I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3529 

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to promptly notify appropriate 

State and local officials and Members of Congress if Federal officials 

have credible evidence of an unauthorized intrusion into an election 

system and a basis to believe that such intrusion could have resulted 

in voter information being altered or otherwise affected, to require State 

and local officials to notify potentially affected individuals of such intrusion, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 27, 2019 

Mrs. MURPHY (for herself, Mr. WALTZ, Ms. SHALALA, Mr. SOTO, Mr. 

FITZPATRICK, Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. 

DEUTCH, Mr. SPANO, Ms. MUCARSEL-POWELL, Mr. MAST, Ms. 

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. CRIST, Mr. RUTHERFORD, Mr. ARRINGTON, Mr. BUCHANAN, and Mr. YOHO) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to promptly 

notify appropriate State and local officials and Members 

of Congress if Federal officials have credible evidence 

of an unauthorized intrusion into an election system 

and a basis to believe that such intrusion could have 

resulted in voter information being altered or otherwise 

affected, to require State and local officials to notify 

potentially affected individuals of such intrusion, and 

for other purposes. 


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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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Achieving Lasting 

5 Electoral Reforms on Transparency and Security Act’’ or 

6 the ‘‘ALERTS Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds as follows: 

9 (1) Free and fair elections are central to our 

10 democratic system of government. 

11 (2) An attack on election systems in the United 

12 States by a foreign government is a hostile act, and 

13 protecting our election systems from such attacks is 

14 a critical national security objective. 

15 (3) The March 2019 ‘‘Report on the Investiga16 tion into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presi17 dential Election’’, known as the Mueller Report, con18 cludes that Russian military intelligence officers tar19 geted individuals and entities involved in the admin20 istration of the November 2016 elections, including 

21 State boards of elections, Secretaries of State, coun22 ty governments, and private technology firms re23 sponsible for manufacturing and administering elec24 tion-related software and hardware. 


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1 (4) The Mueller Report states that Russian 

2 military intelligence officers sent spearphishing 

3 emails to over 120 email accounts used by Florida 

4 county officials responsible for administering the 

5 2016 elections, and further states that the Federal 

6 Bureau of Investigation ‘‘believes that this operation 

7 enabled Russian military intelligence officers to gain 

8 access to the network of at least one Florida county 

9 government’’. 

10 (5) In May 2019, it came to light that Russian 

11 military intelligence officers had gained access to the 

12 computer network of a second Florida county in the 

13 run-up to the 2016 elections. 

14 (6) To date, government officials have not pub15 licly disclosed or confirmed the identity of the Flor16 ida counties whose voter registration systems were 

17 breached. 

18 (7) As a result, voters in affected counties do 

19 not possess the information necessary to take appro20 priate responsive action, such as taking affirmative 

21 steps to confirm that their individual registration 

22 data is accurate and holding State and local election 

23 officials accountable for their actions or inactions. 

24 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con25 gress that the principal victim of an attack on election 


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1 systems in the United States is the voting public and, ex2 cept in certain narrowly defined cases, the voting public 

3 should be promptly informed if Federal officials have cred4 ible evidence of an unauthorized intrusion into an election 

5 system and a basis to believe that such intrusion could 

6 have resulted in voter information systems or voter tabula7 tion systems being altered or otherwise affected. 

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 

10 (1) APPROPRIATE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.— 

11 The term ‘‘appropriate Members of Congress’’ 

12 means, with respect to a notification described in 

13 section 3(b)(2)— 

14 (A) the Speaker of the House of Rep15 resentatives, the Minority Leader of the House 

16 of Representatives, the chairs and ranking mi17 nority members of the Committees on House 

18 Administration, Homeland Security, the Judici19 ary, and Permanent Select Committee on Intel20 ligence of the House of Representatives, and 

21 each Member of the House of Representatives 

22 (including a Delegate or Resident Commissioner 

23 to the Congress) who represents a congressional 

24 district in which the unit of local government 

25 involved is located; and 


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1 (B) the Majority Leader of the Senate, the 

2 Minority Leader of the Senate, the chairs and 

3 ranking minority members of the Committees 

4 on Rules and Administration, Homeland Secu5 rity and Governmental Affairs, the Judiciary, 

6 and Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

7 Senate, and the Senators who represent the 

8 State involved. 

9 (2) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

10 means the Department of Homeland Security. 

11 (3) ELECTION AGENCY.—The term ‘‘election 

12 agency’’ means any component of a State or any 

13 component of a unit of local government of a State 

14 that is responsible for administering Federal elec15 tions. 

16 (4) ELECTION CYBERSECURITY INCIDENT.— 

17 The term ‘‘election cybersecurity incident’’ means 

18 any incident, as defined in section 2209(a)(3) of the 

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

20 659(a)(3)), involving an election system. 

21 (5) ELECTION SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘election 

22 system’’ means a voting system, an election manage23 ment system, a voter registration website or data24 base, an electronic pollbook, a system for tabulating 

25 or reporting election results, an election agency comVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3529.IH H3529

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1 munications system, or any other information sys2 tem (as defined in section 3502 of title 44, United 

3 States Code) that the Secretary identifies as central 

4 to the management, support, or administration of a 

5 Federal election. 

6 (6) FEDERAL ELECTION.—The term ‘‘Federal 

7 election’’ means any election (as defined in section 

8 301(1) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

9 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101(1))) for Federal office (as 

10 defined in section 301(3) of the Federal Election 

11 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101(3))). 

12 (7) FEDERAL ENTITY.—The term ‘‘Federal en13 tity’’ means any agency (as defined in section 551 

14 of title 5, United States Code). 

15 (8) LOCAL ELECTION OFFICIAL.—The term 

16 ‘‘local election official’’ means the chief election offi17 cial of a component of a unit of local government of 

18 a State that is responsible for administering Federal 

19 elections. 

20 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

21 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

22 (10) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

23 the several States, the District of Columbia, Puerto 

24 Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth 


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1 of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United 

2 States Virgin Islands. 

3 (11) STATE ELECTION OFFICIAL.—The term 

4 ‘‘State election official’’ means— 

5 (A) the chief State election official of a 

6 State designated under section 10 of the Na7 tional Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 

8 U.S.C. 20509); or 

9 (B) in the case of Puerto Rico, Guam, 

10 American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Is11 lands, and the United States Virgin Islands, a 

12 chief State election official designated by the 

13 State for purposes of this Act. 

14 (12) VOTING SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘voting sys15 tem’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

16 301(b) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 

17 U.S.C. 21081(b)). 

18 SEC. 4. DUTY OF SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY TO 

19 NOTIFY STATE AND LOCAL OFFICIALS AND 

20 APPROPRIATE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS OF 

21 UNAUTHORIZED INTRUSIONS INTO ELECTION 

22 SYSTEMS. 

23 (a) DUTY TO SHARE INFORMATION WITH DEPART24 MENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY.—If a Federal entity re25 ceives information about an election cybersecurity inciVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3529.IH H3529

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1 dent, the Federal entity shall promptly share that infor2 mation with the Department, unless the head of the entity 

3 (or a Senate-confirmed official designated by the head) 

4 makes a specific determination in writing that there is 

5 good cause to withhold the particular information. 

6 (b) RESPONSE TO RECEIPT OF INFORMATION BY

7 SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Upon receiving information 

9 about an election cybersecurity incident under sub10 section (a), the Secretary, in consultation with the 

11 Attorney General and the Director of National Intel12 ligence, shall promptly (but in no case later than 96 

13 hours after receiving the information) review the in14 formation and make a determination whether each 

15 of the following apply: 

16 (A) There is credible evidence that an un17 authorized intrusion into an election system oc18 curred. 

19 (B) There is a basis to believe that the un20 authorized intrusion resulted, could have re21 sulted, or could result in voter information sys22 tems or voter tabulation systems being altered 

23 or otherwise affected. 

24 (2) DUTY TO NOTIFY STATE AND LOCAL OFFI25 CIALS AND APPROPRIATE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.— 


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1 (A) DUTY DESCRIBED.—If the Secretary 

2 makes a determination under paragraph (1) 

3 that subparagraphs (A) and (B) of such para4 graph apply with respect to an unauthorized in5 trusion into an election system, not later than 

6 48 hours after making the determination, the 

7 Secretary shall provide a notification of the un8 authorized intrusion to each of the following: 

9 (i) The chief executive of the State in10 volved. 

11 (ii) The State election official of the 

12 State involved. 

13 (iii) The local election official of the 

14 election agency involved. 

15 (iv) The appropriate Members of Con16 gress. 

17 (B) TREATMENT OF CLASSIFIED INFORMA18 TION.— 

19 (i) EFFORTS TO AVOID INCLUSION OF

20 CLASSIFIED INFORMATION.—In preparing 

21 a notification provided under this para22 graph to an individual described in clause 

23 (i), (ii), or (iii) of subparagraph (A), the 

24 Secretary shall attempt to avoid the inclu25 sion of classified information. 


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1 (ii) PROVIDING GUIDANCE TO STATE

2 AND LOCAL OFFICIALS.—To the extent 

3 that a notification provided under this 

4 paragraph to an individual described in 

5 clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of subparagraph (A) 

6 includes classified information, the Sec7 retary (in consultation with the Attorney 

8 General and the Director of National Intel9 ligence) shall indicate in the notification 

10 which information is classified. 

11 (3) EXCEPTION.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary, in 

13 consultation with the Attorney General and the 

14 Director of National Intelligence, makes a de15 termination that it is not possible to provide a 

16 notification under paragraph (1) with respect to 

17 an unauthorized intrusion without compro18 mising intelligence methods or sources or inter19 fering with an ongoing investigation, the Sec20 retary— 

21 (i) shall not provide the notification 

22 under such paragraph; and 

23 (ii) shall, not later than 48 hours 

24 after making the determination under this 

25 subparagraph, provide a classified briefing 


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1 on the unauthorized intrusion to the ap2 propriate Members of Congress. 

3 (B) ONGOING REVIEW.—Not later than 30 

4 days after making a determination under sub5 paragraph (A) and every 30 days thereafter, 

6 the Secretary shall review the determination. If, 

7 after reviewing the determination, the Secretary 

8 makes a revised determination that it is pos9 sible to provide a notification under paragraph 

10 (2) without compromising intelligence methods 

11 or sources or interfering with an ongoing inves12 tigation, the Secretary shall provide the notifi13 cation under paragraph (2) not later than 48 

14 hours after making such revised determination. 

15 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply with 

16 respect to information about an election cybersecurity inci17 dent which is received on or after the date of the enact18 ment of this Act. 

19 SEC. 5. RESPONSIBILITIES OF STATE AND LOCAL OFFI20 CIALS TO NOTIFY AFFECTED INDIVIDUALS. 

21 (a) RESPONSIBILITIES DESCRIBED.—Title III of the 

22 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) 

23 is amended by inserting after section 303 the following 

24 new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 303A. RESPONSIBILITIES OF STATE AND LOCAL OFFI2 CIALS TO NOTIFY INDIVIDUALS AFFECTED BY 

3 UNAUTHORIZED INTRUSIONS INTO ELECTION 

4 SYSTEMS. 

5 ‘‘(a) RESPONSIBILITIES DESCRIBED.—If a State or 

6 unit of local government receives a notification from the 

7 Secretary of Homeland Security under section 4 of the 

8 Achieving Lasting Electoral Reforms on Transparency 

9 and Security Act of an unauthorized intrusion described 

10 in such section, the State election official and the appro11 priate local election official shall provide notification of the 

12 intrusion to the individuals who were affected, could have 

13 been affected, or may be affected by the intrusion. 

14 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS AND MANNER OF NOTIFICATION.— 

15 The notification provided under this section shall be in 

16 such form and manner as the State election official may 

17 establish, except that— 

18 ‘‘(1) the notification shall not reveal classified 

19 information about the nature of the intrusion or the 

20 persons suspected of making the intrusion; 

21 ‘‘(2) the notification shall be provided in a man22 ner that does not discourage any individual from 

23 voting or registering to vote; and 

24 ‘‘(3) nothing in this section shall be construed 

25 to require an election official to provide a separate 

26 notification to each affected individual. 


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1 ‘‘(c) DEADLINE.—The State election official or the 

2 appropriate election official shall provide the notification 

3 required under this section as soon as practicable after 

4 the official receives the notification from the Secretary of 

5 Homeland Security under section 4 of the Achieving Last6 ing Electoral Reforms on Transparency and Security Act, 

7 but in no event later than— 

8 ‘‘(1) 48 hours before the date of the next elec9 tion for public office held in the State or unit of 

10 local government involved; or 

11 ‘‘(2) 30 days after receiving the notification, 

12 whichever is earlier. 

13 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘State’ 

14 and ‘State election official’ each have the meaning given 

15 such term in the Achieving Lasting Electoral Reforms on 

16 Transparency and Security Act.’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN18 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 

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

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

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

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

23 to section 303 the following new item: 

‘‘303A. Responsibilities of State and local officials to notify individuals affected 

by unauthorized intrusions into election systems.’’. 

Æ 


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