I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2722 

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 

MAY 14, 2019 

Ms. LOFGREN 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 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 ‘‘Securing America’s Federal Elections Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘SAFE Act’’. 

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

8 this Act is as follows: 


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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE 

Subtitle A—Voting System Security Improvement Grants 

PART 1—PROMOTING ACCURACY, INTEGRITY, AND SECURITY THROUGH

VOTER-VERIFIED PERMANENT PAPER BALLOT

Sec. 101. Short title. 

Sec. 102. Paper ballot and manual counting requirements. 

Sec. 103. Accessibility and ballot verification for individuals with disabilities. 

Sec. 104. Durability and readability requirements for ballots. 

Sec. 105. Paper ballot printing requirements. 

Sec. 106. Study and report on optimal ballot design. 

Sec. 107. Effective date for new requirements. 

PART 2—GRANTS TO CARRY OUT IMPROVEMENTS

Sec. 111. Grants for obtaining compliant paper ballot voting systems and carrying out voting system security improvements. 

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

SYSTEMS AND CARRYING OUT VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS

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

carrying out voting system security improvements. 

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

‘‘Sec. 297B. Eligibility of States. 

‘‘Sec. 297C. Reports to Congress. 

‘‘Sec. 297D. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 112. Coordination of voting system security activities with use of requirements payments and election administration requirements 

under Help America Vote Act of 2002. 

Sec. 113. Incorporation of definitions. 

Subtitle B—Grants for Risk-Limiting Audits of Results of Elections 

Sec. 121. Grants to States for conducting risk-limiting audits of results of elections. 

‘‘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. 

Sec. 122. GAO analysis of effects of audits. 

TITLE II—PROMOTING CYBERSECURITY THROUGH 

IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTION ADMINISTRATION 

Sec. 201. Testing of existing voting systems to ensure compliance with election 

cybersecurity guidelines and other guidelines. 

Sec. 202. Requiring use of software and hardware for which information is disclosed by manufacturer. 

Sec. 203. Treatment of electronic poll books as part of voting systems. 


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Sec. 204. Pre-election reports on voting system usage. 

Sec. 205. Streamlining collection of election information. 

TITLE III—ELECTION SECURITY GRANTS ADVISORY COMMITTEE 

Sec. 301. Establishment of advisory committee. 

TITLE IV—USE OF VOTING MACHINES MANUFACTURED IN THE 

UNITED STATES 

Sec. 401. Use of voting machines manufactured in the United States. 

TITLE V—SEVERABILITY 

Sec. 501. Severability. 

1 TITLE I—FINANCIAL SUPPORT 

2 FOR ELECTION INFRASTRUC3 TURE 

4 Subtitle A—Voting System Security 

5 Improvement Grants 

6 PART 1—PROMOTING ACCURACY, INTEGRITY, 

7 AND SECURITY THROUGH VOTER-VERIFIED 

8 PERMANENT PAPER BALLOT 

9 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE. 

10 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Voter Confidence 

11 and Increased Accessibility Act of 2019’’. 

12 SEC. 102. PAPER BALLOT AND MANUAL COUNTING RE13 QUIREMENTS. 

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

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

16 amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(2) PAPER BALLOT REQUIREMENT.— 

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


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1 ‘‘(i) PAPER BALLOT REQUIREMENT.— 

2 (I) The voting system shall require the use 

3 of an individual, durable, voter-verified 

4 paper ballot of the voter’s vote that shall 

5 be marked and made available for inspec6 tion and verification by the voter before 

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

8 which shall be counted by hand or read by 

9 an optical character recognition device or 

10 other counting device. For purposes of this 

11 subclause, the term ‘individual, durable, 

12 voter-verified paper ballot’ means a paper 

13 ballot marked by the voter by hand or a 

14 paper ballot marked through the use of a 

15 nontabulating ballot marking device or sys16 tem, so long as the voter shall have the op17 tion to mark his or her ballot by hand. 

18 ‘‘(II) The voting system shall provide 

19 the voter with an opportunity to correct 

20 any error on the paper ballot before the 

21 permanent voter-verified paper ballot is 

22 preserved in accordance with clause (ii). 

23 ‘‘(III) The voting system shall not 

24 preserve the voter-verified paper ballots in 

25 any manner that makes it possible, at any 


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1 time after the ballot has been cast, to asso2 ciate a voter with the record of the voter’s 

3 vote without the voter’s consent. 

4 ‘‘(ii) PRESERVATION AS OFFICIAL

5 RECORD.—The individual, durable, voter6 verified paper ballot used in accordance 

7 with clause (i) shall constitute the official 

8 ballot and shall be preserved and used as 

9 the official ballot for purposes of any re10 count or audit conducted with respect to 

11 any election for Federal office in which the 

12 voting system is used. 

13 ‘‘(iii) MANUAL COUNTING REQUIRE14 MENTS FOR RECOUNTS AND AUDITS.—(I) 

15 Each paper ballot used pursuant to clause 

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

17 and shall be counted by hand in any re18 count or audit conducted with respect to 

19 any election for Federal office. 

20 ‘‘(II) In the event of any inconsist21 encies or irregularities between any elec22 tronic vote tallies and the vote tallies de23 termined by counting by hand the indi24 vidual, durable, voter-verified paper ballots 

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


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1 subparagraph (B), the individual, durable, 

2 voter-verified paper ballots shall be the 

3 true and correct record of the votes cast. 

4 ‘‘(iv) APPLICATION TO ALL BAL5 LOTS.—The requirements of this subpara6 graph shall apply to all ballots cast in elec7 tions for Federal office, including ballots 

8 cast by absent uniformed services voters 

9 and overseas voters under the Uniformed 

10 and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act 

11 and other absentee voters. 

12 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR TREATMENT OF

13 DISPUTES WHEN PAPER BALLOTS HAVE BEEN

14 SHOWN TO BE COMPROMISED.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the event 

16 that— 

17 ‘‘(I) there is any inconsistency 

18 between any electronic vote tallies and 

19 the vote tallies determined by count20 ing by hand the individual, durable, 

21 voter-verified paper ballots used pur22 suant to subparagraph (A)(i) with re23 spect to any election for Federal of24 fice; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) it is demonstrated by clear 

2 and convincing evidence (as deter3 mined in accordance with the applica4 ble standards in the jurisdiction in5 volved) in any recount, audit, or con6 test of the result of the election that 

7 the paper ballots have been com8 promised (by damage or mischief or 

9 otherwise) and that a sufficient num10 ber of the ballots have been so com11 promised that the result of the elec12 tion could be changed, 

13 the determination of the appropriate rem14 edy with respect to the election shall be 

15 made in accordance with applicable State 

16 law, except that the electronic tally shall 

17 not be used as the exclusive basis for de18 termining the official certified result. 

19 ‘‘(ii) RULE FOR CONSIDERATION OF

20 BALLOTS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH VOTING

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

22 only the paper ballots deemed com23 promised, if any, shall be considered in the 

24 calculation of whether or not the result of 


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1 the election could be changed due to the 

2 compromised paper ballots.’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT CLARIFYING APPLI4 CABILITY OF ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGE ACCESSIBILITY.— 

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

6 is amended by inserting ‘‘(including the paper ballots re7 quired to be used under paragraph (2))’’ after ‘‘voting sys8 tem’’. 

9 (c) OTHER CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

10 301(a)(1) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)(1)) is amend11 ed— 

12 (1) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking ‘‘count13 ed’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in accordance with 

14 paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; 

15 (2) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking ‘‘count16 ed’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in accordance with 

17 paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; 

18 (3) in subparagraph (A)(iii), by striking ‘‘count19 ed’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘counted, in 

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

21 (4) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ‘‘count22 ed’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in accordance with 

23 paragraphs (2) and (3)’’. 


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1 SEC. 103. ACCESSIBILITY AND BALLOT VERIFICATION FOR 

2 INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. 

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

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

5 amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(B)(i) ensure that individuals with dis7 abilities and others are given an equivalent op8 portunity to vote, including with privacy and 

9 independence, in a manner that produces a 

10 voter-verified paper ballot as for other voters; 

11 ‘‘(ii) satisfy the requirement of subpara12 graph (A) through the use of at least one voting 

13 system equipped for individuals with disabil14 ities, including nonvisual and enhanced visual 

15 accessibility for the blind and visually impaired, 

16 and nonmanual and enhanced manual accessi17 bility for the mobility and dexterity impaired, at 

18 each polling place; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) meet the requirements of subpara20 graph (A) and paragraph (2)(A) by using a sys21 tem that— 

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

23 independently verify the permanent paper 

24 ballot through the presentation, in acces25 sible form, of the printed or marked vote 

26 selections from the same printed or 


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1 marked information that would be used for 

2 any vote counting or auditing; and 

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

4 independently verify and cast the perma5 nent paper ballot without requiring the 

6 voter to manually handle the paper bal7 lot;’’. 

8 (b) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT OF STUDY, TESTING, 

9 AND DEVELOPMENT OF ACCESSIBLE PAPER BALLOT

10 VERIFICATION MECHANISMS.— 

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

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

13 amended— 

14 (A) by redesignating section 247 as section 

15 248; and 

16 (B) by inserting after section 246 the fol17 lowing new section: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 247. STUDY AND REPORT ON ACCESSIBLE PAPER 

19 BALLOT VERIFICATION MECHANISMS. 

20 ‘‘(a) STUDY AND REPORT.—The Director of the Na21 tional Science Foundation shall make grants to not fewer 

22 than 3 eligible entities to study, test, and develop acces23 sible paper ballot voting, verification, and casting mecha24 nisms and devices and best practices to enhance the acces25 sibility of paper ballot voting and verification mechanisms 


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1 for individuals with disabilities, for voters whose primary 

2 language is not English, and for voters with difficulties 

3 in literacy, including best practices for the mechanisms 

4 themselves and the processes through which the mecha5 nisms are used. 

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

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

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

9 application containing— 

10 ‘‘(1) certifications that the entity shall specifi11 cally investigate enhanced methods or devices, in12 cluding non-electronic devices, that will assist such 

13 individuals and voters in marking voter-verified 

14 paper ballots and presenting or transmitting the in15 formation printed or marked on such ballots back to 

16 such individuals and voters, and casting such ballots; 

17 ‘‘(2) a certification that the entity shall com18 plete the activities carried out with the grant not 

19 later than December 31, 2020; and 

20 ‘‘(3) such other information and certifications 

21 as the Director may require. 

22 ‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY OF TECHNOLOGY.—Any tech23 nology developed with the grants made under this section 

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


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

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

5 this section so that the activities carried out with the 

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

7 research conducted under the grant program carried out 

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

9 the Director and Commission determine necessary to pro10 vide for the advancement of accessible voting technology. 

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

12 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out subsection 

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

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

16 (A) by redesignating the item relating to 

17 section 247 as relating to section 248; and 

18 (B) by inserting after the item relating to 

19 section 246 the following new item: 

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

20 (c) CLARIFICATION OF ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS

21 UNDER VOLUNTARY VOTING SYSTEM GUIDANCE.—In 

22 adopting any voluntary guidance under subtitle B of title 

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


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1 individuals with disabilities, the Election Assistance Com2 mission shall include and apply the same accessibility 

3 standards applicable under the voluntary guidance adopt4 ed for accessible voting systems under such subtitle. 

5 (d) PERMITTING USE OF FUNDS FOR PROTECTION

6 AND ADVOCACY SYSTEMS TO SUPPORT ACTIONS TO EN7 FORCE ELECTION-RELATED DISABILITY ACCESS.—Sec8 tion 292(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 

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

10 and all that follows and inserting a period. 

11 SEC. 104. DURABILITY AND READABILITY REQUIREMENTS 

12 FOR BALLOTS. 

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

14 (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)) is amended by adding at the end 

15 the following new paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(7) DURABILITY AND READABILITY REQUIRE17 MENTS FOR BALLOTS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) DURABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR

19 PAPER BALLOTS.— 

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

21 paper ballots required to be used under 

22 this Act shall be marked or printed on du23 rable paper. 

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

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


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1 of withstanding multiple counts and re2 counts by hand without compromising the 

3 fundamental integrity of the ballots, and 

4 capable of retaining the information 

5 marked or printed on them for the full du6 ration of a retention and preservation pe7 riod of 22 months. 

8 ‘‘(B) READABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR

9 PAPER BALLOTS MARKED BY BALLOT MARKING

10 DEVICE.—All voter-verified paper ballots com11 pleted by the voter through the use of a ballot 

12 marking device shall be clearly readable by the 

13 voter without assistance (other than eyeglasses 

14 or other personal vision enhancing devices) and 

15 by an optical character recognition device or 

16 other device equipped for individuals with dis17 abilities.’’. 

18 SEC. 105. PAPER BALLOT PRINTING REQUIREMENTS. 

19 (a) REQUIRING PAPER BALLOTS TO BE PRINTED ON

20 RECYCLED PAPER MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED

21 STATES.—Section 301(a) of the Help America Vote Act 

22 of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)), as amended by section 104, 

23 is amended by adding at the end the following new para24 graph: 


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1 ‘‘(8) PRINTING REQUIREMENTS FOR BAL2 LOTS.—All paper ballots used in an election for Fed3 eral office shall be printed in the United States on 

4 recycled paper manufactured in the United States.’’. 

5 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

6 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to elections occur7 ring on or after January 1, 2021. 

8 SEC. 106. STUDY AND REPORT ON OPTIMAL BALLOT DE9 SIGN. 

10 (a) STUDY.—The Election Assistance Commission 

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

12 used in elections for public office, including paper ballots 

13 and electronic or digital ballots, to minimize confusion and 

14 user errors. 

15 (b) REPORT.—Not later than January 1, 2020, the 

16 Election Assistance Commission shall submit to Congress 

17 a report on the study conducted under subsection (a). 

18 SEC. 107. EFFECTIVE DATE FOR NEW REQUIREMENTS. 

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

20 (52 U.S.C. 21081(d)) is amended to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para23 graph (2), each State and jurisdiction shall be re24 quired to comply with the requirements of this sec25 tion on and after January 1, 2006. 


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1 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN REQUIRE2 MENTS.— 

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

4 section 105(b) of the Securing America’s Fed5 eral Elections Act and subparagraphs (B) and 

6 (C), the requirements of this section which are 

7 first imposed on a State and jurisdiction pursu8 ant to the amendments made by the Voter Con9 fidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2019 

10 shall apply with respect to voting systems used 

11 for any election for Federal office held in 2020 

12 or any succeeding year. 

13 ‘‘(B) DELAY FOR JURISDICTIONS USING

14 CERTAIN PAPER RECORD PRINTERS OR CERTAIN

15 SYSTEMS USING OR PRODUCING VOTER16 VERIFIABLE PAPER RECORDS IN 2018.— 

17 ‘‘(i) DELAY.—In the case of a juris18 diction described in clause (ii), subpara19 graph (A) shall apply to a voting system in 

20 the jurisdiction as if the reference in such 

21 subparagraph to ‘2020’ were a reference to 

22 ‘2022’, but only with respect to the fol23 lowing requirements of this section: 


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1 ‘‘(I) Paragraph (2)(A)(i)(I) of 

2 subsection (a) (relating to the use of 

3 voter-verified paper ballots). 

4 ‘‘(II) Paragraph (3)(B)(ii)(I) and 

5 (II) of subsection (a) (relating to ac6 cess to verification from and casting 

7 of the durable paper ballot). 

8 ‘‘(III) Paragraph (7) of sub9 section (a) (relating to durability and 

10 readability requirements for ballots). 

11 ‘‘(ii) JURISDICTIONS DESCRIBED.—A 

12 jurisdiction described in this clause is a ju13 risdiction— 

14 ‘‘(I) which used voter verifiable 

15 paper record printers attached to di16 rect recording electronic voting ma17 chines, or which used other voting 

18 systems that used or produced paper 

19 records of the vote verifiable by voters 

20 but that are not in compliance with 

21 paragraphs (2)(A)(i)(I), (3)(B)(iii)(I) 

22 and (II), and (7) of subsection (a) (as 

23 amended or added by the Voter Con24 fidence and Increased Accessibility 

25 Act of 2019), for the administration 


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1 of the regularly scheduled general 

2 election for Federal office held in No3 vember 2018; and 

4 ‘‘(II) which will continue to use 

5 such printers or systems for the ad6 ministration of elections for Federal 

7 office held in years before 2022. 

8 ‘‘(iii) MANDATORY AVAILABILITY OF

9 PAPER BALLOTS AT POLLING PLACES

10 USING GRANDFATHERED PRINTERS AND

11 SYSTEMS.— 

12 ‘‘(I) REQUIRING BALLOTS TO BE

13 OFFERED AND PROVIDED.—The ap14 propriate election official at each poll15 ing place that uses a printer or sys16 tem described in clause (ii)(I) for the 

17 administration of elections for Federal 

18 office shall offer each individual who 

19 is eligible to cast a vote in the election 

20 at the polling place the opportunity to 

21 cast the vote using a blank pre-print22 ed paper ballot which the individual 

23 may mark by hand and which is not 

24 produced by the direct recording elec25 tronic voting machine or other such 


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1 system. The official shall provide the 

2 individual with the ballot and the sup3 plies necessary to mark the ballot, and 

4 shall ensure (to the greatest extent 

5 practicable) that the waiting period 

6 for the individual to cast a vote is the 

7 lesser of 30 minutes or the average 

8 waiting period for an individual who 

9 does not agree to cast the vote using 

10 such a paper ballot under this clause. 

11 ‘‘(II) TREATMENT OF BALLOT.— 

12 Any paper ballot which is cast by an 

13 individual under this clause shall be 

14 counted and otherwise treated as a 

15 regular ballot for all purposes (includ16 ing by incorporating it into the final 

17 unofficial vote count (as defined by 

18 the State) for the precinct) and not as 

19 a provisional ballot, unless the indi20 vidual casting the ballot would have 

21 otherwise been required to cast a pro22 visional ballot. 

23 ‘‘(III) POSTING OF NOTICE.— 

24 The appropriate election official shall 

25 ensure there is prominently displayed 


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1 at each polling place a notice that de2 scribes the obligation of the official to 

3 offer individuals the opportunity to 

4 cast votes using a pre-printed blank 

5 paper ballot. 

6 ‘‘(IV) TRAINING OF ELECTION

7 OFFICIALS.—The chief State election 

8 official shall ensure that election offi9 cials at polling places in the State are 

10 aware of the requirements of this 

11 clause, including the requirement to 

12 display a notice under subclause (III), 

13 and are aware that it is a violation of 

14 the requirements of this title for an 

15 election official to fail to offer an indi16 vidual the opportunity to cast a vote 

17 using a blank pre-printed paper ballot. 

18 ‘‘(V) PERIOD OF APPLICA19 BILITY.—The requirements of this 

20 clause apply only during the period in 

21 which the delay is in effect under 

22 clause (i). 

23 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULE FOR JURISDICTIONS

24 USING CERTAIN NONTABULATING BALLOT

25 MARKING DEVICES.—In the case of a jurisdicVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 May 28, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2722.IH H2722

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1 tion which uses a nontabulating ballot marking 

2 device which automatically deposits the ballot 

3 into a privacy sleeve, subparagraph (A) shall 

4 apply to a voting system in the jurisdiction as 

5 if the reference in such subparagraph to ‘any 

6 election for Federal office held in 2020 or any 

7 succeeding year’ were a reference to ‘elections 

8 for Federal office held in 2022 or each suc9 ceeding year’, but only with respect to para10 graph (3)(B)(iii)(II) of subsection (a) (relating 

11 to nonmanual casting of the durable paper bal12 lot).’’. 

13 PART 2—GRANTS TO CARRY OUT 

14 IMPROVEMENTS 

15 SEC. 111. GRANTS FOR OBTAINING COMPLIANT PAPER BAL16 LOT VOTING SYSTEMS AND CARRYING OUT 

17 VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS. 

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

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

20 21001 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol21 lowing new part: 


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1 ‘‘PART 7—GRANTS FOR OBTAINING COMPLIANT 

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

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

6 BALLOT VOTING SYSTEMS AND CARRYING 

7 OUT VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY IMPROVE8 MENTS. 

9 ‘‘(a) AVAILABILITY AND USE OF GRANT.—The Com10 mission shall make a grant to each eligible State— 

11 ‘‘(1) to replace a voting system— 

12 ‘‘(A) which does not meet the requirements 

13 which are first imposed on the State pursuant 

14 to the amendments made by the Voter Con15 fidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2019 

16 with a voting system which does meet such re17 quirements, for use in the regularly scheduled 

18 general elections for Federal office held in No19 vember 2020, or 

20 ‘‘(B) which does meet such requirements 

21 but which is not in compliance with the most 

22 recent voluntary voting system guidelines issued 

23 by the Commission prior to the regularly sched24 uled general election for Federal office held in 

25 November 2020 with another system which does 


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1 meet such requirements and is in compliance 

2 with such guidelines; 

3 ‘‘(2) to carry out voting system security im4 provements described in section 297A with respect 

5 to the regularly scheduled general elections for Fed6 eral office held in November 2020 and each suc7 ceeding election for Federal office; and 

8 ‘‘(3) to implement and model best practices for 

9 ballot design, ballot instructions, and the testing of 

10 ballots. 

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

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

13 as the Commission determines to be appropriate, except 

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

15 $1 and the average of the number of individuals who cast 

16 votes in any of the two most recent regularly scheduled 

17 general elections for Federal office held in the State. 

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

19 funds appropriated for grants under this part is insuffi20 cient to ensure that each State receives the amount of the 

21 grant calculated under subsection (b), the Commission 

22 shall make such pro rata reductions in such amounts as 

23 may be necessary to ensure that the entire amount appro24 priated under this part is distributed to the States. 


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1 ‘‘(d) SURPLUS APPROPRIATIONS.—If the amount of 

2 funds appropriated for grants authorized under section 

3 297D(a)(2) exceed the amount necessary to meet the re4 quirements of subsection (b), the Commission shall con5 sider the following in making a determination to award 

6 remaining funds to a State: 

7 ‘‘(1) The record of the State in carrying out the 

8 following with respect to the administration of elec9 tions for Federal office: 

10 ‘‘(A) Providing voting machines that are 

11 less than 10 years old. 

12 ‘‘(B) Implementing strong chain of custody 

13 procedures for the physical security of voting 

14 equipment and paper records at all stages of 

15 the process. 

16 ‘‘(C) Conducting pre-election testing on 

17 every voting machine and ensuring that paper 

18 ballots are available wherever electronic ma19 chines are used. 

20 ‘‘(D) Maintaining offline backups of voter 

21 registration lists. 

22 ‘‘(E) Providing a secure voter registration 

23 database that logs requests submitted to the 

24 database. 


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1 ‘‘(F) Publishing and enforcing a policy de2 tailing use limitations and security safeguards 

3 to protect the personal information of voters in 

4 the voter registration process. 

5 ‘‘(G) Providing secure processes and proce6 dures for reporting vote tallies. 

7 ‘‘(H) Providing a secure platform for dis8 seminating vote totals. 

9 ‘‘(2) Evidence of established conditions of inno10 vation and reform in providing voting system secu11 rity and the proposed plan of the State for imple12 menting additional conditions. 

13 ‘‘(3) Evidence of collaboration between relevant 

14 stakeholders, including local election officials, in de15 veloping the grant implementation plan described in 

16 section 297B. 

17 ‘‘(4) The plan of the State to conduct a rig18 orous evaluation of the effectiveness of the activities 

19 carried out with the grant. 

20 ‘‘(e) ABILITY OF REPLACEMENT SYSTEMS TO AD21 MINISTER RANKED CHOICE ELECTIONS.—To the greatest 

22 extent practicable, an eligible State which receives a grant 

23 to replace a voting system under this section shall ensure 

24 that the replacement system is capable of administering 

25 a system of ranked choice voting under which each voter 


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1 shall rank the candidates for the office in the order of 

2 the voter’s preference. 

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

4 DESCRIBED. 

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

6 improvement described in this section is any of the fol7 lowing: 

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

9 qualified election infrastructure vendors by purchase, 

10 lease, or such other arrangements as may be appro11 priate. 

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

13 ‘‘(3) A security risk and vulnerability assess14 ment of the State’s election infrastructure which is 

15 carried out by a provider of cybersecurity services 

16 under a contract entered into between the chief 

17 State election official and the provider. 

18 ‘‘(4) The maintenance of election infrastruc19 ture, including addressing risks and vulnerabilities 

20 which are identified under either of the security risk 

21 and vulnerability assessments described in para22 graph (3), except that none of the funds provided 

23 under this part may be used to renovate or replace 

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1 poses other than the administration of elections for 

2 public office. 

3 ‘‘(5) Providing increased technical support for 

4 any information technology infrastructure that the 

5 chief State election official deems to be part of the 

6 State’s election infrastructure or designates as crit7 ical to the operation of the State’s election infra8 structure. 

9 ‘‘(6) Enhancing the cybersecurity and oper10 ations of the information technology infrastructure 

11 described in paragraph (4). 

12 ‘‘(7) Enhancing the cybersecurity of voter reg13 istration systems. 

14 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE VEN15 DORS DESCRIBED.— 

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

17 a ‘qualified election infrastructure vendor’ is any 

18 person who provides, supports, or maintains, or who 

19 seeks to provide, support, or maintain, election in20 frastructure on behalf of a State, unit of local gov21 ernment, or election agency (as defined in section 

22 801 of the Election Security Act) who meets the cri23 teria described in paragraph (2). 

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

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1 ordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security, 

2 shall establish and publish, and shall include each of 

3 the following requirements: 

4 ‘‘(A) The vendor must be owned and con5 trolled by a citizen or permanent resident of the 

6 United States. 

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

8 Chairman and the Secretary, and to the chief 

9 State election official of any State to which the 

10 vendor provides any goods and services with 

11 funds provided under this part, of any sourcing 

12 outside the United States for parts of the elec13 tion infrastructure. 

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

15 election infrastructure will be developed and 

16 maintained in a manner that is consistent with 

17 the cybersecurity best practices issued by the 

18 Technical Guidelines Development Committee. 

19 ‘‘(D) The vendor agrees to maintain its in20 formation technology infrastructure in a man21 ner that is consistent with the cybersecurity 

22 best practices issued by the Technical Guide23 lines Development Committee. 

24 ‘‘(E) The vendor agrees to meet the re25 quirements of paragraph (3) with respect to 


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1 any known or suspected cybersecurity incidents 

2 involving any of the goods and services provided 

3 by the vendor pursuant to a grant under this 

4 part. 

5 ‘‘(F) The vendor agrees to permit inde6 pendent security testing by the Commission (in 

7 accordance with section 231(a)) and by the Sec8 retary of the goods and services provided by the 

9 vendor pursuant to a grant under this part. 

10 ‘‘(3) CYBERSECURITY INCIDENT REPORTING

11 REQUIREMENTS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A vendor meets the 

13 requirements of this paragraph if, upon becom14 ing aware of the possibility that an election cy15 bersecurity incident has occurred involving any 

16 of the goods and services provided by the ven17 dor pursuant to a grant under this part— 

18 ‘‘(i) the vendor promptly assesses 

19 whether or not such an incident occurred, 

20 and submits a notification meeting the re21 quirements of subparagraph (B) to the 

22 Secretary and the Chairman of the assess23 ment as soon as practicable (but in no case 

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1 comes aware of the possibility that the in2 cident occurred); 

3 ‘‘(ii) if the incident involves goods or 

4 services provided to an election agency, the 

5 vendor submits a notification meeting the 

6 requirements of subparagraph (B) to the 

7 agency as soon as practicable (but in no 

8 case later than 3 days after the vendor 

9 first becomes aware of the possibility that 

10 the incident occurred), and cooperates with 

11 the agency in providing any other nec12 essary notifications relating to the inci13 dent; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) the vendor provides all necessary 

15 updates to any notification submitted 

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

17 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS OF NOTIFICATIONS.— 

18 Each notification submitted under clause (i) or 

19 clause (ii) of subparagraph (A) shall contain 

20 the following information with respect to any 

21 election cybersecurity incident covered by the 

22 notification: 

23 ‘‘(i) The date, time, and time zone 

24 when the election cybersecurity incident 

25 began, if known. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) The date, time, and time zone 

2 when the election cybersecurity incident 

3 was detected. 

4 ‘‘(iii) The date, time, and duration of 

5 the election cybersecurity incident. 

6 ‘‘(iv) The circumstances of the elec7 tion cybersecurity incident, including the 

8 specific election infrastructure systems be9 lieved to have been accessed and informa10 tion acquired, if any. 

11 ‘‘(v) Any planned and implemented 

12 technical measures to respond to and re13 cover from the incident. 

14 ‘‘(vi) In the case of any notification 

15 which is an update to a prior notification, 

16 any additional material information relat17 ing to the incident, including technical 

18 data, as it becomes available. 

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

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

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

22 in such form as the Commission may require, an applica23 tion containing— 


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

2 grant to carry out the activities authorized under 

3 this part; 

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

5 later than 5 years after receiving the grant, the 

6 State will carry out risk-limiting audits and will 

7 carry out voting system security improvements, as 

8 described in section 297A; and 

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

10 the Commission may require. 

11 ‘‘SEC. 297C. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

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

13 year, the Commission shall submit a report to the appro14 priate congressional committees, including the Committees 

15 on Homeland Security, House Administration, and the Ju16 diciary of the House of Representatives and the Commit17 tees on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the 

18 Judiciary, and Rules and Administration of the Senate, 

19 on the activities carried out with the funds provided under 

20 this part. 

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

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

23 appropriated for grants under this part— 

24 ‘‘(1) $1,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2019; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) $175,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 

2 2020, 2022, 2024, and 2026. 

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

4 amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization of 

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

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

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

8 relating to subtitle D of title II the following: 

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

SYSTEMS AND CARRYING OUT VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS

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

carrying out voting system security improvements. 

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

‘‘Sec. 297B. Eligibility of States. 

‘‘Sec. 297C. Reports to Congress. 

‘‘Sec. 297D. Authorization of appropriations. 

9 SEC. 112. COORDINATION OF VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY 

10 ACTIVITIES WITH USE OF REQUIREMENTS 

11 PAYMENTS AND ELECTION ADMINISTRATION 

12 REQUIREMENTS UNDER HELP AMERICA 

13 VOTE ACT OF 2002. 

14 (a) DUTIES OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMIS15 SION.—Section 202 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

16 (52 U.S.C. 20922) is amended in the matter preceding 

17 paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘by’’ and inserting ‘‘and the se18 curity of election infrastructure by’’. 

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1 ANCE COMMISSION.—Section 214(a) of such Act (52 

2 U.S.C. 20944(a)) is amended— 

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

4 ‘‘38 members’’; and 

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

6 paragraph: 

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

8 the Secretary’s designee.’’. 

9 (c) REPRESENTATIVE OF DEPARTMENT OF HOME10 LAND SECURITY ON TECHNICAL GUIDELINES DEVELOP11 MENT COMMITTEE.—Section 221(c)(1) of such Act (52 

12 U.S.C. 20961(c)(1)) is amended— 

13 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as sub14 paragraph (F); and 

15 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the fol16 lowing new subparagraph: 

17 ‘‘(E) A representative of the Department 

18 of Homeland Security.’’. 

19 (d) GOALS OF PERIODIC STUDIES OF ELECTION AD20 MINISTRATION ISSUES; CONSULTATION WITH SECRETARY

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

22 (52 U.S.C. 20981(a)) is amended— 

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

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


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1 Commission, in consultation with the Secretary of 

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

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

4 (3); 

5 (3) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para6 graph (5); and 

7 (4) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol8 lowing new paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(4) will be secure against attempts to under10 mine the integrity of election systems by cyber or 

11 other means; and’’. 

12 (e) REQUIREMENTS PAYMENTS.— 

13 (1) USE OF PAYMENTS FOR VOTING SYSTEM

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

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

16 the end the following new paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(4) PERMITTING USE OF PAYMENTS FOR VOT18 ING SYSTEM SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS.—A State 

19 may use a requirements payment to carry out any 

20 of the following activities: 

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

22 ‘‘(B) Providing increased technical support 

23 for any information technology infrastructure 

24 that the chief State election official deems to be 

25 part of the State’s election infrastructure or 


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1 designates as critical to the operation of the 

2 State’s election infrastructure. 

3 ‘‘(C) Enhancing the cybersecurity and op4 erations of the information technology infra5 structure described in subparagraph (B). 

6 ‘‘(D) Enhancing the security of voter reg7 istration databases.’’. 

8 (2) INCORPORATION OF ELECTION INFRA9 STRUCTURE PROTECTION IN STATE PLANS FOR USE

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

11 U.S.C. 21004(a)(1)) is amended by striking the pe12 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘, including the protec13 tion of election infrastructure.’’. 

14 (3) COMPOSITION OF COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

15 FOR DEVELOPING STATE PLAN FOR USE OF PAY16 MENTS.—Section 255 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

17 21005) is amended— 

18 (A) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub19 section (c); and 

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

21 following new subsection: 

22 ‘‘(b) GEOGRAPHIC REPRESENTATION.—The mem23 bers of the committee shall be a representative group of 

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


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

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

3 (f) ENSURING PROTECTION OF COMPUTERIZED

4 STATEWIDE VOTER REGISTRATION LIST.—Section 

5 303(a)(3) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21083(a)(3)) is amend6 ed by striking the period at the end and inserting ‘‘, as 

7 well as other measures to prevent and deter cybersecurity 

8 incidents, as identified by the Commission, the Secretary 

9 of Homeland Security, and the Technical Guidelines De10 velopment Committee.’’. 

11 SEC. 113. INCORPORATION OF DEFINITIONS. 

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

13 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21141) is amended to read 

14 as follows: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 901. DEFINITIONS. 

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

17 ‘‘(1) The term ‘cybersecurity incident’ has the 

18 meaning given the term ‘incident’ in section 227 of 

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

20 ‘‘(2) The term ‘election agency’ means any com21 ponent of a State, or any component of a unit of 

22 local government in a State, which is responsible for 

23 the administration of elections for Federal office in 

24 the State. 


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1 ‘‘(3) The term ‘election infrastructure’ means 

2 storage facilities, polling places, and centralized vote 

3 tabulation locations used to support the administra4 tion of elections for public office, as well as related 

5 information and communications technology, includ6 ing voter registration databases, voting machines, 

7 electronic mail and other communications systems 

8 (including electronic mail and other systems of ven9 dors who have entered into contracts with election 

10 agencies to support the administration of elections, 

11 manage the election process, and report and display 

12 election results), and other systems used to manage 

13 the election process and to report and display elec14 tion results on behalf of an election agency. 

15 ‘‘(4) The term ‘State’ means each of the several 

16 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 

17 of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United 

18 States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the 

19 Northern Mariana Islands.’’. 

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

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

22 section 901 to read as follows: 

‘‘Sec. 901. Definitions.’’. 


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1 Subtitle B—Grants for Risk-Lim2 iting Audits of Results of Elec3 tions 

4 SEC. 121. GRANTS TO STATES FOR CONDUCTING RISK-LIM5 ITING AUDITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS. 

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

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

8 21001 et seq.), as amended by section 111(a), is amended 

9 by adding at the end the following new part: 

10 ‘‘PART 8—GRANTS FOR CONDUCTING RISK11 LIMITING AUDITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS 

12 ‘‘SEC. 298. GRANTS FOR CONDUCTING RISK-LIMITING AU13 DITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS. 

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

15 shall make a grant to each eligible State to conduct risk16 limiting audits as described in subsection (b) with respect 

17 to the regularly scheduled general elections for Federal of18 fice held in November 2020 and each succeeding election 

19 for Federal office. 

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

21 part, a ‘risk-limiting audit’ is a post-election process— 

22 ‘‘(1) which is conducted in accordance with 

23 rules and procedures established by the chief State 

24 election official of the State which meet the require25 ments of subsection (c); and 


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1 ‘‘(2) under which, if the reported outcome of 

2 the election is incorrect, there is at least a predeter3 mined percentage chance that the audit will replace 

4 the incorrect outcome with the correct outcome as 

5 determined by a full, hand-to-eye tabulation of all 

6 votes validly cast in that election that ascertains 

7 voter intent manually and directly from voter8 verifiable paper records. 

9 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR RULES AND PROCE10 DURES.—The rules and procedures established for con11 ducting a risk-limiting audit shall include the following 

12 elements: 

13 ‘‘(1) Rules for ensuring the security of ballots 

14 and documenting that prescribed procedures were 

15 followed. 

16 ‘‘(2) Rules and procedures for ensuring the ac17 curacy of ballot manifests produced by election agen18 cies. 

19 ‘‘(3) Rules and procedures for governing the 

20 format of ballot manifests, cast vote records, and 

21 other data involved in the audit. 

22 ‘‘(4) Methods to ensure that any cast vote 

23 records used in the audit are those used by the vot24 ing system to tally the election results sent to the 

25 chief State election official and made public. 


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1 ‘‘(5) Procedures for the random selection of 

2 ballots to be inspected manually during each audit. 

3 ‘‘(6) Rules for the calculations and other meth4 ods to be used in the audit and to determine wheth5 er and when the audit of an election is complete. 

6 ‘‘(7) Procedures and requirements for testing 

7 any software used to conduct risk-limiting audits. 

8 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this part, the following defi9 nitions apply: 

10 ‘‘(1) The term ‘ballot manifest’ means a record 

11 maintained by each election agency that meets each 

12 of the following requirements: 

13 ‘‘(A) The record is created without reliance 

14 on any part of the voting system used to tab15 ulate votes. 

16 ‘‘(B) The record functions as a sampling 

17 frame for conducting a risk-limiting audit. 

18 ‘‘(C) The record contains the following in19 formation with respect to the ballots cast and 

20 counted in the election: 

21 ‘‘(i) The total number of ballots cast 

22 and counted by the agency (including 

23 undervotes, overvotes, and other invalid 

24 votes). 


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1 ‘‘(ii) The total number of ballots cast 

2 in each election administered by the agency 

3 (including undervotes, overvotes, and other 

4 invalid votes). 

5 ‘‘(iii) A precise description of the 

6 manner in which the ballots are physically 

7 stored, including the total number of phys8 ical groups of ballots, the numbering sys9 tem for each group, a unique label for each 

10 group, and the number of ballots in each 

11 such group. 

12 ‘‘(2) The term ‘incorrect outcome’ means an 

13 outcome that differs from the outcome that would be 

14 determined by a full tabulation of all votes validly 

15 cast in the election, determining voter intent manu16 ally, directly from voter-verifiable paper records. 

17 ‘‘(3) The term ‘outcome’ means the winner of 

18 an election, whether a candidate or a position. 

19 ‘‘(4) The term ‘reported outcome’ means the 

20 outcome of an election which is determined accord21 ing to the canvass and which will become the official, 

22 certified outcome unless it is revised by an audit, re23 count, or other legal process. 


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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, not later than 5 years 

7 after receiving the grant, the State will conduct risk8 limiting audits of the results of elections for Federal 

9 office held in the State as described in section 298; 

10 ‘‘(2) a certification that, not later than one year 

11 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

12 chief State election official of the State has estab13 lished or will establish the rules and procedures for 

14 conducting the audits which meet the requirements 

15 of section 298(c); 

16 ‘‘(3) a certification that the audit shall be com17 pleted not later than the date on which the State 

18 certifies the results of the election; 

19 ‘‘(4) a certification that, after completing the 

20 audit, the State shall publish a report on the results 

21 of the audit, together with such information as nec22 essary to confirm that the audit was conducted prop23 erly; 

24 ‘‘(5) a certification that, if a risk-limiting audit 

25 conducted under this part leads to a full manual 

26 tally of an election, State law requires that the State 


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1 or election agency shall use the results of the full 

2 manual tally as the official results of the election; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(6) such other information and assurances as 

5 the Commission may require. 

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

7 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated for grants 

8 under this part $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2019, to re9 main available until expended.’’. 

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

11 of such Act, as amended by section 111(b), is further 

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

13 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. 

14 SEC. 122. GAO ANALYSIS OF EFFECTS OF AUDITS. 

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

16 first election for Federal office is held after grants are 

17 first awarded to States for conducting risk-limiting audits 

18 under part 8 of subtitle D of title II of the Help America 

19 Vote Act of 2002 (as added by section 121) for conducting 

20 risk-limiting audits of elections for Federal office, the 

21 Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct 

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1 proved the administration of such elections and the secu2 rity of election infrastructure in the States receiving such 

3 grants. 

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

5 United States shall submit a report on the analysis con6 ducted under subsection (a) to the appropriate congres7 sional committees. 

8 TITLE II—PROMOTING CYBERSE9 CURITY THROUGH IMPROVE10 MENTS IN ELECTION ADMIN11 ISTRATION 

12 SEC. 201. TESTING OF EXISTING VOTING SYSTEMS TO EN13 SURE COMPLIANCE WITH ELECTION CYBER14 SECURITY GUIDELINES AND OTHER GUIDE15 LINES. 

16 (a) REQUIRING TESTING OF EXISTING VOTING SYS17 TEMS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 231(a) of the Help 

19 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20971(a)) is 

20 amended by adding at the end the following new 

21 paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(3) TESTING TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE WITH

23 GUIDELINES.— 

24 ‘‘(A) TESTING.—Not later than 9 months 

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1 eral election for Federal office, the Commission 

2 shall provide for the testing by accredited lab3 oratories under this section of the voting system 

4 hardware and software which was certified for 

5 use in the most recent such election, on the 

6 basis of the most recent voting system guide7 lines applicable to such hardware or software 

8 (including election cybersecurity guidelines) 

9 issued under this Act. 

10 ‘‘(B) DECERTIFICATION OF HARDWARE OR

11 SOFTWARE FAILING TO MEET GUIDELINES.—If, 

12 on the basis of the testing described in subpara13 graph (A), the Commission determines that any 

14 voting system hardware or software does not 

15 meet the most recent guidelines applicable to 

16 such hardware or software issued under this 

17 Act, the Commission shall decertify such hard18 ware or software.’’. 

19 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

20 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to the reg21 ularly scheduled general election for Federal office 

22 held in November 2020 and each succeeding regu23 larly scheduled general election for Federal office. 

24 (b) ISSUANCE OF CYBERSECURITY GUIDELINES BY

25 TECHNICAL GUIDELINES DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE.— 


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1 Section 221(b) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 

2 U.S.C. 20961(b)) is amended by adding at the end the 

3 following new paragraph: 

4 ‘‘(3) ELECTION CYBERSECURITY GUIDE5 LINES.—Not later than 6 months after the date of 

6 the enactment of this paragraph, the Development 

7 Committee shall issue election cybersecurity guide8 lines, including standards and best practices for pro9 curing, maintaining, testing, operating, and updat10 ing election systems to prevent and deter cybersecu11 rity incidents.’’. 

12 SEC. 202. REQUIRING USE OF SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE 

13 FOR WHICH INFORMATION IS DISCLOSED BY 

14 MANUFACTURER. 

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

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

17 amended by sections 104 and 105, is amended by adding 

18 at the end the following new paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(9) REQUIRING USE OF SOFTWARE AND HARD20 WARE FOR WHICH INFORMATION IS DISCLOSED BY

21 MANUFACTURER.— 

22 ‘‘(A) REQUIRING USE OF SOFTWARE FOR

23 WHICH SOURCE CODE IS DISCLOSED BY MANU24 FACTURER.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the operation 

2 of voting systems in an election for Federal 

3 office, a State may only use software for 

4 which the manufacturer makes the source 

5 code (in the form in which will be used at 

6 the time of the election) publicly available 

7 online under a license that grants a world8 wide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, perpetual, 

9 sub-licensable license to all intellectual 

10 property rights in such source code, except 

11 that the manufacturer may prohibit a per12 son who obtains the software from using 

13 the software in a manner that is primarily 

14 intended for or directed toward commercial 

15 advantage or private monetary compensa16 tion that is unrelated to carrying out legiti17 mate research or cybersecurity activity. 

18 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTIONS.—Clause (i) does 

19 not apply with respect to— 

20 ‘‘(I) widely-used operating system 

21 software which is not specific to vot22 ing systems and for which the source 

23 code or baseline functionality is not 

24 altered; or 


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1 ‘‘(II) widely-used cybersecurity 

2 software which is not specific to vot3 ing systems and for which the source 

4 code or baseline functionality is not 

5 altered. 

6 ‘‘(B) REQUIRING USE OF HARDWARE FOR

7 WHICH INFORMATION IS DISCLOSED BY MANU8 FACTURER.— 

9 ‘‘(i) REQUIRING DISCLOSURE OF

10 HARDWARE.—A State may not use a vot11 ing system in an election for Federal office 

12 unless the manufacturer of the system 

13 publicly discloses online the identification 

14 of the hardware used to operate the sys15 tem. 

16 ‘‘(ii) ADDITIONAL DISCLOSURE RE17 QUIREMENTS FOR CUSTOM OR ALTERED

18 HARDWARE.—To the extent that the hard19 ware used to operate a voting system or 

20 any component thereof is not widely-used, 

21 or is widely-used but is altered, the State 

22 may not use the system in an election for 

23 Federal office unless— 

24 ‘‘(I) the manufacturer of the sys25 tem publicly discloses online the comVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 May 28, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00049 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2722.IH H2722

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1 ponents of the hardware, the design of 

2 such components, and how such com3 ponents are connected in the oper4 ation of the system; and 

5 ‘‘(II) the manufacturer makes 

6 the design (in the form which will be 

7 used at the time of the election) pub8 licly available online under a license 

9 that grants a worldwide, royalty-free, 

10 non-exclusive, perpetual, sub-licens11 able license to all intellectual property 

12 rights in the design of the hardware 

13 or the component, except that the 

14 manufacturer may prohibit a person 

15 who obtains the design from using the 

16 design in a manner that is primarily 

17 intended for or directed toward com18 mercial advantage or private monetary 

19 compensation that is unrelated to car20 rying out legitimate research or cyber21 security activity.’’. 

22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

23 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to elections for 

24 Federal office held in 2020 or any succeeding year. 


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1 SEC. 203. TREATMENT OF ELECTRONIC POLL BOOKS AS 

2 PART OF VOTING SYSTEMS. 

3 (a) INCLUSION IN DEFINITION OF VOTING SYS4 TEM.—Section 301(b) of the Help America Vote Act of 

5 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081(b)) is amended— 

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

7 striking ‘‘this section’’ and inserting ‘‘this Act’’; 

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

9 (1); 

10 (3) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para11 graph (3); and 

12 (4) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol13 lowing new paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(2) any electronic poll book used with respect 

15 to the election; and’’. 

16 (b) DEFINITION.—Section 301 of such Act (52 

17 U.S.C. 21081) is amended— 

18 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 

19 subsections (d) and (e); and 

20 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol21 lowing new subsection: 

22 ‘‘(c) ELECTRONIC POLL BOOK DEFINED.—In this 

23 Act, the term ‘electronic poll book’ means the total com24 bination of mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic 

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1 mentation required to program, control, and support the 

2 equipment) that is used— 

3 ‘‘(1) to retain the list of registered voters at a 

4 polling location, or vote center, or other location at 

5 which voters cast votes in an election for Federal of6 fice; and 

7 ‘‘(2) to identify registered voters who are eligi8 ble to vote in an election.’’. 

9 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 301(e) of such Act 

10 (52 U.S.C. 21081(e)), as redesignated by subsection (b), 

11 is amended by striking the period at the end and inserting 

12 the following: ‘‘, or, with respect to any requirements re13 lating to electronic poll books, on and after January 1, 

14 2020.’’. 

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

16 USAGE. 

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

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

19 21081 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 301 

20 the following new section: 

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

22 USAGE. 

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

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

25 scheduled general election for Federal office, the chief 


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

2 the Commission containing a detailed voting system usage 

3 plan for each jurisdiction in the State which will admin4 ister the election, including a detailed plan for the usage 

5 of electronic poll books and other equipment and compo6 nents of such system. 

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

8 with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 

9 Federal office held in November 2020 and each succeeding 

10 regularly scheduled general election for Federal office.’’. 

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN12 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 

13 is amended by striking ‘‘sections 301, 302, and 303’’ and 

14 inserting ‘‘subtitle A of title III’’. 

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

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

17 to section 301 the following new item: 

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

18 SEC. 205. STREAMLINING COLLECTION OF ELECTION IN19 FORMATION. 

20 Section 202 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

21 (52 U.S.C. 20922) is amended— 

22 (1) by striking ‘‘The Commission’’ and insert23 ing ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission’’; and 

24 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub25 section: 


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1 ‘‘(b) WAIVER OF CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS.—Sub2 chapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, 

3 shall not apply to the collection of information for pur4 poses of maintaining the clearinghouse described in para5 graph (1) of subsection (a).’’. 

6 TITLE III—ELECTION SECURITY 

7 GRANTS ADVISORY COMMITTEE 

8 SEC. 301. ESTABLISHMENT OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title II of the Help 

10 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20921 et seq.) is 

11 amended by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘PART 4—ELECTION SECURITY GRANTS 

13 ADVISORY COMMITTEE 

14 ‘‘SEC. 225. ELECTION SECURITY GRANTS ADVISORY COM15 MITTEE. 

16 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established 

17 an advisory committee (hereinafter in this part referred 

18 to as the ‘Committee’) to assist the Commission with re19 spect to the award of grants to States under this Act for 

20 the purpose of election security. 

21 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall, with 

23 respect to an application for a grant received by the 

24 Commission— 

25 ‘‘(A) review such application; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) recommend to the Commission 

2 whether to award the grant to the applicant. 

3 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In reviewing an appli4 cation pursuant to paragraph (1)(A), the Committee 

5 shall consider— 

6 ‘‘(A) the record of the applicant with re7 spect to— 

8 ‘‘(i) compliance of the applicant with 

9 the requirements under subtitle A of title 

10 III; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) adoption of voluntary guidelines 

12 issued by the Commission under subtitle B 

13 of title III; and 

14 ‘‘(B) the goals and requirements of elec15 tion security as described in the Securing 

16 America’s Federal Elections Act. 

17 ‘‘(c) MEMBERSHIP.—The Committee shall be com18 posed of 15 individuals appointed by the Executive Direc19 tor of the Commission with experience and expertise in 

20 election security. 

21 ‘‘(d) NO COMPENSATION FOR SERVICE.—Members of 

22 the Committee shall not receive any compensation for 

23 their service, but shall be paid travel expenses, including 

24 per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for em25 ployees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of 


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1 title 5, United States Code, while away from their homes 

2 or regular places of business in the performance of services 

3 for the Committee.’’. 

4 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

5 this section shall take effect 1 year after the date of enact6 ment of this Act. 

7 TITLE IV—USE OF VOTING MA8 CHINES MANUFACTURED IN 

9 THE UNITED STATES 

10 SEC. 401. USE OF VOTING MACHINES MANUFACTURED IN 

11 THE UNITED STATES. 

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

13 (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)), as amended by section 104, section 

14 105, and section 202 is amended by adding at the end 

15 the following new paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(10) VOTING MACHINE REQUIREMENTS.—By 

17 not later than the date of the regularly scheduled 

18 general election for Federal office occurring in No19 vember 2022, each State shall seek to ensure that 

20 any voting machine used in such election and in any 

21 subsequent election for Federal office is manufac22 tured in the United States.’’. 


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1 TITLE V—SEVERABILITY 

2 SEC. 501. SEVERABILITY. 

3 If any provision of this Act or amendment made by 

4 this Act, or the application of a provision or amendment 

5 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu6 tional, the remainder of this Act and amendments made 

7 by this Act, and the application of the provisions and 

8 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be 

9 affected by the holding. 

Æ 


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