I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5011 

To protect elections for public office by providing financial support and 

enhanced security for the infrastructure used to carry out such elections, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2018 

Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi (for himself, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Ms. 

LOFGREN, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. RICHMOND, and Mrs. DEMINGS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House 

Administration, and in addition to the Committees on Homeland Security, Intelligence (Permanent Select), the Judiciary, and Foreign Affairs, 

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 protect elections for public office by providing financial 

support and 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Election Security Act’’. 


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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Sense of Congress on need to improve election infrastructure security. 

TITLE I—FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE 

Subtitle A—Voting System Security Improvement Grants 

Sec. 101. Voting system security grants. 

Sec. 102. Coordination of voting system security activities with use of requirements payments and election administration requirements 

under Help America Vote Act of 2002. 

Sec. 103. Incorporation of definition of election infrastructure. 

Subtitle B—Grants for Risk-Limiting Audits of Results 

Sec. 111. Grants to States for conducting risk-limiting audits of results of elections. 

Sec. 112. GAO analysis of effects of audits. 

Subtitle C—Election Infrastructure Innovation Grant Program 

Sec. 121. Election Infrastructure Innovation Grant Program. 

TITLE II—SECURITY MEASURES 

Sec. 201. Election infrastructure designation. 

Sec. 202. Timely threat information. 

Sec. 203. Security clearance assistance for election officials. 

Sec. 204. Pre-election threat assessments. 

Sec. 205. Security risk and vulnerability assessments. 

Sec. 206. Annual Report. 

TITLE III—ENHANCING PROTECTIONS FOR UNITED STATES 

DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS 

Sec. 301. National strategy to protect United States democratic institutions. 

Sec. 302. National Commission To Protect United States Democratic Institutions. 

TITLE IV—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 

Sec. 401. Definitions. 

Sec. 402. Initial report on adequacy of resources available for implementation. 

3 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON NEED TO IMPROVE ELEC4 TION INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY. 

5 It is the sense of Congress that, in light of the lessons 

6 learned from Russian interference in the 2016 Presi7 dential election, the Federal Government should intensify 


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1 its efforts to improve the security of election infrastructure 

2 in the United States, including through the use of indi3 vidual, durable, paper ballots marked by the voter by 

4 hand. 

5 TITLE I—FINANCIAL SUPPORT 

6 FOR ELECTION INFRASTRUC7 TURE 

8 Subtitle A—Voting System Security 

9 Improvement Grants 

10 SEC. 101. VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY GRANTS. 

11 (a) AVAILABILITY OF GRANTS.—Subtitle D of title 

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

13 21001 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol14 lowing new part: 

15 ‘‘PART 7—GRANTS FOR OBTAINING PAPER BAL16 LOT VOTING SYSTEMS AND CARRYING OUT 

17 VOTING SYSTEM IMPROVEMENTS 

18 ‘‘SEC. 297. GRANTS FOR OBTAINING PAPER BALLOT VOTING 

19 SYSTEMS AND CARRYING OUT VOTING SYS20 TEM SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS. 

21 ‘‘(a) AVAILABILITY AND USE OF GRANT.—The Com22 mission shall make a grant to each eligible State— 

23 ‘‘(1) to replace voting systems which are not 

24 qualified paper ballot voting systems with voting sys25 tems which are qualified paper ballot voting systems, 


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1 for use in the regularly scheduled general elections 

2 for Federal office held in November 2018, in accord3 ance with section 297A; and 

4 ‘‘(2) to carry out voting system security im5 provements described in section 297B with respect 

6 to the regularly scheduled general elections for Fed7 eral office held in November 2018 and each suc8 ceeding election for Federal office. 

9 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of a grant 

10 made to a State under this section shall be such amount 

11 as the Commission determines to be appropriate, except 

12 that such amount may not be less than the product of 

13 $1 and the average of the number of individuals who cast 

14 votes in any of the two most recent regularly scheduled 

15 general elections for Federal office held in the State. 

16 ‘‘(c) PRO RATA REDUCTIONS.—If the amount of 

17 funds appropriated for grants under this part is insuffi18 cient to ensure that each State receives the amount of the 

19 grant calculated under subsection (b), the Commission 

20 shall make such pro rata reductions in such amounts as 

21 may be necessary to ensure that the entire amount appro22 priated under this part is distributed to the States. 

23 ‘‘SEC. 297A. QUALIFIED PAPER BALLOT VOTING SYSTEMS. 

24 ‘‘(a) USE OF FUNDS TO OBTAIN SYSTEMS.—A State 

25 may use a grant under this part— 


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1 ‘‘(1) to replace a voting system which is not a 

2 qualified paper ballot voting systems with a qualified 

3 paper ballot voting system; or 

4 ‘‘(2) to replace a qualified paper voting system 

5 which is not in compliance with the most recent vol6 untary voting system guidelines issued by the Com7 mission prior to the regularly scheduled general elec8 tion for Federal office held in November 2018 with 

9 another qualified paper voting system which is in 

10 compliance with such guidelines. 

11 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In this part, a ‘qualified 

13 paper ballot voting system’ is a voting system which 

14 requires the use of an individual, durable, paper bal15 lot marked by the voter by hand. 

16 ‘‘(2) ACCESSIBILITY OF SYSTEMS FOR INDIVID17 UALS WITH DISABILITIES.—A voting system used by 

18 individuals with disabilities, and others, may be 

19 treated as a qualified paper ballot voting system for 

20 purposes of this part if the system provides an indi21 vidual with an equivalent opportunity, including with 

22 privacy and independence, to vote in a manner that 

23 produces a paper ballot of the vote as for other vot24 ers. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 297B. VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS 

2 DESCRIBED. 

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

4 improvement described in this section is any of the fol5 lowing: 

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

7 qualified election infrastructure vendors by purchase, 

8 lease, or such other arrangements as may be appro9 priate. 

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

11 ‘‘(3) A security risk and vulnerability assess12 ment of the State’s election infrastructure which is 

13 carried out by a provider of cybersecurity services 

14 under a contract entered into between the chief 

15 State election official and the provider. 

16 ‘‘(4) The maintenance of election infrastruc17 ture, including addressing risks and vulnerabilities 

18 which are identified under either of the security risk 

19 and vulnerability assessments described in para20 graph (3), except that none of the funds provided 

21 under this part may be used to renovate or replace 

22 a building or facility which is used primarily for pur23 poses other than the administration of elections for 

24 public office. 

25 ‘‘(5) Providing increased technical support for 

26 any information technology infrastructure that the 


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1 chief State election official deems to be part of the 

2 State’s election infrastructure or designates as crit3 ical to the operation of the State’s election infra4 structure. 

5 ‘‘(6) Enhancing the cybersecurity and oper6 ations of the information technology infrastructure 

7 described in paragraph (4). 

8 ‘‘(7) Enhancing the cybersecurity of voter reg9 istration systems. 

10 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE VEN11 DORS DESCRIBED.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this part, 

13 a ‘qualified election infrastructure vendor’ is any 

14 person who provides, supports, or maintains, or who 

15 seeks to provide, support, or maintain, election in16 frastructure on behalf of a State, unit of local gov17 ernment, or election agency (as defined in section 

18 401 of the Election Security Act) who meets the cri19 teria described in paragraph (2). 

20 ‘‘(2) CRITERIA.—The criteria described in this 

21 paragraph are such criteria as the Chairman, in co22 ordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security, 

23 shall establish and publish, and shall include each of 

24 the following requirements: 


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1 ‘‘(A) The vendor must be owned and con2 trolled by a citizen or permanent resident of the 

3 United States. 

4 ‘‘(B) The vendor must disclose to the 

5 Chairman and the Secretary, and to the chief 

6 State election official of any State to which the 

7 vendor provides any goods and services with 

8 funds provided under this part, of any sourcing 

9 outside the United States for parts of the elec10 tion infrastructure. 

11 ‘‘(C) The vendor agrees to ensure that the 

12 election infrastructure will be developed and 

13 maintained in a manner that is consistent with 

14 the cybersecurity best practices provided by the 

15 Chairman in coordination with the Secretary. 

16 ‘‘(D) The vendor agrees to maintain its in17 formation technology infrastructure in a man18 ner that is consistent with the cybersecurity 

19 best practices provided by the Chairman in co20 ordination with the Secretary. 

21 ‘‘(E) The vendor agrees to report any 

22 known or suspected security incidents involving 

23 election infrastructure to the chief State elec24 tion official of the State involved or the offiVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Feb 20, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5011.IH H5011

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1 cial’s designee, the Chairman, and the Sec2 retary. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 297C. ELIGIBILITY OF STATES. 

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

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

6 in such form as the Commission may require, an applica7 tion containing— 

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

9 grant to carry out the activities authorized under 

10 this part; 

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

12 later than 5 years after receiving the grant, the 

13 State will carry out risk-limiting audits of the re14 sults of elections for Federal office held in the State, 

15 as described in section 298(b); and 

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

17 the Commission may require. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 297D. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

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

20 year, the Commission shall submit a report to the appro21 priate congressional committees, including the Committees 

22 on Homeland Security and House Administration of the 

23 House of Representatives and the Committees on Home24 land Security and Governmental Affairs and Rules and 


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1 Administration of the Senate, on the activities carried out 

2 with the funds provided under this part. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 297E. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

5 appropriated for grants under this part— 

6 ‘‘(1) $1,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2018; and 

7 ‘‘(2) $175,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 

8 2019, 2021, 2023, and 2025. 

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

10 amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization of 

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

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

13 of such Act is amended by adding at the end of the items 

14 relating to subtitle D of title II the following: 

‘‘PART 7—GRANTS FOR OBTAINING PAPER BALLOT VOTING SYSTEMS AND

CARRYING OUT VOTING SYSTEM IMPROVEMENTS

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

out voting system security improvements. 

‘‘Sec. 297A. Qualified paper ballot voting systems. 

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

‘‘Sec. 297C. Eligibility of States. 

‘‘Sec. 297D. Reports to Congress. 

‘‘Sec. 297E. Authorization of appropriations. 


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1 SEC. 102. COORDINATION OF VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY 

2 ACTIVITIES WITH USE OF REQUIREMENTS 

3 PAYMENTS AND ELECTION ADMINISTRATION 

4 REQUIREMENTS UNDER HELP AMERICA 

5 VOTE ACT OF 2002. 

6 (a) DUTIES OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMIS7 SION.—Section 202 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

8 (52 U.S.C. 20922) is amended in the matter preceding 

9 paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘by’’ and inserting ‘‘and the se10 curity of election infrastructure by’’. 

11 (b) MEMBERSHIP OF SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SE12 CURITY ON BOARD OF ADVISORS OF ELECTION ASSIST13 ANCE COMMISSION.—Section 214(a) of such Act (52 

14 U.S.C. 20944(a)) is amended— 

15 (1) by striking ‘‘37 members’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘38 members’’; and 

17 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

18 paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(17) The Secretary of Homeland Security or 

20 the Secretary’s designee.’’. 

21 (c) REPRESENTATIVE OF DEPARTMENT OF HOME22 LAND SECURITY ON TECHNICAL GUIDELINES DEVELOP23 MENT COMMITTEE.—Section 221(c)(1) of such Act (52 

24 U.S.C. 20961(c)(1)) is amended— 

25 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as sub26 paragraph (F); and 


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1 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the fol2 lowing new subparagraph: 

3 ‘‘(E) A representative of the Department 

4 of Homeland Security.’’. 

5 (d) GOALS OF PERIODIC STUDIES OF ELECTION AD6 MINISTRATION ISSUES; CONSULTATION WITH SECRETARY

7 OF HOMELAND SECURITY.—Section 241(a) of such Act 

8 (52 U.S.C. 20981(a)) is amended— 

9 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

10 striking ‘‘the Commission shall’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

11 Commission, in consultation with the Secretary of 

12 Homeland Security (as appropriate), shall’’; 

13 (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

14 (3); 

15 (3) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para16 graph (5); and 

17 (4) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol18 lowing new paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(4) will be secure against attempts to under20 mine the integrity of election systems by cyber or 

21 other means; and’’. 

22 (e) REQUIREMENTS PAYMENTS.— 

23 (1) USE OF PAYMENTS FOR VOTING SYSTEM

24 SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS.—Section 251(b) of such 


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1 Act (52 U.S.C. 21001(b)) is amended by adding at 

2 the end the following new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(3) PERMITTING USE OF PAYMENTS FOR VOT4 ING SYSTEM SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS.—A State 

5 may use a requirements payment to carry out any 

6 of the following activities: 

7 ‘‘(A) Cyber and risk mitigation training. 

8 ‘‘(B) Providing increased technical support 

9 for any information technology infrastructure 

10 that the chief State election official deems to be 

11 part of the State’s election infrastructure or 

12 designates as critical to the operation of the 

13 State’s election infrastructure. 

14 ‘‘(C) Enhancing the cybersecurity and op15 erations of the information technology infra16 structure described in subparagraph (B). 

17 ‘‘(D) Enhancing the security of voter reg18 istration databases.’’. 

19 (2) INCORPORATION OF ELECTION INFRA20 STRUCTURE PROTECTION IN STATE PLANS FOR USE

21 OF PAYMENTS.—Section 254(a)(1) of such Act (52 

22 U.S.C. 21004(a)(1)) is amended by striking the pe23 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘, including the protec24 tion of election infrastructure.’’. 


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1 (3) COMPOSITION OF COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

2 FOR DEVELOPING STATE PLAN FOR USE OF PAY3 MENTS.—Section 255 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

4 21005) is amended— 

5 (A) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub6 section (c); and 

7 (B) by inserting after subsection (a) the 

8 following new subsection: 

9 ‘‘(b) GEOGRAPHIC REPRESENTATION.—The mem10 bers of the committee shall be a representative group of 

11 individuals from the State’s counties, cities, towns, and 

12 Indian tribes, and shall represent the needs of rural as 

13 well as urban areas of the State, as the case may be.’’. 

14 (f) ENSURING PROTECTION OF COMPUTERIZED

15 STATEWIDE VOTER REGISTRATION LIST.—Section 

16 303(a)(3) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21083(a)(3)) is amend17 ed by striking the period at the end and inserting ‘‘, as 

18 well as other measures to prevent and deter cybersecurity 

19 incidents, as identified by the Commission and the Sec20 retary of Homeland Security.’’. 

21 SEC. 103. INCORPORATION OF DEFINITION OF ELECTION 

22 INFRASTRUCTURE. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 901 of the Help America 

24 Vote Act of 2001 (52 U.S.C. 21141) is amended to read 

25 as follows: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 901. DEFINITIONS. 

2 ‘‘In this Act, the following definitions apply: 

3 ‘‘(1) The term ‘election infrastructure’ has the 

4 meaning given such term in section 401 of the Elec5 tion Security Act. 

6 ‘‘(2) The term ‘State’ means each of the several 

7 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 

8 of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the 

9 United States Virgin Islands.’’. 

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

11 of such Act is amended by amending the item relating to 

12 section 901 to read as follows: 

‘‘Sec. 901. Definitions.’’. 

13 Subtitle B—Grants for Risk14 Limiting Audits of Results 

15 SEC. 111. GRANTS TO STATES FOR CONDUCTING RISK-LIM16 ITING AUDITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS. 

17 (a) AVAILABILITY OF GRANTS.—Subtitle D of title 

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

19 21001 et seq.), as amended by section 101(a), is further 

20 amended by adding at the end the following new part: 


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1 ‘‘PART 8—GRANTS FOR CONDUCTING RISK2 LIMITING AUDITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS 

3 ‘‘SEC. 298. GRANTS FOR CONDUCTING RISK-LIMITING AU4 DITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS. 

5 ‘‘(a) AVAILABILITY OF GRANTS.—The Commission 

6 shall make a grant to each eligible State to conduct risk7 limiting audits as described in subsection (b) with respect 

8 to the regularly scheduled general elections for Federal of9 fice held in November 2018 and each succeeding election 

10 for Federal office. 

11 ‘‘(b) RISK-LIMITING AUDITS DESCRIBED.—In this 

12 part, a risk-limiting audit is a manual tally of certain 

13 marked paper ballots cast in an election which is con14 ducted in accordance with an audit protocol that— 

15 ‘‘(1) makes use of statistical methods and is de16 signed to limit to acceptable levels the risk of certi17 fying a preliminary election outcome that is incon18 sistent with the election outcome that would be ob19 tained by conducting a full recount; and 

20 ‘‘(2) provides for the selection of the election re21 sults that will be subject to the audit in accordance 

22 with procedures established by the chief State elec23 tion official of the State under which the results of 

24 all contested elections are eligible to be selected for 

25 auditing. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 298A. ELIGIBILITY OF STATES. 

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

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

4 in such form as the Commission may require, an applica5 tion containing— 

6 ‘‘(1) a certification that the State will conduct 

7 risk-limiting audits of the results of elections for 

8 Federal office as described in section 298; and 

9 ‘‘(2) such other information and assurances as 

10 the Commission may require. 

11 ‘‘SEC. 298B. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

12 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated for grants 

13 under this part $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2018, to re14 main available until expended.’’. 

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

16 of such Act, as amended by section 101(b), is further 

17 amended by adding at the end of the items relating to 

18 subtitle D of title II the following: 

‘‘PART 8—GRANTS FOR CONDUCTING RISK-LIMITING AUDITS OF RESULTS

OF ELECTIONS

‘‘Sec. 298. Grants for conducting risk-limiting audits of results of elections. 

‘‘Sec. 298A. Eligibility of States. 

‘‘Sec. 298B. Authorization of appropriations. 

19 SEC. 112. GAO ANALYSIS OF EFFECTS OF AUDITS. 

20 (a) ANALYSIS.—Not later than 6 months after the 

21 first election for Federal office is held after grants are 

22 first awarded to States for conducting risk-limiting under 


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1 part 8 of subtitle D of title II of the Help America Vote 

2 Act of 2002 (as added by section 111) for conducting risk3 limiting audits of elections for Federal office, the Comp4 troller General of the United States shall conduct an anal5 ysis of the extent to which such audits have improved the 

6 administration of such elections and the security of elec7 tion infrastructure in the States receiving such grants. 

8 (b) REPORT.—The Comptroller General of the 

9 United States shall submit a report on the analysis con10 ducted under subsection (a) to each of the following Com11 mittees: 

12 (1) The Committee on Homeland Security of 

13 the House of Representatives. 

14 (2) The Committee on House Administration of 

15 the House of Representatives. 

16 (3) The Committee on Homeland Security and 

17 Governmental Affairs of the Senate. 

18 (4) The Committee on Rules and Administra19 tion of the Senate. 

20 Subtitle C—Election Infrastructure 

21 Innovation Grant Program 

22 SEC. 121. ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION 

23 GRANT PROGRAM. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Homeland Secu25 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating the second section 319 (re2 lating to EMP and GMD mitigation research and 

3 development) as section 320; and 

4 (2) by adding at the end the following new sec5 tion: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 321. ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION 

7 GRANT PROGRAM. 

8 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, acting 

9 through the Under Secretary for Science and Technology, 

10 in coordination with the Chairman of the Election Assist11 ance Commission (established pursuant to the Help Amer12 ica Vote Act of 2002) and in consultation with the Direc13 tor of the National Science Foundation, shall establish a 

14 competitive grant program to award grants to eligible enti15 ties, on a competitive basis, for purposes of research and 

16 development that are determined to have the potential to 

17 significantly to improve the security (including cybersecu18 rity), quality, reliability, accuracy, accessibility, and af19 fordability of election infrastructure. 

20 ‘‘(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 90 days 

21 after the conclusion of each fiscal year for which grants 

22 are awarded under this section, the Secretary shall submit 

23 to the Committee on Homeland Security and the Com24 mittee on House Administration of the House of Rep25 resentatives and the Committee on Homeland Security 


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1 and Governmental Affairs and the Committee on Rules 

2 and Administration of the Senate a report describing such 

3 grants and analyzing the impact, if any, of such grants 

4 on the security and operation of election infrastructure. 

5 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

6 is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 

7 $6,250,000 for each of fiscal years 2018 through 2026 

8 for purposes of carrying out this section. 

9 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.—In this section, 

10 the term ‘eligible entity’ means— 

11 ‘‘(1) an institution of higher education (as de12 fined in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act 

13 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a))), including an institu14 tion of higher education that is a historically Black 

15 college or university (which has the meaning given 

16 the term ‘‘part B institution’’ in section 322 of such 

17 Act (20 U.S.C. 1061)) or other minority-serving in18 stitution listed in section 371(a) of such Act (20 

19 U.S.C. 1067q(a)); 

20 ‘‘(2) an organization described in section 

21 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and 

22 exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such Code; 

23 or 

24 ‘‘(3) an organization, association, or a for-profit 

25 company, including a small business concern (as 


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1 such term is defined under section 3 of the Small 

2 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632)), including a small 

3 business concern owned and controlled by socially 

4 and economically disadvantaged individuals as de5 fined under section 8(d)(3)(C) of the Small Business 

6 Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(3)(C)).’’. 

7 (b) DEFINITION.—Section 2 of the Homeland Secu8 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101) is amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (6) through 

10 (20) as paragraphs (7) through (21), respectively; 

11 and 

12 (2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol13 lowing new paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(6) ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 

15 ‘election infrastructure’ means storage facilities, 

16 polling places, and centralized vote tabulation loca17 tions used to support the administration of elections 

18 for public office, as well as related information and 

19 communications technology, including voter registra20 tion databases, voting machines, electronic mail and 

21 other communications systems (including electronic 

22 mail and other systems of vendors who have entered 

23 into contracts with election agencies to support the 

24 administration of elections, manage the election 

25 process, and report and display election results), and 


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1 other systems used to manage the election process 

2 and to report and display election results on behalf 

3 of an election agency.’’. 

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

5 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 

6 amended by striking both items relating to section 319 

7 and the item relating to section 318 and inserting the fol8 lowing new items: 

‘‘Sec. 318. Social media working group. 

‘‘Sec. 319. Transparency in research and development. 

‘‘Sec. 320. EMP and GMD mitigation research and development. 

‘‘Sec. 321. Election infrastructure innovation grant program.’’. 

9 TITLE II—SECURITY MEASURES 

10 SEC. 201. ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGNATION. 

11 Subparagraph (J) of section 2001(3) of the Home12 land Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 601(3)) is amended 

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

14 the period at the end. 

15 SEC. 202. TIMELY THREAT INFORMATION. 

16 Subsection (d) of section 201 of the Homeland Secu17 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 121) is amended by adding 

18 at the end the following new paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(27) To provide timely threat information re20 garding election infrastructure to the chief State 

21 election official of the State with respect to which 

22 such information pertains.’’. 


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1 SEC. 203. SECURITY CLEARANCE ASSISTANCE FOR ELEC2 TION OFFICIALS. 

3 In order to promote the timely sharing of information 

4 on threats to election infrastructure, the Secretary may— 

5 (1) help expedite a security clearance for the 

6 chief State election official and other appropriate 

7 State personnel involved in the administration of 

8 elections, as designated by the chief State election 

9 official; 

10 (2) sponsor a security clearance for the chief 

11 State election official and other appropriate State 

12 personnel involved in the administration of elections, 

13 as designated by the chief State election official; and 

14 (3) facilitate the issuance of a temporary clear15 ance to the chief State election official and other ap16 propriate State personnel involved in the administra17 tion of elections, as designated by the chief State 

18 election official, if the Secretary determines classi19 fied information to be timely and relevant to the 

20 election infrastructure of the State at issue. 

21 SEC. 204. PRE-ELECTION THREAT ASSESSMENTS. 

22 (a) SUBMISSION OF ASSESSMENT BY DNI.—Not 

23 later than 180 days before the date of each regularly 

24 scheduled general election for Federal office, the Director 

25 of National Intelligence shall submit an assessment of the 

26 full scope of threats to election infrastructure, including 


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1 cybersecurity threats posed by State actors and terrorist 

2 groups, and recommendations to address or mitigate the 

3 threats, as developed by the Secretary and Chairman, to— 

4 (1) the chief State election official of each 

5 State; 

6 (2) the Committees on Homeland Security and 

7 House Administration of the House of Representa8 tives and the Committees on Homeland Security and 

9 Governmental Affairs and Rules and Administration 

10 of the Senate; and 

11 (3) any other appropriate congressional com12 mittees. 

13 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (a) shall apply 

14 with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 

15 Federal office held in November 2018 and each succeeding 

16 regularly scheduled general election for Federal office. 

17 SEC. 205. SECURITY RISK AND VULNERABILITY ASSESS18 MENTS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (6) of section 227(c) 

20 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 148(c)) 

21 is amended by inserting ‘‘(including by carrying out a se22 curity risk and vulnerability assessment)’’ after ‘‘risk 

23 management support’’. 

24 (b) PRIORITIZATION TO ENHANCE ELECTION SECU25 RITY.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

2 receiving a written request from a chief State elec3 tion official, the Secretary shall, to the extent prac4 ticable, commence a security risk and vulnerability 

5 assessment (pursuant to paragraph (6) of section 

6 227(c) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as 

7 amended by subsection (a)) on election infrastruc8 ture in the State at issue. 

9 (2) NOTIFICATION.—If the Secretary, upon re10 ceipt of a request described in paragraph (1), deter11 mines that a security risk and vulnerability assess12 ment cannot be commenced within 90 days, the Sec13 retary shall expeditiously notify the chief State elec14 tion official who submitted such request. 

15 SEC. 206. ANNUAL REPORT. 

16 Not later than one year after the date of the enact17 ment of this Act and annually thereafter through 2026, 

18 the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Homeland 

19 Security and the Committee on House Administration of 

20 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

21 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the 

22 Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate a 

23 report on— 

24 (1) efforts to carry out section 203 during the 

25 prior year, including specific information on which 


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1 States were helped, how many officials have been 

2 helped in each State, how many security clearances 

3 have been sponsored in each State, and how many 

4 temporary clearances have been issued in each State; 

5 and 

6 (2) efforts to carry out section 205 during the 

7 prior year, including specific information on which 

8 States were helped, the dates on which the Secretary 

9 received a request for a security risk and vulner10 ability assessment pursuant to such section, the 

11 dates on which the Secretary commenced each such 

12 request, and the dates on which the Secretary trans13 mitted a notification in accordance with subsection 

14 (b)(2) of such section. 

15 TITLE III—ENHANCING PROTEC16 TIONS FOR UNITED STATES 

17 DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS 

18 SEC. 301. NATIONAL STRATEGY TO PROTECT UNITED 

19 STATES DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

21 date of the enactment of this Act, the President, acting 

22 through the Secretary, in consultation with the Chairman, 

23 the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the At24 torney General, the Secretary of Education, the Director 

25 of National Intelligence, the Chairman of the Federal 


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1 Election Commission, and the heads of any other appro2 priate Federal agencies, shall issue a national strategy to 

3 protect against cyber attacks, influence operations, disin4 formation campaigns, and other activities that could un5 dermine the security and integrity of United States demo6 cratic institutions. 

7 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—The national strategy re8 quired under subsection (a) shall include consideration of 

9 the following: 

10 (1) The threat of a foreign State actor, foreign 

11 terrorist organization (as designated pursuant to 

12 section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

13 (8 U.S.C. 1189)), or a domestic actor carrying out 

14 a cyber attack, influence operation, disinformation 

15 campaign, or other activity aimed at undermining 

16 the security and integrity of United States demo17 cratic institutions. 

18 (2) The extent to which United States demo19 cratic institutions are vulnerable to a cyber attack, 

20 influence operation, disinformation campaign, or 

21 other activity aimed at undermining the security and 

22 integrity of such democratic institutions. 

23 (3) Potential consequences, such as an erosion 

24 of public trust or an undermining of the rule of law, 

25 that could result from a successful cyber attack, inVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:02 Feb 20, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5011.IH H5011

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1 fluence operation, disinformation campaign, or other 

2 activity aimed at undermining the security and in3 tegrity of United States democratic institutions. 

4 (4) Lessons learned from other Western govern5 ments the institutions of which were subject to a 

6 cyber attack, influence operation, disinformation 

7 campaign, or other activity aimed at undermining 

8 the security and integrity of such institutions, as 

9 well as actions that could be taken by the United 

10 States Government to bolster collaboration with for11 eign partners to detect, deter, prevent, and counter 

12 such activities. 

13 (5) Potential impacts such as an erosion of 

14 public trust in democratic institutions as could be 

15 associated with a successful cyber breach or other 

16 activity negatively affecting election infrastructure. 

17 (6) Roles and responsibilities of the Secretary, 

18 the Chairman, and the heads of other Federal enti19 ties and non-Federal entities, including chief State 

20 election officials and representatives of multi-State 

21 information sharing and analysis center. 

22 (7) Any findings, conclusions, and recommenda23 tions to strengthen protections for United States 

24 democratic institutions that have been agreed to by 

25 a majority of Commission members on the National 


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1 Commission To Protect United States Democratic 

2 Institutions, authorized pursuant to section 302. 

3 (c) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Not later than 90 

4 days after the issuance of the national strategy required 

5 under subsection (a), the President, acting through the 

6 Secretary, in coordination with the Chairman, shall issue 

7 an implementation plan for Federal efforts to implement 

8 such strategy that includes the following: 

9 (1) Strategic objectives and corresponding 

10 tasks. 

11 (2) Projected timelines and costs for the tasks 

12 referred to in paragraph (1). 

13 (3) Metrics to evaluate performance of such 

14 tasks. 

15 (d) CLASSIFICATION.—The national strategy re16 quired under subsection (a) shall be in unclassified form 

17 but may contain a classified annex. 

18 SEC. 302. NATIONAL COMMISSION TO PROTECT UNITED 

19 STATES DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS. 

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

21 the legislative branch the National Commission To Protect 

22 United States Democratic Institutions (hereafter in this 

23 section referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 


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1 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Commission is to 

2 counter efforts to undermine democratic institutions with3 in the United States. 

4 (c) COMPOSITION.— 

5 (1) MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission shall be 

6 composed of 10 members appointed for the life of 

7 the Commission as follows: 

8 (A) One member shall be appointed by the 

9 Secretary. 

10 (B) One member shall be appointed by the 

11 Chairman. 

12 (C) Two members shall be appointed by 

13 the majority leader of the Senate, in consulta14 tion with the Chairman of the Committee on 

15 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

16 and the Chairman of the Committee on Rules 

17 and Administration. 

18 (D) Two members shall be appointed by 

19 the minority leader of the Senate, in consulta20 tion with the ranking minority member of the 

21 Committee on Homeland Security and Govern22 mental Affairs and the ranking minority mem23 ber of the Committee on Rules and Administra24 tion. 


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1 (E) Two members shall be appointed by 

2 the Speaker of the House of Representatives, in 

3 consultation with the Chairman of the Com4 mittee on Homeland Security and the Chairman 

5 of the Committee on House Administration. 

6 (F) Two members shall be appointed by 

7 the minority leader of the House of Representa8 tives, in consultation with the ranking minority 

9 member of the Committee on Homeland Secu10 rity and the ranking minority member of the 

11 Committee on House Administration. 

12 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—Individuals shall be se13 lected for appointment to the Commission solely on 

14 the basis of their professional qualifications, achieve15 ments, public stature, experience, and expertise in 

16 relevant fields, including, but not limited to cyberse17 curity, national security, and the Constitution of the 

18 United States. 

19 (3) NO COMPENSATION FOR SERVICE.—Mem20 bers shall not receive compensation for service on 

21 the Commission, but shall receive travel expenses, 

22 including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accord23 ance with chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code. 

24 (4) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENT.—All mem25 bers of the Commission shall be appointed no later 


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1 than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this 

2 Act. 

3 (5) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Commission 

4 shall not affect its powers and shall be filled in the 

5 manner in which the original appointment was 

6 made. The appointment of the replacement member 

7 shall be made not later than 60 days after the date 

8 on which the vacancy occurs. 

9 (d) CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.—The Commission shall 

10 elect a Chair and Vice Chair from among its members. 

11 (e) QUORUM AND MEETINGS.— 

12 (1) QUORUM.—The Commission shall meet and 

13 begin the operations of the Commission not later 

14 than 30 days after the date on which all members 

15 have been appointed or, if such meeting cannot be 

16 mutually agreed upon, on a date designated by the 

17 Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 

18 President pro Tempore of the Senate. Each subse19 quent meeting shall occur upon the call of the Chair 

20 or a majority of its members. A majority of the 

21 members of the Commission shall constitute a 

22 quorum, but a lesser number may hold meetings. 

23 (2) AUTHORITY OF INDIVIDUALS TO ACT FOR

24 COMMISSION.—Any member of the Commission may, 

25 if authorized by the Commission, take any action 


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1 that the Commission is authorized to take under this 

2 section. 

3 (f) POWERS.— 

4 (1) HEARINGS AND EVIDENCE.—The Commis5 sion (or, on the authority of the Commission, any 

6 subcommittee or member thereof) may, for the pur7 pose of carrying out this section, hold hearings and 

8 sit and act at such times and places, take such testi9 mony, receive such evidence, and administer such 

10 oaths as the Commission considers advisable to 

11 carry out its duties. 

12 (2) CONTRACTING.—The Commission may, to 

13 such extent and in such amounts as are provided in 

14 appropriation Acts, enter into contracts to enable 

15 the Commission to discharge its duties under this 

16 section. 

17 (g) ASSISTANCE FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

18 (1) GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION.— 

19 The Administrator of General Services shall provide 

20 to the Commission on a reimbursable basis adminis21 trative support and other services for the perform22 ance of the Commission’s functions. 

23 (2) OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES.—In 

24 addition to the assistance provided under paragraph 

25 (1), the Department of Homeland Security, the 


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1 Election Assistance Commission, and other appro2 priate departments and agencies of the United 

3 States shall provide to the Commission such serv4 ices, funds, facilities, and staff as they may deter5 mine advisable and as may be authorized by law. 

6 (h) PUBLIC MEETINGS.—Any public meetings of the 

7 Commission shall be conducted in a manner consistent 

8 with the protection of information provided to or developed 

9 for or by the Commission as required by any applicable 

10 statute, regulation, or Executive order. 

11 (i) SECURITY CLEARANCES.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The heads of appropriate 

13 departments and agencies of the executive branch 

14 shall cooperate with the Commission to expeditiously 

15 provide Commission members and staff with appro16 priate security clearances to the extent possible 

17 under applicable procedures and requirements. 

18 (2) PREFERENCES.—In appointing staff, ob19 taining detailees, and entering into contracts for the 

20 provision of services for the Commission, the Com21 mission shall give preference to individuals otherwise 

22 who have active security clearances. 

23 (j) REPORTS.— 

24 (1) INTERIM REPORTS.—At any time prior to 

25 the submission of the final report under paragraph 


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1 (2), the Commission may submit interim reports to 

2 the President and Congress such findings, conclu3 sions, and recommendations to strengthen protec4 tions for democratic institutions in the United 

5 States as have been agreed to by a majority of the 

6 members of the Commission. 

7 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 18 months 

8 after the date of the first meeting of the Commis9 sion, the Commission shall submit to the President 

10 and Congress a final report containing such find11 ings, conclusions, and recommendations to strength12 en protections for democratic institutions in the 

13 United States as have been agreed to by a majority 

14 of the members of the Commission. 

15 (k) TERMINATION.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall termi17 nate upon the expiration of the 60-day period which 

18 begins on the date on which the Commission submits 

19 the final report required under subsection (j)(2). 

20 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES PRIOR TO

21 TERMINATION.—During the 60-day period described 

22 in paragraph (2), the Commission may carry out 

23 such administrative activities as may be required to 

24 conclude its work, including providing testimony to 


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1 committees of Congress concerning the final report 

2 and disseminating the final report. 

3 (l) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COM4 MITTEE ACT.—The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 

5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Commission. 

6 TITLE IV—MISCELLANEOUS 

7 PROVISIONS 

8 SEC. 401. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 

10 (1) The term ‘‘Chairman’’ means the chair of 

11 the Election Assistance Commission. 

12 (2) The term ‘‘chief State election official’’ 

13 means, with respect to a State, the individual des14 ignated by the State under section 10 of the Na15 tional Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

16 20509) to be responsible for coordination of the 

17 State’s responsibilities under such Act. 

18 (3) The term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Election 

19 Assistance Commission. 

20 (4) The term ‘‘democratic institutions’’ means 

21 the diverse range of institutions that are essential to 

22 ensuring an independent judiciary, free and fair elec23 tions, and rule of law. 

24 (5) The term ‘‘election agency’’ means any com25 ponent of a State, or any component of a unit of 


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1 local government in a State, which is responsible for 

2 the administration of elections for Federal office in 

3 the State. 

4 (6) The term ‘‘election infrastructure’’ means 

5 storage facilities, polling places, and centralized vote 

6 tabulation locations used to support the administra7 tion of elections for public office, as well as related 

8 information and communications technology, includ9 ing voter registration databases, voting machines, 

10 electronic mail and other communications systems 

11 (including electronic mail and other systems of ven12 dors who have entered into contracts with election 

13 agencies to support the administration of elections, 

14 manage the election process, and report and display 

15 election results), and other systems used to manage 

16 the election process and to report and display elec17 tion results on behalf of an election agency. 

18 (7) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

19 of Homeland Security. 

20 (8) The term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning given 

21 such term in section 901 of the Help America Vote 

22 Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21141). 


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1 SEC. 402. INITIAL REPORT ON ADEQUACY OF RESOURCES 

2 AVAILABLE FOR IMPLEMENTATION. 

3 Not later than 120 days after the enactment of this 

4 Act, the Chairman and the Secretary shall submit a report 

5 to the appropriate committees of Congress, including the 

6 Committees on Homeland Security and House Adminis7 tration of the House of Representatives and the Com8 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

9 of the Senate, analyzing the adequacy of the funding, re10 sources, and personnel available to carry out this Act and 

11 the amendments made by this Act. 

Æ 


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