I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2754 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require paper ballots 

and risk-limiting audits in all Federal elections, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 15, 2019 

Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Miss RICE of New 

York, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. 

DEFAZIO, Mr. HECK, and Mr. COOPER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on House Administration 

A BILL 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require 

paper ballots and risk-limiting audits in all Federal 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 ‘‘Protecting American Votes and Elections Act of 2019’’. 

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

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Paper ballot and hand tabulation requirements. 

Sec. 3. Risk-limiting audits. 


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Sec. 4. Enhancement of enforcement of Help America Vote Act of 2002. 

Sec. 5. Financial assistance to States. 

Sec. 6. Cybersecurity requirements for and testing and certification of voting 

systems. 

Sec. 7. Voting system cybersecurity requirements. 

Sec. 8. Ballot cybersecurity, confidentiality, and access for individuals with disabilities. 

Sec. 9. Application of Help America Vote Act to Northern Mariana Islands. 

Sec. 10. Biennial reports on election security. 

1 SEC. 2. PAPER BALLOT AND HAND TABULATION REQUIRE2 MENTS. 

3 (a) VOTER-VERIFIABLE PAPER BALLOTS.—Section 

4 301(a)(2) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 

5 U.S.C. 21081(a)(2)) is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(2) PAPER BALLOT REQUIREMENT.— 

7 ‘‘(A) VOTER-VERIFIABLE PAPER BAL8 LOTS.— 

9 ‘‘(i) PAPER BALLOT REQUIREMENT.— 

10 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The voting 

11 system shall require the use of an in12 dividual, durable, voter-verifiable, 

13 paper ballot of the voter’s vote that 

14 shall be marked and made available 

15 for physical inspection and verification 

16 by the voter before the voter’s vote is 

17 cast and tabulated. For purposes of 

18 this subclause, the term ‘individual, 

19 durable, voter-verifiable, paper ballot’ 

20 means a paper ballot marked by the 

21 voter by hand or a paper ballot printVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:41 Jun 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2754.IH H2754

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1 ed or marked through the use of a 

2 ballot marking device, so long as the 

3 voter shall have the option to mark 

4 his or her ballot by hand. 

5 ‘‘(II) REQUIREMENTS FOR BAL6 LOT MARKING DEVICES.—Except as 

7 required to meet the accessibility re8 quirements under paragraph (3), in 

9 the case of a ballot marking device— 

10 ‘‘(aa) the printed or marked 

11 paper ballot shall be presented to 

12 the voter for physical inspection 

13 and verification before the ballot 

14 is tabulated and preserved in ac15 cordance with clause (ii); 

16 ‘‘(bb) the paper ballot shall 

17 be printed or marked in such a 

18 way that vote selections, includ19 ing all vote selections scanned by 

20 voting systems to tabulate votes, 

21 can be inspected and verified by 

22 the voter without training or in23 struction or audited by election 

24 officials without the aid of any 

25 machine or other equipment; and 


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1 ‘‘(cc) the ballot marking de2 vice shall be designed and built 

3 in a manner in which it is me4 chanically impossible for the de5 vice to add or change the vote se6 lections on a printed or marked 

7 ballot at any time after the ballot 

8 has been presented to the voter 

9 for inspection and verification 

10 under item (aa). 

11 ‘‘(III) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The 

12 voting system shall not preserve or 

13 mark the individual, durable, voter14 verifiable paper ballots in any manner 

15 that makes it possible, at any time 

16 after the ballot has been cast, to asso17 ciate a voter with the ballot cast by 

18 the voter or with any other record of 

19 the voter’s vote selections. 

20 ‘‘(ii) PRESERVATION AS OFFICIAL

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

23 with clause (i) shall constitute the official 

24 ballot and shall be preserved and used as 

25 the official ballot for purposes of ballot 


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1 tabulation and any recount or audit con2 ducted with respect to any election for 

3 Federal office in which the voting system 

4 is used. 

5 ‘‘(iii) HAND TABULATION REQUIRE6 MENTS FOR RECOUNTS.— 

7 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Each paper 

8 ballot used pursuant to clause (i) shall 

9 be tabulated by hand in any recount 

10 conducted with respect to any election 

11 for Federal office. 

12 ‘‘(II) INCONSISTENCIES.—In the 

13 event of any inconsistencies or irreg14 ularities between any vote tallies de15 termined through the use of an optical 

16 scanning device and vote tallies deter17 mined by tabulating by hand the indi18 vidual, durable, voter-verifiable, paper 

19 ballots used pursuant to clause (i), 

20 and subject to subparagraph (B), the 

21 individual, durable, voter-verifiable, 

22 paper ballots shall be the true and 

23 correct record of the votes cast. 

24 ‘‘(iv) APPLICATION TO ALL BAL25 LOTS.—The requirements of this subparaVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:41 Jun 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2754.IH H2754

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1 graph shall apply to all ballots cast in elec2 tions for Federal office, including ballots 

3 cast by absent uniformed services voters 

4 and overseas voters under the Uniformed 

5 and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act 

6 and other absentee voters. 

7 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR TREATMENT OF

8 DISPUTES WHEN PAPER BALLOTS HAVE BEEN

9 SHOWN TO BE COMPROMISED.— 

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the event 

11 that— 

12 ‘‘(I) there is any inconsistency 

13 between any vote tallies determined 

14 through the use of an optical scanning 

15 device and vote tallies determined by 

16 tabulating by hand the individual, du17 rable, voter-verifiable, paper ballots 

18 used pursuant to subparagraph (A)(i) 

19 with respect to any election for Fed20 eral office; and 

21 ‘‘(II) it is demonstrated by clear 

22 and convincing evidence (as deter23 mined in accordance with the applica24 ble standards in the jurisdiction in25 volved) in any recount, audit, or conVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:41 Jun 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2754.IH H2754

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1 test of the result of the election that 

2 the paper ballots have been com3 promised (by damage or mischief or 

4 otherwise) and that a sufficient num5 ber of the ballots have been so com6 promised that the result of the elec7 tion could be changed, 

8 the determination of the appropriate rem9 edy with respect to the election shall be 

10 made in accordance with applicable State 

11 law, except that the electronic tally shall 

12 not be used as the exclusive basis for de13 termining the official certified result. 

14 ‘‘(ii) RULE FOR CONSIDERATION OF

15 BALLOTS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH VOTING

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

17 only the paper ballots deemed com18 promised, if any, shall be considered in the 

19 calculation of whether or not the result of 

20 the election could be changed due to the 

21 compromised paper ballots. 

22 ‘‘(C) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Each State and 

23 jurisdiction shall be required to comply with the 

24 requirements of this paragraph for the first reg25 ularly scheduled election for Federal office held 


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1 more than 1 year after the date of the enact2 ment of the Protecting American Votes and 

3 Elections Act of 2019, and for each subsequent 

4 election for Federal office.’’. 

5 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

6 (1) INDIVIDUAL WITH DISABILITIES.—Section 

7 301(a)(3)(B) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

8 21081(a)(3)(B)) is amended by striking ‘‘direct re9 cording electronic voting system or other’’. 

10 (2) ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGE ACCESSIBILITY.— 

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

12 21081(a)(4)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(including 

13 the paper ballots required to be used under para14 graph (2))’’ after ‘‘voting system’’. 

15 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 301(d) of such 

16 Act (52 U.S.C. 21081(d)) is amended by striking 

17 ‘‘Each State’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as otherwise 

18 provided in this section, each State’’. 

19 SEC. 3. RISK-LIMITING AUDITS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help America 

21 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended 

22 by inserting after section 303 the following new section: 

23 ‘‘SEC. 303A. RISK-LIMITING AUDITS. 

24 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 ‘‘(1) RISK-LIMITING AUDIT.—The term ‘risk2 limiting audit’ means, with respect to any election 

3 contest, a post-election process that— 

4 ‘‘(A) has a probability of at least 95 per5 cent of correcting the reported outcome if the 

6 reported outcome is not the correct outcome; 

7 ‘‘(B) will not change the outcome if the re8 ported outcome is the correct outcome; and 

9 ‘‘(C) involves a manual adjudication of 

10 voter intent from some or all of the ballots val11 idly cast in the election contest. 

12 ‘‘(2) REPORTED OUTCOME; CORRECT OUTCOME; 

13 OUTCOME.— 

14 ‘‘(A) REPORTED OUTCOME.—The term ‘re15 ported outcome’ means the outcome of an elec16 tion contest which is determined according to 

17 the canvass and which will become the official, 

18 certified outcome unless it is revised by an 

19 audit, recount, or other legal process. 

20 ‘‘(B) CORRECT OUTCOME.—The term ‘cor21 rect outcome’ means the outcome that would be 

22 determined by a manual adjudication of voter 

23 intent for all votes validly cast in the election 

24 contest. 


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1 ‘‘(C) OUTCOME.—The term ‘outcome’ 

2 means the winner or set of winners of an elec3 tion contest. 

4 ‘‘(3) MANUAL ADJUDICATION OF VOTER IN5 TENT.—The term ‘manual adjudication of voter in6 tent’ means direct inspection and determination by 

7 humans, without assistance from electronic or me8 chanical tabulation devices, of the ballot choices 

9 marked by voters on each voter-verifiable paper 

10 record. 

11 ‘‘(4) BALLOT MANIFEST.—The term ‘ballot 

12 manifest’ means a record maintained by each juris13 diction that— 

14 ‘‘(A) is created without reliance on any 

15 part of the voting system used to tabulate 

16 votes; 

17 ‘‘(B) functions as a sampling frame for 

18 conducting a risk-limiting audit; and 

19 ‘‘(C) accounts for all ballots validly cast re20 gardless of how or whether they were tabulated 

21 and includes a precise description of the man22 ner in which the ballots are physically stored, 

23 including the total number of physical groups of 

24 ballots, the numbering system for each group, a 


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1 unique label for each group, and the number of 

2 ballots in each such group. 

3 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

5 ‘‘(A) AUDITS.— 

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Each State and 

7 jurisdiction shall administer risk-limiting 

8 audits of the results of all election contests 

9 for Federal office held in the State in ac10 cordance with the requirements of para11 graph (2). 

12 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—Clause (i) shall 

13 not apply to any election contest for which 

14 the State or jurisdiction conducts a full re15 count through a manual adjudication of 

16 voter intent. 

17 ‘‘(B) FULL MANUAL TABULATION.—If a 

18 risk-limiting audit conducted under subpara19 graph (A) corrects the reported outcome of an 

20 election contest, the State or jurisdiction shall 

21 use the results of the manual adjudication of 

22 voter intent conducted as part of the risk-lim23 iting audit as the official results of the election 

24 contest. 

25 ‘‘(2) AUDIT REQUIREMENTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) RULES AND PROCEDURES.— 

2 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 

3 year after the date of the enactment of this 

4 section, the chief State election official of 

5 the State shall establish rules and proce6 dures for conducting risk-limiting audits. 

7 ‘‘(ii) MATTERS INCLUDED.—The rules 

8 and procedures established under clause (i) 

9 shall include the following: 

10 ‘‘(I) Rules and procedures for en11 suring the security of ballots and doc12 umenting that prescribed procedures 

13 were followed. 

14 ‘‘(II) Rules and procedures for 

15 ensuring the accuracy of ballot mani16 fests produced by jurisdictions. 

17 ‘‘(III) Rules and procedures for 

18 governing the format of ballot mani19 fests and other data involved in risk20 limiting audits. 

21 ‘‘(IV) Methods to ensure that 

22 any cast vote records used in a risk23 limiting audit are those used by the 

24 voting system to tally the results of 

25 the election contest sent to the chief 


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1 State election official of the State and 

2 made public. 

3 ‘‘(V) Rules and procedures for 

4 the random selection of ballots to be 

5 inspected manually during each audit. 

6 ‘‘(VI) Rules and procedures for 

7 the calculations and other methods to 

8 be used in the audit and to determine 

9 whether and when the audit of each 

10 election contest is complete. 

11 ‘‘(VII) Rules and procedures for 

12 testing any software used to conduct 

13 risk-limiting audits. 

14 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC REPORT.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—After the comple16 tion of the risk-limiting audit and at least 

17 5 days before the election contest is cer18 tified, the State shall publish a report on 

19 the results of the audit, together with such 

20 information as necessary to confirm that 

21 the audit was conducted properly. 

22 ‘‘(ii) FORMAT OF DATA.—All data 

23 published with the report under clause (i) 

24 shall be published in machine-readable, 

25 open data formats. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) PROTECTION OF ANONYMITY OF

2 VOTES.—Information and data published 

3 by the State under this subparagraph shall 

4 not compromise the anonymity of votes. 

5 ‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Each State and jurisdiction 

6 shall be required to comply with the requirements of this 

7 section for the first regularly scheduled election for Fed8 eral office held more than 1 year after the date of the 

9 enactment of the Protecting American Votes and Elections 

10 Act of 2019, and for each subsequent election for Federal 

11 office.’’. 

12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATED TO EN13 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 

14 is amended by striking ‘‘and 303’’ and inserting ‘‘303, and 

15 303A’’. 

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

17 for such Act is amended by inserting after the item relat18 ing to section 303 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 303A. Risk-limiting audits.’’. 

19 SEC. 4. ENHANCEMENT OF ENFORCEMENT OF HELP AMER20 ICA VOTE ACT OF 2002. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 401 of the Help America 

22 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21111), as amended by sec23 tion 3(b), is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘The Attorney General’’ and in2 serting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General’’; 

3 and 

4 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub5 sections: 

6 ‘‘(b) AVAILABILITY OF PRIVATE RIGHT OF AC7 TION.—Any person who is aggrieved by a violation of sec8 tion 301 or 303A which has occurred, is occurring, or is 

9 about to occur after the date that is 6 years after the date 

10 of the enactment of the Protecting American Votes and 

11 Elections Act of 2019 may file an action under section 

12 1979 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (42 

13 U.S.C. 1983) to enforce the requirements under such sec14 tion. 

15 ‘‘(c) NO EFFECT ON STATE PROCEDURES.—Nothing 

16 in this section may be construed to affect the availability 

17 of the State-based administrative complaint procedures re18 quired under section 402 to any person filing a complaint 

19 under this subsection.’’. 

20 (b) USE OF PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY SYSTEM

21 GRANTS FOR DISABILITY ACCESS ENFORCEMENT.—Sec22 tion 292(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 

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

24 and all that follows and inserting a period. 


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1 SEC. 5. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO STATES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

3 (1) ADDITIONAL GRANT PROGRAMS.—Subtitle 

4 D of title II of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

5 (52 U.S.C. 21001 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

6 the end the following new part: 

7 ‘‘PART 7—PAYMENTS TO STATES FOR 

8 REPLACEMENT VOTING DEVICES 

9 ‘‘SEC. 297. REPLACEMENT OF PAPERLESS VOTING SYS10 TEMS. 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 45 days after the 

12 date of the enactment of this part, the Commission shall 

13 establish a program under which the Commission shall 

14 make a payment under this part to each eligible State. 

15 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State shall use the funds 

17 provided under a payment under this section to re18 place nonqualified voting systems with a voting sys19 tem that— 

20 ‘‘(A) uses optical scanning devices that 

21 meet the requirements of section 301(a)(7) to 

22 read and tabulate votes; 

23 ‘‘(B) is capable of facilitating the require24 ments for risk-limiting audits under section 

25 303A; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) meets such minimum security stand2 ards as established by the Director of Cyberse3 curity and Infrastructure Security under section 

4 2215 of the Homeland Security Act. 

5 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—A State may not use the 

6 funds provided under a payment made under this 

7 section to acquire any electronic device that a voter 

8 can use to mark a paper ballot. 

9 ‘‘(c) DEADLINE.—A State receiving a payment under 

10 the program under this section shall ensure that all non11 qualified voting systems in the eligible State have been re12 placed before the first regularly scheduled general election 

13 for Federal office held more than 1 year after the date 

14 of the enactment of the Protecting American Votes and 

15 Elections Act of 2019. 

16 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE STATE.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec18 tion, the term ‘eligible State’ means any State 

19 that— 

20 ‘‘(A) has precincts within the State that 

21 used a nonqualified voting system to record 

22 votes in the regularly scheduled general election 

23 for Federal office held in November 2018; and 

24 ‘‘(B) submits to the Commission a notice 

25 not later than the date that is 6 months after 


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1 the date of the enactment of this part (in such 

2 form as the Commission may require) that con3 tains— 

4 ‘‘(i) an estimate of the cost of replac5 ing nonqualified voting systems within the 

6 State with voting systems described in sub7 section (b); 

8 ‘‘(ii) certifications that the State will 

9 use the payment to replace such non10 qualified voting systems by the deadline 

11 described in subsection (c); 

12 ‘‘(iii) certifications that the State will 

13 continue to comply with the laws described 

14 in section 906; 

15 ‘‘(iv) certifications that the replace16 ment voting systems will meet the require17 ments of subsection (b); and 

18 ‘‘(v) such other information and cer19 tifications as the Commission may require 

20 which are necessary for the administration 

21 of the program. 

22 ‘‘(2) COMPLIANCE OF STATES THAT REQUIRE

23 CHANGES TO STATE LAW.—In the case of a State 

24 that requires State legislation to carry out an activ25 ity covered by any certification submitted under this 


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1 subsection, the State shall be permitted to make the 

2 certification notwithstanding that the legislation has 

3 not been enacted at the time the certification is sub4 mitted and such State shall submit an additional 

5 certification once such legislation is enacted. 

6 ‘‘(e) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The amount of funds pro8 vided to a State under a payment under this section 

9 shall be equal to the product obtained by multi10 plying— 

11 ‘‘(A) the lesser of— 

12 ‘‘(i) total amount appropriated for 

13 payments pursuant to the authorization 

14 under subsection (g); or 

15 ‘‘(ii) the total amount of costs esti16 mated by all eligible States on the notices 

17 submitted under subsection (d)(1)(B)(i); 

18 by 

19 ‘‘(B) the State allocation percentage for 

20 the eligible State (as determined under para21 graph (2)). 

22 ‘‘(2) STATE ALLOCATION PERCENTAGE.—The 

23 State allocation percentage for any eligible State is 

24 the amount (expressed as a percentage) equal to the 

25 quotient obtained by dividing— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the total voting age population of all 

2 eligible States (as reported in the most recent 

3 decennial census); by 

4 ‘‘(B) the voting age population of the eligi5 ble State (as reported in the most recent decen6 nial census). 

7 ‘‘(f) NONQUALIFIED VOTING SYSTEM.—For purposes 

8 of this section, the term ‘nonqualified voting system’ 

9 means any voting system that does not use individual, du10 rable, voter-verifiable paper ballots meeting the require11 ments of section 301(a)(2) (other than for purposes of 

12 meeting the accessibility requirements of section 

13 301(a)(3)). 

14 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

16 appropriated to the Commission to carry out this 

17 section $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2019. 

18 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR

19 COMMISSION.—In addition to the amounts author20 ized under paragraph (1), there are authorized to be 

21 appropriated to the Commission such sums as may 

22 be necessary to administer the programs under this 

23 part. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 297A. ACQUISITION OF ACCESSIBLE BALLOT MARK2 ING DEVICES FOR VOTERS WITH DISABIL3 ITIES. 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall pay to 

5 States the amount of eligible accessible ballot marking de6 vice costs. 

7 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ACCESSIBLE BALLOT MARKING DE8 VICE COSTS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec10 tion, the term ‘eligible accessible ballot marking de11 vice costs’ means costs paid or incurred by a State 

12 or local government to acquire an accessible ballot 

13 marking device. 

14 ‘‘(2) ACCESSIBLE BALLOT MARKING DEVICE

15 DEFINED.—For purposes of this section, the term 

16 ‘accessible ballot marking device’ means a ballot 

17 marking device that is used by the State or local 

18 government exclusively to comply with the require19 ments of section 301(a)(3) (as applied to elections 

20 for Federal office occurring after the date that is 6 

21 years after the date of the enactment of the Pro22 tecting American Votes and Elections Act of 2019). 

23 ‘‘(c) PAYMENTS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) LIMITATIONS.— 

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

26 subparagraph (B), the Commission shall not 


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1 pay eligible accessible ballot marking device 

2 costs with respect to more than 1 accessible bal3 lot marking device in any precinct. 

4 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The Commission may 

5 pay for more than 1 accessible ballot marking 

6 device in any precinct if the State demonstrates 

7 the need for more accessible ballot marking de8 vices in such precinct due to the number of vot9 ers with disabilities voting in such precinct com10 pared to other precincts. 

11 ‘‘(2) RULES AND PROCEDURES.—The Commis12 sion shall establish rules and procedures for submis13 sion of eligible accessible ballot marking device costs 

14 for payments under this section. 

15 ‘‘(3) INSUFFICIENT FUNDS.—In any case in 

16 which the amounts appropriated under subsection 

17 (d) are insufficient to pay all eligible accessible bal18 lot marking device costs submitted by States with 

19 respect to any Federal election, the amount of such 

20 costs paid under subsection (a) to any State shall be 

21 equal to the amount that bears the same ratio to the 

22 amount which would be paid to such State (deter23 mined without regard to this paragraph) as— 

24 ‘‘(A) the number of individuals who voted 

25 in such Federal election in such State; bears to 


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1 ‘‘(B) the total number of individuals who 

2 voted in such Federal election in all States sub3 mitting a claim for eligible accessible ballot 

4 marking device costs. 

5 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is hereby authorized 

7 to be appropriated to the Commission to carry out 

8 this section $250,000,000 for fiscal years 2019 

9 through 2025. 

10 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY.—Any amounts appro11 priated pursuant to paragraph (1) shall remain 

12 available without fiscal year limitation until ex13 pended. 

14 ‘‘PART 8—FUNDING FOR BALLOT DESIGN AND 

15 PRINTING 

16 ‘‘SEC. 298. PAYMENTS FOR BALLOT DESIGN AND PRINTING. 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall pay to 

18 States the amount of eligible ballot design and printing 

19 costs. 

20 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE DESIGN AND PRINTING COSTS.—For 

21 purposes of this section, the term ‘eligible ballot design 

22 and printing costs’ means, with respect to any State, costs 

23 paid or incurred by the State or any local government 

24 within the State for the design and printing of any ballot 

25 that— 


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1 ‘‘(1) is used in an election for Federal office oc2 curring after the date of the enactment of this part; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(2) meets such minimum standards for 

5 usability and accessibility as established by the Com6 mission, in consultation with the Director of the Na7 tional Institute of Standards and Technology, for 

8 purposes of this section. 

9 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULES.— 

10 ‘‘(1) RULES AND PROCEDURES.—The Commis11 sion shall establish rules and procedures for submis12 sion of eligible ballot design and printing costs for 

13 payments under this section. 

14 ‘‘(2) INSUFFICIENT FUNDS.—In any case in 

15 which the amounts appropriated under subsection 

16 (d) are insufficient to pay all eligible ballot design 

17 and printing costs submitted by States with respect 

18 to any Federal election, the amount of such costs 

19 paid under subsection (a) to any State shall be equal 

20 to the amount that bears the same ratio to the 

21 amount which would be paid to such State (deter22 mined without regard to this paragraph) as— 

23 ‘‘(A) the number of individuals who voted 

24 in such Federal election in such State; bears to 


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1 ‘‘(B) the total number of individuals who 

2 voted in such Federal election in all States sub3 mitting a claim for eligible ballot design and 

4 printing costs. 

5 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is hereby authorized 

7 to be appropriated to the Commission such sums as 

8 are necessary to carry out this part. 

9 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY.—Any amounts appro10 priated pursuant to paragraph (1) shall remain 

11 available without fiscal year limitation until ex12 pended. 

13 ‘‘PART 9—FUNDING FOR POST-ELECTION RISK14 LIMITING AUDITS 

15 ‘‘SEC. 299. PAYMENTS FOR POST-ELECTION RISK-LIMITING 

16 AUDITS. 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall pay to 

18 States the amount of eligible post-election audit costs. 

19 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE POST-ELECTION AUDIT COSTS.—For 

20 purposes of this section, the term ‘eligible post-election 

21 audit costs’ means, with respect to any State, costs paid 

22 or incurred by the State or local government within the 

23 State for— 

24 ‘‘(1) the conduct of any risk-limiting audit (as 

25 defined in section 303A) with respect to an election 


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1 for Federal office occurring after the date of the en2 actment of this part; and 

3 ‘‘(2) any equipment, software, or services nec4 essary for the conduct of any such risk-limiting 

5 audit. 

6 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULES.— 

7 ‘‘(1) RULES AND PROCEDURES.—The Commis8 sion shall establish rules and procedures for submis9 sion of eligible post-election audit costs for payments 

10 under this section. 

11 ‘‘(2) INSUFFICIENT FUNDS.—In any case in 

12 which the amounts appropriated under subsection 

13 (d) are insufficient to pay all eligible post-election 

14 audit costs submitted by States with respect to any 

15 Federal election, the amount of such costs paid 

16 under subsection (a) to any State shall be equal to 

17 the amount that bears the same ratio to the amount 

18 which would be paid to such State (determined with19 out regard to this paragraph) as— 

20 ‘‘(A) the number of individuals who voted 

21 in such Federal election in such State; bears to 

22 ‘‘(B) the total number of individuals who 

23 voted in such Federal election in all States sub24 mitting a claim for eligible post-election audit 

25 costs. 


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1 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is hereby authorized 

3 to be appropriated to the Commission such sums as 

4 are necessary to carry out this part. 

5 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY.—Any amounts appro6 priated pursuant to paragraph (1) shall remain 

7 available without fiscal year limitation until ex8 pended.’’. 

9 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con10 tents for the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 

11 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

12 the item related to section 296 the following: 

‘‘PART 7—PAYMENTS TO STATES FOR REPLACEMENT VOTING DEVICES

‘‘Sec. 297. Replacement of paperless voting systems. 

‘‘Sec. 297A. Acquisition of accessible ballot marking devices for voters with disabilities. 

‘‘PART 8—FUNDING FOR BALLOT DESIGN AND PRINTING

‘‘Sec. 298. Payments for ballot design and printing. 

‘‘PART 9—FUNDING FOR POST-ELECTION RISK-LIMITING AUDITS

‘‘Sec. 299. Payments for post-election risk-limiting audits.’’. 

13 (b) MODIFICATIONS TO PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY

14 SYSTEM GRANTS.—Section 291(b) of the Help America 

15 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21061(b)) is amended— 

16 (1) by striking ‘‘as set forth in subsections 

17 (c)(3)’’ and inserting ‘‘as set forth in subsections 

18 (c)(1)(B) (regardless of the fiscal year), (c)(3)’’; and 

19 (2) by striking ‘‘except that’’ and all that fol20 lows and inserting ‘‘except that the amount of the 


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1 grants to systems referred to in subsection (c)(3)(B) 

2 of that section shall not be less than $70,000 and 

3 the amount of the grants to systems referred to in 

4 subsections (c)(1)(B) and (c)(4)(B) of that section 

5 shall not be less than $35,000.’’. 

6 SEC. 6. CYBERSECURITY REQUIREMENTS FOR AND TEST7 ING AND CERTIFICATION OF VOTING SYS8 TEMS. 

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

10 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 651 et seq.) 

11 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 2215. MANDATORY CYBERSECURITY REQUIREMENTS 

13 FOR SYSTEMS USED IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS. 

14 ‘‘Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

15 of Protecting American Votes and Elections Act of 2019, 

16 the Secretary, acting through the Director, shall promul17 gate rules establishing minimum cybersecurity require18 ments for the use in Federal elections of— 

19 ‘‘(1) optical scanning devices (within the mean20 ing of section 301(a)(7) of the Help America Vote 

21 Act of 2002); 

22 ‘‘(2) ballot marking devices (within the meaning 

23 of section 301(a)(10) of such Act); 

24 ‘‘(3) election management systems, including 

25 those systems used— 


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1 ‘‘(A) to configure optical scanning devices 

2 and ballot marking devices; 

3 ‘‘(B) to aggregate election results; and 

4 ‘‘(C) to design paper ballots; 

5 ‘‘(4) electronic poll books; 

6 ‘‘(5) any government database, website, or asso7 ciated information system used by voters or govern8 ment agencies for voter registration (including the 

9 management of voter registration status); 

10 ‘‘(6) systems used to deliver or publish election 

11 results; and 

12 ‘‘(7) such other components of voting systems 

13 (as defined in section 301(b) of such Act) as is de14 termined appropriate by the Director. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 2216. TESTING AND CERTIFICATION OF BALLOT 

16 MARKING AND OPTICAL SCANNING DEVICE 

17 CYBERSECURITY. 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any State or jurisdiction which 

19 intends to use a ballot marking device or an optical scan20 ning device in an election for Federal office may submit 

21 an application to the Director for cybersecurity testing 

22 and certification of the hardware and software of such de23 vice under this section. 

24 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION, ASSIGNMENT, AND TESTING.— 

25 ‘‘(1) ASSIGNMENT.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Upon receipt of an 

2 application for testing under this section, the 

3 Director, in consultation with the Director of 

4 the National Institute of Standards and Tech5 nology, shall contract with a qualified labora6 tory for the testing of whether the ballot mark7 ing device or optical scanning device intended to 

8 be used by the State or jurisdiction, as the case 

9 may be, meets the requirements of section 

10 301(a)(7)(B) of the Help America Vote Act of 

11 2002. 

12 ‘‘(B) OPTIONAL TESTING OF STATE RE13 QUIREMENTS.—In the case of a ballot marking 

14 device or optical scanning device for which the 

15 source code has been published under an open 

16 source license, the contract under subparagraph 

17 (A) shall also include, at the request of any 

18 State or jurisdiction, testing of whether such 

19 device meets any applicable requirements of the 

20 State or jurisdiction. 

21 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS FOR TESTING.—Any con22 tract described in paragraph (1) shall require the 

23 qualified research laboratory to— 

24 ‘‘(A) not later than 30 days before testing 

25 begins, submit to the Director for approval the 


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1 protocol for the simulated election scenario used 

2 for testing the security of the ballot marking 

3 device or optical scanning device, as the case 

4 may be; 

5 ‘‘(B) use only protocols approved by the 

6 Director in conducting such security testing; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(C) submit to the Director a report on 

9 the results of the security testing. 

10 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED RESEARCH LABORATORY.—For 

11 purposes of this section, the term ‘qualified research 

12 laboratory’ means a laboratory accredited under this 

13 subsection by the Director, in consultation with the 

14 Director of the National Institute of Standards and 

15 Technology. 

16 ‘‘(c) REPORTING AND CERTIFICATION.—The Direc17 tor shall— 

18 ‘‘(1) publish on the website of the Cybersecurity 

19 and Infrastructure Security Agency the results of 

20 the testing conducted under subsection (b); and 

21 ‘‘(2) certify a ballot marking device or optical 

22 scanning device if the ballot marking device or opti23 cal scanning device, as the case may be, is deter24 mined by the qualified research laboratory to meet 


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1 the requirements of section 301(a)(7)(B) of the Help 

2 America Vote Act of 2002. 

3 ‘‘(d) PROHIBITION ON FEES.—The Director may not 

4 charge any fee to a State or jurisdiction, a developer or 

5 manufacturer of a ballot marking device or optical scan6 ning device, or any other person in connection with testing 

7 and certification under this section (including any testing 

8 conducted under subsection (b)(1)(B)).’’. 

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con10 tents in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 

11 2002 (Public Law 107–296; 116 Stat. 2135) is amended 

12 by inserting after the item relating to section 2214 the 

13 following: 

‘‘Sec. 2215. Mandatory cybersecurity requirements for systems used in Federal 

elections. 

‘‘Sec. 2216. Testing and certification of ballot marking and optical scanning device cybersecurity.’’. 

14 SEC. 7. VOTING SYSTEM CYBERSECURITY REQUIREMENTS. 

15 (a) BALLOT TABULATING DEVICES.—Section 301(a) 

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

17 21081(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following 

18 new paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(7) BALLOT TABULATING METHODS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The voting system 

21 tabulates ballots by hand or through the use of 

22 an optical scanning device that meets the re23 quirements of subparagraph (B). 


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1 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS FOR OPTICAL SCAN2 NING DEVICES.—Except as provided in sub3 paragraph (C), the requirements of this sub4 paragraph are as follows: 

5 ‘‘(i) The device is designed and built 

6 in a manner in which it is mechanically im7 possible for the device to add or change the 

8 vote selections on a printed or marked bal9 lot. 

10 ‘‘(ii) The device is capable of export11 ing its data (including vote tally data sets 

12 and cast vote records) in a machine-read13 able, open data standard format required 

14 by the Commission, in consultation with 

15 the Director of the National Institute of 

16 Standards and Technology. 

17 ‘‘(iii) The device consists of hardware 

18 that— 

19 ‘‘(I) is certified under section 

20 2216 of the Homeland Security Act; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(II) demonstrably conforms to a 

23 hardware component manifest describ24 ing point-of-origin information (in25 cluding upstream hardware supply 


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1 chain information for each compo2 nent) that— 

3 ‘‘(aa) has been provided to 

4 the Commission, the Director of 

5 Cybersecurity and Infrastructure 

6 Security, and the chief State 

7 election official for each State in 

8 which the device is used; and 

9 ‘‘(bb) may be shared by any 

10 entity to whom it has been pro11 vided under item (aa) with inde12 pendent experts for cybersecurity 

13 analysis. 

14 ‘‘(iv) The device utilizes technology 

15 that prevents the operation of the device if 

16 any hardware components do not meet the 

17 requirements of clause (iii). 

18 ‘‘(v) The device operates using soft19 ware— 

20 ‘‘(I) for which the source code, 

21 system build tools, and compilation 

22 parameters— 

23 ‘‘(aa) have been provided to 

24 the Commission, the Director of 

25 Cybersecurity and Infrastructure 


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1 Security, and the chief State 

2 election official for each State in 

3 which the device is used; and 

4 ‘‘(bb) may be shared by any 

5 entity to whom it has been pro6 vided under item (aa) with inde7 pendent experts for cybersecurity 

8 analysis; and 

9 ‘‘(II) that is certified under sec10 tion 2216 of the Homeland Security 

11 Act. 

12 ‘‘(vi) The device utilizes technology 

13 that prevents the running of software on 

14 the device that does not meet the require15 ments of clause (v). 

16 ‘‘(vii) The device utilizes technology 

17 that enables election officials, cybersecurity 

18 researchers, and voters to verify that the 

19 software running on the device— 

20 ‘‘(I) was built from a specific, 

21 untampered version of the code that is 

22 described in clause (v); and 

23 ‘‘(II) uses the system build tools 

24 and compilation parameters that are 

25 described in clause (v). 


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1 ‘‘(viii) The device contains such other 

2 security requirements as the Director of 

3 Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security 

4 requires. 

5 ‘‘(C) WAIVER.— 

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Director of 

7 Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security, 

8 in consultation with the Director of the 

9 National Institute of Standards and Tech10 nology, may waive one or more of the re11 quirements of subparagraph (B) (other 

12 than the requirement of clause (i) thereof) 

13 with respect to any device for a period of 

14 not to exceed 2 years. 

15 ‘‘(ii) PUBLICATION.—Information re16 lating to any waiver granted under clause 

17 (i) shall be made publicly available on the 

18 Internet. 

19 ‘‘(D) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Each State and 

20 jurisdiction shall be required to comply with the 

21 requirements of this paragraph for the regularly 

22 scheduled election for Federal office in Novem23 ber 2024, and for each subsequent election for 

24 Federal office.’’. 


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1 (b) OTHER CYBERSECURITY REQUIREMENTS.—Sec2 tion 301(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 

3 U.S.C. 21081(a)), as amended by subsection (a), is 

4 amended by adding at the end the following new para5 graphs: 

6 ‘‘(8) PROHIBITION OF USE OF WIRELESS COM7 MUNICATIONS DEVICES IN SYSTEMS OR DEVICES.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No system or device 

9 upon which ballot marking devices or optical 

10 scanners are configured, upon which ballots are 

11 marked by voters (except as necessary for indi12 viduals with disabilities to use ballot marking 

13 devices that meet the accessibility requirements 

14 of paragraph (3)), or upon which votes are cast, 

15 tabulated, or aggregated shall contain, use, or 

16 be accessible by any wireless, power-line, or con17 cealed communication device. 

18 ‘‘(B) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Each State and 

19 jurisdiction shall be required to comply with the 

20 requirements of this paragraph for the regularly 

21 scheduled election for Federal office in Novem22 ber 2020, and for each subsequent election for 

23 Federal office. 

24 ‘‘(9) PROHIBITING CONNECTION OF SYSTEM TO

25 THE INTERNET.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No system or device 

2 upon which ballot marking devices or optical 

3 scanners are configured, upon which ballots are 

4 marked by voters, or upon which votes are cast, 

5 tabulated, or aggregated shall be connected to 

6 the Internet or any non-local computer system 

7 via telephone or other communication network 

8 at any time. 

9 ‘‘(B) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Each State and 

10 jurisdiction shall be required to comply with the 

11 requirements of this paragraph for the regularly 

12 scheduled election for Federal office in Novem13 ber 2020, and for each subsequent election for 

14 Federal office.’’. 

15 (c) SPECIAL CYBERSECURITY RULES FOR CERTAIN

16 BALLOT MARKING DEVICES.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 301(a) of the Help 

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

19 amended by subsections (a) and (b), is amended by 

20 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(10) BALLOT MARKING DEVICES.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a voting 

23 system that uses a ballot marking device, the 

24 ballot marking device shall be a device that— 

25 ‘‘(i) is not capable of tabulating votes; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) except in the case of a ballot 

2 marking device used exclusively to comply 

3 with the requirements of paragraph (3), is 

4 certified in accordance with section 232 as 

5 meeting the requirements of subparagraph 

6 (B); and 

7 ‘‘(iii) is certified under section 2216 

8 of the Homeland Security Act as meeting 

9 the requirements of clauses (iii) through 

10 (viii) of section 301(a)(7)(B). 

11 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A ballot marking 

13 device meets the requirements of this sub14 paragraph if, during a double-masked test 

15 conducted by a qualified independent user 

16 experience research laboratory (as defined 

17 in section 232(b)(4)) of a simulated elec18 tion scenario which meets the requirements 

19 of clause (ii), there is less than a 5 percent 

20 chance that an ordinary voter using the de21 vice would not detect and report any dif22 ference between the vote selection printed 

23 on the ballot by the ballot marking device 

24 and the vote selection indicated by the 

25 voter. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) SIMULATED ELECTION SCE2 NARIO.—A simulated election scenario 

3 meets the requirements of this clause if it 

4 is conducted with— 

5 ‘‘(I) a pool of subjects that are— 

6 ‘‘(aa) diverse in age, gender, 

7 education, and physical limita8 tions; and 

9 ‘‘(bb) representative of the 

10 communities in which the voting 

11 system will be used; and 

12 ‘‘(II) ballots that are representa13 tive of ballots ordinarily used in the 

14 communities in which the voting sys15 tem will be used. 

16 ‘‘(C) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Each State and 

17 jurisdiction shall be required to comply with the 

18 requirements of this paragraph for the regularly 

19 scheduled election for Federal office in Novem20 ber 2022, and for each subsequent election for 

21 Federal office.’’. 

22 (2) PROCEDURE FOR TESTING.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle B of title II of 

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


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1 20971 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

2 the following new section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 232. TESTING AND CERTIFICATION OF BALLOT MARK4 ING DEVICES. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any State or jurisdiction which 

6 intends to use a ballot marking device (other than a ballot 

7 marking device used exclusively to comply with the re8 quirements of section 301(a)(3)) in an election for Federal 

9 office may submit an application to the Commission for 

10 testing and certification under this section. 

11 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION, ASSIGNMENT, AND TESTING.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An application under sub13 section (a) shall be submitted not later than 18 

14 months before the date of the election for Federal 

15 office in which the ballot marking device is intended 

16 to be used and shall contain such information as the 

17 Commission requires. 

18 ‘‘(2) ASSIGNMENT.—Upon receipt of an appli19 cation for testing under this section, the Commission 

20 shall contract with a qualified independent user ex21 perience research laboratory for the testing of 

22 whether the ballot marking device intended to be 

23 used by the State or jurisdiction meets the require24 ments of section 301(a)(10)(B). 


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1 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS FOR TESTING.—Any con2 tract described in paragraph (2) shall require the 

3 qualified independent user experience research lab4 oratory to— 

5 ‘‘(A) not later than 30 days before testing 

6 begins, submit to the Commission for approval 

7 the protocol for the simulated election scenario 

8 used for testing the ballot marking device; 

9 ‘‘(B) use only protocols approved by the 

10 Commission in conducting such testing; and 

11 ‘‘(C) submit to the Commission a report on 

12 the results of the testing. 

13 ‘‘(4) QUALIFIED INDEPENDENT USER EXPERI14 ENCE RESEARCH LABORATORY.—For purposes of 

15 this section: 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 

17 independent user experience research labora18 tory’ means a laboratory accredited under this 

19 subsection by the Election Assistance Commis20 sion in accordance with standards determined 

21 by the Commission, in consultation with the Di22 rector of the National Institute of Standards 

23 and Technology and the Secretary of Homeland 

24 Security. 


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1 ‘‘(B) CRITERIA.—A laboratory shall not be 

2 accredited under this subsection unless such 

3 laboratory demonstrates that— 

4 ‘‘(i) no employee of, or individual with 

5 an ownership in, such laboratory has, or 

6 has had during the 5 preceding years, any 

7 financial relationship with a manufacturer 

8 of voting systems; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) any group of individuals con10 ducting tests under this section collectively 

11 meet the following qualifications: 

12 ‘‘(I) Experience designing and 

13 running user research studies and ex14 periments using both qualitative and 

15 quantitative methodologies. 

16 ‘‘(II) Experience with voting sys17 tems. 

18 ‘‘(c) REVIEW BY INDEPENDENT BOARD.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall sub20 mit for approval to an independent review board es21 tablished under paragraph (3) the following: 

22 ‘‘(A) Any protocol submitted to the Com23 mission under subsection (b)(3)(A). 

24 ‘‘(B) Any report submitted to the Commis25 sion under subsection (b)(3)(C). 


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1 ‘‘(2) FINAL APPROVAL.—Not later than the 

2 date that is 12 months before the date of the elec3 tion for Federal office in which a State or jurisdic4 tion intends to use the ballot marking device, the 

5 independent review board shall report to the Com6 mission on whether it has approved a report sub7 mitted under paragraph (1)(B). 

8 ‘‘(3) INDEPENDENT REVIEW BOARD.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An independent re10 view board established under this paragraph 

11 shall be composed of 5 independent scientists 

12 appointed by the Commission, in consultation 

13 with the Director of the National Institute of 

14 Standards and Technology. 

15 ‘‘(B) QUALIFICATIONS.—The members of 

16 the independent review board— 

17 ‘‘(i) shall have expertise and relevant 

18 peer-reviewed publications in the following 

19 fields: cognitive psychology, experimental 

20 design, statistics, and user experience re21 search and testing; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) may not have, or have had dur23 ing the 5 preceding years, any financial re24 lationship with a manufacturer of voting 

25 systems. 


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1 ‘‘(4) PUBLICATION.—The Commission shall 

2 make public— 

3 ‘‘(A) any protocol approved under this sub4 section; 

5 ‘‘(B) any report submitted under sub6 section (b)(3)(C); and 

7 ‘‘(C) any determination made by an inde8 pendent review board under paragraph (2). 

9 ‘‘(d) CERTIFICATION.—If— 

10 ‘‘(1) a ballot marking device is determined by 

11 the qualified independent user experience research 

12 laboratory to meet the requirements of section 

13 301(a)(7); and 

14 ‘‘(2) the report submitted under subsection 

15 (b)(3)(C) is approved by a majority of the members 

16 of the independent review board under subsection 

17 (d)(2), 

18 then the Commission shall certify the ballot marking de19 vice. 

20 ‘‘(e) PROHIBITION ON FEES.—The Commission may 

21 not charge any fee to a State or jurisdiction, a developer 

22 or manufacturer of a ballot marking device, or any other 

23 person in connection with testing and certification under 

24 this section.’’. 

25 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 


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1 (i) Section 202(2) of the Help Amer2 ica Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20922(2)) 

3 is amended by inserting ‘‘and ballot mark4 ing devices’’ after ‘‘hardware and soft5 ware’’). 

6 (ii) The heading for subtitle B of title 

7 II of such Act is amended by inserting ‘‘; 

8 Ballot Marking Devices’’. 

9 (iii) The table of contents for the 

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

11 30101 et seq.) is amended— 

12 (I) by inserting ‘‘; Ballot Mark13 ing Devices’’ at the end of the item 

14 relating to subtitle B of title II; and 

15 (II) by inserting after the item 

16 related to section 231 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 232. Testing and certification of ballot marking devices.’’. 

17 SEC. 8. BALLOT CYBERSECURITY, CONFIDENTIALITY, AND 

18 ACCESS FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABIL19 ITIES. 

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

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

22 as amended by section 2(b)(1), is amended to read as fol23 lows: 


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1 ‘‘(B)(i) satisfy the requirement of subpara2 graph (A) through the use of at least 1 voting 

3 system at each polling place that— 

4 ‘‘(I) is equipped for individuals with 

5 disabilities, including nonvisual and en6 hanced visual accessibility for the blind 

7 and visually impaired, and contains fea8 tures to support enhanced manual accessi9 bility for the mobility and dexterity im10 paired; 

11 ‘‘(II) in the case of any election for 

12 Federal office occurring after the date that 

13 is 6 years after the date of the enactment 

14 of the Protecting American Votes and 

15 Elections Act of 2019— 

16 ‘‘(aa) marks ballots that are 

17 identical in size, ink, and paper stock 

18 to those ballots that would be marked 

19 by hand or a ballot marking device 

20 used by voters who do not have acces21 sibility needs; 

22 ‘‘(bb) marks the ballot in such a 

23 way that someone examining the bal24 lot will not be able to readily deterVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:41 Jun 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00047 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2754.IH H2754

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1 mine whether the ballot was marked 

2 by hand or machine; and 

3 ‘‘(cc) combines ballots produced 

4 by the voting system with ballots 

5 marked by voters using other types of 

6 voting systems used by the State or 

7 jurisdiction in a way that prevents 

8 identification of which ballots were 

9 cast using each voting system; and 

10 ‘‘(III) is made available for use by 

11 any voter who requests to use it; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) in the case of any election for Federal 

13 office occurring after the date that is 6 years 

14 after the date of the enactment of the Pro15 tecting American Votes and Elections Act of 

16 2019, meet the requirements of subparagraph 

17 (A) and paragraph (2)(A) by using a system 

18 that allows the voter to privately and independ19 ently verify the accuracy of the permanent 

20 paper ballot through the presentation, in acces21 sible form, of the printed or marked vote selec22 tions from the same printed or marked informa23 tion that would be used for any vote tabulation 

24 or auditing; and’’. 


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1 (b) CLARIFICATION WITH RESPECT TO APPLICATION

2 OF REQUIREMENT TO BALLOTS MARKED AT HOME.— 

3 Section 301(a)(3) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)(3)) 

4 is amended by adding at the end the following new flush 

5 sentence: 

6 ‘‘Nothing in subparagraph (B) shall be construed to 

7 prohibit the use of an accessible ballot that may be 

8 printed or marked by the voter at home.’’. 

9 SEC. 9. APPLICATION OF HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT TO 

10 NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS. 

11 Section 901 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

12 (52 U.S.C. 21141) is amended by striking ‘‘and the 

13 United States Virgin Islands’’ and inserting ‘‘the United 

14 States Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Is15 lands’’. 

16 SEC. 10. BIENNIAL REPORTS ON ELECTION SECURITY. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

18 (1) BIENNIAL REPORT.—Not later than Sep19 tember 20 of each odd numbered year the Secretary 

20 of the Department of Homeland Security shall sub21 mit to the appropriate congressional committees a 

22 report on the security of Federal elections. 

23 (2) SUPPLEMENTAL REPORTS.—The Secretary 

24 of Homeland Security may submit to the approVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:41 Jun 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00049 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2754.IH H2754

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1 priate congressional committees periodic updates to 

2 the most recently filed report under paragraph (1). 

3 (3) CONSULTATION.—In preparing any report 

4 under this section, the Secretary of Homeland Secu5 rity shall consult with the Director of National Intel6 ligence, the Secretary of Defense, and the Election 

7 Assistance Commission. 

8 (b) MATTERS INCLUDED.—Reports under subsection 

9 (a) shall include the following: 

10 (1) A list of States and jurisdictions that have 

11 received training, advice, and other cybersecurity as12 sistance from the Department of Homeland Secu13 rity. 

14 (2) An inventory of the election equipment 

15 (hardware and software versions) that was used in 

16 each election precinct to conduct each election for 

17 Federal office during the period covered by the re18 port. 

19 (3) A list of known, unpatched security 

20 vulnerabilities in election equipment that was used 

21 in each election precinct to conduct each election for 

22 Federal office during the period covered by the re23 port. 

24 (4) Statistics about cyber attack attempts de25 tected by States or the Federal Government against 


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1 State election infrastructure during the period cov2 ered by the report. 

3 (5) Incident reports from cyber attacks that re4 quired remediation during the period covered by the 

5 report. 

6 (6) A full assessment of the security of Federal 

7 elections during the period covered by the report. 

8 (7) An assessment of Federal and State cyber9 security efforts to prepare for future Federal elec10 tions, together with any recommendations on further 

11 actions with respect to such efforts. 

12 The Secretary of Homeland Security may modify reports 

13 provided under paragraph (5) to anonymize any informa14 tion that would reveal the identity of the victim of such 

15 cyber attack if such revelation would disrupt the relation16 ship between the Department of Homeland Security and 

17 a State or jurisdiction. 

18 (c) TREATMENT OF CLASSIFIED MATERIAL.—Re19 ports submitted under this section shall be submitted in 

20 unclassified form, but may include a classified annex. 

21 (d) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.— 

22 For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con23 gressional committees’’ means— 

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1 ernmental Affairs, the Select Committee on Intel2 ligence, and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

3 Senate; and 

4 (2) the Committee on House Administration, 

5 the Committee on Homeland Security, the Perma6 nent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Com7 mittee on Appropriations of the House of Represent8 atives. 

Æ 


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