I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 253 

To direct the Election Assistance Commission to make grants to States 

to carry out election administration improvement plans. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 7, 2009 

Mr. HASTINGS of Florida (for himself, Ms. MATSUI, and Ms. CORRINE

BROWN of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on House Administration 

A BILL 

To direct the Election Assistance Commission to make grants 

to States to carry out election administration improvement plans. 

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 ‘‘Critical Election Infra5 structure Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Roughly 130 million votes were cast in the 

9 United States in the November 2008 general elecVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:36 Jan 11, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H253.IH H253

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1 tion, representing over 61 percent of the Nation’s 

2 population. 

3 (2) Hundreds of thousands of individuals were 

4 forced to wait in lines for 5 hours or longer in order 

5 to cast their votes, both during early voting periods 

6 and on Election Day. 

7 (3) Hundreds of jurisdictions lacked the nec8 essary equipment and personnel to speedily and effi9 ciently meet the needs of such large turnout. 

10 SEC. 3. GRANTS TO STATES FOR ELECTION ADMINISTRA11 TION IMPROVEMENTS. 

12 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Election Assistance 

13 Commission (hereafter referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’) 

14 shall make grants to eligible States to carry out election 

15 administration improvement plans. 

16 (b) PLANS DESCRIBED.—For purposes of this Act, 

17 an election administration improvement plan is a plan es18 tablished by a State to promote efficiency and fairness in 

19 the operation of polling places at which individuals cast 

20 ballots in elections for Federal office held in the State (in21 cluding early voting sites), which may include the acquisi22 tion of additional voting systems and equipment, improved 

23 training of election administration officials, and the alloca24 tion of additional election administration officials to poll25 ing places serving greater numbers of voters. 


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1 (c) ELIGIBILITY.—A State is eligible to receive a 

2 grant under this Act if it submits to the Commission (at 

3 such time and in such form as the Commission may re4 quire) an application containing— 

5 (1) the State’s election administration improve6 ment plan; 

7 (2) a description of how the State will use the 

8 funds provided under the grant to carry out the 

9 plan; and 

10 (3) such other information and certifications as 

11 the Commission may require. 

12 (d) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of the grant 

13 made to an eligible State under this Act shall be deter14 mined by the Commission, taking into account the con15 tents of application submitted by the State under sub16 section (c), the amount of funds available for grants to 

17 all States, and such other factors as the Commission con18 siders appropriate. 

19 (e) STATE DEFINED.—In this Act, the term ‘‘State’’ 

20 includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 

21 Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the United 

22 States Virgin Islands. 


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1 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro3 priated for grants under this Act $250,000,000 for each 

4 of the fiscal years 2009 through 2012. 

5 (b) CONTINUING AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Any 

6 amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization under 

7 this section shall remain available until expended. 

Æ 


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