IB 

Union Calendar No. 360 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5036 

[Report No. 110–582, Part I] 

To direct the Administrator of General Services to reimburse certain jurisdictions for the costs of obtaining paper ballot voting systems for the 

general elections for Federal office to be held in November 2008, to 

reimburse jurisdictions for the costs incurred in conducting audits or 

hand counting of the results of the general elections for Federal office 

to be held in November 2008, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 17, 2008 

Mr. HOLT (for himself, Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. 

ABERCROMBIE, Mr. INSLEE, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. FARR, Mr. RYAN of 

Ohio, Mr. HONDA, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. HARE, Mr. 

LOEBSACK, Mr. SIRES, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. WEINER, Mr. 

BERMAN, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. OLVER, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. DOYLE, Ms. KAPTUR, 

Ms. WATSON, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. KLEIN of Florida, and Mr. CROWLEY) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Science 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 

APRIL 14, 2008 

Additional sponsors: Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Ms. SUTTON, 

Mr. ELLISON, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Ms. GIFFORDS, Ms. 

CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. BOYD of Florida, Mr. THOMPSON of 

California, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. GORDON of Tennessee, Mr. 

LEVIN, Mr. ALTMIRE, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. 

MORAN of Virginia, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. WYNN, Ms. WOOLSEY, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. GENE GREEN of 

Texas, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. COOPER, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. 

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CLARKE, Mr. PASTOR, Mr. CHANDLER, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. COHEN, Mr. 

KILDEE, Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Mr. BARROW, Ms. 

LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. 

STARK, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. CLAY, 

Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. BRALEY of Iowa, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. 

MATHESON, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. MATSUI, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. 

RANGEL, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Ms. 

LEE, Mr. MURTHA, and Mr. SNYDER

APRIL 14, 2008 

Reported from the Committee on House Administration with amendments 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

APRIL 14, 2008 

Committee on Science and Technology discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be 

printed 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 17, 2008] 

A BILL 

To direct the Administrator of General Services to reimburse 

certain jurisdictions for the costs of obtaining paper ballot voting systems for the general elections for Federal 

office to be held in November 2008, to reimburse jurisdictions for the costs incurred in conducting audits or 

hand counting of the results of the general elections 

for Federal office to be held in November 2008, 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Emergency Assistance 

5 for Secure Elections Act of 2008’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. PAYMENTS TO CERTAIN JURISDICTIONS CON2 DUCTING 2008 GENERAL ELECTIONS. 

3 (a) REIMBURSEMENT FOR CONVERSION TO PAPER

4 BALLOT VOTING SYSTEM.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Election Assistance Com6 mission shall pay to each eligible jurisdiction an 

7 amount equal to the sum of the following: 

8 (A) The documented reasonable costs paid 

9 or incurred by such jurisdiction to replace any 

10 voting systems used to conduct the general elec11 tions for Federal office held in November 2006 

12 that did not use or produce a paper ballot 

13 verified by the voter or a paper ballot printout 

14 verifiable by the voter at the time the vote is cast 

15 with paper ballot voting systems. 

16 (B) The documented reasonable costs paid 

17 or incurred by such jurisdiction to obtain non18 tabulating ballot marking devices that are acces19 sible for individuals with disabilities in accord20 ance with the requirements of section 301(a)(3) 

21 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002. 

22 (C) The documented reasonable costs paid 

23 or incurred by such jurisdiction to obtain ballot 

24 marking stations or voting booths for the protec25 tion of voter privacy. 

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1 (D) The documented reasonable costs paid 

2 or incurred by such jurisdiction to obtain paper 

3 ballots. 

4 (E) The documented reasonable costs paid 

5 or incurred by such jurisdiction to obtain pre6 cinct-based equipment that tabulates paper bal7 lots or scans paper ballots. 

8 (F) The documented reasonable administra9 tive costs paid or incurred by such jurisdiction 

10 that are associated with meeting the require11 ments for an eligible jurisdiction. 

12 (2) ELIGIBLE JURISDICTION DEFINED.—In this 

13 subsection, an ‘‘eligible jurisdiction’’ means a juris14 diction that submits to the Commission (and, in the 

15 case of a county or equivalent jurisdiction, provides 

16 a copy to the State), at such time and in such form 

17 as the Commission may require, an application con18 taining— 

19 (A) assurances that the jurisdiction con20 ducted regularly scheduled general elections for 

21 Federal office in November 2006 using (in whole 

22 or in part) a voting system that did not use or 

23 produce a paper ballot verified by the voter or a 

24 paper ballot printout verifiable by the voter at 

25 the time the vote is cast; 

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1 (B) assurances that the jurisdiction will 

2 conduct the regularly scheduled general elections 

3 for Federal office to be held in November 2008 

4 using only paper ballot voting systems; 

5 (C) assurances that the jurisdiction has ob6 tained or will obtain a sufficient number of non7 tabulating ballot marking devices that are acces8 sible for individuals with disabilities in accord9 ance with the requirements of section 301(a)(3) 

10 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002; 

11 (D) assurances that the jurisdiction has ob12 tained or will obtain a sufficient number of bal13 lot marking stations or voting booths for the pro14 tection of voter privacy; 

15 (E) assurances that the jurisdiction has ob16 tained or will obtain a sufficient number of 

17 paper ballots; 

18 (F) such information and assurances as the 

19 Commission may require to make the determina20 tions under paragraph (1); and 

21 (G) such other information and assurances 

22 as the Commission may require. 

23 (3) DETERMINATIONS OF REASONABLENESS OF

24 COSTS.—The determinations under paragraph (1) of 

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1 whether costs paid or incurred by a jurisdiction are 

2 reasonable shall be made by the Commission. 

3 (4) PAPER BALLOT VOTING SYSTEM DEFINED.— 

4 In this subsection, a ‘‘paper ballot voting system’’ 

5 means a voting system that uses a paper ballot 

6 marked by the voter by hand or a paper ballot 

7 marked by the voter with the assistance of a non-tab8 ulating ballot marking device described in paragraph 

9 (1)(B). 

10 (b) REIMBURSEMENT FOR RETROFITTING OF DIRECT

11 RECORDING ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEMS TO PRODUCE

12 VOTER VERIFIABLE PAPER RECORDS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall pay to 

14 each eligible jurisdiction an amount equal to the doc15 umented reasonable costs paid or incurred by such ju16 risdiction to retrofit direct recording electronic voting 

17 systems so that the systems will produce a voter 

18 verifiable paper record of the marked ballot for 

19 verification by the voter at the time the vote is cast, 

20 including the costs of obtaining printers to produce 

21 the records. 

22 (2) ELIGIBLE JURISDICTION DEFINED.—In this 

23 subsection, an ‘‘eligible jurisdiction’’ means a juris24 diction that submits to the Commission (and, in the 

25 case of a county or equivalent jurisdiction, provides 

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1 a copy to the State), at such time and in such form 

2 as the Commission may require, an application con3 taining— 

4 (A) assurances that the jurisdiction has ob5 tained or will obtain a printer for and retrofit 

6 each direct recording electronic voting system 

7 used to conduct the general elections for Federal 

8 office held in November 2008 so that the system 

9 will produce a voter verifiable paper record of 

10 the marked ballot for verification by the voter; 

11 (B) such information and assurances as the 

12 Commission may require to make the determina13 tions under paragraph (1); and 

14 (C) such other information and assurances 

15 as the Commission may require. 

16 (3) DETERMINATION OF REASONABLENESS OF

17 COSTS.—The determinations under paragraph (1) of 

18 whether costs paid or incurred by a jurisdiction are 

19 reasonable shall be made by the Commission. 

20 (c) REIMBURSEMENT FOR PROVISION OF BACKUP

21 PAPER BALLOTS BY JURISDICTIONS USING DIRECT RE22 CORDING ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEMS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall pay to 

24 each eligible jurisdiction an amount equal to the doc25 umented reasonable costs paid or incurred by such jumstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 risdiction to obtain, deploy, and tabulate backup 

2 paper ballots (and related supplies and equipment) 

3 that may be used in the event of the failure of a direct 

4 recording electronic voting system in the regularly 

5 scheduled general elections for Federal office to be held 

6 in November 2008. 

7 (2) ELIGIBLE JURISDICTION DEFINED.—In this 

8 subsection, an ‘‘eligible jurisdiction’’ means a juris9 diction that submits to the Commission (and, in the 

10 case of a county or equivalent jurisdiction, provides 

11 a copy to the State), at such time and in such form 

12 as the Commission may require, an application con13 taining— 

14 (A) assurances that the jurisdiction will 

15 post, in a conspicuous manner at all polling 

16 places at which a direct recording electronic vot17 ing system will be used in such elections, a no18 tice stating that backup paper ballots are avail19 able at the polling place and that a voter is enti20 tled to use such a ballot upon the failure of a 

21 voting system; 

22 (B) assurances that the jurisdiction counts 

23 each such backup paper ballot cast by a voter as 

24 a regular ballot cast in the election, and does not 

25 treat it (for eligibility purposes) as a provisional 

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1 ballot under section 302(a) of the Help America 

2 Vote Act of 2002, unless the individual casting 

3 the ballot would have otherwise been required to 

4 cast a provisional ballot; 

5 (C) such information and assurances as the 

6 Commission may require to make the determina7 tions under paragraph (1); and 

8 (D) such other information and assurances 

9 as the Commission may require. 

10 (3) DETERMINATION OF REASONABLENESS OF

11 COSTS.—The determinations under paragraph (1) of 

12 whether costs paid or incurred by a jurisdiction are 

13 reasonable shall be made by the Commission. 

14 (d) AMOUNTS.—There are authorized to be appro15 priated to the Commission such sums as may be necessary 

16 for payments under this section. Any amounts appropriated 

17 pursuant to the authorization under this subsection shall 

18 remain available until expended. 

19 SEC. 3. PAYMENTS FOR CONDUCTING MANUAL AUDITS OF 

20 RESULTS OF 2008 GENERAL ELECTIONS. 

21 (a) PAYMENTS.— 

22 (1) ELIGIBILITY FOR PAYMENTS.—If a State con23 ducts manual audits of the results of any of the regu24 larly scheduled general elections for Federal office in 

25 November 2008 (and, at the option of the State, conmstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 ducts audits of elections for State and local office held 

2 at the same time as such election) in accordance with 

3 the requirements of this section, the Commission shall 

4 make a payment to the State in an amount equal to 

5 the documented reasonable costs incurred by the State 

6 in conducting the audits. 

7 (2) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE AND

8 COSTS.— 

9 (A) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—In order 

10 to receive a payment under this section, a State 

11 shall submit to the Commission, in such form as 

12 the Commission may require, a statement con13 taining— 

14 (i) a certification that the State con15 ducted the audits in accordance with all of 

16 the requirements of this section; 

17 (ii) a statement of the reasonable costs 

18 incurred in conducting the audits; and 

19 (iii) such other information and assur20 ances as the Commission may require. 

21 (B) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.—The amount of 

22 a payment made to a State under this section 

23 shall be equal to the reasonable costs incurred in 

24 conducting the audits. 

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1 (C) DETERMINATION OF REASONABLENESS

2 OF COSTS.—The determinations under this para3 graph of whether costs incurred by a State are 

4 reasonable shall be made by the Commission. 

5 (3) TIMING OF PAYMENTS.—The Commission 

6 shall make the payment required under this section to 

7 a State not later than 30 days after receiving the 

8 statement submitted by the State under paragraph 

9 (2). 

10 (4) MANDATORY IMMEDIATE REIMBURSEMENT OF

11 COUNTIES AND OTHER JURISDICTIONS.—If a county 

12 or other jurisdiction responsible for the administra13 tion of an election in a State incurs costs as the result 

14 of the State conducting an audit of the election in ac15 cordance with this section, the State shall reimburse 

16 the county or jurisdiction for such costs immediately 

17 upon receiving the payment from the Commission 

18 under paragraph (3). 

19 (5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

20 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Com21 mission such sums as may be necessary for payments 

22 under this section. Any amounts appropriated pursu23 ant to the authorization under this subsection shall 

24 remain available until expended. 

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1 (b) AUDIT REQUIREMENTS.—In order to receive a 

2 payment under this section for conducting an audit, the 

3 State shall meet the following minimum requirements: 

4 (1) Not later than 30 days before the date of the 

5 regularly scheduled general election for Federal office 

6 in November 2008, the State shall establish and pub7 lish guidelines, standards, and procedures to be used 

8 in conducting audits in accordance with this section. 

9 (2) The State shall select an appropriate entity 

10 to oversee the administration of the audit, in accord11 ance with such criteria as the State considers appro12 priate consistent with the requirements of this section, 

13 except that the entity must meet a general standard 

14 of independence as defined by the State. 

15 (3) The State shall determine whether the units 

16 in which the audit will be conducted will be precincts 

17 or some alternative auditing unit, and shall apply 

18 that determination in a uniform manner for all au19 dits conducted in accordance with this section. 

20 (4) The State shall select the precincts or alter21 native auditing units in which audits are conducted 

22 in accordance with this section in a random manner 

23 following the election after the final unofficial vote 

24 count (as defined by the State) has been announced, 

25 such that each precinct or alternative auditing unit 

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1 in which the election was held has an equal chance 

2 of being selected, subject to paragraph (9), except that 

3 the State shall ensure that at least one precinct or al4 ternative auditing unit is selected in each county in 

5 which the election is held. 

6 (5) The audit shall be conducted in not less than 

7 2 percent of the precincts or alternative auditing 

8 units in the State (in the case of a general election 

9 for the office of Senator) or the Congressional district 

10 involved (in the case of an election for the office of 

11 Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commis12 sioner to, the Congress). 

13 (6) The State shall determine the stage of the 

14 tabulation process at which the audit will be con15 ducted, and shall apply that determination in a uni16 form manner for all audits conducted in accordance 

17 with this section, except that the audit shall com18 mence within 48 hours after the State or jurisdiction 

19 involved announces the final unofficial vote count (as 

20 defined by the State) in each precinct in which votes 

21 are cast in the election which is the subject of the 

22 audit. 

23 (7) With respect to each precinct or alternative 

24 audit unit audited, the State shall ensure that a voter 

25 verified paper ballot or paper ballot printout 

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1 verifiable by the voter at the time the vote is cast is 

2 available for every vote cast in the precinct or alter3 native audit unit, and that the tally produced by 

4 counting all of those paper ballots or paper ballot 

5 printouts by hand is compared with the cor6 responding final unofficial vote count (as defined by 

7 the State) announced with respect to that precinct or 

8 audit unit in the election. 

9 (8) Within each precinct or alternative audit 

10 unit, the audit shall include all ballots cast by all in11 dividuals who voted in or who are under the jurisdic12 tion of the precinct or alternative audit unit with re13 spect to the election, including absentee ballots (sub14 ject to paragraph (9)), early ballots, emergency bal15 lots, and provisional ballots, without regard to the 

16 time, place, or manner in which the ballots were cast. 

17 (9) If a State establishes a separate precinct for 

18 purposes of counting the absentee ballots cast in the 

19 election and treats all absentee ballots as having been 

20 cast in that precinct, and if the state does not make 

21 absentee ballots sortable by precinct and include those 

22 ballots in the hand count described in paragraph (7) 

23 which is administered with respect to that precinct, 

24 the State may divide absentee ballots into audit units 

25 approximately equal in size to the average precinct in 

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1 the State in terms of the number of ballots cast, and 

2 shall randomly select and include at least 2 percent 

3 of those audit units in the audit. Any audit carried 

4 out with respect to such an audit unit shall meet the 

5 same standards applicable under paragraph (7) to 

6 audits carried out with respect to other precincts and 

7 alternative audit units, including the requirement 

8 that all paper ballots be counted by hand. 

9 (10) The audit shall be conducted in a public 

10 and transparent manner, such that members of the 

11 public are able to observe the entire process. 

12 (c) COLLECTION AND SUBMISSION OF AUDIT RESULTS; 

13 PUBLICATION.— 

14 (1) STATE SUBMISSION OF REPORT.—In order to 

15 receive a payment under this section, a State shall 

16 submit to the Commission a report, in such form as 

17 the Commission may require, on the results of each 

18 audit conducted under this section. 

19 (2) COMMISSION ACTION.—The Commission may 

20 request additional information from a State based on 

21 the report submitted under paragraph (1). 

22 (3) PUBLICATION.—The Commission shall pub23 lish each report submitted under paragraph (1) upon 

24 receipt. 

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1 (d) DELAY IN CERTIFICATION OF RESULTS BY

2 STATE.—No State may certify the results of any election 

3 which is subject to an audit under this section prior to com4 pleting the audit, resolving discrepancies discovered in the 

5 audit, and submitting the report required under subsection 

6 (c). 

7 SEC. 4. PAYMENTS FOR CONDUCTING HAND COUNTS OF RE8 SULTS OF 2008 GENERAL ELECTIONS. 

9 (a) PAYMENTS.— 

10 (1) ELIGIBILITY FOR PAYMENTS.—If a State, 

11 county, or equivalent location tallies the results of 

12 any regularly scheduled general election for Federal 

13 office in November 2008 by conducting a hand count 

14 of the votes cast on the paper ballots used in the elec15 tion (including paper ballot printouts verifiable by 

16 the voter at the time the vote is cast) in accordance 

17 with the requirements of this section, the Commission 

18 shall make a payment to the State, county, or equiva19 lent location in an amount equal to the documented 

20 reasonable costs incurred by the State, county, or 

21 equivalent location in conducting the hand counts. 

22 (2) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE AND

23 COSTS.— 

24 (A) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—In order 

25 to receive a payment under this section, a State, 

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1 county, or equivalent location shall submit to the 

2 Commission (and, in the case of a county or 

3 equivalent jurisdiction, shall provide a copy to 

4 the State), in such form as the Commission may 

5 require, a statement containing— 

6 (i) a certification that the State, coun7 ty, or equivalent location conducted the 

8 hand counts in accordance with all of the 

9 requirements of this section; 

10 (ii) a statement of the reasonable costs 

11 incurred by the State, county, or equivalent 

12 location in conducting the hand counts; and 

13 (iii) such other information and assur14 ances as the Commission may require. 

15 (B) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.—The amount of 

16 a payment made to a State, county, or equiva17 lent location under this section shall be equal to 

18 the reasonable costs incurred by the State, coun19 ty, or equivalent location in conducting the hand 

20 counts. 

21 (C) DETERMINATION OF REASONABLENESS

22 OF COSTS.—The determinations under this para23 graph of whether costs incurred by a State, coun24 ty, or equivalent location are reasonable shall be 

25 made by the Commission. 

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1 (3) TIMING OF PAYMENTS.—The Commission 

2 shall make the payment required under this section to 

3 a State, county, or equivalent location not later than 

4 30 days after receiving the statement submitted by the 

5 State, county, or equivalent location under paragraph 

6 (2). 

7 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

8 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Com9 mission such sums as may be necessary for payments 

10 under this section. Any amounts appropriated pursu11 ant to the authorization under this subsection shall 

12 remain available until expended. 

13 (b) HAND COUNTS DESCRIBED.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—A hand count conducted in 

15 accordance with this section is a count of all of the 

16 paper ballots on which votes were cast in the election 

17 (including paper ballot printouts verifiable by the 

18 voter at the time the vote is cast), including votes cast 

19 on an early, absentee, emergency, and provisional 

20 basis, which is conducted by hand to determine the 

21 winner of the election and is conducted without using 

22 electronic equipment or software. 

23 (2) COMPLETENESS.—With respect to each juris24 diction in which a hand count is conducted, the State, 

25 county, or equivalent location shall ensure that a 

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1 voter verified paper ballot or paper ballot printout 

2 verifiable by the voter at the time the vote is cast is 

3 available for every vote cast in the jurisdiction. 

4 (c) PROCESS FOR CONDUCTING HAND COUNTS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—In order to meet the require6 ments of this section, a hand count of the ballots cast 

7 in an election shall be conducted in accordance with 

8 the following procedures: 

9 (A) After the closing of the polls on the date 

10 of the election, the appropriate election official 

11 shall secure the ballots at the polling place (or, 

12 in the case of ballots cast at any other location, 

13 at the office of the chief election official of the ju14 risdiction conducting the hand count). 

15 (B) Beginning at any time after the expira16 tion of the 8-hour period that begins at the time 

17 the polls close on the date of the election, the ju18 risdiction shall conduct an initial hand count of 

19 the ballots cast in the election, using the ballots 

20 which are eligible to be counted in the election as 

21 of the time the polls are closed. 

22 (C) Any ballot which is eligible to be count23 ed in the election but which is not included in 

24 the initial count conducted under subparagraph 

25 (B), including a provisional ballot cast by an inmstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 dividual who is determined to be eligible to vote 

2 in the election or an absentee ballot received after 

3 the date of the election but prior to the applica4 ble deadline under State law for the receipt of 

5 absentee ballots, shall be subject to a hand count 

6 in accordance with this section and added to the 

7 tally conducted under subparagraph (B) not 

8 later than 48 hours after the ballot is determined 

9 to be eligible to be counted. 

10 (D) The hand count shall be conducted by 

11 a team of not fewer than 2 individuals who shall 

12 be witnessed by at least one observer sitting at 

13 the same table with such individuals. Except as 

14 provided in paragraph (2), all such individuals 

15 shall be election officials of the jurisdiction in 

16 which the hand count is conducted. The number 

17 of such individuals who are members of the polit18 ical party whose candidates received the greatest 

19 number of the aggregate votes cast in the regu20 larly scheduled general elections for Federal of21 fice held in the State in November 2006 shall be 

22 equal to the number of such individuals who are 

23 members of the political party whose candidates 

24 received the second greatest number of the aggre25 gate votes cast in the regularly scheduled general 

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1 elections for Federal office held in the State in 

2 November 2006. 

3 (E) After the completion of the hand count, 

4 the ballots may be run through a tabulating ma5 chine or scanner for comparison with the tally, 

6 if such a machine or scanner is available. The 

7 use of the tabulating machine or scanner shall be 

8 solely to compare with the tally determined by 

9 the hand count and not to substitute another 

10 tally of the ballots. 

11 (2) USE OF OTHER PERSONNEL.—An individual 

12 who is not an election official of the jurisdiction in 

13 which a hand count is conducted under this section 

14 may serve on a team conducting the hand count or 

15 may serve as an observer of a team conducting the 

16 hand count if the jurisdiction certifies that the indi17 vidual has completed such training as the jurisdiction 

18 deems appropriate to conduct or observe the hand 

19 count (as the case may be). 

20 (3) LOCATION.—The hand counts conducted 

21 under this section of the ballots cast in an election 

22 shall be conducted— 

23 (A) in the case of ballots cast at a polling 

24 place on the date of the election, at the polling 

25 place at which the ballots were cast; or 

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1 (B) in the case of any other ballots, at the 

2 office of the chief election official of the jurisdic3 tion conducting the hand count. 

4 (4) INFORMATION INCLUDED IN RESULTS.—Each 

5 hand count conducted under this section shall produce 

6 the following information with respect to the election: 

7 (A) The vote tally for each candidate. 

8 (B) The number of overvotes, undervotes, 

9 spoiled ballots, and blank ballots cast (or their 

10 equivalents, as defined by the State, county or 

11 equivalent location). 

12 (C) The number of write-in ballots and the 

13 names written in on such ballots pursuant to 

14 State law. 

15 (D) The total number of ballots cast. 

16 (E) A record of judgement calls made re17 garding voter intent. 

18 (5) PUBLIC OBSERVATION OF HAND COUNTS.— 

19 Each hand count conducted under this section shall be 

20 conducted in a manner that allows public observation 

21 of the entire process (including the opening of the bal22 lot boxes or removal of machine-printed ballots from 

23 their containers, the sorting, counting, and notation 

24 of results, and the announcement of final determinamstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 tions) sufficient to confirm but not interfere with the 

2 proceedings. 

3 (6) ESTABLISHMENT AND PUBLICATION OF PRO4 CEDURES.—Prior to the date of the regularly sched5 uled general election for Federal office held in Novem6 ber 2008, a State, county, or equivalent location shall 

7 establish and publish procedures for carrying out 

8 hand counts under this subsection. 

9 (d) APPLICATION TO JURISDICTIONS CONDUCTING

10 ELECTIONS WITH DIRECT RECORDING ELECTRONIC VOT11 ING SYSTEMS.— 

12 (1) REQUIRING SYSTEMS TO PRODUCE VOTER

13 VERIFIABLE PAPER RECORD.—If a State, county, or 

14 equivalent location uses a direct recording electronic 

15 voting system to conduct an election, the State, coun16 ty, or equivalent location may not receive a payment 

17 under this section for conducting a hand count of the 

18 votes cast in the election unless (in addition to meet19 ing the other requirements applicable under this sec20 tion) the State, county, or equivalent location certifies 

21 to the Commission that each such system produces a 

22 paper record printout of the marked ballot which is 

23 verifiable by the voter at the time the vote is cast. 

24 (2) TREATMENT OF PAPER RECORD PRINT25 OUTS.—In applying this section to a hand count conmstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 ducted by a State, county, or equivalent location 

2 which provides a certification to the Commission 

3 under paragraph (1), the paper record printout re4 ferred to in such paragraph shall be treated as the 

5 paper ballot used in the election. 

6 (e) ANNOUNCEMENT AND POSTING OF RESULTS.— 

7 Upon the completion of a hand count conducted under this 

8 section, the State, county, or equivalent location shall an9 nounce the results to the public and post them on a public 

10 Internet site. 

11 (f) USE OF HAND COUNT IN CERTIFICATION OF RE12 SULTS.—The State shall use the results of the hand count 

13 conducted under this section for purposes of certifying the 

14 results of the election involved. Nothing in this section may 

15 be construed to affect the application or operation of any 

16 State law governing the recount of the results of an election. 

17 SEC. 5. STUDY, TESTING, AND DEVELOPMENT OF PROD18 UCTS AND PRACTICES TO ENSURE ACCESSI19 BILITY OF PAPER BALLOT VERIFICATION AND 

20 CASTING FOR CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS. 

21 (a) STUDY, TESTING, AND DEVELOPMENT.—The Di22 rector of the National Institute of Standards and Tech23 nology (hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘‘Direc24 tor’’) shall study, test, and develop products and practices 

25 that ensure the accessibility of paper ballot verification and 

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1 casting for individuals with disabilities, for voters whose 

2 primary language is not English, and for voters with dif3 ficulties in literacy, including the mechanisms themselves 

4 and the processes through which the mechanisms are used. 

5 In carrying out this subsection, the Director shall specifi6 cally investigate existing and potential methods or devices, 

7 including non-electronic devices, that will assist such indi8 viduals and voters in creating voter-verified paper ballots, 

9 presenting or transmitting the information printed or 

10 marked on such ballots back to such individuals and voters 

11 in an accessible form, and enabling the voters to cast the 

12 ballots. 

13 (b) REPORT.—Not later than June 30, 2009, the Direc14 tor shall submit a report to Congress on the results of the 

15 studying, testing, and development of products and prac16 tices under subsection (a). 

17 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are 

18 authorized to be appropriated to the Director such sums as 

19 may be necessary to carry out this section, to remain avail20 able until expended. 

21 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act— 

23 (1) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Election 

24 Assistance Commission; and 

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1 (2) the term ‘‘State’’ includes the District of Co2 lumbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, 

3 American Samoa, and the United States Virgin Is4 lands. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to direct the 

Election Assistance Commission to reimburse certain jurisdictions for the costs of obtaining paper ballot voting 

systems for the general elections for Federal office to be 

held in November 2008, to reimburse jurisdictions for the 

costs incurred in conducting audits or hand counting of 

the results of the general elections for Federal office to 

be held in November 2008, and for other purposes.’’. 

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Union Calendar No. 360 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5036 

[Report No. 110

–582, Part I] 

A BILL 

To direct the Administrator of General Services to 

and for other purposes. for Federal office to be held in November 2008, counting of the results of the general elections the costs incurred in conducting audits or hand November 2008, to reimburse jurisdictions for general elections for Federal office to be held in obtaining paper ballot voting systems for the reimburse certain jurisdictions for the costs of 

APRIL 14, 2008 

Committee on Science and Technology discharged; comState of the Union and ordered to be printed mitted to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

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