I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5036 

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 

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 


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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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PAYMENTS TO CERTAIN JURISDICTIONS CON7 DUCTING 2008 GENERAL ELECTIONS. 

8 (a) REIMBURSEMENT FOR CONVERSION TO PAPER

9 BALLOT VOTING SYSTEM.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of Gen11 eral Services shall pay to each eligible jurisdiction an 

12 amount equal to the sum of the following: 

13 (A) The documented reasonable costs paid 

14 or incurred by such jurisdiction to replace any 

15 voting systems used to conduct the general elec16 tions for Federal office held in November 2006 

17 that did not use or produce a paper ballot 

18 verified by the voter or a paper ballot printout 

19 verifiable by the voter at the time the vote is 

20 cast with paper ballot voting systems. 

21 (B) The documented reasonable costs paid 

22 or incurred by such jurisdiction to obtain non23 tabulating ballot marking devices that are acVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:00 Jan 18, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5036.IH H5036

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1 cessible for individuals with disabilities in ac2 cordance with the requirements of section 

3 301(a)(3) of the Help America Vote Act of 

4 2002. 

5 (C) The documented reasonable costs paid 

6 or incurred by such jurisdiction to obtain ballot 

7 marking stations or voting booths for the pro8 tection of voter privacy. 

9 (D) The documented reasonable costs paid 

10 or incurred by such jurisdiction to obtain paper 

11 ballots. 

12 (E) The documented reasonable costs paid 

13 or incurred by such jurisdiction to obtain pre14 cinct-based equipment that tabulates paper bal15 lots or scans paper ballots. 

16 (F) The documented reasonable adminis17 trative costs paid or incurred by such jurisdic18 tion that are associated with meeting the re19 quirements for an eligible jurisdiction. 

20 (2) ELIGIBLE JURISDICTION DEFINED.—In this 

21 subsection, an ‘‘eligible jurisdiction’’ means a juris22 diction that submits to the Administrator (and, in 

23 the case of a county or equivalent jurisdiction, pro24 vides a copy to the State), at such time and in such 


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1 form as the Administrator may require, an applica2 tion containing— 

3 (A) assurances that the jurisdiction con4 ducted regularly scheduled general elections for 

5 Federal office in November 2006 using (in 

6 whole or in part) a voting system that did not 

7 use or produce a paper ballot verified by the 

8 voter or a paper ballot printout verifiable by the 

9 voter at the time the vote is cast; 

10 (B) assurances that the jurisdiction will 

11 conduct the regularly scheduled general elec12 tions for Federal office to be held in November 

13 2008 using only paper ballot voting systems; 

14 (C) assurances that the jurisdiction has 

15 obtained or will obtain a sufficient number of 

16 non-tabulating ballot marking devices that are 

17 accessible for individuals with disabilities in ac18 cordance with the requirements of section 

19 301(a)(3) of the Help America Vote Act of 

20 2002; 

21 (D) assurances that the jurisdiction has 

22 obtained or will obtain a sufficient number of 

23 ballot marking stations or voting booths for the 

24 protection of voter privacy; 


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1 (E) assurances that the jurisdiction has 

2 obtained or will obtain a sufficient number of 

3 paper ballots; 

4 (F) such information and assurances as 

5 the Administrator may require to make the de6 terminations under paragraph (1); and 

7 (G) such other information and assurances 

8 as the Administrator may require. 

9 (3) DETERMINATIONS OF REASONABLENESS OF

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

11 whether costs paid or incurred by a jurisdiction are 

12 reasonable shall be made by the Administrator in 

13 consultation with the Election Assistance Commis14 sion. 

15 (4) PAPER BALLOT VOTING SYSTEM DE16 FINED.—In this subsection, a ‘‘paper ballot voting 

17 system’’ means a voting system that uses a paper 

18 ballot marked by the voter by hand or a paper ballot 

19 marked by the voter with the assistance of a non20 tabulating ballot marking device described in para21 graph (1)(B). 

22 (b) REIMBURSEMENT FOR PROVISION OF EMER23 GENCY PAPER BALLOTS BY JURISDICTIONS USING DI24 RECT RECORDING ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEMS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall pay 

2 to each eligible jurisdiction an amount equal to the 

3 documented reasonable costs paid or incurred by 

4 such jurisdiction to obtain, deploy, and tabulate 

5 emergency paper ballots (and related supplies and 

6 equipment) that may be used in the event of the fail7 ure of a direct recording electronic voting system in 

8 the regularly scheduled general elections for Federal 

9 office to be held in November 2008. 

10 (2) ELIGIBLE JURISDICTION DEFINED.—In this 

11 subsection, an ‘‘eligible jurisdiction’’ means a juris12 diction that submits to the Administrator (and, in 

13 the case of a county or equivalent jurisdiction, pro14 vides a copy to the State), at such time and in such 

15 form as the Administrator may require, an applica16 tion containing— 

17 (A) assurances that the jurisdiction will 

18 post, in a conspicuous manner at all polling 

19 places at which a direct recording electronic 

20 voting system will be used in such elections, a 

21 notice stating that emergency paper ballots are 

22 available at the polling place and that a voter 

23 is entitled to use such a ballot upon the failure 

24 of a voting system; 


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1 (B) assurances that the jurisdiction counts 

2 each such emergency paper ballot cast by a 

3 voter as a regular ballot cast in the election, 

4 and does not treat it (for eligibility purposes) as 

5 a provisional ballot under section 302(a) of the 

6 Help America Vote Act of 2002, unless the in7 dividual casting the ballot would have otherwise 

8 been required to cast a provisional ballot; 

9 (C) such information and assurances as 

10 the Administrator may require to make the de11 terminations under paragraph (1); and 

12 (D) such other information and assurances 

13 as the Administrator may require. 

14 (3) DETERMINATION OF REASONABLENESS OF

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

16 whether costs paid or incurred by a jurisdiction are 

17 reasonable shall be made by the Administrator in 

18 consultation with the Election Assistance Commis19 sion. 

20 (c) AMOUNTS.—There are authorized to be appro21 priated to the Administrator $500,000,000 for payments 

22 under this section. Any amounts appropriated pursuant 

23 to the authorization under this subsection shall remain 

24 available until expended. 


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1 SEC. 3. PAYMENTS FOR CONDUCTING MANUAL AUDITS OF 

2 RESULTS OF 2008 GENERAL ELECTIONS. 

3 (a) PAYMENTS.— 

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

5 county, or equivalent location conducts manual au6 dits of the results of any of the regularly scheduled 

7 general elections for Federal office in November 

8 2008 (and, at the option of the State or jurisdiction 

9 involved, conducts audits of elections for State and 

10 local office and State and local ballot initiatives and 

11 referenda held at the same time as such election) in 

12 accordance with the requirements of this section, the 

13 Administrator shall make a payment to the State, 

14 county, or equivalent location in an amount equal to 

15 the documented reasonable costs incurred by the 

16 State, county, or equivalent location in conducting 

17 the audits. 

18 (2) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE AND

19 COSTS.— 

20 (A) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—In order 

21 to receive a payment under this section, a 

22 State, county, or equivalent location shall sub23 mit to the Administrator (and, in the case of a 

24 county or equivalent jurisdiction, shall provide a 

25 copy to the State), in such form as the Admin26 istrator may require, a statement containing— 


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1 (i) a certification that the State, coun2 ty, or equivalent location conducted the au3 dits in accordance with all of the require4 ments of this section; 

5 (ii) a statement of the reasonable 

6 costs incurred by the State, county, or 

7 equivalent location in conducting the au8 dits; and 

9 (iii) such other information and assur10 ances as the Administrator may require. 

11 (B) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.—The amount 

12 of a payment made to a State, county, or equiv13 alent location under this section shall be equal 

14 to the reasonable costs incurred by the State, 

15 county, or equivalent location in conducting the 

16 audits. 

17 (C) DETERMINATION OF REASONABLENESS

18 OF COSTS.—The determinations under this 

19 paragraph of whether costs incurred by a State, 

20 county, or equivalent location are reasonable 

21 shall be made by the Administrator in consulta22 tion with the Election Assistance Commission. 

23 (3) TIMING OF PAYMENTS.—The Administrator 

24 shall make the payment required under this section 

25 to a State, county, or equivalent location not later 


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1 than 30 days after receiving the statement sub2 mitted by the State, county, or equivalent location 

3 under paragraph (2). 

4 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

5 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Ad6 ministrator $100,000,000 for payments under this 

7 section. Any amounts appropriated pursuant to the 

8 authorization under this subsection shall remain 

9 available until expended. 

10 (b) AUDITS DESCRIBED.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—An audit conducted in ac12 cordance with this section is an audit administered 

13 by a State, county, or equivalent location, without 

14 advance selection of the precincts or notice of the 

15 precincts selected, consisting of the random selection 

16 of precincts or alternative audit units to be audited 

17 and hand counting of the votes cast on the paper 

18 ballots used in the election (including paper ballot 

19 printouts verifiable by the voter at the time the vote 

20 is cast) attributable to those precincts or alternative 

21 audit units, and the comparison of the results of 

22 those hand counts with the corresponding final unof23 ficial vote count (as defined by the State, county, or 

24 equivalent location) of the votes cast in the election. 


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1 (2) COMPLETENESS.—With respect to each pre2 cinct or alternative audit unit audited in accordance 

3 with the method selected under subsection (c)(2), 

4 the State, county, or equivalent location shall ensure 

5 that a voter verified paper ballot or paper ballot 

6 printout verifiable by the voter at the time the vote 

7 is cast is available for every vote cast in the precinct 

8 or alternative audit unit, and that the tally produced 

9 by counting all of those paper ballots by hand is 

10 compared with the corresponding final unofficial 

11 vote count (as defined by the State, county, or 

12 equivalent location) announced with respect to that 

13 precinct or audit unit in the election. 

14 (3) DETERMINATION OF ENTITY CONDUCTING

15 AUDITS; INDEPENDENCE STANDARDS.—An audit ad16 ministered by a State, county, or equivalent location 

17 in accordance with this section shall be overseen by 

18 an entity selected for such purpose by the State, 

19 county, or equivalent location in accordance with 

20 such criteria as the State, county, or equivalent loca21 tion considers appropriate consistent with the re22 quirements of this section, except that the entity 

23 must meet a general standard of independence as 

24 defined by the State, county, or equivalent location. 


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1 (4) REFERENCES TO ELECTION AUDITOR.—In 

2 this section, the term ‘‘Election Auditor’’ means, 

3 with respect to a State, county, or equivalent loca4 tion, the entity selected by the State, county, or 

5 equivalent location under paragraph (3). 

6 (c) NUMBER OF BALLOTS COUNTED UNDER

7 AUDIT.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The hand counts of the 

9 paper ballots administered by the Election Auditor 

10 of a State, county, or equivalent location under this 

11 section with respect to an election shall occur in at 

12 least 3 percent of all precincts or equivalent loca13 tions (or alternative audit units used in accordance 

14 with the method provided for under paragraph (2)) 

15 in which ballots were cast in the election. 

16 (2) USE OF ALTERNATIVE SAMPLING MECHA17 NISM.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1) (and subject 

18 to the completeness requirement set forth in sub19 section (b)(2)), a State, county, or equivalent loca20 tion may adopt and apply an alternative sampling 

21 mechanism to determine the number of paper ballots 

22 which will be subject to hand counts in accordance 

23 with this section with respect to an election, so long 

24 as the alternative sampling mechanism uses the 

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1 outs verifiable by voters at the time the vote is cast 

2 to conduct the audit and the Director of the Na3 tional Institute of Standards and Technology or a 

4 panel of 3 independent statisticians appointed by the 

5 Election Auditor of the State, county, or equivalent 

6 jurisdiction determines that the alternative sampling 

7 mechanism will be at least as statistically effective in 

8 ensuring the accuracy of the election results as the 

9 sample size specified under paragraph (1). 

10 (d) PROCESS FOR ADMINISTERING AUDITS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Election Auditor of a 

12 State, county, or equivalent location shall oversee 

13 the administration of an audit conducted under this 

14 section in accordance with the following procedures: 

15 (A) The Election Auditor shall commence 

16 the audit within 48 hours after the State, coun17 ty, or equivalent location announces the final 

18 unofficial vote count (as defined by the State, 

19 county, or equivalent location) in each precinct 

20 in which votes are cast in the election which is 

21 the subject of the audit. 

22 (B) The Election Auditor shall complete 

23 the audit, resolve discrepancies discovered in 

24 the audit, and submit the audit report required 

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1 cation by the State, county, or equivalent loca2 tion of the results of the election. 

3 (C) Within each precinct or alternative 

4 audit unit, and subject to the completeness re5 quirement set forth in subsection (b)(2), the 

6 audit shall include all ballots (including absen7 tee ballots in accordance with the procedure set 

8 forth in subsection (e)(3) or otherwise, early 

9 ballots, and provisional ballots) cast by all indi10 viduals who voted in or are under the jurisdic11 tion of the precinct or alternative audit unit 

12 with respect to which the audit takes place, 

13 without regard to the time, place, or manner in 

14 which the votes were cast. 

15 (2) USE OF ELECTION PERSONNEL.—In admin16 istering the audits, the Election Auditor may utilize 

17 the services of jurisdiction personnel, including elec18 tion administration personnel and poll workers, with19 out regard to whether or not the personnel have pro20 fessional auditing experience. 

21 (3) LOCATION.—The Election Auditor shall ad22 minister an audit conducted under this section at 

23 the location where the ballots cast in the election are 

24 stored and counted after the date of the election, or 

25 such other appropriate and secure location agreed 


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1 upon by the Election Auditor and the individual who 

2 is responsible under State law for the custody of the 

3 ballots, and in the presence of the personnel who 

4 under State law are responsible for the custody of 

5 the ballots. 

6 (4) ADDITIONAL AUDITS IF CAUSE SHOWN.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the Election Auditor 

8 finds that any of the hand counts administered 

9 under this section do not match the final unof10 ficial vote count of the results of an election, 

11 the Election Auditor shall oversee the adminis12 tration of hand counts under this section of 

13 such additional precincts (or equivalent jurisdic14 tions) as the Election Auditor considers appro15 priate (in accordance with the procedures de16 scribed in subparagraph (B)) to resolve any 

17 concerns resulting from the audit and ensure 

18 the accuracy of the results. 

19 (B) ESTABLISHMENT AND PUBLICATION

20 OF PROCEDURES GOVERNING ADDITIONAL AU21 DITS.—Prior to the date of the regularly sched22 uled general election for Federal office held in 

23 November 2008, a State, county, or equivalent 

24 location shall establish and publish procedures 

25 for carrying out the additional audits under this 


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1 subsection, including the means by which the 

2 State, county, or equivalent location shall re3 solve any concerns resulting from the audit with 

4 finality and ensure the accuracy of the results. 

5 (5) PUBLIC OBSERVATION OF AUDITS.—Each 

6 audit conducted under this section shall be con7 ducted in a manner that allows public observation of 

8 the entire process, including reasonable advance no9 tice, sufficient to confirm but not interfere with the 

10 proceedings. 

11 (e) SELECTION OF PRECINCTS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para13 graph (3), the selection of the precincts in the State, 

14 county, or equivalent location in which the Election 

15 Auditor of the State, county, or equivalent location 

16 shall oversee the administration of hand counts in 

17 an audit conducted under this section shall be made 

18 by the Election Auditor after the final unofficial vote 

19 count (as defined by the State, county or equivalent 

20 location) has been announced and on an entirely 

21 random basis using a uniform distribution in which 

22 all precincts in the State, county, or equivalent loca23 tion have an equal chance of being selected, in ac24 cordance with procedures adopted by the State, 

25 county, or equivalent location, except that, consistent 


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1 with the other requirements of this paragraph, in 

2 the case of an audit conducted by the State, at least 

3 one precinct or alternative audit unit shall be se4 lected at random in each county or equivalent juris5 diction. 

6 (2) PUBLIC SELECTION.—The random selection 

7 of precincts under paragraph (1) shall be conducted 

8 in public, at a time and place announced in advance. 

9 (3) MANDATORY SELECTION OF PRECINCTS ES10 TABLISHED SPECIFICALLY FOR ABSENTEE BAL11 LOTS.—If a State, county, or equivalent location es12 tablishes a separate precinct for purposes of count13 ing the absentee ballots cast in an election and 

14 treats all absentee ballots as having been cast in 

15 that precinct, and if the State, county, or equivalent 

16 location does not make absentee ballots sortable by 

17 precinct and include those ballots in the hand count 

18 administered with respect to that precinct, subject to 

19 the completeness requirement set forth in subsection 

20 (b)(2), the State, county, or equivalent location may 

21 divide absentee ballots into audit units approxi22 mately equal in size to the average precinct in the 

23 State, county, or equivalent location in terms of the 

24 number of ballots cast, and shall randomly select 

25 and include at least 3 percent of those audit units 


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1 in the audit carried out in accordance with this sec2 tion. 

3 (4) DEADLINE FOR ADOPTION OF PROCE4 DURES.—Prior to the date of the regularly scheduled 

5 general election for Federal office held in November 

6 2008, a State, county, or equivalent location shall 

7 adopt and publish the procedures described in para8 graph (1). 

9 (f) PUBLICATION OF RESULTS.—As soon as prac10 ticable after the completion of an audit conducted under 

11 this section, the Election Auditor of a State, county, or 

12 equivalent location shall submit to the Administrator the 

13 results of the audit, and shall include in the submission 

14 a comparison of the results of the election attributable to 

15 the precinct or alternative audit unit as determined by the 

16 Election Auditor under the audit and the final unofficial 

17 vote count attributable to the precinct or alternative audit 

18 unit as announced by the State, county, or equivalent loca19 tion and all undervotes, overvotes, blank ballots, and 

20 spoiled, voided or cancelled ballots, as well as a list of any 

21 discrepancies discovered between the initial, subsequent, 

22 and final hand counts overseen by the Election Auditor 

23 and such final unofficial vote count and any explanation 

24 for such discrepancies, broken down by the types of ballots 

25 which were subject to the audit. 


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1 (g) REPORTS BY ADMINISTRATOR.—The Adminis2 trator shall publish promptly all reports on the results of 

3 audits conducted under this section that are submitted 

4 pursuant to this section. 

5 (h) DEADLINE FOR APPROVAL OF ALTERNATIVE

6 BALLOT SAMPLING METHODS BY NATIONAL INSTITUTE

7 OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY.—The Director of the 

8 National Institute of Standards and Technology shall, not 

9 later than 30 days after receiving a request by a State, 

10 county, or equivalent location for approval of an alter11 native ballot sampling method under subsection (c)(2), re12 spond to the State, county, or equivalent location with con13 firmation as to whether or not the method is at least as 

14 statistically effective in ensuring the accuracy of the elec15 tion results as the procedure described in subsection 

16 (c)(1). 

17 SEC. 4. PAYMENTS FOR CONDUCTING HAND COUNTS OF 

18 RESULTS OF 2008 GENERAL ELECTIONS. 

19 (a) PAYMENTS.— 

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

21 county, or equivalent location tallies the results of 

22 any regularly scheduled general election for Federal 

23 office in November 2008 by conducting a hand count 

24 of the votes cast on the paper ballots used in the 

25 election (including paper ballot printouts verifiable 


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1 by the voter at the time the vote is cast) in accord2 ance with the requirements of this section, the Ad3 ministrator shall make a payment to the State, 

4 county, or equivalent location in an amount equal to 

5 the documented reasonable costs incurred by the 

6 State, county, or equivalent location in conducting 

7 the hand counts. 

8 (2) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE AND

9 COSTS.— 

10 (A) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—In order 

11 to receive a payment under this section, a 

12 State, county, or equivalent location shall sub13 mit to the Administrator (and, in the case of a 

14 county or equivalent jurisdiction, shall provide a 

15 copy to the State), in such form as the Admin16 istrator may require, a statement containing— 

17 (i) a certification that the State, coun18 ty, or equivalent location conducted the 

19 hand counts in accordance with all of the 

20 requirements of this section; 

21 (ii) a statement of the reasonable 

22 costs incurred by the State, county, or 

23 equivalent location in conducting the hand 

24 counts; and 


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1 (iii) such other information and assur2 ances as the Administrator may require. 

3 (B) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.—The amount 

4 of a payment made to a State, county, or equiv5 alent location under this section shall be equal 

6 to the reasonable costs incurred by the State, 

7 county, or equivalent location in conducting the 

8 hand counts. 

9 (C) DETERMINATION OF REASONABLENESS

10 OF COSTS.—The determinations under this 

11 paragraph of whether costs incurred by a State, 

12 county, or equivalent location are reasonable 

13 shall be made by the Administrator in consulta14 tion with the Election Assistance Commission. 

15 (3) TIMING OF PAYMENTS.—The Administrator 

16 shall make the payment required under this section 

17 to a State, county, or equivalent location not later 

18 than 30 days after receiving the statement sub19 mitted by the State, county, or equivalent location 

20 under paragraph (2). 

21 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

22 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Ad23 ministrator $30,000,000 for payments under this 

24 section. Any amounts appropriated pursuant to the 


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1 authorization under this subsection shall remain 

2 available until expended. 

3 (b) HAND COUNTS DESCRIBED.— 

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

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

6 paper ballots on which votes were cast in the election 

7 (including paper ballot printouts verifiable by the 

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

9 cast on an early, absentee, emergency, and provi10 sional basis, which is conducted by hand to deter11 mine the winner of the election and is conducted 

12 without using electronic equipment or software. 

13 (2) COMPLETENESS.—With respect to each ju14 risdiction in which a hand count is conducted, the 

15 State, county, or equivalent location shall ensure 

16 that a voter verified paper ballot or paper ballot 

17 printout verifiable by the voter at the time the vote 

18 is cast is available for every vote cast in the jurisdic19 tion. 

20 (c) PROCESS FOR CONDUCTING HAND COUNTS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—In order to meet the require22 ments of this section, a hand count of the ballots 

23 cast in an election shall be conducted in accordance 

24 with the following procedures: 


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1 (A) On the date of the election, the juris2 diction shall conduct an initial hand count of 

3 the ballots cast in the election, using the ballots 

4 which are eligible to be counted in the election 

5 as of the time the polls are closed. 

6 (B) Any ballot which is eligible to be 

7 counted in the election but which is not in8 cluded in the initial count conducted under sub9 paragraph (A), including a provisional ballot 

10 cast by an individual who is determined to be 

11 eligible to vote in the election or an absentee 

12 ballot received after the date of the election but 

13 prior to the applicable deadline under State law 

14 for the receipt of absentee ballots, shall be sub15 ject to a hand count in accordance with this 

16 section and added to the tally conducted under 

17 subparagraph (A) not later than 48 hours after 

18 the ballot is determined to be eligible to be 

19 counted. 

20 (C) The hand count shall be conducted by 

21 a team of not fewer than 2 individuals who 

22 shall be witnessed by at least one observer sit23 ting at the same table with such individuals. 

24 Except as provided in paragraph (2), all such 


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1 individuals shall be election officials of the ju2 risdiction in which the hand count is conducted. 

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

4 who is not an election official of the jurisdiction in 

5 which a hand count is conducted under this section 

6 may serve on a team conducting the hand count or 

7 may serve as an observer of a team conducting the 

8 hand count if the jurisdiction certifies that the indi9 vidual has completed such training as the jurisdic10 tion deems appropriate to conduct or observe the 

11 hand count (as the case may be). 

12 (3) LOCATION.—The hand counts conducted 

13 under this section of the ballots cast in an election 

14 shall be conducted— 

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

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

17 place at which the ballots were cast; or 

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

19 office of the chief election official of the juris20 diction conducting the hand count. 

21 (4) INFORMATION INCLUDED IN RESULTS.— 

22 Each hand count conducted under this section shall 

23 produce the following information with respect to the 

24 election: 

25 (A) The vote tally for each candidate. 


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1 (B) The number of overvotes, undervotes, 

2 spoiled ballots, and blank ballots cast (or their 

3 equivalents, as defined by the State, county or 

4 equivalent location). 

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

6 names written in on such ballots pursuant to 

7 State law. 

8 (D) The total number of ballots cast. 

9 (E) A record of judgement calls made re10 garding voter intent. 

11 (5) PUBLIC OBSERVATION OF HAND COUNTS.— 

12 Each hand count conducted under this section shall 

13 be conducted in a manner that allows public obser14 vation of the entire process (including the opening of 

15 the ballot boxes or removal of machine-printed bal16 lots from their containers, the sorting, counting, and 

17 notation of results, and the announcement of final 

18 determinations) sufficient to confirm but not inter19 fere with the proceedings. 

20 (6) ESTABLISHMENT AND PUBLICATION OF

21 PROCEDURES.—Prior to the date of the regularly 

22 scheduled general election for Federal office held in 

23 November 2008, a State, county, or equivalent loca24 tion shall establish and publish procedures for car25 rying out hand counts under this subsection. 


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1 (d) ANNOUNCEMENT AND POSTING OF RESULTS.— 

2 Upon the completion of a hand count conducted under this 

3 section, the State, county, or equivalent location shall an4 nounce the results to the public and post them on a public 

5 Internet site. 

6 (e) USE OF HAND COUNT IN CERTIFICATION OF RE7 SULTS.—The State shall use the results of the hand count 

8 conducted under this section for purposes of certifying the 

9 results of the election involved. Nothing in this section 

10 may be construed to affect the application or operation 

11 of any State law governing the recount of the results of 

12 an election. 

13 SEC. 5. STUDY, TESTING, AND DEVELOPMENT OF PROD14 UCTS AND PRACTICES TO ENSURE ACCESSI15 BILITY OF PAPER BALLOT VERIFICATION 

16 AND CASTING FOR CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS. 

17 (a) STUDY, TESTING, AND DEVELOPMENT.—The Di18 rector of the National Institute of Standards and Tech19 nology (hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘‘Direc20 tor’’) shall study, test, and develop products and practices 

21 that ensure the accessibility of paper ballot verification 

22 and casting for individuals with disabilities, for voters 

23 whose primary language is not English, and for voters 

24 with difficulties in literacy, including the mechanisms 

25 themselves and the processes through which the mechaVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:00 Jan 18, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5036.IH H5036

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1 nisms are used. In carrying out this subsection, the Di2 rector shall specifically investigate existing and potential 

3 methods or devices, including non-electronic devices, that 

4 will assist such individuals and voters in creating voter5 verified paper ballots, presenting or transmitting the infor6 mation printed or marked on such ballots back to such 

7 individuals and voters in an accessible form, and enabling 

8 the voters to cast the ballots. 

9 (b) REPORT.—Not later than June 30, 2009, the Di10 rector shall submit a report to Congress on the results 

11 of the studying, testing, and development of products and 

12 practices under subsection (a). 

13 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

14 are authorized to be appropriated to the Director to carry 

15 out this section $3,000,000, to remain available until ex16 pended. 

17 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

18 In this Act— 

19 (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad20 ministrator of General Services; and 

21 (2) the term ‘‘State’’ includes the District of 

22 Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 

23 Guam, American Samoa, and the United States Vir24 gin Islands. 

Æ 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS