) is amended 


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1 by striking ‘‘for each of the fiscal years 2003 through 

2 2005’’ and inserting ‘‘for each of the fiscal years 2014 

3 through 2018’’. 

4 (b) TREATMENT OF COMMISSION IN SAME MANNER

5 AS FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION FOR PURPOSES OF

6 PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT.—Section 3502(1) of title 

7 44, United States Code, is amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (B), (C), 

9 and (D) as subparagraphs (C), (D), and (E); and 

10 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol11 lowing new subparagraph: 

12 ‘‘(B) the Election Assistance Commis13 sion;’’. 

14 SEC. 3. REQUIRING STATES TO PARTICIPATE IN POST-GEN15 ERAL ELECTION SURVEYS. 

16 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Title III of the Help America 

17 Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481 et seq.) is amended 

18 by inserting after section 303 the following new section: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 303A. REQUIRING PARTICIPATION IN POST-GENERAL 

20 ELECTION SURVEYS. 

21 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—Each State shall furnish to the 

22 Commission such information as the Commission may re23 quest for purposes of conducting any post-election survey 

24 of the States with respect to the administration of a regu25 larly scheduled general election for Federal office. 


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1 ‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 

2 with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 

3 Federal office held in November 2014 and any succeeding 

4 election.’’. 

5 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN6 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15511) 

7 is amended by striking ‘‘and 303’’ and inserting ‘‘303, and 

8 303A’’. 

9 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

10 of such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating 

11 to section 303 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 303A. Requiring participation in post-general election surveys.’’. 

12 SEC. 4. DETERMINING EXTENT TO WHICH DISABLED INDI13 VIDUALS HAVE ACCESS TO POLLING PLACES. 

14 (a) ONGOING SURVEYS OF COMPLIANCE WITH

15 ADA.—In accordance with section 241 of the Help Amer16 ica Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15381), not later than 

17 180 days after the date of the regularly scheduled general 

18 election for Federal office held in November 2014 and 

19 each succeeding regularly scheduled general election for 

20 Federal office, the Election Assistance Commission, shall, 

21 with the assistance of the Comptroller General, conduct 

22 and publish a survey of each polling place used for the 

23 election to determine the percentage of such polling places 

24 that were in compliance with the standards applicable to 


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1 such locations under the Americans With Disabilities Act 

2 of 1990. 

3 (b) EVALUATION OF NEED TO CONTINUE SUR4 VEYS.—At the time the Election Assistance Commission 

5 publishes the results of the survey conducted under sub6 section (a) with respect to the regularly scheduled general 

7 election for Federal office held in November 2022, the 

8 Commission shall evaluate and make a recommendation 

9 to Congress regarding whether the percentage of polling 

10 places in compliance with the standards applicable to such 

11 locations under the Americans With Disabilities Act of 

12 1990 has increased to such an extent that there is no 

13 longer a need to conduct surveys under subsection (a) with 

14 respect to subsequent elections. 

15 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROCEDURES AND FEE 

16 SCHEDULES FOR CONDUCTING TESTING OF 

17 VOTING EQUIPMENT HARDWARE AND SOFT18 WARE; PAYMENT OF USER FEES FOR COM19 PENSATION OF ACCREDITED LABORATORIES. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 231(b) of the Help Amer21 ica Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15371(b)) is amended 

22 by adding at the end the following new paragraphs: 

23 ‘‘(3) PROCEDURES FOR CONDUCTING TESTING; 

24 PAYMENT OF USER FEES FOR COMPENSATION OF

25 ACCREDITED LABORATORIES.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT OF ESCROW AC2 COUNT.—The Commission shall establish an es3 crow account (to be known as the ‘Testing Es4 crow Account’) that will serve as the exclusive 

5 source for making payments to accredited lab6 oratories for the costs of the testing carried out 

7 in connection with the certification, decertifica8 tion, and recertification of voting system hard9 ware and software. 

10 ‘‘(B) SCHEDULE OF FEES.—In consulta11 tion with the accredited laboratories, the Com12 mission shall establish and regularly update a 

13 schedule of fees for the testing carried out in 

14 connection with the certification, decertification, 

15 and recertification of voting system hardware 

16 and software, based on the reasonable costs ex17 pected to be incurred by the accredited labora18 tories in carrying out the testing for various 

19 types of hardware and software. 

20 ‘‘(C) REQUESTS AND PAYMENTS BY MANU21 FACTURERS.—A manufacturer of voting system 

22 hardware and software may not have the hard23 ware or software tested by an accredited labora24 tory under this section unless— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the manufacturer submits a de2 tailed request for the testing to the Com3 mission; 

4 ‘‘(ii) the request provides sufficient in5 formation for the Commission to determine 

6 the applicable fee for the testing under the 

7 schedule established and in effect under 

8 subparagraph (B); 

9 ‘‘(iii) the Commission approves the re10 quest; and 

11 ‘‘(iv) the manufacturer pays to the 

12 Commission, for deposit into the Testing 

13 Escrow Account established under sub14 paragraph (A), the applicable fee for the 

15 testing. 

16 ‘‘(D) SELECTION OF LABORATORY.—Upon 

17 approving a request for testing and receiving 

18 the payment from a manufacturer required 

19 under subparagraph (C), the Commission shall 

20 select at random (to the greatest extent prac21 ticable), from all laboratories which are accred22 ited under this section to carry out the specific 

23 testing requested by the manufacturer, an ac24 credited laboratory to carry out the testing. 


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1 ‘‘(E) PAYMENTS TO LABORATORIES.— 

2 Upon determining that a laboratory selected to 

3 carry out testing pursuant to subparagraph (D) 

4 has completed the testing in accordance with 

5 the approved request, the Commission shall 

6 make a payment to the laboratory from the 

7 Testing Escrow Account established under sub8 paragraph (A) in an amount equal to the appli9 cable fee paid by the manufacturer under sub10 paragraph (C)(iv). 

11 ‘‘(4) DISSEMINATION OF ADDITIONAL INFORMA12 TION ON ACCREDITED LABORATORIES.— 

13 ‘‘(A) LIST OF ACCREDITED LABORA14 TORIES.—The Commission shall maintain and 

15 publish an updated list of all accredited labora16 tories under this section. 

17 ‘‘(B) INFORMATION ON STATUS OF LAB18 ORATORIES.—In addition to updating the list 

19 maintained and published under subparagraph 

20 (A), the Commission shall promptly notify Con21 gress, the chief State election official of each 

22 State, and the public whenever— 

23 ‘‘(i) the Commission revokes, termi24 nates, or suspends the accreditation of a 

25 laboratory under this section; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the Commission restores the ac2 creditation of a laboratory under this sec3 tion which has been revoked, terminated, 

4 or suspended; or 

5 ‘‘(iii) the Commission has credible evi6 dence of a significant security failure at an 

7 accredited laboratory. 

8 ‘‘(C) INFORMATION ON TESTING.—Upon 

9 completion of the testing of a voting system 

10 under this section, the Commission shall 

11 promptly disseminate to the public the identi12 fication of the laboratory which carried out the 

13 testing.’’. 

14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 231 of 

15 such Act (42 U.S.C. 15371) is further amended— 

16 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘testing, 

17 certification,’’ and all that follows and inserting the 

18 following: ‘‘testing of voting system hardware and 

19 software by accredited laboratories in connection 

20 with the certification, decertification, and recertifi21 cation of the hardware and software for purposes of 

22 this Act.’’; 

23 (2) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘testing, 

24 certification,’’ and all that follows and inserting the 

25 following: ‘‘testing of its voting system hardware and 


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1 software by the laboratories accredited by the Com2 mission under this section in connection with certi3 fying, decertifying, and recertifying the hardware 

4 and software.’’; 

5 (3) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘testing, 

6 certification, decertification, and recertification’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘testing’’; and 

8 (4) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘testing, cer9 tification, decertification, and recertification’’ each 

10 place it appears and inserting ‘‘testing’’. 

11 (c) DEADLINE FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF ESCROW AC12 COUNT AND SCHEDULE OF FEES.—The Election Assist13 ance Commission shall establish the Testing Escrow Ac14 count and schedule of fees described in section 231(b)(3) 

15 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (as added by sub16 section (a)) not later than January 1, 2014. 

17 SEC. 6. STUDY OF METHODS TO REDUCE COSTS OF ADMIN18 ISTERING ELECTIONS. 

19 (a) ANALYSIS OF FACTORS AFFECTING COSTS OF

20 ADMINISTERING ELECTIONS.—The Election Assistance 

21 Commission shall conduct a study analyzing various fac22 tors that affect the costs to States and units of local gov23 ernment of administering elections for Federal office, in24 cluding the following specific factors: 


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1 (1) The durability of the equipment used in vot2 ing systems. 

3 (2) The extent to which States and units of 

4 local government must replace existing systems be5 cause such systems are not capable of using en6 hanced software or are not capable of being up7 graded in a cost-effective manner. 

8 (3) The lack of competition among vendors and 

9 manufacturers of the equipment used in voting sys10 tems because of consolidation in the voting system 

11 industry. 

12 (b) RECOMMENDATIONS FOR STEPS TO REDUCE

13 COSTS.—The Commission shall include in the study con14 ducted under this section such recommendations as the 

15 Commission shall consider appropriate to reduce the costs 

16 incurred by States and units of local government in ad17 ministering elections for Federal office, including rec18 ommendations for legislative action by Congress or the 

19 States. 

20 (c) DEADLINE.—Not later than 180 days after the 

21 date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall 

22 submit the study conducted under this section to Con23 gress. 


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1 SEC. 7. STUDY OF METHODS FOR INCREASING EFFICIENCY 

2 AND COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF ELECTION AS3 SISTANCE COMMISSION. 

4 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General shall conduct 

5 a study of the administrative operations of the Election 

6 Assistance Commission, and shall include in the study an 

7 analysis of various methods for increasing the efficiency 

8 and cost-effectiveness of such operations. 

9 (b) DEADLINE; REPORT.—Not later than 90 days 

10 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comp11 troller General shall submit to Congress a report on the 

12 study conducted under subsection (a), and shall include 

13 in the report such recommendations as the Comptroller 

14 General considers appropriate. 

15 (c) PARTICIPATION OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE COM16 MISSION.—The Election Assistance Commission shall pro17 vide the Comptroller General with such assistance as the 

18 Comptroller General may require to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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