I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 794 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to reauthorize and improve 

the operation of the Election Assistance Commission, to provide funds 

to States to make security upgrades to voter registration lists and processes, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2017 

Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. HOYER, Ms. LOFGREN, and Mr. 

RASKIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on 

Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to reauthorize 

and improve the operation of the Election Assistance 

Commission, to provide funds to States to make security 

upgrades to voter registration lists and processes, 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 Reauthorization Act of 2017’’. 


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

2 (1) The elections for Federal office which were 

3 held in November 2016 were plagued with a number 

4 of problems, including— 

5 (A) foreign interference, as confirmed by 

6 the United States intelligence community; 

7 (B) a worsening voting machine infrastruc8 ture that will continue to deteriorate without 

9 congressional action; and 

10 (C) a lack of resources at the State and 

11 local level that will make election administration 

12 more challenging. 

13 (2) The Election Assistance Commission is the 

14 only Federal agency charged with making elections 

15 more fair, accurate, accessible, and efficient by pro16 viding best practices, information, and voting ma17 chine certifications to States. 

18 (3) The Election Assistance Commission should 

19 be equipped with the tools necessary to undertake its 

20 nonpartisan mission of helping State and local elec21 tion officials administer their elections and ensuring 

22 the accuracy, integrity, and security of our elections. 


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1 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE 

2 COMMISSION. 

3 Section 210 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

4 (52 U.S.C. 20930) is amended by striking ‘‘for each of 

5 the fiscal years 2003 through 2005’’ and inserting ‘‘for 

6 each of the fiscal years 2017 through 2022’’. 

7 SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE TO STATES FOR SECURITY UPGRADES 

8 TO VOTER REGISTRATION LISTS AND PROC9 ESSES. 

10 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF FUNDING.—Section 257(a) 

11 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 

12 21007(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following 

13 new paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(5) For fiscal year 2018, such sums as may be 

15 necessary for such payments, except that a State 

16 may use a requirement payment made with funds 

17 authorized under this paragraph solely to upgrade 

18 the security of the State’s voter registration lists and 

19 voter registration processes and to carry out other 

20 activities necessary to meet the requirements of sec21 tion 303(a)(3) (relating to the technological security 

22 of the State’s computerized voter registration list).’’. 

23 (b) WAIVER OF 5-PERCENT MATCH REQUIRE24 MENT.—Section 253(b)(5) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

25 21003(b)(5)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘subpara2 graph (B)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (B) and 

3 (C)’’; and 

4 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub5 paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(C) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply for pur7 poses of determining the eligibility of a State to re8 ceive a requirements payment appropriated pursuant 

9 to the authorization provided under section 

10 257(a)(5) of this title for fiscal year 2018.’’. 

11 SEC. 4. ASSESSMENT OF ADEQUACY OF VOTING SYSTEMS 

12 AND MACHINES. 

13 (a) ASSESSMENT.—In consultation with the election 

14 officials of each State, the Election Assistance Commission 

15 shall carry out an assessment of whether the voting sys16 tems, including the voting machines, available for use in 

17 the elections for Federal office to be held in 2018 are ade18 quate to meet the demands of such elections. 

19 (b) PLAN FOR REPLACEMENT OF OUTDATED AND

20 INADEQUATE MACHINES.—Not later than December 31, 

21 2017, the Commission shall submit to Congress and the 

22 States a report on the assessment carried out under sub23 section (a), and shall include in the report a plan for re24 placing voting machines which the Commission deter25 mines, on the basis of such assessment, are outdated or 


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1 otherwise not capable of meeting the demands of the elec2 tions for Federal office to be held in 2018. 

3 (c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘State’’ 

4 has the meaning given such term in section 901 of the 

5 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21141). 

6 SEC. 5. REQUIRING STATES TO PARTICIPATE IN POST-GEN7 ERAL ELECTION SURVEYS. 

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

9 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended 

10 by inserting after section 303 the following new section: 

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

12 ELECTION SURVEYS. 

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

14 Commission such information as the Commission may re15 quest for purposes of conducting any post-election survey 

16 of the States with respect to the administration of a regu17 larly scheduled general election for Federal office. 

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

19 with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 

20 Federal office held in November 2018 and any succeeding 

21 election.’’. 

22 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN23 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 

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

25 303A’’. 


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

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

3 to section 303 the following new item: 

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

4 SEC. 6. REPORTS BY NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS 

5 AND TECHNOLOGY ON USE OF FUNDS TRANS6 FERRED FROM ELECTION ASSISTANCE COM7 MISSION. 

8 (a) REQUIRING REPORTS ON USE FUNDS AS CONDI9 TION OF RECEIPT.—Section 231 of the Help America 

10 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20971) is amended by adding 

11 at the end the following new subsection: 

12 ‘‘(e) REPORT ON USE OF FUNDS TRANSFERRED

13 FROM COMMISSION.—To the extent that funds are trans14 ferred from the Commission to the Director of the Na15 tional Institute of Standards and Technology for purposes 

16 of carrying out this section during any fiscal year, the Di17 rector may not use such funds unless the Director certifies 

18 at the time of transfer that the Director will submit a re19 port to the Commission not later than 90 days after the 

20 end of the fiscal year detailing how the Director used such 

21 funds during the year.’’. 

22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

23 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to fiscal year 2018 

24 and each succeeding fiscal year. 


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1 SEC. 7. RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE OPERATIONS OF 

2 ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION. 

3 (a) ASSESSMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

4 AND CYBERSECURITY.—Not later than December 31, 

5 2017, the Election Assistance Commission shall carry out 

6 an assessment of the security and effectiveness of the 

7 Commission’s information technology systems, including 

8 the cybersecurity of such systems. 

9 (b) IMPROVEMENTS TO ADMINISTRATIVE COMPLAINT

10 PROCEDURES.— 

11 (1) REVIEW OF PROCEDURES.—The Election 

12 Assistance Commission shall carry out a review of 

13 the effectiveness and efficiency of the State-based 

14 administrative complaint procedures established and 

15 maintained under section 402 of the Help America 

16 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21112) for the inves17 tigation and resolution of allegations of violations of 

18 title III of such Act. 

19 (2) RECOMMENDATIONS TO STREAMLINE PRO20 CEDURES.—Not later than December 31, 2017, the 

21 Commission shall submit to Congress a report on 

22 the review carried out under paragraph (1), and 

23 shall include in the report such recommendations as 

24 the Commission considers appropriate to streamline 


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1 and improve the procedures which are the subject of 

2 the review. 

Æ 


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