I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1946 

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

used in elections for Federal office to produce a voter-verified paper 

ballot of each vote cast on the system, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 28, 2019 

Ms. GABBARD (for herself and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in 

addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently 

determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require 

voting systems used in elections for Federal office to 

produce a voter-verified paper ballot of each vote cast 

on the system, 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; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

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

5 ‘‘Securing America’s Elections Act of 2019’’. 

6 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con7 gress that according to the Department of Homeland SeVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:50 Apr 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1946.IH H1946

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1 curity there were attempts to hack the election infrastruc2 ture of 21 States during the 2016 elections. The failing 

3 security and vulnerabilities in our national election infra4 structure were later confirmed and highlighted by the 

5 hacking community in a report issued in September 2017, 

6 after the DEFCON 25 conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

7 A subsequent report issued in September 2018, after the 

8 DEFCON 26 Conference, highlighted the need for Federal 

9 funding to States to improve the security of election infra10 structure. In light of these findings, the Government must 

11 act with all deliberate purpose to ensure that the integrity 

12 of elections in the United States is protected against hack13 ers. 

14 SEC. 2. PROMOTING ACCURACY, INTEGRITY, AND SECU15 RITY THROUGH VOTER-VERIFIED PERMA16 NENT PAPER BALLOT. 

17 (a) BALLOT VERIFICATION AND AUDIT CAPACITY.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 301(a)(2) of the 

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

20 21081(a)(2)) is amended to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(2) BALLOT VERIFICATION AND AUDIT CAPAC22 ITY.— 

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

24 ‘‘(i) VERIFICATION.—(I) The voting 

25 system shall require the production of a 


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1 voter-verified paper ballot of the voter’s 

2 vote that shall be created by or made avail3 able for inspection and verification by the 

4 individual voter before the voter’s vote is 

5 cast and counted. For purposes of this 

6 subclause, a voter-verified paper ballot in7 cludes (but is not limited to) a paper ballot 

8 marked by the voter for the purpose of 

9 being counted by hand or read by an opti10 cal scanner or other similar device, a paper 

11 ballot prepared by the voter to be mailed 

12 to an election official (whether from a do13 mestic or overseas location), a paper ballot 

14 created through the use of a ballot mark15 ing device or system, or a paper ballot pro16 duced by a touch screen or other electronic 

17 voting machine, so long as in each case the 

18 voter is permitted to verify the ballot in a 

19 paper form in accordance with this sub20 paragraph. 

21 ‘‘(II) The voting system shall provide 

22 the voter with an opportunity to correct 

23 any error made by the system in the voter24 verified paper ballot before the permanent 


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1 voter-verified paper ballot is preserved in 

2 accordance with clause (ii). 

3 ‘‘(III) The voting system shall not 

4 preserve the voter-verified paper ballots in 

5 any manner that makes it possible, at any 

6 time after the ballot has been cast, to asso7 ciate a voter with the record of the voter’s 

8 vote. 

9 ‘‘(ii) PRESERVATION.—The voter10 verified paper ballot produced in accord11 ance with clause (i) shall be used as the of12 ficial ballot for purposes of any recount or 

13 audit conducted with respect to any elec14 tion for Federal office in which the voting 

15 system is used, and shall be preserved in 

16 accordance with regulations promulgated 

17 by the Commission to establish criteria for 

18 the proper preservation and retention of 

19 the official ballots in the election. 

20 ‘‘(iii) MANUAL AUDIT CAPACITY.— 

21 Each paper ballot produced pursuant to 

22 clause (i) shall be suitable for a manual 

23 audit equivalent to that of a paper ballot 

24 voting system, in accordance with the 

25 methods described in subparagraph (B). 


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1 ‘‘(B) APPROVED METHODS FOR MANUAL

2 AUDITS.—The methods described in this sub3 paragraph with respect to the manual audit of 

4 voter-verified paper ballots are— 

5 ‘‘(i) audits conducted through the use 

6 of programmable electronic counting ma7 chines which are not capable of being con8 nected to the Internet, as determined in 

9 accordance with regulations promulgated 

10 by the Commission; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) if no machine described in clause 

12 (i) is available, an audit conducted by a 

13 hand count. 

14 ‘‘(C) RESOLUTION OF DISPUTES WHEN

15 PAPER BALLOTS HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO BE

16 COMPROMISED.—In the event that the paper 

17 ballots produced pursuant to subparagraph (A) 

18 with respect to an election for Federal office 

19 have been compromised, the State shall resolve 

20 the dispute over the results of the election in 

21 accordance with dispute resolution processes es22 tablished under regulations promulgated by the 

23 Commission. 

24 ‘‘(D) DEADLINE FOR PROMULGATION OF

25 REGULATIONS.—The Commission shall promulVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:50 Apr 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1946.IH H1946

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1 gate the regulations described in this paragraph 

2 not later than June 30, 2019.’’. 

3 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT CLARIFYING AP4 PLICABILITY OF ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGE ACCESSI5 BILITY.—Section 301(a)(4) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

6 21081(a)(4)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(including 

7 the paper ballots required to be produced under 

8 paragraph (2))’’ after ‘‘voting system’’. 

9 (3) OTHER CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Sec10 tion 301(a)(1) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)(1)) 

11 is amended— 

12 (A) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking 

13 ‘‘counted’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in accord14 ance with paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; 

15 (B) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking 

16 ‘‘counted’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in accord17 ance with paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; 

18 (C) in subparagraph (A)(iii), by striking 

19 ‘‘counted’’ each place it appears and inserting 

20 ‘‘counted, in accordance with paragraphs (2) 

21 and (3)’’; and 

22 (D) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking 

23 ‘‘counted’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in accord24 ance with paragraphs (2) and (3)’’. 


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1 (b) AVAILABILITY OF ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO EN2 ABLE STATES TO MEET COSTS OF REVISED REQUIRE3 MENT.— 

4 (1) EXTENSION OF REQUIREMENTS PAYMENTS

5 FOR MEETING REVISED REQUIREMENT; AMOUNTS

6 DEEMED TO MEET REQUIREMENTS FOR EMERGENCY

7 FUNDING.—Section 257(a) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

8 21007(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(5) For fiscal year 2019, such sums as may be 

11 necessary to enable States to meet the requirements 

12 of section 301(a)(2) which are first imposed on the 

13 State pursuant to the amendments made by section 

14 2(a) of the Securing America’s Elections Act of 

15 2019. Any amount appropriated pursuant to the au16 thorization under this paragraph shall be designated 

17 by the Congress as being for an emergency require18 ment pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Bal19 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 

20 1985.’’. 

21 (2) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT BASED ON COSTS IN22 CURRED IN MEETING REVISED REQUIREMENTS.— 

23 Section 252 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21002) is 

24 amended— 


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1 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘sub2 section (c)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (c) and 

3 (e)’’; 

4 (B) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub5 section (f); and 

6 (C) by inserting after subsection (d) the 

7 following new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULE FOR FISCAL YEAR 2019.— 

9 ‘‘(1) COVERAGE OF COSTS OF MEETING RE10 VISED BALLOT VERIFICATION AND AUDIT CAPACITY

11 REQUIREMENTS.—The amount of a requirements 

12 payment made to a State from funds appropriated 

13 for fiscal year 2019 shall be equal to the State’s es14 timate of the reasonable costs the State expects to 

15 incur to meet the requirements referred to in para16 graph (3), as contained in the statement filed by the 

17 State with the Commission under section 

18 253(f)(1)(A)(ii). 

19 ‘‘(2) RECOUPMENT OF OVERPAYMENTS.—If a 

20 State receives a requirements payment from funds 

21 appropriated for fiscal year 2018, the State shall 

22 agree to repay to the Commission the excess (if any) 

23 of— 

24 ‘‘(A) the amount of the payment; over 


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1 ‘‘(B) the actual costs incurred by the State 

2 in meeting the requirements referred to in para3 graph (3), as contained in the statement filed 

4 by the State with the Commission under section 

5 253(f)(1)(B). 

6 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS DESCRIBED.—The re7 quirements referred to in this paragraph are the re8 quirements of section 301(a)(2) (relating to ballot 

9 verification and audit capacity) which are first im10 posed on the State pursuant to the amendments 

11 made by section 2(a) of the Securing America’s 

12 Elections Act of 2019.’’. 

13 (3) REVISED CONDITIONS FOR RECEIPT OF

14 FUNDS.—Section 253 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

15 21003) is amended— 

16 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘A State 

17 is eligible’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in 

18 subsection (f), a State is eligible’’; and 

19 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

20 subsection: 

21 ‘‘(f) SPECIAL RULE FOR FISCAL YEAR 2019.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

23 provision of this part, a State is eligible to receive 

24 a requirements payment from funds appropriated for 

25 fiscal year 2019 if, at any time after the funds are 


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1 appropriated, the chief executive officer of the State, 

2 or designee, in consultation and coordination with 

3 the chief State election official— 

4 ‘‘(A) files a statement with the Commis5 sion— 

6 ‘‘(i) describing how the State will use 

7 the payment to meet the requirements of 

8 section 301(a)(2) (relating to ballot 

9 verification and audit capacity) which are 

10 first imposed on the State pursuant to the 

11 amendment made by section 2(a) of the 

12 Securing America’s Elections Act of 2019, 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(ii) containing the State’s estimate 

15 of the reasonable costs the State expects to 

16 incur to meet such requirements; and 

17 ‘‘(B) certifies to the Commission that, 

18 upon completing the replacement or upgrading 

19 of its voting systems to meet such require20 ments, the State will file a statement with the 

21 Commission containing the actual costs in22 curred by the State in meeting such require23 ments. 

24 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATIONS BY STATES THAT RE25 QUIRE CHANGES TO STATE LAW.—In the case of a 


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1 State that requires State legislation to carry out any 

2 activity covered by any certification submitted under 

3 this subsection, the State shall be permitted to make 

4 the certification notwithstanding that the legislation 

5 has not been enacted at the time the certification is 

6 submitted and such State shall submit an additional 

7 certification once such legislation is enacted.’’. 

8 (4) PERMITTING USE OF FUNDS FOR REIM9 BURSEMENT FOR COSTS PREVIOUSLY INCURRED.— 

10 Section 251(c)(1) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

11 21001(c)(1)) is amended by striking the period at 

12 the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, or as a reim13 bursement for any costs incurred in meeting the re14 quirements of section 301(a)(2) which are first im15 posed pursuant to the amendments made by section 

16 2(a) of the Securing America’s Elections Act of 

17 2018 or in otherwise replacing or upgrading voting 

18 systems in response to such amendments.’’. 

19 (5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING USE

20 OF FUNDS TO REPLACE OR UPGRADE SYSTEMS OB21 TAINED WITH FUNDS PROVIDED PREVIOUSLY UNDER

22 HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2002.—Nothing in the 

23 amendments made by this subsection or in any other 

24 provision of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 may 

25 be construed to prohibit a State from using any 


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1 funds provided under such Act pursuant to the 

2 amendments made by this subsection (or any funds 

3 provided under such Act prior to the date of the en4 actment of this Act which remain unexpended as of 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act) to replace or 

6 upgrade a voting system purchased or otherwise ob7 tained in whole or in part using funds received 

8 under title I or II of the Help America Vote Act at 

9 any time before the date of the enactment of this 

10 Act. 

11 (6) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

12 by this subsection shall apply with respect to fiscal 

13 years beginning with fiscal year 2019. 

14 (c) STUDY AND REPORT ON USE OF OPEN-SOURCE

15 SOFTWARE IN VOTING SYSTEMS.— 

16 (1) STUDY.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu17 rity and the Election Assistance Commission, acting 

18 jointly, shall conduct a study of the feasibility and 

19 desirability of using open-source software in voting 

20 systems, based on information obtained from elec21 tions for Federal office held in 2020 through 2022. 

22 (2) REPORT.—Not later than July 1, 2023, the 

23 Secretary and the Commission shall submit to Con24 gress a report on the study conducted under para25 graph (1), and shall include in the report such recVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:50 Apr 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1946.IH H1946

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1 ommendations as the Secretary and Commission 

2 consider appropriate regarding the possible use of 

3 open-source software in the voting systems used to 

4 administer elections for Federal office held in 2024. 

5 (3) DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF

6 SOFTWARE.—If the Secretary and the Commission 

7 include in the report submitted under paragraph (2) 

8 a recommendation that State election officials use 

9 open-source software in the voting systems used to 

10 administer elections for Federal office in the State— 

11 (A) the Commission shall enter into a part12 nership with appropriate private entities, in13 cluding entities engaged in the business of 

14 maintaining open-source software, to develop, 

15 test, certify, and maintain open-source software 

16 for such purpose for elections held in 2026 or 

17 any succeeding year; and 

18 (B) the Commission shall ensure that such 

19 certified software is available without cost to 

20 State election officials. 

21 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE FOR NEW REQUIREMENTS.— 

22 Section 301(d) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21081(d)) is 

23 amended to read as follows: 

24 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graph (2), each State and jurisdiction shall be re3 quired to comply with the requirements of this sec4 tion on and after January 1, 2006. 

5 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN REQUIRE6 MENTS.—The requirements of subsection (a)(2) 

7 which are first imposed on a State and jurisdiction 

8 pursuant to the amendments made by section 2(a) 

9 of the Securing America’s Elections Act of 2019 

10 shall apply with respect to the regularly scheduled 

11 general election for Federal office held in November 

12 2020 and each succeeding election for Federal of13 fice.’’. 

Æ 


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