II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5615 

To protect elections for public office by providing enhanced security for 

the infrastructure used to carry out such elections, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 19 (legislative day, DECEMBER 16), 2024 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

To protect elections for public office by providing enhanced 

security for the infrastructure used to carry out such 

elections, 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 ‘‘Election Security Act 

5 of 2024’’. 


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1 TITLE I—PROMOTING ACCU2 RACY, INTEGRITY, AND SECU3 RITY THROUGH VOTER4 VERIFIABLE PERMANENT 

5 PAPER BALLOT 

6 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE. 

7 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Voter Confidence and 

8 Increased Accessibility Act of 2024’’. 

9 SEC. 102. PAPER BALLOT AND MANUAL COUNTING RE10 QUIREMENTS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 301(a)(2) of the Help 

12 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)(2)) is 

13 amended to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘(2) PAPER BALLOT REQUIREMENT.— 

15 ‘‘(A) VOTER-VERIFIABLE PAPER BAL16 LOTS.— 

17 ‘‘(i) The voting system shall require 

18 the use of an individual, durable, voter19 verifiable paper ballot of the voter’s vote 

20 selections that shall be marked by the 

21 voter and presented to the voter for 

22 verification before the voter’s ballot is pre23 served in accordance with subparagraph 

24 (B), and which shall be counted by hand or 

25 other counting device or read by a ballot 


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1 tabulation device. For purposes of this sub2 clause, the term ‘individual, durable, voter3 verifiable paper ballot’ means a paper bal4 lot marked by the voter by hand or a paper 

5 ballot marked through the use of a nontab6 ulating ballot marking device or system, so 

7 long as the voter shall have the option at 

8 every in-person voting location to mark by 

9 hand a printed ballot that includes all rel10 evant contests and candidates. 

11 ‘‘(ii) The voting system shall provide 

12 the voter with an opportunity to correct 

13 any error on the paper ballot before the 

14 permanent voter-verifiable paper ballot is 

15 preserved in accordance with subparagraph 

16 (B). 

17 ‘‘(iii) The voting system shall not pre18 serve the voter-verifiable paper ballots in 

19 any manner that makes it possible, at any 

20 time after the ballot has been cast, to asso21 ciate a voter with the record of the voter’s 

22 vote selections. 

23 ‘‘(iv) The voting system shall prevent, 

24 through mechanical means or through 

25 independently verified protections, the 


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1 modification or addition of vote selections 

2 on a printed or marked ballot at any time 

3 after the voter has been provided an oppor4 tunity to correct errors on the ballot pur5 suant to clause (ii). 

6 ‘‘(B) PRESERVATION AS OFFICIAL

7 RECORD.—The individual, durable, voter8 verifiable paper ballot used in accordance with 

9 subparagraph (A) shall constitute the official 

10 ballot and shall be preserved and used as the 

11 official ballot for purposes of any recount or 

12 audit conducted with respect to any election for 

13 Federal office in which the voting system is 

14 used. 

15 ‘‘(C) MANUAL COUNTING REQUIREMENTS

16 FOR RECOUNTS AND AUDITS.— 

17 ‘‘(i) Each paper ballot used pursuant 

18 to subparagraph (A) shall be suitable for a 

19 manual audit, and such ballots, or at least 

20 those ballots the machine could not count, 

21 shall be counted by hand in any recount or 

22 audit conducted with respect to any elec23 tion for Federal office. 

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1 tronic vote tallies and the vote tallies de2 termined by counting by hand the indi3 vidual, durable, voter-verifiable paper bal4 lots used pursuant to subparagraph (A), 

5 the individual, durable, voter-verifiable 

6 paper ballots shall be the true and correct 

7 record of the votes cast. 

8 ‘‘(D) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the 

9 sense of Congress that as innovation occurs in 

10 the election infrastructure sector, Congress 

11 should ensure that this Act and other Federal 

12 requirements for voting systems are updated to 

13 keep pace with best practices and recommenda14 tions for security and accessibility.’’. 

15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT CLARIFYING APPLI16 CABILITY OF ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGE ACCESSIBILITY.— 

17 Section 301(a)(4) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)(4)) 

18 is amended by inserting ‘‘(including the paper ballots re19 quired to be used under paragraph (2))’’ after ‘‘voting sys20 tem’’. 

21 (c) OTHER CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

22 301(a)(1) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)(1)) is amend23 ed— 


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1 (1) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking ‘‘count2 ed’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in accordance with 

3 paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; 

4 (2) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking ‘‘count5 ed’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in accordance with 

6 paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; 

7 (3) in subparagraph (A)(iii), by striking ‘‘count8 ed’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘counted, in 

9 accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; and 

10 (4) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ‘‘count11 ed’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in accordance with 

12 paragraphs (2) and (3)’’. 

13 SEC. 103. ACCESSIBILITY AND BALLOT VERIFICATION FOR 

14 INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (3) of section 301(a) 

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

17 21081(a)(3)) is amended to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(3) ACCESSIBILITY FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH

19 DISABILITIES.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The voting system 

21 shall— 

22 ‘‘(i) be accessible for individuals with 

23 disabilities, including nonvisual accessi24 bility for the blind and visually impaired, 

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1 tunity for access and participation (includ2 ing privacy and independence) as for other 

3 voters; 

4 ‘‘(ii)(I) ensure that individuals with 

5 disabilities and others are given an equiva6 lent opportunity to vote, including with pri7 vacy and independence, in a manner that 

8 produces a voter-verifiable paper ballot; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(II) satisfy the requirement of clause 

11 (i) through the use at in-person polling lo12 cations of a sufficient number (not less 

13 than one) of voting systems equipped to 

14 serve individuals with and without disabil15 ities, including nonvisual and enhanced vis16 ual accessibility for the blind and visually 

17 impaired, and nonmanual and enhanced 

18 manual accessibility for the mobility and 

19 dexterity impaired; and 

20 ‘‘(iii) if purchased with funds made 

21 available under title II on or after January 

22 1, 2007, meet the voting system standards 

23 for disability access (as outlined in this 

24 paragraph). 


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1 ‘‘(B) MEANS OF MEETING REQUIRE2 MENTS.—A voting system may meet the re3 quirements of subparagraph (A)(i) and para4 graph (2) by— 

5 ‘‘(i) allowing the voter to privately 

6 and independently verify the permanent 

7 paper ballot through the presentation, in 

8 accessible form, of the printed or marked 

9 vote selections from the same printed or 

10 marked information that would be used for 

11 any vote tabulation or auditing; 

12 ‘‘(ii) allowing the voter to privately 

13 and independently verify and cast the per14 manent paper ballot without requiring the 

15 voter to manually handle the paper ballot; 

16 ‘‘(iii) marking ballots that are iden17 tical in size, ink, and paper stock to those 

18 ballots that would either be marked by 

19 hand or be marked by a ballot marking de20 vice made generally available to voters; or 

21 ‘‘(iv) combining ballots produced by 

22 any ballot marking devices reserved for in23 dividuals with disabilities with ballots that 

24 have either been marked by voters by hand 

25 or marked by ballot marking devices made 


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1 generally available to voters, in a way that 

2 prevents identification of the ballots that 

3 were cast using any ballot marking device 

4 that was reserved for individuals with dis5 abilities. 

6 ‘‘(C) SUFFICIENT NUMBER.—For purposes 

7 of subparagraph (A)(ii)(II), the sufficient num8 ber of voting systems for any in-person polling 

9 location shall be determined based on guidance 

10 from the Attorney General, in consultation with 

11 the Architectural and Transportation Barriers 

12 Compliance Board established under section 

13 502(a)(1) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 

14 U.S.C. 792(a)(1)) (commonly referred to as the 

15 United States Access Board) and the Commis16 sion.’’. 

17 (b) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT OF STUDY, TESTING, 

18 AND DEVELOPMENT OF ACCESSIBLE VOTING OPTIONS.— 

19 (1) STUDY AND REPORTING.—Subtitle C of 

20 title II of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is 

21 amended— 

22 (A) by redesignating section 247 as section 

23 248; and 

24 (B) by inserting after section 246 the fol25 lowing new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 247. STUDY AND REPORT ON ACCESSIBLE VOTING 

2 OPTIONS. 

3 ‘‘(a) GRANTS TO STUDY AND REPORT.—The Com4 mission, in coordination with the Access Board and the 

5 Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, shall 

6 make grants to not fewer than 2 eligible entities to study, 

7 test, and develop— 

8 ‘‘(1) accessible and secure remote voting sys9 tems; 

10 ‘‘(2) voting, verification, and casting devices to 

11 enhance the accessibility of voting and verification 

12 for individuals with disabilities; or 

13 ‘‘(3) both of the matters described in paragraph 

14 (1) and (2). 

15 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—An entity is eligible to receive a 

16 grant under this part if it submits to the Commission (at 

17 such time and in such form as the Commission may re18 quire) an application containing— 

19 ‘‘(1) a certification that the entity shall com20 plete the activities carried out with the grant not 

21 later than January 1, 2027; and 

22 ‘‘(2) such other information and certifications 

23 as the Commission may require. 

24 ‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY OF TECHNOLOGY.—Any tech25 nology developed with the grants made under this section 

26 shall be treated as non-proprietary and shall be made 


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1 available to the public, including to manufacturers of vot2 ing systems. 

3 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION WITH GRANTS FOR TECH4 NOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS.—The Commission shall carry 

5 out this section so that the activities carried out with the 

6 grants made under subsection (a) are coordinated with the 

7 research conducted under the grant program carried out 

8 by the Commission under section 271, to the extent that 

9 the Commission determine necessary to provide for the ad10 vancement of accessible voting technology. 

11 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

12 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out subsection 

13 (a) $10,000,000, to remain available until expended.’’. 

14 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con15 tents of such Act is amended— 

16 (A) by redesignating the item relating to 

17 section 247 as relating to section 248; and 

18 (B) by inserting after the item relating to 

19 section 246 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 247. Study and report on accessible voting options.’’. 

20 (c) CLARIFICATION OF ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS

21 UNDER VOLUNTARY VOTING SYSTEM GUIDANCE.—In 

22 adopting any voluntary guidance under subtitle B of title 

23 III of the Help America Vote Act with respect to the ac24 cessibility of the paper ballot verification requirements for 

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1 mission shall include and apply the same accessibility 

2 standards applicable under the voluntary guidance adopt3 ed for accessible voting systems under such subtitle. 

4 (d) PERMITTING USE OF FUNDS FOR PROTECTION

5 AND ADVOCACY SYSTEMS TO SUPPORT ACTIONS TO EN6 FORCE ELECTION-RELATED DISABILITY ACCESS.—Sec7 tion 292(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 

8 U.S.C. 21062(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘; except that’’ 

9 and all that follows and inserting a period. 

10 SEC. 104. DURABILITY AND READABILITY REQUIREMENTS 

11 FOR BALLOTS. 

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

13 (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)) is amended by adding at the end 

14 the following new paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(7) DURABILITY AND READABILITY REQUIRE16 MENTS FOR BALLOTS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) DURABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR

18 PAPER BALLOTS.— 

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—All voter-verifiable 

20 paper ballots required to be used under 

21 this Act shall be marked or printed on du22 rable paper. 

23 ‘‘(ii) DEFINITION.—For purposes of 

24 this Act, paper is ‘durable’ if it is capable 

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1 counts by hand without compromising the 

2 fundamental integrity of the ballots, and 

3 capable of retaining the information 

4 marked or printed on them for the full du5 ration of a retention and preservation pe6 riod of 22 months. 

7 ‘‘(B) READABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR

8 PAPER BALLOTS MARKED BY BALLOT MARKING

9 DEVICE.—All voter-verifiable paper ballots com10 pleted by the voter through the use of a ballot 

11 marking device shall be clearly readable by the 

12 voter without assistance (other than eyeglasses 

13 or other personal vision-enhancing devices) and 

14 by a ballot tabulation device or other device 

15 equipped for individuals with disabilities.’’. 

16 SEC. 105. STUDY AND REPORT ON OPTIMAL BALLOT DE17 SIGN. 

18 (a) STUDY.—The Election Assistance Commission 

19 shall conduct a study of the best ways to design ballots 

20 used in elections for public office, including paper ballots 

21 and electronic or digital ballots, to minimize confusion and 

22 user errors. 

23 (b) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

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1 mission shall submit to Congress a report on the study 

2 conducted under subsection (a). 

3 SEC. 106. BALLOT MARKING DEVICE CYBERSECURITY RE4 QUIREMENTS. 

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

6 (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)), as amended by section 104, is fur7 ther amended by adding at the end the following new para8 graphs: 

9 ‘‘(8) PROHIBITION OF USE OF WIRELESS COM10 MUNICATIONS DEVICES IN SYSTEMS OR DEVICES.— 

11 No system or device upon which ballot marking de12 vices or ballot tabulation devices are configured, 

13 upon which ballots are marked by voters at a polling 

14 place (except as necessary for individuals with dis15 abilities to use ballot marking devices that meet the 

16 accessibility requirements of paragraph (3)), or upon 

17 which votes are cast, tabulated, or aggregated shall 

18 contain, use, or be accessible by any wireless, power19 line, or concealed communication device. 

20 ‘‘(9) PROHIBITING CONNECTION OF SYSTEM TO

21 THE INTERNET.—No system or device upon which 

22 ballot marking devices or ballot tabulation devices 

23 are configured, upon which ballots are marked by 

24 voters at a voting place, or upon which votes are 

25 cast, tabulated, or aggregated shall be connected to 


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1 the internet or any non-local computer system via 

2 telephone or other communication network at any 

3 time.’’. 

4 SEC. 107. EFFECTIVE DATE FOR NEW REQUIREMENTS. 

5 Section 301(d) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

6 (52 U.S.C. 21081(d)) is amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para9 graph (2), each State and jurisdiction shall be re10 quired to comply with the requirements of this sec11 tion on and after January 1, 2006. 

12 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN REQUIRE13 MENTS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

15 subparagraphs (B) and (C), the requirements of 

16 this section which are first imposed on a State 

17 or jurisdiction pursuant to the amendments 

18 made by the Voter Confidence and Increased 

19 Accessibility Act of 2024 shall apply with re20 spect to voting systems used for any election for 

21 Federal office held in 2026 or any succeeding 

22 year. 

23 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR JURISDICTIONS

24 USING CERTAIN PAPER RECORD PRINTERS OR


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1 CERTAIN SYSTEMS USING OR PRODUCING

2 VOTER-VERIFIABLE PAPER RECORDS IN 2024.— 

3 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a 

4 jurisdiction described in clause (ii), the re5 quirements of paragraphs (2)(A)(i) and (7) 

6 of subsection (a) (as amended or added by 

7 the Voter Confidence and Increased Acces8 sibility Act of 2024) shall not apply before 

9 the date on which the jurisdiction replaces 

10 the printers or systems described in clause 

11 (ii)(I) for use in the administration of elec12 tions for Federal office. 

13 ‘‘(ii) JURISDICTIONS DESCRIBED.—A 

14 jurisdiction described in this clause is a ju15 risdiction— 

16 ‘‘(I) which used voter-verifiable 

17 paper record printers attached to di18 rect recording electronic voting ma19 chines, or which used other voting 

20 systems that used or produced paper 

21 records of the vote verifiable by voters 

22 but that are not in compliance with 

23 paragraphs (2)(A)(i) and (7) of sub24 section (a) (as amended or added by 

25 the Voter Confidence and Increased 


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1 Accessibility Act of 2024), for the ad2 ministration of the regularly sched3 uled general election for Federal office 

4 held in November 2024; and 

5 ‘‘(II) which will continue to use 

6 such printers or systems for the ad7 ministration of elections for Federal 

8 office until such printers or systems 

9 are replaced. 

10 ‘‘(iii) MANDATORY AVAILABILITY OF

11 PAPER BALLOTS AT POLLING PLACES

12 USING GRANDFATHERED PRINTERS AND

13 SYSTEMS.— 

14 ‘‘(I) REQUIRING BALLOTS TO BE

15 OFFERED AND PROVIDED.—The ap16 propriate election official at each poll17 ing place that uses a printer or sys18 tem described in clause (ii)(I) for the 

19 administration of elections for Federal 

20 office shall offer each individual who 

21 is eligible to cast a vote in the election 

22 at the polling place the opportunity to 

23 cast the vote using a blank printed 

24 paper ballot which the individual may 

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1 duced by the direct recording elec2 tronic voting machine or other such 

3 system. The official shall provide the 

4 individual with the ballot and the sup5 plies necessary to mark the ballot, and 

6 shall ensure (to the greatest extent 

7 practicable) that the waiting period 

8 for the individual to cast a vote is the 

9 lesser of 30 minutes or the average 

10 waiting period for an individual who 

11 does not agree to cast the vote using 

12 such a paper ballot under this clause. 

13 ‘‘(II) TREATMENT OF BALLOT.— 

14 Any paper ballot which is cast by an 

15 individual under this clause shall be 

16 counted and otherwise treated as a 

17 regular ballot for all purposes (includ18 ing by incorporating it into the final 

19 unofficial vote count (as defined by 

20 the State) for the precinct) and not as 

21 a provisional ballot, unless the indi22 vidual casting the ballot would have 

23 otherwise been required to cast a pro24 visional ballot. 


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1 ‘‘(III) POSTING OF NOTICE.— 

2 The appropriate election official shall 

3 ensure there is prominently displayed 

4 at each polling place a notice that de5 scribes the obligation of the official to 

6 offer individuals the opportunity to 

7 cast votes using a printed blank paper 

8 ballot. The notice shall comply with 

9 the requirements of section 203 of the 

10 Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 

11 10503). 

12 ‘‘(IV) TRAINING OF ELECTION

13 OFFICIALS.—The chief State election 

14 official shall ensure that election offi15 cials at polling places in the State are 

16 aware of the requirements of this 

17 clause, including the requirement to 

18 display a notice under subclause (III), 

19 and are aware that it is a violation of 

20 the requirements of this title for an 

21 election official to fail to offer an indi22 vidual the opportunity to cast a vote 

23 using a blank printed paper ballot. 

24 ‘‘(V) PERIOD OF APPLICA25 BILITY.—The requirements of this 


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1 clause apply only during the period 

2 beginning on January 1, 2026, and 

3 ending on the date on which the which 

4 the jurisdiction replaces the printers 

5 or systems described in clause (ii)(I) 

6 for use in the administration of elec7 tions for Federal office. 

8 ‘‘(C) DELAY FOR CERTAIN JURISDICTIONS

9 USING VOTING SYSTEMS WITH WIRELESS COM10 MUNICATION DEVICES OR INTERNET CONNEC11 TIONS.— 

12 ‘‘(i) DELAY.—In the case of a juris13 diction described in clause (ii), subpara14 graph (A) shall apply to a voting system in 

15 the jurisdiction as if the reference in such 

16 subparagraph to ‘2026’ were a reference to 

17 ‘the applicable year’, but only with respect 

18 to the following requirements of this sec19 tion: 

20 ‘‘(I) Paragraph (8) of subsection 

21 (a) (relating to prohibition of wireless 

22 communication devices). 

23 ‘‘(II) Paragraph (9) of subsection 

24 (a) (relating to prohibition of con25 necting systems to the internet). 


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1 ‘‘(ii) JURISDICTIONS DESCRIBED.—A 

2 jurisdiction described in this clause is a ju3 risdiction— 

4 ‘‘(I) which used a voting system 

5 which is not in compliance with para6 graphs (8) or (9) of subsection (a) (as 

7 amended or added by the Voter Con8 fidence and Increased Accessibility 

9 Act of 2024) for the administration of 

10 the regularly scheduled general elec11 tion for Federal office held in Novem12 ber 2024; 

13 ‘‘(II) which was not able, to all 

14 extent practicable, to comply with 

15 paragraphs (8) and (9) of subsection 

16 (a) before January 1, 2026; and 

17 ‘‘(III) which will continue to use 

18 such printers or systems for the ad19 ministration of elections for Federal 

20 office held in years before the applica21 ble year. 

22 ‘‘(iii) APPLICABLE YEAR.— 

23 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Except as 

24 provided in subclause (II), the term 

25 ‘applicable year’ means 2028. 


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1 ‘‘(II) EXTENSION.—If a State or 

2 jurisdiction certifies to the Commis3 sion not later than January 1, 2028, 

4 that the State or jurisdiction will not 

5 meet the requirements described in 

6 subclauses (I) and (II) of clause (i) by 

7 such date because it would be imprac8 tical to do so and includes in the cer9 tification the reasons for the failure to 

10 meet the deadline, the term ‘applica11 ble year’ means 2032.’’. 

12 SEC. 108. GRANTS FOR OBTAINING COMPLIANT PAPER BAL13 LOT VOTING SYSTEMS AND CARRYING OUT 

14 VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS. 

15 (a) AVAILABILITY OF GRANTS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title II of the 

17 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21001 

18 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol19 lowing new part: 


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1 ‘‘PART 7—GRANTS FOR OBTAINING COMPLIANT 

2 PAPER BALLOT VOTING SYSTEMS AND CAR3 RYING OUT VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY IM4 PROVEMENTS 

5 ‘‘SEC. 297. GRANTS FOR OBTAINING COMPLIANT PAPER 

6 BALLOT VOTING SYSTEMS AND CARRYING 

7 OUT VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY IMPROVE8 MENTS. 

9 ‘‘(a) AVAILABILITY AND USE OF GRANT.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

11 make a grant to each eligible State— 

12 ‘‘(A) to replace a voting system— 

13 ‘‘(i) which does not meet the require14 ments which are first imposed on the State 

15 pursuant to the amendments made by the 

16 Voter Confidence and Increased Accessi17 bility Act of 2024 with a voting system 

18 which— 

19 ‘‘(I) does meet such require20 ments; and 

21 ‘‘(II) in the case of a grand22 fathered voting system (as defined in 

23 paragraph (2)), is in compliance with 

24 the most recent voluntary voting sys25 tem guidelines; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) which does meet such require2 ments but which is not in compliance with 

3 the most recent voluntary voting system 

4 guidelines with another system which does 

5 meet such requirements and is in compli6 ance with such guidelines; 

7 ‘‘(B) to carry out voting system security 

8 improvements described in section 297A with 

9 respect to the regularly scheduled general elec10 tion for Federal office held in November 2026 

11 and each succeeding election for Federal office; 

12 ‘‘(C) to implement and model best prac13 tices for ballot design, ballot instructions, and 

14 the testing of ballots; and 

15 ‘‘(D) to purchase or acquire accessible vot16 ing systems that meet the requirements of 

17 paragraph (2) and paragraph (3)(A)(i) of sec18 tion 301(a) by the means described in para19 graph (3)(B) of such section. 

20 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION OF GRANDFATHERED VOTING

21 SYSTEM.—In this subsection, the term ‘grand22 fathered voting system’ means a voting system that 

23 is used by a jurisdiction described in subparagraph 

24 (B)(ii) or (C)(ii) of section 301(d)(2). 

25 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The amount of payment 

2 made to an eligible State under this section shall be 

3 the minimum payment amount described in para4 graph (2) plus the voting age population proportion 

5 amount described in paragraph (3). 

6 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM PAYMENT AMOUNT.—The min7 imum payment amount described in this paragraph 

8 is— 

9 ‘‘(A) in the case of any of the several 

10 States or the District of Columbia, one-half of 

11 1 percent of the aggregate amount made avail12 able for payments under this section; and 

13 ‘‘(B) in the case of the Commonwealth of 

14 Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the 

15 United States Virgin Islands, or the Common16 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, one17 tenth of 1 percent of such aggregate amount. 

18 ‘‘(3) VOTING AGE POPULATION PROPORTION

19 AMOUNT.—The voting age population proportion 

20 amount described in this paragraph is the product 

21 of— 

22 ‘‘(A) the aggregate amount made available 

23 for payments under this section minus the total 

24 of all of the minimum payment amounts deter25 mined under paragraph (2); and 


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1 ‘‘(B) the voting age population proportion 

2 for the State (as defined in paragraph (4)). 

3 ‘‘(4) VOTING AGE POPULATION PROPORTION

4 DEFINED.—The term ‘voting age population propor5 tion’ means, with respect to a State, the amount 

6 equal to the quotient of— 

7 ‘‘(A) the voting age population of the State 

8 (as reported in the most recent decennial cen9 sus); and 

10 ‘‘(B) the total voting age population of all 

11 States (as reported in the most recent decennial 

12 census). 

13 ‘‘(5) REQUIREMENT RELATING TO PURCHASE

14 OF ACCESSIBLE VOTING SYSTEMS.—An eligible State 

15 shall use not less than 10 percent of funds received 

16 by the State under this section to purchase acces17 sible voting systems described in subsection 

18 (a)(1)(D). 

19 ‘‘SEC. 297A. VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS 

20 DESCRIBED. 

21 ‘‘(a) PERMITTED USES.—A voting system security 

22 improvement described in this section is any of the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(1) The acquisition of goods and services from 

25 qualified election infrastructure vendors by purchase, 


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1 lease, or such other arrangements as may be appro2 priate. 

3 ‘‘(2) Cyber and risk mitigation training. 

4 ‘‘(3) A security risk and vulnerability assess5 ment of the State’s election infrastructure (as de6 fined in section 108(b) of the Voter Confidence and 

7 Increased Accessibility Act of 2024) which is carried 

8 out by a provider of cybersecurity services under a 

9 contract entered into between the chief State elec10 tion official and the provider. 

11 ‘‘(4) The maintenance of infrastructure used 

12 for elections, including addressing risks and 

13 vulnerabilities which are identified under either of 

14 the security risk and vulnerability assessments de15 scribed in paragraph (3), except that none of the 

16 funds provided under this part may be used to ren17 ovate or replace a building or facility which is not 

18 a primary provider of information technology serv19 ices for the administration of elections, and which is 

20 used primarily for purposes other than the adminis21 tration of elections for public office. 

22 ‘‘(5) Providing increased technical support for 

23 any information technology infrastructure that the 

24 chief State election official deems to be part of the 

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1 ignates as critical to the operation of the State’s 

2 election infrastructure (as so defined). 

3 ‘‘(6) Enhancing the cybersecurity and oper4 ations of the information technology infrastructure 

5 described in paragraph (4). 

6 ‘‘(7) Enhancing the cybersecurity of voter reg7 istration systems. 

8 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE VEN9 DORS DESCRIBED.—For purposes of this part, a ‘qualified 

10 election infrastructure vendor’ is any person who provides, 

11 supports, or maintains, or who seeks to provide, support, 

12 or maintain, election infrastructure (as defined in section 

13 108(b) of the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility 

14 Act of 2024) on behalf of a State, unit of local govern15 ment, or election agency (as defined in section 108(b) of 

16 such Act) who meets the criteria described in section 

17 108(b) of such Act. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 297B. ELIGIBILITY OF STATES. 

19 ‘‘A State is eligible to receive a grant under this part 

20 if the State submits to the Commission, at such time and 

21 in such form as the Commission may require, an applica22 tion containing— 

23 ‘‘(1) a description of how the State will use the 

24 grant to carry out the activities authorized under 

25 this part; 


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1 ‘‘(2) a certification and assurance that, not 

2 later than 5 years after receiving the grant, the 

3 State will carry out voting system security improve4 ments, as described in section 297A; and 

5 ‘‘(3) such other information and assurances as 

6 the Commission may require. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 297C. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

8 ‘‘Not later than 90 days after the end of each fiscal 

9 year, the Commission shall submit a report to the Com10 mittees on Homeland Security, House Administration, and 

11 the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the 

12 Committees on Homeland Security and Governmental Af13 fairs, the Judiciary, and Rules and Administration of the 

14 Senate, on the activities carried out with the funds pro15 vided under this part. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 297D. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

17 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to be 

18 appropriated for grants under this part— 

19 ‘‘(1) $2,400,000,000 for fiscal year 2026; and 

20 ‘‘(2) $175,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 

21 2028, 2030, and 2032. 

22 ‘‘(b) CONTINUING AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS.—Any 

23 amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization of 

24 this section shall remain available until expended.’’. 


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1 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con2 tents of such Act is amended by adding at the end 

3 of the items relating to subtitle D of title II the fol4 lowing: 

‘‘PART 7—GRANTS FOR OBTAINING COMPLIANT PAPER BALLOT VOTING

SYSTEMS AND CARRYING OUT VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS

‘‘Sec. 297. Grants for obtaining compliant paper ballot voting systems and 

carrying out voting system security improvements. 

‘‘Sec. 297A. Voting system security improvements described. 

‘‘Sec. 297B. Eligibility of States. 

‘‘Sec. 297C. Reports to Congress. 

‘‘Sec. 297D. Authorization of appropriations. 

5 (b) QUALIFIED ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE VEN6 DORS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta8 tion with the Chair, shall establish and publish cri9 teria for qualified election infrastructure vendors for 

10 purposes of section 297A of the Help America Vote 

11 Act of 2002 (as added by this Act). 

12 (2) CRITERIA.—The criteria established under 

13 paragraph (1) shall include each of the following re14 quirements: 

15 (A) The vendor shall— 

16 (i) be owned and controlled by a cit17 izen or permanent resident of the United 

18 States or a member of the Five Eyes intel19 ligence-sharing alliance; and 

20 (ii) in the case of any election infra21 structure which is a voting machine, enVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:05 Jan 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00030 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5615.IS S5615

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1 sure that such voting machine is assembled 

2 in the United States. 

3 (B) The vendor shall disclose to the Sec4 retary and the Chair, and to the chief State 

5 election official of any State to which the ven6 dor provides any goods and services with funds 

7 provided under part 7 of subtitle D of title II 

8 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (as 

9 added by this Act), of any sourcing outside the 

10 United States for parts of the election infra11 structure. 

12 (C) The vendor shall disclose to the Sec13 retary and the Chair, and to the chief State 

14 election official of any State to which the ven15 dor provides any goods and services with funds 

16 provided under such part 7, the identification of 

17 any entity or individual with a more than 5 per18 cent ownership interest in the vendor. 

19 (D) The vendor agrees to ensure that the 

20 election infrastructure will be developed and 

21 maintained in a manner that is consistent with 

22 the cybersecurity best practices issued by the 

23 Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security 

24 Agency of the Department of Homeland Secu25 rity. 


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1 (E) The vendor agrees to maintain its in2 formation technology infrastructure in a man3 ner that is consistent with the cybersecurity 

4 best practices issued by the Cybersecurity and 

5 Infrastructure Security Agency of the Depart6 ment of Homeland Security. 

7 (F) The vendor agrees to ensure that the 

8 election infrastructure will be developed and 

9 maintained in a manner that is consistent with 

10 the supply chain best practices issued by the 

11 Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security 

12 Agency of the Department of Homeland Secu13 rity. 

14 (G) The vendor agrees to ensure that it 

15 has personnel policies and practices in place 

16 that are consistent with personnel best prac17 tices, including cybersecurity training and back18 ground checks, issued by the Cybersecurity and 

19 Infrastructure Security Agency of the Depart20 ment of Homeland Security. 

21 (H) The vendor agrees to ensure that the 

22 election infrastructure will be developed and 

23 maintained in a manner that is consistent with 

24 data integrity best practices, including require25 ments for encrypted transfers and validation, 


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1 testing and checking printed materials for accu2 racy, and disclosure of quality control incidents, 

3 issued by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure 

4 Security Agency of the Department of Home5 land Security. 

6 (I) The vendor agrees to meet the require7 ments of paragraph (3) with respect to any 

8 known or suspected cybersecurity incidents in9 volving any of the goods and services provided 

10 by the vendor pursuant to a grant under part 

11 7 of subtitle D of title II of the Help America 

12 Vote Act of 2002 (as added by this Act). 

13 (J) The vendor agrees to permit inde14 pendent security testing by the Election Assist15 ance Commission (in accordance with section 

16 231(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

17 (52 U.S.C. 20971)) and by the Secretary of the 

18 goods and services provided by the vendor pur19 suant to a grant under part 7 of subtitle D of 

20 title II of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

21 (as added by this Act). 

22 (3) CYBERSECURITY INCIDENT REPORTING RE23 QUIREMENTS.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—A vendor meets the re25 quirements of this paragraph if, upon becoming 


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1 aware of the possibility that an election cyberse2 curity incident has occurred involving any of 

3 the goods and services provided by the vendor 

4 pursuant to a grant under part 7 of subtitle D 

5 of title II of the Help America Vote Act of 

6 2002 (as added by this Act)— 

7 (i) the vendor promptly assesses 

8 whether or not such an incident occurred, 

9 and submits a notification meeting the re10 quirements of subparagraph (B) to the 

11 Secretary and the Chair of the assessment 

12 as soon as practicable (but in no case later 

13 than 3 days after the vendor first becomes 

14 aware of the possibility that the incident 

15 occurred); 

16 (ii) if the incident involves goods or 

17 services provided to an election agency, the 

18 vendor submits a notification meeting the 

19 requirements of subparagraph (B) to the 

20 agency as soon as practicable (but in no 

21 case later than 3 days after the vendor 

22 first becomes aware of the possibility that 

23 the incident occurred), and cooperates with 

24 the agency in providing any other necVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:05 Jan 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00034 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5615.IS S5615

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1 essary notifications relating to the inci2 dent; and 

3 (iii) the vendor provides all necessary 

4 updates to any notification submitted 

5 under clause (i) or clause (ii). 

6 (B) CONTENTS OF NOTIFICATIONS.—Each 

7 notification submitted under clause (i) or clause 

8 (ii) of subparagraph (A) shall contain the fol9 lowing information with respect to any election 

10 cybersecurity incident covered by the notifica11 tion: 

12 (i) The date, time, and time zone 

13 when the election cybersecurity incident 

14 began, if known. 

15 (ii) The date, time, and time zone 

16 when the election cybersecurity incident 

17 was detected. 

18 (iii) The date, time, and duration of 

19 the election cybersecurity incident. 

20 (iv) The circumstances of the election 

21 cybersecurity incident, including the spe22 cific election infrastructure systems be23 lieved to have been accessed and informa24 tion acquired, if any. 


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1 (v) Any planned and implemented 

2 technical measures to respond to and re3 cover from the incident. 

4 (vi) In the case of any notification 

5 which is an update to a prior notification, 

6 any additional material information relat7 ing to the incident, including technical 

8 data, as it becomes available. 

9 (C) DEVELOPMENT OF CRITERIA FOR RE10 PORTING.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

11 of enactment of this Act, the Director of the 

12 Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security 

13 Agency shall, in consultation with the Election 

14 Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Council, de15 velop criteria for incidents which are required to 

16 be reported in accordance with subparagraph 

17 (A). 

18 (4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

19 (A) CHAIR.—The term ‘‘Chair’’ means the 

20 Chair of the Election Assistance Commission. 

21 (B) CHIEF STATE ELECTION OFFICIAL.— 

22 The term ‘‘chief State election official’’ means, 

23 with respect to a State, the individual des24 ignated by the State under section 10 of the 

25 National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 


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1 U.S.C. 20509) to be responsible for coordina2 tion of the State’s responsibilities under such 

3 Act. 

4 (C) ELECTION AGENCY.—The term ‘‘elec5 tion agency’’ means any component of a State, 

6 or any component of a unit of local government 

7 in a State, which is responsible for the adminis8 tration of elections for Federal office in the 

9 State. 

10 (D) ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE.—The 

11 term ‘‘election infrastructure’’ means storage 

12 facilities, polling places, and centralized vote 

13 tabulation locations used to support the admin14 istration of elections for public office, as well as 

15 related information and communications tech16 nology, including voter registration databases, 

17 voting machines, electronic mail and other com18 munications systems (including electronic mail 

19 and other systems of vendors who have entered 

20 into contracts with election agencies to support 

21 the administration of elections, manage the 

22 election process, and report and display election 

23 results), and other systems used to manage the 

24 election process and to report and display elec25 tion results on behalf of an election agency. 


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1 (E) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

2 means the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

3 (F) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the 

4 meaning given such term in section 901 of the 

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

6 21141). 

7 TITLE II—VOTING SYSTEM 

8 SECURITY 

9 SEC. 201. POST-ELECTION AUDIT REQUIREMENT. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help America 

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

12 by inserting after section 303 the following new section: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 303A. POST-ELECTION AUDITS. 

14 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 ‘‘(1) POST-ELECTION AUDIT.—Except as pro16 vided in subsection (c)(1)(B), the term ‘post-election 

17 audit’ means, with respect to any election contest, a 

18 post-election process that— 

19 ‘‘(A) has a probability of at least 95 per20 cent of correcting the reported outcome if the 

21 reported outcome is not the correct outcome; 

22 ‘‘(B) will not change the outcome if the re23 ported outcome is the correct outcome; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) involves a manual adjudication of 

2 voter intent from some or all of the ballots val3 idly cast in the election contest. 

4 ‘‘(2) REPORTED OUTCOME; CORRECT OUTCOME; 

5 OUTCOME.— 

6 ‘‘(A) REPORTED OUTCOME.—The term ‘re7 ported outcome’ means the outcome of an elec8 tion contest which is determined according to 

9 the canvass and which will become the official, 

10 certified outcome unless it is revised by an 

11 audit, recount, or other legal process. 

12 ‘‘(B) CORRECT OUTCOME.—The term ‘cor13 rect outcome’ means the outcome that would be 

14 determined by a manual adjudication of voter 

15 intent for all votes validly cast in the election 

16 contest. 

17 ‘‘(C) OUTCOME.—The term ‘outcome’ 

18 means the winner or set of winners of an elec19 tion contest. 

20 ‘‘(3) MANUAL ADJUDICATION OF VOTER IN21 TENT.—The term ‘manual adjudication of voter in22 tent’ means direct inspection and determination by 

23 humans, without assistance from electronic or me24 chanical tabulation devices, of the ballot choices 


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1 marked by voters on each voter-verifiable paper 

2 record. 

3 ‘‘(4) BALLOT MANIFEST.—The term ‘ballot 

4 manifest’ means a record maintained by each juris5 diction that— 

6 ‘‘(A) is created without reliance on any 

7 part of the voting system used to tabulate 

8 votes; 

9 ‘‘(B) functions as a sampling frame for 

10 conducting a post-election audit; and 

11 ‘‘(C) accounts for all ballots validly cast re12 gardless of how they were tabulated and in13 cludes a precise description of the manner in 

14 which the ballots are physically stored, includ15 ing the total number of physical groups of bal16 lots, the numbering system for each group, a 

17 unique label for each group, and the number of 

18 ballots in each such group. 

19 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

21 ‘‘(A) AUDITS.— 

22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Each State and 

23 jurisdiction shall administer post-election 

24 audits of the results of all election contests 

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1 cordance with the requirements of para2 graph (2). 

3 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—Clause (i) shall 

4 not apply to any election contest for which 

5 the State or jurisdiction conducts a full re6 count through a manual adjudication of 

7 voter intent. 

8 ‘‘(B) FULL MANUAL TABULATION.—If a 

9 post-election audit conducted under subpara10 graph (A) corrects the reported outcome of an 

11 election contest, the State or jurisdiction shall 

12 use the results of the manual adjudication of 

13 voter intent conducted as part of the post-elec14 tion audit as the official results of the election 

15 contest. 

16 ‘‘(2) AUDIT REQUIREMENTS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) RULES AND PROCEDURES.— 

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 

19 years after the date of the enactment of 

20 this section, the chief State election official 

21 of the State shall establish rules and proce22 dures for conducting post-election audits. 

23 ‘‘(ii) MATTERS INCLUDED.—The rules 

24 and procedures established under clause (i) 

25 shall include the following: 


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1 ‘‘(I) Rules and procedures for en2 suring the security of ballots and doc3 umenting that prescribed procedures 

4 were followed. 

5 ‘‘(II) Rules and procedures for 

6 ensuring the accuracy of ballot mani7 fests produced by jurisdictions. 

8 ‘‘(III) Rules and procedures for 

9 governing the format of ballot mani10 fests and other data involved in post11 election audits. 

12 ‘‘(IV) Methods to ensure that 

13 any cast vote records used in a post14 election audit are those used by the 

15 voting system to tally the results of 

16 the election contest sent to the chief 

17 State election official of the State and 

18 made public. 

19 ‘‘(V) Rules and procedures for 

20 the random selection of ballots to be 

21 inspected manually during each audit. 

22 ‘‘(VI) Rules and procedures for 

23 the calculations and other methods to 

24 be used in the audit and to determine 


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1 whether and when the audit of each 

2 election contest is complete. 

3 ‘‘(VII) Rules and procedures for 

4 testing any software used to conduct 

5 post-election audits. 

6 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC REPORT.— 

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—After the comple8 tion of the post-election audit and at least 

9 5 days before the election contest is cer10 tified by the State, the State shall make 

11 public and submit to the Commission a re12 port on the results of the audit, together 

13 with such information as necessary to con14 firm that the audit was conducted prop15 erly. 

16 ‘‘(ii) FORMAT OF DATA.—All data 

17 published with the report under clause (i) 

18 shall be published in machine-readable, 

19 open data formats. 

20 ‘‘(iii) PROTECTION OF ANONYMITY OF

21 VOTES.—Information and data published 

22 by the State under this subparagraph shall 

23 not compromise the anonymity of votes. 

24 ‘‘(iv) REPORT MADE AVAILABLE BY

25 COMMISSION.—After receiving any report 


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1 submitted under clause (i), the Commis2 sion shall make such report available on its 

3 website. 

4 ‘‘(3) EFFECTIVE DATE; WAIVER.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

6 subparagraphs (B) and (C), each State and ju7 risdiction shall be required to comply with the 

8 requirements of this subsection for the first reg9 ularly scheduled election for Federal office oc10 curring in 2034 and for each subsequent elec11 tion for Federal office. 

12 ‘‘(B) WAIVER.—Except as provided in sub13 paragraph (C), if a State certifies to the Elec14 tion Assistance Commission not later than the 

15 first regularly scheduled election for Federal of16 fice occurring in 2034, that the State will not 

17 meet the deadline described in subparagraph 

18 (A) because it would be impracticable to do so 

19 and includes in the certification the reasons for 

20 the failure to meet such deadline, subparagraph 

21 (A) and subsection (c)(2) shall be applied to the 

22 State by substituting ‘2036’ for ‘2034’. 

23 ‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL WAIVER PERIOD.—If a 

24 State certifies to the Election Assistance Com25 mission not later than the first regularly schedVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:05 Jan 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00044 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5615.IS S5615

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1 uled election for Federal office occurring in 

2 2036, that the State will not meet the deadline 

3 described in subparagraph (A) (after applica4 tion of subparagraph (B)) because it would be 

5 impracticable to do so and includes in the cer6 tification the reasons for the failure to meet 

7 such deadline, subparagraph (A) and subsection 

8 (c)(2) shall be applied to the State by sub9 stituting ‘2038’ for ‘2034’. 

10 ‘‘(c) PHASED IMPLEMENTATION.— 

11 ‘‘(1) POST-ELECTION AUDITS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For the regularly 

13 scheduled elections for Federal office occurring 

14 in 2026 and 2028, each State shall administer 

15 a post-election audit of the result of at least one 

16 statewide election contest for Federal office held 

17 in the State, or if no such statewide contest is 

18 on the ballot, one election contest for Federal 

19 office chosen at random. 

20 ‘‘(B) POST-ELECTION AUDIT DEFINED.— 

21 In this subsection, the term ‘post-election audit’ 

22 means a post-election process that involves a 

23 manual adjudication of voter intent from a 

24 sample of ballots validly cast in the election 

25 contest. 


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1 ‘‘(2) POST-ELECTION AUDITS FOR SELECT CON2 TESTS.—Subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C) of 

3 subsection (b)(3), for the regularly scheduled elec4 tions for Federal office occurring in 2030 and for 

5 each subsequent election for Federal office that oc6 curs prior to the first regularly scheduled election 

7 for Federal office occurring in 2034, each State 

8 shall administer a post-election audit of the result of 

9 at least one statewide election contest for Federal of10 fice held in the State, or if no such statewide contest 

11 is on the ballot, one election contest for Federal of12 fice chosen at random. 

13 ‘‘(3) STATES THAT ADMINISTER POST-ELEC14 TION AUDITS FOR ALL CONTESTS.—A State shall be 

15 exempt from the requirements of this subsection for 

16 any regularly scheduled election for Federal office in 

17 which the State meets the requirements of sub18 section (b).’’. 

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

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

21 to section 303 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 303A. Post-election audits.’’. 

22 (c) STUDY ON POST-ELECTION AUDIT BEST PRAC23 TICES.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National 

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1 lish an advisory committee to study post-election au2 dits and establish best practices for post-election 

3 audit methodologies and procedures. 

4 (2) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The Director of 

5 the National Institute of Standards and Technology 

6 shall appoint individuals to the advisory committee 

7 and secure the representation of— 

8 (A) State and local election officials; 

9 (B) individuals with experience and exper10 tise in election security; 

11 (C) individuals with experience and exper12 tise in post-election audit procedures; and 

13 (D) individuals with experience and exper14 tise in statistical methods. 

15 (3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

16 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

17 as are necessary to carry out the purposes of this 

18 subsection. 

19 SEC. 202. ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGNATION. 

20 Subparagraph (J) of section 2001(3) of the Home21 land Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 601(3)) is amended 

22 by inserting ‘‘, including election infrastructure’’ before 

23 the period at the end. 


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1 SEC. 203. GUIDELINES AND CERTIFICATION FOR ELEC2 TRONIC POLL BOOKS AND REMOTE BALLOT 

3 MARKING SYSTEMS. 

4 (a) INCLUSION UNDER VOLUNTARY VOTING SYSTEM

5 GUIDELINES.—Section 222 of the Help America Vote Act 

6 of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20962) is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating subsections (a), (b), (c), 

8 (d), and (e) as subsections (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f), 

9 respectively; 

10 (2) by inserting after the section heading the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(a) VOLUNTARY VOTING SYSTEM GUIDELINES.— 

13 The Commission shall adopt voluntary voting system 

14 guidelines that describe functionality, accessibility, and se15 curity principles for the design, development, and oper16 ation of voting systems, electronic poll books, and remote 

17 ballot marking systems.’’; and 

18 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub19 sections: 

20 ‘‘(g) INITIAL GUIDELINES FOR ELECTRONIC POLL

21 BOOKS AND REMOTE BALLOT MARKING SYSTEMS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) ADOPTION.—The Commission shall adopt 

23 initial voluntary voting system guidelines for elec24 tronic poll books and remote ballot marking systems 

25 not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

26 of the Election Security Act of 2024. 


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1 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR INITIAL GUIDE2 LINES.—The Commission may adopt initial vol3 untary voting system guidelines for electronic poll 

4 books and remote ballot marking systems without 

5 modifying the most recently adopted voluntary vot6 ing system guidelines for voting systems. 

7 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 ‘‘(1) ELECTRONIC POLL BOOK.—The term ‘elec9 tronic poll book’ means the total combination of me10 chanical, electromechanical, or electronic equipment 

11 (including the software, firmware, and documenta12 tion required to program, control, and support the 

13 equipment) that is used— 

14 ‘‘(A) to retain the list of registered voters 

15 at a polling location, or vote center, or other lo16 cation at which voters cast votes in an election 

17 for Federal office; and 

18 ‘‘(B) to identify registered voters who are 

19 eligible to vote in an election. 

20 ‘‘(2) REMOTE BALLOT MARKING SYSTEM.—The 

21 term ‘remote ballot marking system’ means an elec22 tion system that— 

23 ‘‘(A) is used by a voter to mark their bal24 lots outside of a voting center or polling place; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(B) allows a voter to receive a blank bal2 lot to mark electronically, print, and then cast 

3 by returning the printed ballot to the elections 

4 office or other designated location.’’. 

5 (b) PROVIDING FOR CERTIFICATION OF ELECTRONIC

6 POLL BOOKS AND REMOTE BALLOT MARKING SYSTEM.— 

7 Section 231(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 

8 U.S.C. 20971(a)) is amended, in each of paragraphs (1) 

9 and (2), by inserting ‘‘, electronic poll books, and remote 

10 ballot marking systems’’ after ‘‘software’’. 

11 SEC. 204. PRE-ELECTION REPORTS ON VOTING SYSTEM 

12 USAGE. 

13 (a) REQUIRING STATES TO SUBMIT REPORTS.—Title 

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

15 21081 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 301 

16 the following new section: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 301A. PRE-ELECTION REPORTS ON VOTING SYSTEM 

18 USAGE. 

19 ‘‘(a) REQUIRING STATES TO SUBMIT REPORTS.— 

20 Not later than 120 days before the date of each regularly 

21 scheduled general election for Federal office, the chief 

22 State election official of a State shall submit a report to 

23 the Commission containing a detailed voting system usage 

24 plan for each jurisdiction in the State which will admin25 ister the election, including a detailed plan for the usage 


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1 of electronic poll books and other equipment and compo2 nents of such system. If a jurisdiction acquires and imple3 ments a new voting system within the 120 days before the 

4 date of the election, it shall notify the chief State election 

5 official of the State, who shall submit to the Commission 

6 in a timely manner an updated report under the preceding 

7 sentence. 

8 ‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (a) shall apply 

9 with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 

10 Federal office held in November 2026 and each succeeding 

11 regularly scheduled general election for Federal office’’. 

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

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

14 to section 301 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 301A. Pre-election reports on voting system usage.’’. 

15 SEC. 205. USE OF VOTING MACHINES MANUFACTURED IN 

16 THE UNITED STATES. 

17 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Section 301(a) of the Help 

18 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)), as 

19 amended by section 104 and section 106, is further 

20 amended by adding at the end the following new para21 graph: 

22 ‘‘(10) VOTING MACHINE REQUIREMENTS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) MANUFACTURING REQUIREMENTS.— 

24 By not later than the date of the regularly 

25 scheduled general election for Federal office ocVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:05 Jan 25, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00051 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5615.IS S5615

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1 curring in November 2026, each State shall 

2 seek to ensure to the extent practicable that 

3 any voting machine used in such election and in 

4 any subsequent election for Federal office is 

5 manufactured in the United States. 

6 ‘‘(B) ASSEMBLY REQUIREMENTS.—By not 

7 later than the date of the regularly scheduled 

8 general election for Federal office occurring in 

9 November 2026, each State shall seek to ensure 

10 that any voting machine purchased or acquired 

11 for such election and in any subsequent election 

12 for Federal office is assembled in the United 

13 States. 

14 ‘‘(C) SOFTWARE AND CODE REQUIRE15 MENTS.—By not later than the date of the reg16 ularly scheduled general election for Federal of17 fice occurring in November 2026, each State 

18 shall seek to ensure that any software or code 

19 developed for any voting system purchased or 

20 acquired for such election and in any subse21 quent election for Federal office is developed 

22 and stored in the United States.’’. 

23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EF24 FECTIVE DATE.—Section 301(d)(1) of such Act (52 

25 U.S.C. 21081(d)(1)), as amended by section 107, is 


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1 amended by striking ‘‘paragraph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub2 section (a)(10) and paragraph (2)’’. 

Æ 


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