I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1562 

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

of the information technology used to administer voter registration procedures and elections for Federal office, to promote the accuracy and 

integrity of the results of such elections, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 16, 2017 

Mr. POCAN (for himself, Mr. ELLISON, and Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House 

Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and 

Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to improve 

the security of the information technology used to administer voter registration procedures and elections for Federal office, to promote the accuracy and integrity of 

the results of 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

3 ‘‘Secure America’s Future Elections Act’’ or the ‘‘SAFE 

4 Act’’. 

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

6 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—DESIGNATION OF ELECTION ADMINISTRATION 

SYSTEMS AS CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE 

Sec. 101. Sense of Congress regarding election administration security as a 

matter of national security. 

Sec. 102. Designation of election administration systems as critical infrastructure for homeland security purposes. 

TITLE II—SECURITY OF VOTING SYSTEMS AND VOTER 

REGISTRATION PROCESSES 

Sec. 201. Assistance to States for information technology security upgrades to 

voter registration and election administration processes. 

Sec. 202. Requiring voting systems to meet cybersecurity standards. 

TITLE III—ACCURACY, SECURITY, AND INTEGRITY OF ELECTIONS 

Subtitle A—Promoting Accuracy, Integrity, and Security Through VoterVerified Permanent Paper Ballot 

Sec. 301. Paper ballot and manual counting requirements. 

Sec. 302. Accessibility and ballot verification for individuals with disabilities. 

Sec. 303. Durability and readability requirements for ballots. 

Sec. 304. Effective date for new requirements. 

Subtitle B—Requirement for Mandatory Manual Audits by Hand Count 

Sec. 311. Mandatory manual audits. 

‘‘Subtitle C—Mandatory Manual Audits 

‘‘Sec. 321. Requiring audits of results of elections. 

‘‘Sec. 322. Number of ballots counted under audit. 

‘‘Sec. 323. Process for administering audits. 

‘‘Sec. 324. Selection of precincts. 

‘‘Sec. 325. Publication of results. 

‘‘Sec. 326. Payments to States. 

‘‘Sec. 327. Exception for elections subject to recount under State law prior 

to certification. 

‘‘Sec. 328. Effective date. 

Sec. 312. Availability of enforcement under Help America Vote Act of 2002. 

Sec. 313. Guidance on best practices for alternative audit mechanisms. 

Sec. 314. Clerical amendment. 


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TITLE IV—REAUTHORIZATION OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE 

COMMISSION 

Sec. 401. Reauthorization of Election Assistance Commission. 

1 TITLE I—DESIGNATION OF 

2 ELECTION ADMINISTRATION 

3 SYSTEMS AS CRITICAL INFRA4 STRUCTURE 

5 SEC. 101. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING ELECTION AD6 MINISTRATION SECURITY AS A MATTER OF 

7 NATIONAL SECURITY. 

8 It is the sense of Congress that protecting the secu9 rity and integrity of the administration of elections for 

10 public office, including the security of the information 

11 technology processes used to carry out voter registration 

12 and to operate voting systems, is a critical element of na13 tional security. 

14 SEC. 102. DESIGNATION OF ELECTION ADMINISTRATION 

15 SYSTEMS AS CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE 

16 FOR HOMELAND SECURITY PURPOSES. 

17 (a) DESIGNATION.—The Secretary of Homeland Se18 curity, acting through the Assistant Secretary of the Na19 tional Protection and Programs Directorate, shall des20 ignate the infrastructure used to administer elections for 

21 public office, including storage facilities, polling places, 

22 vote tabulation locations, voter databases (including online 

23 voter registration databases), voting machines, and other 


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1 systems that manage the election process, as critical infra2 structure. 

3 (b) CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE DEFINED.—In this 

4 section, the term ‘‘critical infrastructure’’ has the meaning 

5 given such term in section 1016 of the Critical Infrastruc6 ture Protection Act of 2001 (42 U.S.C. 5195c). 

7 TITLE II—SECURITY OF VOTING 

8 SYSTEMS AND VOTER REG9 ISTRATION PROCESSES 

10 SEC. 201. ASSISTANCE TO STATES FOR INFORMATION 

11 TECHNOLOGY SECURITY UPGRADES TO 

12 VOTER REGISTRATION AND ELECTION AD13 MINISTRATION PROCESSES. 

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

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

16 21007(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following 

17 new paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(5) For each of the fiscal years 2018 through 

19 2027, such sums as may be necessary for such pay20 ments, except that a State may use a requirement 

21 payment made with funds authorized under this 

22 paragraph solely to carry out activities to upgrade 

23 the security of the information technology and cyber24 security elements of the voting systems used in the 

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1 rity elements of the State’s voter registration lists 

2 (including online voter registration databases) and 

3 voter registration processes, including activities nec4 essary to meet the requirements of section 303(a)(3) 

5 (relating to the technological security of the State’s 

6 computerized voter registration list).’’. 

7 (b) WAIVER OF 5 PERCENT MATCH REQUIRE8 MENT.—Section 253(b)(5) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

9 21003(b)(5)) is amended— 

10 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘subpara11 graph (B)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (B) and 

12 (C)’’; and 

13 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub14 paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(C) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply for pur16 poses of determining the eligibility of a State to re17 ceive a requirements payment appropriated pursuant 

18 to the authorization provided under section 

19 257(a)(5) of this title for fiscal year 2018.’’. 

20 SEC. 202. REQUIRING VOTING SYSTEMS TO MEET CYBERSE21 CURITY STANDARDS. 

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

23 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)) is amend24 ed by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

25 ‘‘(7) CYBERSECURITY STANDARDS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT OF STANDARDS BY

2 SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND

3 NIST.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 

4 the enactment of this paragraph, the Secretary 

5 of Homeland Security (hereafter referred to as 

6 the ‘Secretary’) and the Director of the Na7 tional Institute of Standards and Technology 

8 (hereafter referred to as the ‘Director’), work9 ing jointly, shall establish standards to ensure 

10 the cybersecurity of the components of voting 

11 systems, including the software used to operate 

12 such systems, and to ensure the security of the 

13 manufacturing processes for such components. 

14 ‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION OF SECURITY

15 BREACHES.—The Secretary and the Director 

16 shall include in such standards a requirement 

17 that the manufacturer of a voting system or 

18 any component of a voting system whose infor19 mation and information systems have been the 

20 subject of an incident of unauthorized access, 

21 use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or de22 struction submit a report to the Commission 

23 immediately upon discovering the incident. 

24 ‘‘(C) UPDATES.—The Secretary and the 

25 Director shall, working jointly, regularly update 


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1 such standards to take into account develop2 ments in voting system technology and the 

3 emergence of new threats to the security of 

4 such systems. 

5 ‘‘(D) COMPLIANCE REQUIRED.—A State or 

6 jurisdiction may not use a voting system or any 

7 component of a voting system in an election for 

8 Federal office unless the manufacturer of the 

9 system or component certifies to the State or 

10 jurisdiction that the system meets the most re11 cent cybersecurity standards established by the 

12 Secretary and the Director under this para13 graph.’’. 

14 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 301(d) of such Act 

15 (52 U.S.C. 21081(d)) is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para18 graph (2), each State and jurisdiction shall be re19 quired to comply with the requirements of this sec20 tion on and after January 1, 2006. 

21 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR CYBERSECURITY

22 STANDARDS.—The requirements of paragraph (7) of 

23 subsection (a) (relating to cybersecurity standards) 

24 shall apply with respect to the regularly scheduled 

25 general elections for Federal office held in November 


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1 2018 and each succeeding election for Federal of2 fice.’’. 

3 TITLE III—ACCURACY, SECU4 RITY, AND INTEGRITY OF 

5 ELECTIONS 

6 Subtitle A—Promoting Accuracy, 

7 Integrity, and Security Through 

8 Voter-Verified Permanent Paper 

9 Ballot 

10 SEC. 301. PAPER BALLOT AND MANUAL COUNTING RE11 QUIREMENTS. 

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

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

14 amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘(2) PAPER BALLOT REQUIREMENT.— 

16 ‘‘(A) VOTER-VERIFIED PAPER BALLOTS.— 

17 ‘‘(i) PAPER BALLOT REQUIREMENT.— 

18 (I) The voting system shall require the use 

19 of an individual, durable, voter-verified, 

20 paper ballot of the voter’s vote that shall 

21 be marked and made available for inspec22 tion and verification by the voter before 

23 the voter’s vote is cast and counted, and 

24 which shall be counted by hand or read by 

25 an optical character recognition device or 


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1 other counting device. For purposes of this 

2 subclause, the term ‘individual, durable, 

3 voter-verified, paper ballot’ means a paper 

4 ballot marked by the voter by hand or a 

5 paper ballot marked through the use of a 

6 nontabulating ballot marking device or sys7 tem, so long as the voter shall have the op8 tion to mark his or her ballot by hand. 

9 ‘‘(II) The voting system shall provide 

10 the voter with an opportunity to correct 

11 any error on the paper ballot before the 

12 permanent voter-verified paper ballot is 

13 preserved in accordance with clause (ii). 

14 ‘‘(III) The voting system shall not 

15 preserve the voter-verified paper ballots in 

16 any manner that makes it possible, at any 

17 time after the ballot has been cast, to asso18 ciate a voter with the record of the voter’s 

19 vote without the voter’s consent. 

20 ‘‘(ii) PRESERVATION AS OFFICIAL

21 RECORD.—The individual, durable, voter22 verified, paper ballot used in accordance 

23 with clause (i) shall constitute the official 

24 ballot and shall be preserved and used as 

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1 count or audit conducted with respect to 

2 any election for Federal office in which the 

3 voting system is used. 

4 ‘‘(iii) MANUAL COUNTING REQUIRE5 MENTS FOR RECOUNTS AND AUDITS.—(I) 

6 Each paper ballot used pursuant to clause 

7 (i) shall be suitable for a manual audit, 

8 and shall be counted by hand in any re9 count or audit conducted with respect to 

10 any election for Federal office. 

11 ‘‘(II) In the event of any inconsist12 encies or irregularities between any elec13 tronic vote tallies and the vote tallies de14 termined by counting by hand the indi15 vidual, durable, voter-verified, paper ballots 

16 used pursuant to clause (i), and subject to 

17 subparagraph (B), the individual, durable, 

18 voter-verified, paper ballots shall be the 

19 true and correct record of the votes cast. 

20 ‘‘(iv) APPLICATION TO ALL BAL21 LOTS.—The requirements of this subpara22 graph shall apply to all ballots cast in elec23 tions for Federal office, including ballots 

24 cast by absent uniformed services voters 

25 and overseas voters under the Uniformed 


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1 and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act 

2 and other absentee voters. 

3 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR TREATMENT OF

4 DISPUTES WHEN PAPER BALLOTS HAVE BEEN

5 SHOWN TO BE COMPROMISED.— 

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the event 

7 that— 

8 ‘‘(I) there is any inconsistency 

9 between any electronic vote tallies and 

10 the vote tallies determined by count11 ing by hand the individual, durable, 

12 voter-verified, paper ballots used pur13 suant to subparagraph (A)(i) with re14 spect to any election for Federal of15 fice; and 

16 ‘‘(II) it is demonstrated by clear 

17 and convincing evidence (as deter18 mined in accordance with the applica19 ble standards in the jurisdiction in20 volved) in any recount, audit, or con21 test of the result of the election that 

22 the paper ballots have been com23 promised (by damage or mischief or 

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1 promised that the result of the elec2 tion could be changed, 

3 the determination of the appropriate rem4 edy with respect to the election shall be 

5 made in accordance with applicable State 

6 law, except that the electronic tally shall 

7 not be used as the exclusive basis for de8 termining the official certified result. 

9 ‘‘(ii) RULE FOR CONSIDERATION OF

10 BALLOTS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH VOTING

11 MACHINE.—For purposes of clause (i), 

12 only the paper ballots deemed com13 promised, if any, shall be considered in the 

14 calculation of whether or not the result of 

15 the election could be changed due to the 

16 compromised paper ballots.’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT CLARIFYING APPLI18 CABILITY OF ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGE ACCESSIBILITY.— 

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

20 is amended by inserting ‘‘(including the paper ballots re21 quired to be used under paragraph (2))’’ after ‘‘voting sys22 tem’’. 

23 (c) OTHER CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

24 301(a)(1) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)(1)) is amend25 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. 302. ACCESSIBILITY AND BALLOT VERIFICATION FOR 

14 INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 301(a)(3)(B) of the Help 

16 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)(3)(B)) is 

17 amended to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(B)(i) satisfy the requirement of subpara19 graph (A) through the use of at least one voting 

20 system equipped for individuals with disabil21 ities, including nonvisual and enhanced visual 

22 accessibility for the blind and visually impaired, 

23 and nonmanual and enhanced manual accessi24 bility for the mobility and dexterity impaired, at 

25 each polling place; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) meet the requirements of subpara2 graph (A) and paragraph (2)(A) by using a sys3 tem that— 

4 ‘‘(I) allows the voter to privately and 

5 independently verify the permanent paper 

6 ballot through the presentation, in acces7 sible form, of the printed or marked vote 

8 selections from the same printed or 

9 marked information that would be used for 

10 any vote counting or auditing; and 

11 ‘‘(II) allows the voter to privately and 

12 independently verify and cast the perma13 nent paper ballot without requiring the 

14 voter to manually handle the paper ballot; 

15 and’’. 

16 (b) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT OF STUDY, TESTING, 

17 AND DEVELOPMENT OF ACCESSIBLE PAPER BALLOT

18 VERIFICATION MECHANISMS.— 

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 PAPER 

2 BALLOT VERIFICATION MECHANISMS. 

3 ‘‘(a) STUDY AND REPORT.—The Director of the Na4 tional Science Foundation shall make grants to not fewer 

5 than 3 eligible entities to study, test, and develop acces6 sible paper ballot voting, verification, and casting mecha7 nisms and devices and best practices to enhance the acces8 sibility of paper ballot voting and verification mechanisms 

9 for individuals with disabilities, for voters whose primary 

10 language is not English, and for voters with difficulties 

11 in literacy, including best practices for the mechanisms 

12 themselves and the processes through which the mecha13 nisms are used. 

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

15 grant under this part if it submits to the Director (at such 

16 time and in such form as the Director may require) an 

17 application containing— 

18 ‘‘(1) certifications that the entity shall specifi19 cally investigate enhanced methods or devices, in20 cluding non-electronic devices, that will assist such 

21 individuals and voters in marking voter-verified 

22 paper ballots and presenting or transmitting the in23 formation printed or marked on such ballots back to 

24 such individuals and voters, and casting such ballots; 


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1 ‘‘(2) a certification that the entity shall com2 plete the activities carried out with the grant not 

3 later than July 1, 2018; and 

4 ‘‘(3) such other information and certifications 

5 as the Director may require. 

6 ‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY OF TECHNOLOGY.—Any tech7 nology developed with the grants made under this section 

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

9 available to the public, including to manufacturers of vot10 ing systems. 

11 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION WITH GRANTS FOR TECH12 NOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS.—The Director shall carry out 

13 this section so that the activities carried out with the 

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

15 research conducted under the grant program carried out 

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

17 the Director and Commission determine necessary to pro18 vide for the advancement of accessible voting technology. 

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

20 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out subsection 

21 (a) $5,000,000, to remain available until expended.’’. 

22 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con23 tents of such Act is amended— 

24 (A) by redesignating the item relating to 

25 section 247 as relating to section 248; and 


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1 (B) by inserting after the item relating to 

2 section 246 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 247. Study and report on accessible paper ballot verification mechanisms.’’. 

3 (c) CLARIFICATION OF ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS

4 UNDER VOLUNTARY VOTING SYSTEM GUIDANCE.—In 

5 adopting any voluntary guidance under subtitle B of title 

6 III of the Help America Vote Act with respect to the ac7 cessibility of the paper ballot verification requirements for 

8 individuals with disabilities, the Election Assistance Com9 mission shall include and apply the same accessibility 

10 standards applicable under the voluntary guidance adopt11 ed for accessible voting systems under such subtitle. 

12 (d) PERMITTING USE OF FUNDS FOR PROTECTION

13 AND ADVOCACY SYSTEMS TO SUPPORT ACTIONS TO EN14 FORCE ELECTION-RELATED DISABILITY ACCESS.—Sec15 tion 292(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 

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

17 and all that follows and inserting a period. 

18 SEC. 303. DURABILITY AND READABILITY REQUIREMENTS 

19 FOR BALLOTS. 

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

21 (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)), as amended by section 202(a), is 

22 further amended by adding at the end the following new 

23 paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(8) DURABILITY AND READABILITY REQUIRE2 MENTS FOR BALLOTS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) DURABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR

4 PAPER BALLOTS.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—All voter-verified 

6 paper ballots required to be used under 

7 this Act shall be marked or printed on du8 rable paper. 

9 ‘‘(ii) DEFINITION.—For purposes of 

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

11 of withstanding multiple counts and re12 counts by hand without compromising the 

13 fundamental integrity of the ballots, and 

14 capable of retaining the information 

15 marked or printed on them for the full du16 ration of a retention and preservation pe17 riod of 22 months. 

18 ‘‘(B) READABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR

19 PAPER BALLOTS MARKED BY BALLOT MARKING

20 DEVICE.—All voter-verified paper ballots com21 pleted by the voter through the use of a ballot 

22 marking device shall be clearly readable by the 

23 voter without assistance (other than eyeglasses 

24 or other personal vision enhancing devices) and 

25 by an optical character recognition device or 


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1 other device equipped for individuals with dis2 abilities.’’. 

3 SEC. 304. EFFECTIVE DATE FOR NEW REQUIREMENTS. 

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

5 (52 U.S.C. 21081(d)), as amended by section 202(b), is 

6 further amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Except as 

8 provided in paragraph (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as 

9 provided in paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; and 

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

11 paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(3) 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 and jurisdiction pursuant to the amendments 

18 made by title III of the Secure America’s Fu19 ture Elections Act shall apply with respect to 

20 voting systems used for the regularly scheduled 

21 general elections for Federal office held in 2018 

22 and any succeeding election for Federal office. 

23 ‘‘(B) DELAY FOR JURISDICTIONS USING

24 CERTAIN PAPER RECORD PRINTERS OR CERTAIN


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1 SYSTEMS USING OR PRODUCING VOTER2 VERIFIABLE PAPER RECORDS IN 2016.— 

3 ‘‘(i) DELAY.—In the case of a juris4 diction described in clause (ii), subpara5 graph (A) shall apply to a voting system in 

6 the jurisdiction as if the reference in such 

7 subparagraph to ‘2018’ were a reference to 

8 ‘2020’, but only with respect to the fol9 lowing requirements of this section: 

10 ‘‘(I) Paragraph (2)(A)(i)(I) of 

11 subsection (a) (relating to the use of 

12 voter-marked paper ballots). 

13 ‘‘(II) Paragraph (3)(B)(ii)(I) and 

14 (II) of subsection (a) (relating to ac15 cess to verification from and casting 

16 of the durable paper ballot). 

17 ‘‘(III) Paragraph (8) of sub18 section (a) (relating to durability and 

19 readability requirements for ballots). 

20 ‘‘(ii) JURISDICTIONS DESCRIBED.—A 

21 jurisdiction described in this clause is a ju22 risdiction— 

23 ‘‘(I) which used voter verifiable 

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1 chines, or which used other voting 

2 systems that used or produced paper 

3 records of the vote verifiable by voters 

4 but that are not in compliance with 

5 paragraphs (2)(A)(i)(I), (3)(B)(ii)(I) 

6 and (II), and (8) of subsection (a) (as 

7 amended or added by the Secure 

8 America’s Future Elections Act), for 

9 the administration of the regularly 

10 scheduled general election for Federal 

11 office held in November 2016; and 

12 ‘‘(II) which will continue to use 

13 such printers or systems for the ad14 ministration of elections for Federal 

15 office held in years before 2020. 

16 ‘‘(iii) MANDATORY AVAILABILITY OF

17 PAPER BALLOTS AT POLLING PLACES

18 USING GRANDFATHERED PRINTERS AND

19 SYSTEMS.— 

20 ‘‘(I) REQUIRING BALLOTS TO BE

21 OFFERED AND PROVIDED.—The ap22 propriate election official at each poll23 ing place that uses a printer or sys24 tem described in clause (ii)(I) for the 

25 administration of elections for Federal 


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1 office shall offer each individual who 

2 is eligible to cast a vote in the election 

3 at the polling place the opportunity to 

4 cast the vote using a blank pre-print5 ed paper ballot which the individual 

6 may mark by hand and which is not 

7 produced by the direct recording elec8 tronic voting machine or other such 

9 system. The official shall provide the 

10 individual with the ballot and the sup11 plies necessary to mark the ballot, and 

12 shall ensure (to the greatest extent 

13 practicable) that the waiting period 

14 for the individual to cast a vote is the 

15 lesser of 30 minutes or the average 

16 waiting period for an individual who 

17 does not agree to cast the vote using 

18 such a paper ballot under this clause. 

19 ‘‘(II) TREATMENT OF BALLOT.— 

20 Any paper ballot which is cast by an 

21 individual under this clause shall be 

22 counted and otherwise treated as a 

23 regular ballot for all purposes (includ24 ing by incorporating it into the final 

25 unofficial vote count (as defined by 


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1 the State) for the precinct) and not as 

2 a provisional ballot, unless the indi3 vidual casting the ballot would have 

4 otherwise been required to cast a pro5 visional ballot. 

6 ‘‘(III) POSTING OF NOTICE.— 

7 The appropriate election official shall 

8 ensure there is prominently displayed 

9 at each polling place a notice that de10 scribes the obligation of the official to 

11 offer individuals the opportunity to 

12 cast votes using a pre-printed blank 

13 paper ballot. 

14 ‘‘(IV) TRAINING OF ELECTION

15 OFFICIALS.—The chief State election 

16 official shall ensure that election offi17 cials at polling places in the State are 

18 aware of the requirements of this 

19 clause, including the requirement to 

20 display a notice under subclause (III), 

21 and are aware that it is a violation of 

22 the requirements of this title for an 

23 election official to fail to offer an indi24 vidual the opportunity to cast a vote 

25 using a blank pre-printed paper ballot. 


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1 ‘‘(V) PERIOD OF APPLICA2 BILITY.—The requirements of this 

3 clause apply only during the period in 

4 which the delay is in effect under 

5 clause (i). 

6 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULE FOR JURISDICTIONS

7 USING CERTAIN NONTABULATING BALLOT

8 MARKING DEVICES.—In the case of a jurisdic9 tion which uses a nontabulating ballot marking 

10 device which automatically deposits the ballot 

11 into a privacy sleeve, subparagraph (A) shall 

12 apply to a voting system in the jurisdiction as 

13 if the reference in such subparagraph to ‘2018’ 

14 were a reference to ‘2020’, but only with re15 spect to paragraph (3)(B)(ii)(II) of subsection 

16 (a) (relating to nonmanual casting of the dura17 ble paper ballot).’’. 

18 Subtitle B—Requirement for Man19 datory Manual Audits by Hand 

20 Count 

21 SEC. 311. MANDATORY MANUAL AUDITS. 

22 Title III of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 

23 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

24 the following new subtitle: 


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1 ‘‘Subtitle C—Mandatory Manual 

2 Audits 

3 ‘‘SEC. 321. REQUIRING AUDITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS. 

4 ‘‘(a) REQUIRING AUDITS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with this 

6 subtitle, each State shall administer, without ad7 vance notice to the precincts or alternative audit 

8 units selected, audits of the results of all elections 

9 for Federal office held in the State (and, at the op10 tion of the State or jurisdiction involved, of elections 

11 for State and local office held at the same time as 

12 such election) consisting of random hand counts of 

13 the voter-verified paper ballots required to be used 

14 and preserved pursuant to section 301(a)(2). 

15 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN ELECTIONS.—A 

16 State shall not be required to administer an audit of 

17 the results of an election for Federal office under 

18 this subtitle if the winning candidate in the elec19 tion— 

20 ‘‘(A) had no opposition on the ballot; or 

21 ‘‘(B) received 80 percent or more of the 

22 total number of votes cast in the election, as de23 termined on the basis of the final unofficial vote 

24 count. 


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1 ‘‘(b) DETERMINATION OF ENTITY CONDUCTING AU2 DITS; APPLICATION OF GAO INDEPENDENCE STAND3 ARDS.—The State shall administer audits under this sub4 title through an entity selected for such purpose by the 

5 State in accordance with such criteria as the State con6 siders appropriate consistent with the requirements of this 

7 subtitle, except that the entity must meet the general 

8 standards established by the Comptroller General and as 

9 set forth in the Comptroller General’s Government Audit10 ing Standards to ensure the independence (including, ex11 cept as provided under section 323(b), the organizational 

12 independence) of entities performing financial audits, at13 testation engagements, and performance audits. 

14 ‘‘(c) REFERENCES TO ELECTION AUDITOR.—In this 

15 subtitle, the term ‘Election Auditor’ means, with respect 

16 to a State, the entity selected by the State under sub17 section (b). 

18 ‘‘SEC. 322. NUMBER OF BALLOTS COUNTED UNDER AUDIT. 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

20 (b), the Election Auditor of a State shall, in accordance 

21 with this subtitle, administer a hand count of the voter22 verified paper ballots cast with respect to an election in 

23 at least 5 percent of all precincts or equivalent locations 

24 (or alternative audit units used in accordance with the 

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1 sional district involved (in the case of an election for the 

2 House of Representatives) or the State (in the case of any 

3 other election for Federal office). 

4 ‘‘(b) USE OF ALTERNATIVE MECHANISM.— 

5 ‘‘(1) PERMITTING USE OF ALTERNATIVE MECH6 ANISM.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), a State 

7 may adopt and apply an alternative mechanism to 

8 determine the number of voter-verified paper ballots 

9 which will be subject to the hand counts required 

10 under this subtitle with respect to an election, so 

11 long as the alternative mechanism uses the voter12 verified paper ballots to conduct the audit and the 

13 National Institute of Standards and Technology de14 termines that the alternative mechanism is in ac15 cordance with the principles set forth in paragraph 

16 (2). 

17 ‘‘(2) PRINCIPLES FOR APPROVAL.—In approv18 ing an alternative mechanism under paragraph (1), 

19 the National Institute of Standards and Technology 

20 shall ensure that the audit procedure will have the 

21 property that for each election— 

22 ‘‘(A) the alternative mechanism will be at 

23 least as statistically effective in ensuring the ac24 curacy of the election results as the procedures 

25 under this subtitle; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) the alternative mechanism will 

2 achieve at least a 95 percent confidence interval 

3 (as determined in accordance with criteria set 

4 forth by the National Institute of Standards 

5 and Technology) with respect to the outcome of 

6 the election. 

7 ‘‘(3) DEADLINE FOR RESPONSE.—The Director 

8 of the National Institute of Standards and Tech9 nology shall make a determination regarding a 

10 State’s request to approve an alternative mechanism 

11 under paragraph (1) not later than 30 days after re12 ceiving the State’s request. 

13 ‘‘SEC. 323. PROCESS FOR ADMINISTERING AUDITS. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Election Auditor of a State 

15 shall administer an audit under this section of the results 

16 of an election in accordance with the following procedures: 

17 ‘‘(1) Within 24 hours after the State announces 

18 the final unofficial vote count (as defined by the 

19 State) in each precinct in the State, the Election 

20 Auditor shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) determine and then announce the 

22 precincts or equivalent locations (or alternative 

23 audit units used in accordance with the method 

24 provided under section 322(b)) in the State in 

25 which it will administer the audits; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) with respect to votes cast at the pre2 cinct or equivalent location on or before the 

3 date of the election (other than provisional bal4 lots described in paragraph (2)), begin to ad5 minister the hand count of the votes on the 

6 voter-verified paper ballots required to be used 

7 and preserved under section 301(a)(2)(A) and 

8 the comparison of the count of the votes on 

9 those ballots with the final unofficial count of 

10 such votes as announced by the State. 

11 ‘‘(2) With respect to votes cast other than at 

12 the precinct on the date of the election (other than 

13 votes cast before the date of the election described 

14 in paragraph (2)) or votes cast by provisional ballot 

15 on the date of the election which are certified and 

16 counted by the State on or after the date of the elec17 tion, including votes cast by absent uniformed serv18 ices voters and overseas voters under the Uniformed 

19 and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, the 

20 Election Auditor shall administer the hand count of 

21 the votes on the applicable voter-verified paper bal22 lots required to be produced and preserved under 

23 section 301(a)(2)(A) and the comparison of the 

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1 official count of such votes as announced by the 

2 State. 

3 ‘‘(b) USE OF PERSONNEL.—In administering the au4 dits, the Election Auditor may utilize the services of the 

5 personnel of the State or jurisdiction, including election 

6 administration personnel and poll workers, without regard 

7 to whether or not the personnel have professional auditing 

8 experience. 

9 ‘‘(c) LOCATION.—The Election Auditor shall admin10 ister an audit of an election— 

11 ‘‘(1) at the location where the ballots cast in 

12 the election are stored and counted after the date of 

13 the election or such other appropriate and secure lo14 cation agreed upon by the Election Auditor and the 

15 individual that is responsible under State law for the 

16 custody of the ballots; and 

17 ‘‘(2) in the presence of the personnel who under 

18 State law are responsible for the custody of the bal19 lots. 

20 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULE IN CASE OF DELAY IN REPORT21 ING ABSENTEE VOTE COUNT.—In the case of a State in 

22 which the final count of absentee and provisional votes is 

23 not announced until after the date of the election, the 

24 Election Auditor shall initiate the process described in 

25 subsection (a) for administering the audit not later than 


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1 24 hours after the State announces the final unofficial 

2 vote count for the votes cast at the precinct or equivalent 

3 location on or before the date of the election, and shall 

4 initiate the administration of the audit of the absentee and 

5 provisional votes pursuant to subsection (a)(2) not later 

6 than 24 hours after the State announces the final unoffi7 cial count of such votes. 

8 ‘‘(e) ADDITIONAL AUDITS IF CAUSE SHOWN.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Election Auditor 

10 finds that any of the hand counts administered 

11 under this section do not match the final unofficial 

12 tally of the results of an election, the Election Audi13 tor shall administer hand counts under this section 

14 of such additional precincts (or alternative audit 

15 units) as the Election Auditor considers appropriate 

16 to resolve any concerns resulting from the audit and 

17 ensure the accuracy of the election results. 

18 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT AND PUBLICATION OF

19 PROCEDURES GOVERNING ADDITIONAL AUDITS.— 

20 Not later than August 1, 2018, each State shall es21 tablish and publish procedures for carrying out the 

22 additional audits under this subsection, including the 

23 means by which the State shall resolve any concerns 

24 resulting from the audit with finality and ensure the 

25 accuracy of the election results. 


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1 ‘‘(f) PUBLIC OBSERVATION OF AUDITS.—Each audit 

2 conducted under this section shall be conducted in a man3 ner that allows public observation of the entire process. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 324. SELECTION OF PRECINCTS. 

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

6 (c), the selection of the precincts or alternative audit units 

7 in the State in which the Election Auditor of the State 

8 shall administer the hand counts under this subtitle shall 

9 be made by the Election Auditor on a random basis, in 

10 accordance with procedures adopted by the National Insti11 tute of Standards and Technology, except that at least one 

12 precinct shall be selected at random in each county, with 

13 additional precincts selected by the Election Auditor at the 

14 Auditor’s discretion. 

15 ‘‘(b) PUBLIC SELECTION.—The random selection of 

16 precincts under subsection (a) shall be conducted in pub17 lic, at a time and place announced in advance. 

18 ‘‘(c) MANDATORY SELECTION OF PRECINCTS ESTAB19 LISHED SPECIFICALLY FOR ABSENTEE BALLOTS.—If a 

20 State does not sort absentee ballots by precinct and in21 clude those ballots in the hand count with respect to that 

22 precinct, the State shall create absentee ballot precincts 

23 or audit units which are of similar size to the average pre24 cinct or audit unit in the jurisdiction being audited, and 

25 shall include those absentee precincts or audit units 


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1 among the precincts in the State in which the Election 

2 Auditor shall administer the hand counts under this sub3 title. 

4 ‘‘(d) DEADLINE FOR ADOPTION OF PROCEDURES BY

5 COMMISSION.—The National Institute of Standards and 

6 Technology shall adopt the procedures described in sub7 section (a) not later than March 31, 2018, and shall pub8 lish them in the Federal Register upon adoption. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 325. PUBLICATION OF RESULTS. 

10 ‘‘(a) SUBMISSION TO COMMISSION.—As soon as prac11 ticable after the completion of an audit under this subtitle, 

12 the Election Auditor of a State shall submit to the Com13 mission the results of the audit, and shall include in the 

14 submission a comparison of the results of the election in 

15 the precinct as determined by the Election Auditor under 

16 the audit and the final unofficial vote count in the precinct 

17 as announced by the State and all undervotes, overvotes, 

18 blank ballots, and spoiled, voided, or cancelled ballots, as 

19 well as a list of any discrepancies discovered between the 

20 initial, subsequent, and final hand counts administered by 

21 the Election Auditor and such final unofficial vote count 

22 and any explanation for such discrepancies, broken down 

23 by the categories of votes described in paragraphs (1)(B) 

24 and (2) of section 323(a). 


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1 ‘‘(b) PUBLICATION BY COMMISSION.—Immediately 

2 after receiving the submission of the results of an audit 

3 from the Election Auditor of a State under subsection (a), 

4 the Commission shall publicly announce and publish the 

5 information contained in the submission. 

6 ‘‘(c) DELAY IN CERTIFICATION OF RESULTS BY

7 STATE.— 

8 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITING CERTIFICATION UNTIL COM9 PLETION OF AUDITS.—No State may certify the re10 sults of any election which is subject to an audit 

11 under this subtitle prior to— 

12 ‘‘(A) to the completion of the audit (and, 

13 if required, any additional audit conducted 

14 under section 323(e)(1)) and the announcement 

15 and submission of the results of each such audit 

16 to the Commission for publication of the infor17 mation required under this section; and 

18 ‘‘(B) the completion of any procedure es19 tablished by the State pursuant to section 

20 323(e)(2) to resolve discrepancies and ensure 

21 the accuracy of results. 

22 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR COMPLETION OF AUDITS

23 OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.—In the case of an 

24 election for electors for President and Vice President 

25 which is subject to an audit under this subtitle, the 


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1 State shall complete the audits and announce and 

2 submit the results to the Commission for publication 

3 of the information required under this section in 

4 time for the State to certify the results of the elec5 tion and provide for the final determination of any 

6 controversy or contest concerning the appointment 

7 of such electors prior to the deadline described in 

8 section 6 of title 3, United States Code. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 326. PAYMENTS TO STATES. 

10 ‘‘(a) PAYMENTS FOR COSTS OF CONDUCTING AU11 DITS.—In accordance with the requirements and proce12 dures of this section, the Commission shall make a pay13 ment to a State to cover the costs incurred by the State 

14 in carrying out this subtitle with respect to the elections 

15 that are the subject of the audits conducted under this 

16 subtitle. 

17 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE AND ANTICI18 PATED COSTS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—In order to 

20 receive a payment under this section, a State shall 

21 submit to the Commission, in such form as the Com22 mission may require, a statement containing— 

23 ‘‘(A) a certification that the State will con24 duct the audits required under this subtitle in 


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1 accordance with all of the requirements of this 

2 subtitle; 

3 ‘‘(B) a notice of the reasonable costs in4 curred or the reasonable costs anticipated to be 

5 incurred by the State in carrying out this sub6 title with respect to the elections involved; and 

7 ‘‘(C) such other information and assur8 ances as the Commission may require. 

9 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.—The amount of a 

10 payment made to a State under this section shall be 

11 equal to the reasonable costs incurred or the reason12 able costs anticipated to be incurred by the State in 

13 carrying out this subtitle with respect to the elec14 tions involved, as set forth in the statement sub15 mitted under paragraph (1). 

16 ‘‘(3) TIMING OF NOTICE.—The State may not 

17 submit a notice under paragraph (1) until can18 didates have been selected to appear on the ballot 

19 for all of the elections for Federal office which will 

20 be the subject of the audits involved. 

21 ‘‘(c) TIMING OF PAYMENTS.—The Commission shall 

22 make the payment required under this section to a State 

23 not later than 30 days after receiving the notice submitted 

24 by the State under subsection (b). 


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1 ‘‘(d) RECOUPMENT OF OVERPAYMENTS.—No pay2 ment may be made to a State under this section unless 

3 the State agrees to repay to the Commission the excess 

4 (if any) of— 

5 ‘‘(1) the amount of the payment received by the 

6 State under this section with respect to the elections 

7 involved; over 

8 ‘‘(2) the actual costs incurred by the State in 

9 carrying out this subtitle with respect to the elec10 tions involved. 

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

12 is authorized to be appropriated to the Commission for 

13 fiscal year 2018 and each succeeding fiscal year 

14 $100,000,000 for payments under this section. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 327. EXCEPTION FOR ELECTIONS SUBJECT TO RE16 COUNT UNDER STATE LAW PRIOR TO CER17 TIFICATION. 

18 ‘‘(a) EXCEPTION.—This subtitle does not apply to 

19 any election for which a recount under State law will com20 mence prior to the certification of the results of the elec21 tion, including but not limited to a recount required auto22 matically because of the margin of victory between the 2 

23 candidates receiving the largest number of votes in the 

24 election, but only if each of the following applies to the 

25 recount: 


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1 ‘‘(1) The recount commences prior to the deter2 mination and announcement by the Election Auditor 

3 under section 323(a)(1) of the precincts in the State 

4 in which it will administer the audits under this sub5 title. 

6 ‘‘(2) If the recount would apply to fewer than 

7 100 percent of the ballots cast in the election— 

8 ‘‘(A) the number of ballots counted will be 

9 at least as many as would be counted if an 

10 audit were conducted with respect to the elec11 tion in accordance with this subtitle; and 

12 ‘‘(B) the selection of the precincts in which 

13 the recount will be conducted will be made in 

14 accordance with the random selection proce15 dures applicable under section 324. 

16 ‘‘(3) The recount for the election meets the re17 quirements of section 323(f) (relating to public ob18 servation). 

19 ‘‘(4) The State meets the requirements of sec20 tion 325 (relating to the publication of results and 

21 the delay in the certification of results) with respect 

22 to the recount. 

23 ‘‘(b) CLARIFICATION OF EFFECT ON OTHER RE24 QUIREMENTS.—Nothing in this section may be construed 

25 to waive the application of any other provision of this Act 


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1 to any election (including the requirement set forth in sec2 tion 301(a)(2) that the voter verified paper ballots serve 

3 as the vote of record and shall be counted by hand in all 

4 audits and recounts, including audits and recounts de5 scribed in this subtitle). 

6 ‘‘SEC. 328. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

7 ‘‘This subtitle shall apply with respect to the regu8 larly scheduled general elections for Federal office held in 

9 2018 and any succeeding election for Federal office.’’. 

10 SEC. 312. AVAILABILITY OF ENFORCEMENT UNDER HELP 

11 AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2002. 

12 Section 401 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

13 (52 U.S.C. 21111) is amended by striking the period at 

14 the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, or the requirements 

15 of subtitle C of title III.’’. 

16 SEC. 313. GUIDANCE ON BEST PRACTICES FOR ALTER17 NATIVE AUDIT MECHANISMS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than May 1, 2021, the 

19 Director of the National Institute for Standards and Tech20 nology shall establish guidance for States that wish to es21 tablish alternative audit mechanisms under section 322(b) 

22 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (as added by section 

23 311). Such guidance shall be based upon scientifically and 

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1 sistent with the principles for approval described in section 

2 322(b)(2) of such Act (as so added). 

3 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

4 authorized to be appropriated to carry out subsection (a) 

5 $100,000, to remain available until expended. 

6 SEC. 314. CLERICAL AMENDMENT. 

7 The table of contents of the Help America Vote Act 

8 of 2002 is amended by adding at the end of the items 

9 relating to title III the following: 

‘‘Subtitle C—Mandatory Manual Audits 

‘‘Sec. 321. Requiring audits of results of elections. 

‘‘Sec. 322. Number of ballots counted under audit. 

‘‘Sec. 323. Process for administering audits. 

‘‘Sec. 324. Selection of precincts. 

‘‘Sec. 325. Publication of results. 

‘‘Sec. 326. Payments to States. 

‘‘Sec. 327. Exception for elections subject to recount under State law prior to 

certification. 

‘‘Sec. 328. Effective date.’’. 

10 TITLE IV—REAUTHORIZATION 

11 OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE 

12 COMMISSION 

13 SEC. 401. REAUTHORIZATION OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE 

14 COMMISSION. 

15 Section 210 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

16 (52 U.S.C. 20930) is amended— 

17 (1) by striking ‘‘for each of the fiscal years 

18 2003 through 2005’’ and inserting ‘‘for fiscal year 

19 2003 and each succeeding fiscal year’’; and 


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1 (2) by striking ‘‘(but not to exceed $10,000,000 

2 for each such year)’’. 

Æ 


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