I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1907 

To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to conduct research and development to mitigate the consequences of threats to voting systems, to 

amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require the voting systems 

used in elections for Federal office to comply with national standards 

developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology for 

operational security and ballot verification, to establish programs to promote research in innovative voting system technologies, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 5, 2017 

Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia (for himself, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. POCAN, Mr. MEEKS, 

Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. COHEN, Mr. RUSH, Mr. BISHOP of 

Georgia, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. NORTON, Ms. LEE, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. SLAUGHTER, 

Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. DANNY K. 

DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. RICHMOND, Ms. FUDGE, Ms. BASS, Mr. 

BUTTERFIELD, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Ms. MAXINE

WATERS of California, Mr. NORCROSS, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. 

JUDY CHU of California, Ms. ESHOO, and Mr. SMITH of Washington) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

House Administration, and in addition to the Committees on Science, 

Space, and Technology, and Homeland Security, 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 direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to conduct 

research and development to mitigate the consequences 

of threats to voting systems, to amend the Help America 


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Vote Act of 2002 to require the voting systems used 

in elections for Federal office to comply with national 

standards developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology for operational security and ballot 

verification, to establish programs to promote research 

in innovative voting system technologies, 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 Infrastructure and Security Promotion Act of 

6 2017’’. 

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

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE AND SECURITY 

Sec. 101. Definition of critical infrastructure. 

Sec. 102. Designation of voting systems as critical infrastructure. 

Sec. 103. Voting system threat and research and development. 

TITLE II—NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR VOTING SYSTEM 

SECURITY 

Sec. 201. Development of standards. 

Sec. 202. Requiring States to comply with standards in administration of elections for Federal office. 

Sec. 203. Incorporation of standards into certification and testing of voting systems. 

TITLE III—NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR TRANSPARENCY AND 

VERIFICATION OF BALLOT COUNTING 

Sec. 301. Development of standards. 

Sec. 302. Requiring States to comply with standards in administration of elections for Federal office. 

TITLE IV—RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 

Sec. 401. Innovative election technology research and development. 


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1 TITLE I—ELECTION INFRA2 STRUCTURE AND SECURITY 

3 SEC. 101. DEFINITION OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE. 

4 In this title, the term ‘‘critical infrastructure’’ has the 

5 meaning given such term in section 1016 of the Critical 

6 Infrastructure Protection Act of 2001 (42 U.S.C. 

7 5195c(e)). 

8 SEC. 102. DESIGNATION OF VOTING SYSTEMS AS CRITICAL 

9 INFRASTRUCTURE. 

10 The Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through 

11 the Assistant Secretary of the National Protection and 

12 Programs Directorate, shall— 

13 (1) designate voting systems used in the United 

14 States as critical infrastructure; 

15 (2) include threats of compromise, disruption, 

16 or destruction of voting systems in national planning 

17 scenarios; and 

18 (3) conduct a campaign to proactively educate 

19 local election officials about the designation of voting 

20 systems as critical infrastructure and election offi21 cials at all levels of government of voting system 

22 threats. 


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1 SEC. 103. VOTING SYSTEM THREAT AND RESEARCH AND 

2 DEVELOPMENT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—In furtherance of local election of4 ficial preparedness and response, the Secretary of Home5 land Security, acting through the Under Secretary for 

6 Science and Technology, and in consultation with other 

7 relevant agencies and departments of the Federal Govern8 ment and relevant State and local election official opera9 tors of election infrastructure, shall conduct research and 

10 development to mitigate the consequences of voting sys11 tems threats. 

12 (b) SCOPE.—The scope of the research and develop13 ment under subsection (a) shall include the following: 

14 (1) An objective scientific analysis of the risks 

15 to critical election infrastructures from a range of 

16 threats. 

17 (2) Determination of the voting system assets 

18 and infrastructures that are at risk from intrusion, 

19 compromise, disruption or destruction. 

20 (3) An evaluation of emergency planning and 

21 response technologies that would address the find22 ings and recommendations of experts, including 

23 those of a Commission to Assess the Threat to the 

24 United States from election administration or voting 

25 system attack. 


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1 (4) An analysis of technology options that are 

2 available to improve the resiliency of critical infra3 structure to voting system threats. 

4 (5) The restoration and recovery capabilities of 

5 critical infrastructure under differing levels of dam6 age and disruption. 

7 (c) COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

9 Security shall prepare and submit to the Committee 

10 on Homeland Security of the House of Representa11 tives and the Committee on Homeland Security and 

12 Governmental Affairs of the Senate a comprehensive 

13 plan to protect and prepare the critical infrastruc14 ture of the voting systems used in the United States 

15 against threats, including from acts of terrorism. 

16 (2) PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—The comprehensive 

17 plan shall— 

18 (A) be based on findings of the research 

19 and development conducted under subsection 

20 (a); 

21 (B) be developed in consultation with the 

22 relevant Federal sector-specific agencies (as de23 fined under Homeland Security Presidential Di24 rective for critical infrastructures); and 


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1 (C) be developed in consultation with State 

2 and local election officials. 

3 (3) UPDATES.—The Secretary shall update the 

4 plan required under this subsection biennially. 

5 TITLE II—NATIONAL STAND6 ARDS FOR VOTING SYSTEM 

7 SECURITY 

8 SEC. 201. DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARDS. 

9 (a) DEVELOPMENT.—The Director of the National 

10 Institute of Standards and Technology shall develop 

11 standards for ensuring the operational security of the vot12 ing systems used in elections for Federal office, including 

13 the physical and cybersecurity of such systems and secu14 rity requirements for the personnel who operate such sys15 tems. 

16 (b) CONTENTS OF STANDARDS.—In developing 

17 standards under this title, the Director shall ensure the 

18 following: 

19 (1) The standards shall set forth specific, evi20 dence-based security requirements for the operation 

21 of each individual component of voting systems, in22 cluding components for marking ballots, scanning 

23 ballots, aggregating vote tallies from vote counters, 

24 and electronic poll books. 


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1 (2) The standards shall set forth specific, evi2 dence-based requirements for the interoperability of 

3 the components, based on data standards established 

4 by the National Institute of Standards and Tech5 nology. 

6 (3) No system or device upon which ballots or 

7 votes are cast or tabulated shall be connected to the 

8 Internet at any time through any publicly accessible 

9 network. 

10 (4) No system or device upon which ballots or 

11 votes are cast or tabulated shall contain, use, or be 

12 accessible by any wireless, power-line, or concealed 

13 communication device. 

14 (c) DEADLINE; UPDATES.— 

15 (1) DEADLINE FOR INITIAL STANDARDS.—The 

16 Director shall develop the standards under this title 

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

18 of this Act. 

19 (2) UPDATES.—The Director may update the 

20 standards under this title at such times as the Di21 rector considers appropriate. 


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1 SEC. 202. REQUIRING STATES TO COMPLY WITH STAND2 ARDS IN ADMINISTRATION OF ELECTIONS 

3 FOR FEDERAL OFFICE. 

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

5 (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)) is amended by adding at the end 

6 the following new paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(7) COMPLIANCE WITH SECURITY STAND8 ARDS.—In operating the voting system, the State 

9 shall comply with the applicable standards developed 

10 by the Director of the National Institute of Stand11 ards and Technology under title II of the Election 

12 Infrastructure and Security Promotion Act of 2017 

13 for ensuring the operational security of voting sys14 tems.’’. 

15 SEC. 203. INCORPORATION OF STANDARDS INTO CERTIFI16 CATION AND TESTING OF VOTING SYSTEMS. 

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

18 (52 U.S.C. 20971(a)) is amended by adding at the end 

19 the following new paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(3) ENSURING COMPLIANCE WITH OPER21 ATIONAL SECURITY STANDARDS.—The testing and 

22 certification of voting system hardware and software 

23 carried out under this subtitle shall test whether vot24 ing systems are in compliance with the applicable 

25 standards developed by the Director of the National 

26 Institute of Standards and Technology under title II 


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1 of the Election Infrastructure and Security Pro2 motion Act of 2017 for ensuring the operational se3 curity of voting systems, including testing whether 

4 the components of voting systems meet the compo5 nent-specific security requirements and the system 

6 interoperability requirements under such stand7 ards.’’. 

8 TITLE III—NATIONAL STAND9 ARDS FOR TRANSPARENCY 

10 AND VERIFICATION OF BAL11 LOT COUNTING 

12 SEC. 301. DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARDS. 

13 (a) DEVELOPMENT.—The Director of the National 

14 Institute of Standards and Technology shall develop 

15 standards for ensuring that the process by which ballots 

16 are counted in elections for Federal office is transparent 

17 and permits voters to verify that votes in such elections 

18 are counted correctly. 

19 (b) CONTENTS OF STANDARDS.—In developing 

20 standards under this title, the Director shall ensure the 

21 following: 

22 (1) Election officials will provide the public with 

23 sufficient evidence to verify the results of an election 

24 for Federal office, including through the establish25 ment of tracking procedures that permit members of 


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1 the public to track the ballots counted in the elec2 tion, so long as such procedures ensure the anonym3 ity of the individuals who cast the ballots. 

4 (2) All of the data used or produced by the rel5 evant components of a voting system used in an elec6 tion for Federal office. 

7 (3) Election officials shall make all of the rel8 evant components of a voting system used in an elec9 tion for Federal office available to other parties 

10 (such as other officials of the State, research organi11 zations, and institutions of higher education) to du12 plicate the testing procedures used to certify the use 

13 of the system for use in such elections. 

14 (c) DEADLINE; UPDATES.— 

15 (1) DEADLINE FOR INITIAL STANDARDS.—The 

16 Director shall develop the standards under this title 

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

18 of this Act. 

19 (2) UPDATES.—The Director may update the 

20 standards under this title at such times as the Di21 rector considers appropriate. 

22 (d) RELEVANT COMPONENTS DEFINED.—In this sec23 tion, the term ‘‘relevant components’’ means, with respect 

24 to a voting system, each component of the system which 

25 is involved with counting ballots and producing a tally of 


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1 the ballots cast, including the source code, build tools, 

2 build procedure documentation, test plans, test fixtures, 

3 and software and hardware specifications. 

4 SEC. 302. REQUIRING STATES TO COMPLY WITH STAND5 ARDS IN ADMINISTRATION OF ELECTIONS 

6 FOR FEDERAL OFFICE. 

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

8 (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)), as amended by section 202, is 

9 amended by adding at the end the following new para10 graph: 

11 ‘‘(8) COMPLIANCE WITH TRANSPARENCY AND

12 BALLOT VERIFICATION STANDARDS.—In operating 

13 the voting system, the State shall comply with the 

14 applicable standards developed by the Director of 

15 the National Institute of Standards and Technology 

16 under title III of the Election Infrastructure and Se17 curity Promotion Act of 2017 for ensuring that the 

18 process by which ballots are counted in elections for 

19 Federal office is transparent and permits voters to 

20 verify that votes in such elections are counted cor21 rectly.’’. 


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1 TITLE IV—RESEARCH AND 

2 DEVELOPMENT 

3 SEC. 401. INNOVATIVE ELECTION TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH 

4 AND DEVELOPMENT. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The National Science Founda6 tion, in cooperation with the Defense Advanced Research 

7 Projects Agency, shall establish an election technology in8 novation research and development program. Such pro9 gram— 

10 (1) shall support the development of hardware 

11 and software technologies and systems for marking 

12 ballots, scanning ballots, aggregating tallies from 

13 counters, and electronic poll books; and 

14 (2) may also support research and development 

15 on other elements of technology for voting, election 

16 administration, auditing, and other election-critical 

17 operations. 

18 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The National Science Founda19 tion shall, to the extent practicable and in consultation 

20 with the Election Assistance Commission and the National 

21 Institute of Standards and Technology, ensure that tech22 nologies developed through assistance provided under this 

23 section— 

24 (1) conform to any applicable standards and 

25 guidelines for design and for data interoperability 


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1 established by the National Institute of Standards 

2 and Technology; and 

3 (2) are made available for use by Federal, 

4 State, and local governments at no cost. 

Æ 


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