IB 

Union Calendar No. 398 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5803 

[Report No. 110–637] 

To direct the Election Assistance Commission to establish a program to 

make grants to participating States and units of local government which 

will administer the regularly scheduled general election for Federal office 

held in November 2008 for carrying out a program to make backup 

paper ballots available in the case of the failure of a voting system 

or voting equipment in the election or some other emergency situation, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 15, 2008 

Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on House Administration 

MAY 15, 2008 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 

and ordered to be printed 

A BILL 

To direct the Election Assistance Commission to establish 

a program to make grants to participating States and 

units of local government which will administer the regularly scheduled general election for Federal office held 

in November 2008 for carrying out a program to make 

backup paper ballots available in the case of the failure 

of a voting system or voting equipment in the election 

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or some other emergency situation, 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. GRANTS TO STATES AND UNITS OF LOCAL GOV4 ERNMENT FOR MAKING BACKUP PAPER BAL5 LOTS AVAILABLE IN CASE OF VOTING SYS6 TEM OR EQUIPMENT FAILURE OR OTHER 

7 EMERGENCY SITUATION. 

8 (a) GRANTS BY ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMIS9 SION.—The Election Assistance Commission (hereafter re10 ferred to as the ‘‘Commission’’) shall establish a program 

11 under which the Commission shall make a grant to each 

12 participating State and each participating unit of local 

13 government for carrying out a program to make backup 

14 paper ballots available in the case of the failure of a voting 

15 system or voting equipment or some other emergency situ16 ation in the administration of the regularly scheduled gen17 eral election for Federal office held in November 2008. 

18 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBILITY.— 

19 (1) APPLICATION.—A State or unit of local gov20 ernment is eligible to participate in the program es21 tablished by the Commission under this Act if the 

22 State or unit of local government submits an appli23 cation to the Commission at such time and in such 

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1 manner as the Commission shall require, and in2 cludes in the application— 

3 (A) a certification that the State or unit of 

4 local government has established a program 

5 that meets the requirements of paragraph (2) 

6 to make backup paper ballots available in the 

7 case of the failure of a voting system or voting 

8 equipment or some other emergency situation; 

9 (B) a statement of the reasonable costs the 

10 State or unit of local government expects to 

11 incur in carrying out its program; 

12 (C) a certification that, not later than 60 

13 days after the date of the election, the State or 

14 unit of local government will provide the Com15 mission with a statement of the actual costs in16 curred in carrying out its program; 

17 (D) a certification that the State or unit of 

18 local government will repay the Commission any 

19 amount by which the payment made under this 

20 Act exceeds the actual costs incurred in car21 rying out its program; and 

22 (E) such other information and certifi23 cations as the Commission may require. 

24 (2) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—The require25 ments of this paragraph for a program to make 

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1 backup paper ballots available in the case of the fail2 ure of a voting system or voting equipment or some 

3 other emergency situation are as follows: 

4 (A) In the event that the voting equipment 

5 at a polling place malfunctions and cannot be 

6 used to cast ballots on the date of the election 

7 or some other emergency situation exists which 

8 prevents the use of such equipment to cast bal9 lots on that date, any individual who is waiting 

10 at the polling place on that date to cast a ballot 

11 in the election and who would be delayed due 

12 to such malfunction or other emergency situa13 tion shall be notified by the appropriate election 

14 official of the individual’s right to use a backup 

15 paper ballot, and shall be provided with a 

16 backup paper ballot for the election, the sup17 plies necessary to mark the ballot, and instruc18 tions on how to mark the ballot to prevent over19 votes. 

20 (B) Any backup paper ballot which is cast 

21 by an individual pursuant to the program of a 

22 State or unit of local government shall be 

23 counted as a regular ballot cast in the election 

24 and tabulated on the date of the election, and 

25 shall not be treated (for eligibility purposes) as 

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

2 Help America Vote Act of 2002, unless the in3 dividual casting the ballot would have otherwise 

4 been required to cast a provisional ballot if the 

5 voting equipment at the polling place had not 

6 malfunctioned or an emergency situation had 

7 not existed which prevented the use of such 

8 equipment to cast ballots. 

9 (C) The program of a State or unit of local 

10 government is carried out in accordance with 

11 standards established by the State or unit of 

12 local government which include protocols for de13 livering and supplying backup paper ballots to 

14 polling places and for notifying individuals of 

15 the right to use the backup paper ballots. 

16 (c) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of a grant 

17 made to a State or unit of local government under the 

18 program established by the Commission under this Act 

19 shall be equal to the amount of the reasonable costs the 

20 State or unit of local government expects to incur in car21 rying out its program, as provided in the application under 

22 subsection (b)(1)(B). 

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1 SEC. 2. STATE DEFINED. 

2 In this Act, the term ‘‘State’’ includes the District 

3 of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, 

4 American Samoa, and the United States Virgin Islands. 

5 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

6 There are authorized to be appropriated for grants 

7 under the program established by the Commission under 

8 this Act $75,000,000. Any amount appropriated pursuant 

9 to the authority of this section shall remain available with10 out fiscal year limitation until expended. 

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Union Calendar No. 398 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5803 

[Report No. 110

–637] 

A BILL 

To direct the Election Assistance Commission to esand for other purposes. the election or some other emergency situation, failure of a voting system or voting equipment in backup paper ballots available in the case of the ber 2008 for carrying out a program to make general election for Federal office held in Novem- which will administer the regularly scheduled pating States and units of local government tablish a program to make grants to particiMAY 15, 2008 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 

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