II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3100 

To require early voting in Federal elections, to prohibit restrictions on absentee voting in Federal elections, to establish a grant program to promote 

voting by mail, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 6, 2008 

Mr. NELSON of Florida introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

To require early voting in Federal elections, to prohibit restrictions on absentee voting in Federal elections, to establish a grant program to promote voting by mail, 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, TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Voting Opportunities and Integrity in the Conduct of 

6 Elections Act of 2008’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

8 this Act is as follows: 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
2 

•S 3100 IS

Sec. 1. Short title, table of contents. 

TITLE I—EARLY VOTING 

Sec. 101. Early voting. 

Sec. 102. Standards for early voting. 

TITLE II—ABSENTEE BALLOTS ON DEMAND 

Sec. 201. Absentee ballots on demand. 

TITLE III—VOTE BY MAIL 

Sec. 301. Definitions. 

Sec. 302. Vote by mail grant program. 

Sec. 303. Study on implementation of mail-in voting for elections. 

TITLE IV—VOTE VERIFICATION 

Sec. 401. Promoting accuracy, integrity, and security through voter-verified 

permanent paper ballot. 

Sec. 402. Enhancement of enforcement of Help America Vote Act of 2002. 

Sec. 403. Requirement for mandatory manual audits by hand count. 

Sec. 404. Repeal of exemption of Election Assistance Commission from certain 

Government contracting requirements. 

Sec. 405. Effective date. 

TITLE V—VOTER REGISTRATION 

Sec. 501. Grants for pre-registration of voters. 

Sec. 502. Grants for automatic re-registration of voters changing residence. 

Sec. 503. Interoperability of voter registration databases. 

Sec. 504. Clarification of standards for determining matching of information 

provided with applications. 

TITLE VI—VOTER CAGING 

Sec. 601. Prohibition on voter caging. 

1 TITLE I—EARLY VOTING 

2 SEC. 101. EARLY VOTING. 

3 (a) REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help Amer5 ica Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481 et seq.) is 

6 amended— 

7 (A) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 

8 as sections 305 and 306, respectively, and 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
3 

•S 3100 IS

1 (B) by inserting after section 303 the fol2 lowing new section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 304. EARLY VOTING. 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—During the 15-day period (or, at 

5 the option of the State, a longer period) which ends on 

6 the date of an election for Federal office, each State shall 

7 allow individuals to vote in the election in a similar man8 ner to the manner in which voting is allowed in person 

9 at the polling place on the date of such election. 

10 ‘‘(b) MINIMUM EARLY VOTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

11 Each polling place which allows voting prior to the day 

12 of a Federal election pursuant to subsection (a) shall— 

13 ‘‘(1) allow such voting for no less than 4 hours 

14 on each day (other than Sunday); and 

15 ‘‘(2) have minimum uniform hours each day for 

16 which such voting occurs. 

17 ‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Each State and jurisdiction 

18 shall be required to comply with the requirements of this 

19 section on and after January 1, 2010.’’. 

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 401 of 

21 such Act (42 U.S.C. 15511) is amended by striking ‘‘and 

22 303’’ and inserting ‘‘303, and 304’’. 

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

24 of such Act is amended— 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
4 

•S 3100 IS

1 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec2 tions 304 and 305 as relating to sections 305 and 

3 306, respectively, and 

4 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec5 tion 303 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 304. Early voting.’’. 

6 SEC. 102. STANDARDS FOR EARLY VOTING. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

8 15321 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing new subtitle: 

10 ‘‘Subtitle E—Guidance and 

11 Standards 

12 ‘‘SEC. 298. STANDARDS FOR EARLY VOTING. 

13 ‘‘(a) STANDARDS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall issue 

15 standards for the administration of voting prior to 

16 the day scheduled for a Federal election. 

17 ‘‘(2) STANDARDS FOR POLLING PLACES.—Such 

18 standards shall include the nondiscriminatory geo19 graphic placement of polling places at which such 

20 voting occurs and the public listing of the date, time, 

21 and location of polling places no earlier than 10 days 

22 before the date on which such voting begins. 

23 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION.—Such standards shall be 

24 developed in consultation with civil rights, voting 

25 rights, and voting protection organizations, State 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
5 

•S 3100 IS

1 and local election officials, and other interested 

2 members of the community. 

3 ‘‘(b) DEVIATION.—The standards described in sub4 section (a) shall permit States, upon giving reasonable 

5 public notice, to deviate from any requirement in the case 

6 of unforeseen circumstances such as a natural disaster or 

7 a terrorist attack.’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 202 of 

9 such Act (42 U.S.C. 15322) is amended— 

10 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and (6) as 

11 paragraphs (6) and (7); and 

12 (2) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol13 lowing new paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(5) carrying out the duties described under 

15 subtitle E;’’. 

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

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

18 to section 296 the following: 

‘‘Subtitle E—Guidance and Standards 

‘‘Sec. 298. Standards for early voting.’’. 

19 TITLE II—ABSENTEE BALLOTS 

20 ON DEMAND 

21 SEC. 201. ABSENTEE BALLOTS ON DEMAND. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help America 

23 Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481 et seq.), as amended 

24 by this Act, is amended— 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
6 

•S 3100 IS

1 (1) by redesignating sections 305 and 306 as 

2 sections 306 and 307, respectively, and 

3 (2) by inserting after section 304 the following 

4 new section: by adding at the end the following new 

5 section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 305. ABSENTEE BALLOTS ON DEMAND. 

7 ‘‘(a) ABSENTEE VOTING.—Each State shall permit 

8 any person who is otherwise qualified to vote in an election 

9 for Federal office to vote in such election in a manner 

10 other than in person, and shall not impose any additional 

11 conditions or restrictions on absentee voting other than 

12 a reasonable deadline for requesting and returning the bal13 lot. 

14 ‘‘(b) SUBMISSION AND PROCESSING.—Any ballot cast 

15 under subsection (a) shall be submitted and processed in 

16 the manner provided for absentee ballots under State law. 

17 ‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Each State and jurisdiction 

18 shall be required to comply with the requirements of this 

19 section on and after January 1, 2010.’’. 

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 401 of 

21 such Act (42 U.S.C. 15511), as amended by this Act, is 

22 amended by striking ‘‘and 304’’ and inserting ‘‘304, and 

23 305’’. 

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

25 of such Act, as amended by this Act, is amended— 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
7 

•S 3100 IS

1 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec2 tions 305 and 306 as relating to sections 306 and 

3 307, respectively, and 

4 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec5 tion 304 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 305. Absentee ballots on demand.’’. 

6 TITLE III—VOTE BY MAIL 

7 SEC. 301. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this title: 

9 (1) ELECTION.—The term ‘‘election’’ means 

10 any general, special, primary, or runoff election. 

11 (2) PARTICIPATING STATE.—The term ‘‘partici12 pating State’’ means a State receiving a grant under 

13 the Vote by Mail grant program under section 402. 

14 (3) RESIDUAL VOTE RATE.—The term ‘‘resid15 ual vote rate’’ means the sum of all votes that can16 not be counted in an election (overvotes, undervotes, 

17 and otherwise spoiled ballots) divided by the total 

18 number of votes cast. 

19 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means a State 

20 of the United States, the District of Columbia, the 

21 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or a territory or pos22 session of the United States. 

23 (5) VOTING SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘voting sys24 tem’’ has the meaning given such term under section 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
8 

•S 3100 IS

1 301(b) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 

2 U.S.C. 15481(b)). 

3 SEC. 302. VOTE BY MAIL GRANT PROGRAM. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 270 days after 

5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Election Assistance 

6 Commission shall establish a Vote by Mail grant program 

7 (in this section referred to as the ‘‘program’’). 

8 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the program is to 

9 make implementation grants to participating States solely 

10 for the implementation of procedures for the conduct of 

11 all elections by mail at the State or local government level. 

12 (c) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—In no case may 

13 grants made under this section be used to reimburse a 

14 State for costs incurred in implementing mail-in voting for 

15 elections at the State or local government level if such 

16 costs were incurred prior to the date of enactment of this 

17 Act. 

18 (d) APPLICATION.—A State seeking to participate in 

19 the program under this section shall submit an application 

20 to the Election Assistance Commission containing such in21 formation, and at such time, as the Election Assistance 

22 Commission may specify. 

23 (e) AMOUNT AND AWARDING OF IMPLEMENTATION

24 GRANTS; DURATION OF PROGRAM.— 

25 (1) AMOUNT OF IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.— 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
9 

•S 3100 IS

1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara2 graph (B), the amount of an implementation 

3 grant made to a participating State shall be, in 

4 the case of a State that certifies that it will im5 plement all elections by mail in accordance with 

6 the requirements of subsection (f), with respect 

7 to— 

8 (i) the entire State, $2,000,000; or 

9 (ii) any single unit or multiple units 

10 of local government within the State, 

11 $1,000,000. 

12 (B) EXCESS FUNDS.— 

13 (i) IN GENERAL.—To the extent that 

14 there are excess funds in either of the first 

15 2 years of the program, such funds may be 

16 used to award implementation grants to 

17 participating States in subsequent years. 

18 (ii) EXCESS FUNDS DEFINED.—For 

19 purposes of clause (i), the term ‘‘excess 

20 funds’’ means any amounts appropriated 

21 pursuant to the authorization under sub22 section (h)(1) with respect to a fiscal year 

23 that are not awarded to a participating 

24 State under an implementation grant dur25 ing such fiscal year. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
10 

•S 3100 IS

1 (C) CONTINUING AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS

2 AFTER APPROPRIATION.—An implementation 

3 grant made to a participating State under this 

4 section shall be available to the State without 

5 fiscal year limitation. 

6 (2) AWARDING OF IMPLEMENTATION

7 GRANTS.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Election Assist9 ance Commission shall award implementation 

10 grants during each year in which the program 

11 is conducted. 

12 (B) ONE GRANT PER STATE.—The Elec13 tion Assistance Commission shall not award 

14 more than 1 implementation grant to any par15 ticipating State under this section over the du16 ration of the program. 

17 (3) DURATION.—The program shall be con18 ducted for a period of 3 years. 

19 (f) REQUIREMENTS.— 

20 (1) REQUIRED PROCEDURES.—A participating 

21 State shall establish and implement procedures for 

22 conducting all elections by mail in the area with re23 spect to which it receives an implementation grant 

24 to conduct such elections, including the following: 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
11 

•S 3100 IS

1 (A) A process for recording electronically 

2 each voter’s registration information and signa3 ture. 

4 (B) A process for mailing ballots to all eli5 gible voters. 

6 (C) The designation of places for the de7 posit of ballots cast in an election. 

8 (D) A process for ensuring the secrecy and 

9 integrity of ballots cast in the election. 

10 (E) Procedures and penalties for pre11 venting election fraud and ballot tampering, in12 cluding procedures for the verification of the 

13 signature of the voter accompanying the ballot 

14 through comparison of such signature with the 

15 signature of the voter maintained by the State 

16 in accordance with subparagraph (A). 

17 (F) Procedures for verifying that a ballot 

18 has been received by the appropriate authority. 

19 (G) Procedures for obtaining a replace20 ment ballot in the case of a ballot which is de21 stroyed, spoiled, lost, or not received by the 

22 voter. 

23 (H) A plan for training election workers in 

24 signature verification techniques. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
12 

•S 3100 IS

1 (I) Plans and procedures to ensure that 

2 voters who are blind, visually-impaired, or oth3 erwise disabled have the opportunity to partici4 pate in elections conducted by mail and to en5 sure compliance with the Help America Vote 

6 Act of 2002. Such plans and procedures shall 

7 be developed in consultation with disabled and 

8 other civil rights organizations, voting rights 

9 groups, State election officials, voter protection 

10 groups, and other interested community organi11 zations. 

12 (J) Plans and procedures to ensure the 

13 translation of ballots and voting materials in 

14 accordance with section 203 of the Voting 

15 Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973aa–1a)). 

16 (K) Plans and procedures to allow for vot17 ing in person at designated polling places. 

18 (g) BEST PRACTICES, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, AND

19 REPORTS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Election Assistance 

21 Commission shall— 

22 (A) develop, periodically issue, and, as ap23 propriate, update best practices for conducting 

24 elections by mail; 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
13 

•S 3100 IS

1 (B) provide technical assistance to partici2 pating States for the purpose of implementing 

3 procedures for conducting elections by mail; and 

4 (C) submit to the appropriate committees 

5 of Congress— 

6 (i) annual reports on the implementa7 tion of such procedures by participating 

8 States during each year in which the pro9 gram is conducted; and 

10 (ii) upon completion of the program 

11 conducted under this section, a final report 

12 on the program, together with rec13 ommendations for such legislation or ad14 ministrative action as the Election Assist15 ance Commission determines to be appro16 priate. 

17 (2) CONSULTATION.—In developing, issuing, 

18 and updating best practices, developing materials to 

19 provide technical assistance to participating States, 

20 and developing the annual and final reports under 

21 paragraph (1), the Election Assistance Commission 

22 shall consult with interested parties, including— 

23 (A) State and local election officials; 

24 (B) the United States Postal Service; 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
14 

•S 3100 IS

1 (C) the Postal Regulatory Commission es2 tablished under section 501 of title 39, United 

3 States Code; and 

4 (D) voting rights groups, voter protection 

5 groups, groups representing the disabled, and 

6 other civil rights or community organizations. 

7 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

8 (1) GRANTS.—There are authorized to be ap9 propriated to award grants under this section, for 

10 each of fiscal years 2009 through 2011, $6,000,000, 

11 to remain available without fiscal year limitation 

12 until expended. 

13 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—There are authorized to 

14 be appropriated to administer the program under 

15 this section, $200,000 for the period of fiscal years 

16 2009 through 2011, to remain available without fis17 cal year limitation until expended. 

18 (i) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this title 

19 may be construed to authorize or require conduct prohib20 ited under any of the following laws, or to supersede, re21 strict, or limit the application of such laws: 

22 (1) The Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 

23 U.S.C. 15301 et seq.). 

24 (2) The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 

25 1973 et seq.). 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
15 

•S 3100 IS

1 (3) The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and 

2 Handicapped Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ee et seq.). 

3 (4) The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Ab4 sentee Voting Act(42 U.S.C. 1973ff et seq.). 

5 (5) The National Voter Registration Act of 

6 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg et seq.). 

7 (6) The Americans with Disabilities Act of 

8 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). 

9 (7) The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 

10 701 et seq.). 

11 SEC. 303. STUDY ON IMPLEMENTATION OF MAIL-IN VOTING 

12 FOR ELECTIONS. 

13 (a) STUDY.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 

15 the United States (in this section referred to as the 

16 ‘‘Comptroller General’’) shall conduct a study evalu17 ating the benefits of broader implementation of mail18 in voting in elections, taking into consideration the 

19 annual reports submitted by the Election Assistance 

20 Commission under section 402(g)(1)(C)(i) before 

21 November 1, 2009. 

22 (2) SPECIFIC ISSUES STUDIED.—The study 

23 conducted under paragraph (1) shall include a com24 parison of traditional voting methods and mail-in 

25 voting with respect to— 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
16 

•S 3100 IS

1 (A) the likelihood of voter fraud and mis2 conduct; 

3 (B) the accuracy of voter rolls; 

4 (C) the accuracy of election results; 

5 (D) voter participation in urban and rural 

6 communities and by minorities, language mi7 norities (as defined in section 203 of the Voting 

8 Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973aa–1a)), 

9 and individuals with disabilities and by individ10 uals who are homeless or who frequently change 

11 their official residences; 

12 (E) public confidence in the election sys13 tem; 

14 (F) the residual vote rate, including such 

15 rate based on voter age, education, income, 

16 race, or ethnicity or whether a voter lives in an 

17 urban or rural community, is disabled, or is a 

18 language minority (as so defined); and 

19 (G) cost savings. 

20 (3) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the study 

21 under paragraph (1), the Comptroller General shall 

22 consult with interested parties, including— 

23 (A) State and local election officials; 

24 (B) the United States Postal Service; 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
17 

•S 3100 IS

1 (C) the Postal Regulatory Commission es2 tablished under section 501 of title 39, United 

3 States Code; and 

4 (D) voting rights groups, voter protection 

5 groups, groups representing the disabled, and 

6 other civil rights or community organizations. 

7 (b) REPORT.—Not later than November 1, 2009, the 

8 Comptroller General shall prepare and submit to the ap9 propriate committees of Congress a report on the study 

10 conducted under subsection (a), together with such rec11 ommendations for legislation or administrative action as 

12 the Comptroller General determines to be appropriate. 

13 TITLE IV—VOTE VERIFICATION 

14 SEC. 401. 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 (42 U.S.C. 

20 15481(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 use of or produce 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
18 

•S 3100 IS

1 an individual, durable, voter-verified, paper 

2 ballot of the voter’s vote that shall be cre3 ated by or made available for inspection 

4 and verification by the voter before the vot5 er’s vote is cast and counted. For purposes 

6 of this subclause, the term ‘individual, du7 rable, voter-verified, paper ballot’ includes 

8 (but is not limited to) a paper ballot 

9 marked by the voter for the purpose of 

10 being counted by hand or read by an opti11 cal scanner or other similar device, a paper 

12 ballot prepared by the voter to be mailed 

13 to an election official (whether from a do14 mestic or overseas location), a paper ballot 

15 created through the use of a nontabulating 

16 ballot marking device or system, or, in the 

17 case of an election held before 2012, a 

18 paper ballot produced by a direct recording 

19 electronic voting machine, so long as in 

20 each case the voter is permitted to verify 

21 the ballot in a paper form in accordance 

22 with this subparagraph. 

23 ‘‘(II) The voting system shall provide 

24 the voter with an opportunity to correct 

25 any error made by the system in the voterVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:19 Jun 07, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3100.IS S3100

sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
19 

•S 3100 IS

1 verified paper ballot before the permanent 

2 voter-verified paper ballot is preserved in 

3 accordance with clause (ii). 

4 ‘‘(III) The voting system shall not 

5 preserve the voter-verified paper ballots in 

6 any manner that makes it possible, at any 

7 time after the ballot has been cast, to asso8 ciate a voter with the record of the voter’s 

9 vote. 

10 ‘‘(ii) PRESERVATION.—The individual, 

11 durable, voter-verified, paper ballot pro12 duced in accordance with clause (i) shall be 

13 used as the official ballot for purposes of 

14 any recount or audit conducted with re15 spect to any election for Federal office in 

16 which the voting system is used, and shall 

17 be preserved— 

18 ‘‘(I) in the case of votes cast at 

19 the polling place on the date of the 

20 election, within the polling place in a 

21 secure manner; or 

22 ‘‘(II) in any other case, in a se23 cure manner which is consistent with 

24 the manner employed by the jurisdicVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:19 Jun 07, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3100.IS S3100

sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
20 

•S 3100 IS

1 tion for preserving paper ballots in 

2 general. 

3 ‘‘(iii) MANUAL AUDIT CAPACITY.—(I) 

4 Each paper ballot produced pursuant to 

5 clause (i) shall be suitable for a manual 

6 audit equivalent to that of a paper ballot 

7 voting system, and shall be counted by 

8 hand in any recount or audit conducted 

9 with respect to any election for Federal of10 fice. 

11 ‘‘(II) In the event of any inconsist12 encies or irregularities between any elec13 tronic vote tallies and the vote tallies de14 termined by counting by hand the indi15 vidual, durable, voter-verified, paper ballots 

16 produced pursuant to clause (i), and sub17 ject to subparagraph (B), the individual, 

18 durable, voter-verified, paper ballots shall 

19 be the true and correct record of the votes 

20 cast. 

21 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR TREATMENT OF

22 DISPUTES WHEN PAPER BALLOTS HAVE BEEN

23 SHOWN TO BE COMPROMISED.— 

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the event 

25 that— 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
21 

•S 3100 IS

1 ‘‘(I) there is any inconsistency 

2 between any electronic vote tallies and 

3 the vote tallies determined by count4 ing by hand the individual, durable, 

5 voter-verified, paper ballots produced 

6 pursuant to subparagraph (A)(i) with 

7 respect to any election for Federal of8 fice; and 

9 ‘‘(II) it is demonstrated by clear 

10 and convincing evidence (as deter11 mined in accordance with the applica12 ble standards in the jurisdiction in13 volved) in any recount, audit, or con14 test of the result of the election that 

15 the paper ballots have been com16 promised (by damage or mischief or 

17 otherwise) and that a sufficient num18 ber of the ballots have been so com19 promised that the result of the elec20 tion could be changed, 

21 the determination of the appropriate rem22 edy with respect to the election shall be 

23 made in accordance with applicable State 

24 law, except that the electronic tally shall 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
22 

•S 3100 IS

1 not be used as the exclusive basis for de2 termining the official certified vote tally. 

3 ‘‘(ii) RULE FOR CONSIDERATION OF

4 BALLOTS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH VOTING

5 MACHINE.—For purposes of clause (i), 

6 only the paper ballots deemed com7 promised, if any, shall be considered in the 

8 calculation of whether or not the result of 

9 the election could be changed due to the 

10 compromised paper ballots.’’. 

11 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT CLARIFYING AP12 PLICABILITY OF ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGE ACCESSI13 BILITY.—Section 301(a)(4) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

14 15481(a)(4)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(including 

15 the paper ballots required to be produced under 

16 paragraph (2) and the notices required under para17 graphs (7) and (13)(C)’’ after ‘‘voting system’’. 

18 (3) OTHER CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Sec19 tion 301(a)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15481(a)(1)) 

20 is amended— 

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

22 ‘‘counted’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in accord23 ance with paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
23 

•S 3100 IS

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

2 ‘‘counted’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in accord3 ance with paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; 

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

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

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

7 and (3)’’; and 

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

9 ‘‘counted’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in accord10 ance with paragraphs (2) and (3)’’. 

11 (b) ACCESSIBILITY AND BALLOT VERIFICATION FOR

12 INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 301(a)(3)(B) of 

14 such Act (42 U.S.C. 15481(a)(3)(B)) is amended to 

15 read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(B)(i) satisfy the requirement of subpara17 graph (A) through the use of at least one voting 

18 system equipped for individuals with disabil19 ities, including nonvisual and enhanced visual 

20 accessibility for the blind and visually impaired, 

21 at each polling place; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) meet the requirements of subpara23 graph (A) and paragraph (2)(A) by using a sys24 tem that— 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
24 

•S 3100 IS

1 ‘‘(I) allows the voter to privately and 

2 independently verify the permanent paper 

3 ballot through the presentation, in acces4 sible form, of the printed or marked vote 

5 selections from the same printed or 

6 marked information that would be used for 

7 any vote counting or auditing; 

8 ‘‘(II) ensures that the entire process 

9 of ballot verification and vote casting is 

10 equipped for individuals with disabilities, 

11 including nonvisual and enhanced visual 

12 accessibility for the blind and visually im13 paired; and 

14 ‘‘(III) does not preclude the supple15 mentary use of Braille or tactile ballots; 

16 and’’. 

17 (2) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT OF STUDY, TEST18 ING, AND DEVELOPMENT OF ACCESSIBLE BALLOT

19 VERIFICATION MECHANISMS.— 

20 (A) STUDY AND REPORTING.—Subtitle C 

21 of title II of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15381 et seq.) 

22 is amended— 

23 (i) by redesignating section 247 as 

24 section 248; and 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
25 

•S 3100 IS

1 (ii) by inserting after section 246 the 

2 following new section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 247. STUDY AND REPORT ON ACCESSIBLE BALLOT 

4 VERIFICATION MECHANISMS. 

5 ‘‘(a) STUDY AND REPORT.—The Director of the Na6 tional Institute of Standards and Technology shall study, 

7 test, and develop best practices to enhance the accessibility 

8 of ballot verification mechanisms for individuals with dis9 abilities, for voters whose primary language is not English, 

10 and for voters with difficulties in literacy, including best 

11 practices for the mechanisms themselves and the processes 

12 through which the mechanisms are used. In carrying out 

13 this section, the Director shall specifically investigate ex14 isting and potential methods or devices, including non15 electronic devices, that will assist such individuals and vot16 ers in creating voter-verified paper ballots and presenting 

17 or transmitting the information printed or marked on such 

18 ballots back to such individuals and voters. 

19 ‘‘(b) COORDINATION WITH GRANTS FOR TECH20 NOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS.—The Director shall coordinate 

21 the activities carried out under subsection (a) with the re22 search conducted under the grant program carried out by 

23 the Commission under section 271, to the extent that the 

24 Director and Commission determine necessary to provide 

25 for the advancement of accessible voting technology. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
26 

•S 3100 IS

1 ‘‘(c) DEADLINE.—The Director shall complete the re2 quirements of subsection (a) not later than December 31, 

3 2010. 

4 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

5 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out subsection 

6 (a) $3,000,000, to remain available until expended.’’. 

7 (B) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of 

8 contents of such Act is amended— 

9 (i) by redesignating the item relating 

10 to section 247 as relating to section 248; 

11 and 

12 (ii) by inserting after the item relating 

13 to section 246 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 247. Study and report on accessible ballot verification mechanisms.’’. 

14 (3) CLARIFICATION OF ACCESSIBILITY STAND15 ARDS UNDER VOLUNTARY VOTING SYSTEM GUID16 ANCE.—In adopting any voluntary guidance under 

17 subtitle B of title III of the Help America Vote Act 

18 with respect to the accessibility of the paper ballot 

19 verification requirements for individuals with disabil20 ities, the Election Assistance Commission shall in21 clude and apply the same accessibility standards ap22 plicable under the voluntary guidance adopted for 

23 accessible voting systems under such subtitle. 

24 (c) ADDITIONAL VOTING SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS.— 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
27 

•S 3100 IS

1 (1) REQUIREMENTS DESCRIBED.—Section 

2 301(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15481(a)) is amend3 ed by adding at the end the following new para4 graphs: 

5 ‘‘(7) INSTRUCTION REMINDING VOTERS OF IM6 PORTANCE OF VERIFYING PAPER BALLOT.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The appropriate elec8 tion official at each polling place shall cause to 

9 be placed in a prominent location in the polling 

10 place which is clearly visible from the voting 

11 booths a notice, in large font print accessible to 

12 the visually impaired, advising voters that the 

13 paper ballots representing their votes shall serve 

14 as the vote of record in all audits and recounts 

15 in elections for Federal office, and that they 

16 should not leave the voting booth until con17 firming that such paper ballots accurately 

18 record their vote. 

19 ‘‘(B) SYSTEMS FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH

20 DISABILITIES.—All voting systems equipped for 

21 individuals with disabilities shall present or 

22 transmit in accessible form the statement re23 ferred to in subparagraph (A), as well as an ex24 planation of the verification process described 

25 in paragraph (3)(B)(ii). 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
28 

•S 3100 IS

1 ‘‘(8) PROHIBITING USE OF UNCERTIFIED ELEC2 TION-DEDICATED VOTING SYSTEM TECHNOLOGIES; 

3 DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A voting system used 

5 in an election for Federal office in a State may 

6 not at any time during the election contain or 

7 use any election-dedicated voting system tech8 nology— 

9 ‘‘(i) which has not been certified by 

10 the State for use in the election; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) which has not been deposited 

12 with an accredited laboratory described in 

13 section 231 to be held in escrow and dis14 closed in accordance with this section. 

15 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT FOR AND RESTRIC16 TIONS ON DISCLOSURE.—An accredited labora17 tory under section 231 with whom an election18 dedicated voting system technology has been de19 posited shall— 

20 ‘‘(i) hold the technology in escrow; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(ii) disclose technology and informa23 tion regarding the technology to another 

24 person if— 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
29 

•S 3100 IS

1 ‘‘(I) the person is a qualified per2 son described in subparagraph (C) 

3 who has entered into a nondisclosure 

4 agreement with respect to the tech5 nology which meets the requirements 

6 of subparagraph (D); or 

7 ‘‘(II) the laboratory is required to 

8 disclose the technology to the person 

9 under State law, in accordance with 

10 the terms and conditions applicable 

11 under such law. 

12 ‘‘(C) QUALIFIED PERSONS DESCRIBED.— 

13 With respect to the disclosure of election-dedi14 cated voting system technology by a laboratory 

15 under subparagraph (B)(ii)(I), a ‘qualified per16 son’ is any of the following: 

17 ‘‘(i) A governmental entity with re18 sponsibility for the administration of vot19 ing and election-related matters for pur20 poses of reviewing, analyzing, or reporting 

21 on the technology. 

22 ‘‘(ii) A party to pre- or post-election 

23 litigation challenging the result of an elec24 tion or the administration or use of the 

25 technology used in an election, including 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
30 

•S 3100 IS

1 but not limited to election contests or chal2 lenges to the certification of the tech3 nology, or an expert for a party to such 

4 litigation, for purposes of reviewing or ana5 lyzing the technology to support or oppose 

6 the litigation, and all parties to the litiga7 tion shall have access to the technology for 

8 such purposes. 

9 ‘‘(iii) A person not described in clause 

10 (i) or (ii) who reviews, analyzes, or reports 

11 on the technology solely for an academic, 

12 scientific, technological, or other investiga13 tion or inquiry concerning the accuracy or 

14 integrity of the technology. 

15 ‘‘(D) REQUIREMENTS FOR NONDISCLO16 SURE AGREEMENTS.—A nondisclosure agree17 ment entered into with respect to an election18 dedicated voting system technology meets the 

19 requirements of this subparagraph if the agree20 ment— 

21 ‘‘(i) is limited in scope to coverage of 

22 the technology disclosed under subpara23 graph (B) and any trade secrets and intel24 lectual property rights related thereto; 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
31 

•S 3100 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) does not prohibit a signatory 

2 from entering into other nondisclosure 

3 agreements to review other technologies 

4 under this paragraph; 

5 ‘‘(iii) exempts from coverage any in6 formation the signatory lawfully obtained 

7 from another source or any information in 

8 the public domain; 

9 ‘‘(iv) remains in effect for not longer 

10 than the life of any trade secret or other 

11 intellectual property right related thereto; 

12 ‘‘(v) prohibits the use of injunctions 

13 barring a signatory from carrying out any 

14 activity authorized under subparagraph 

15 (C), including injunctions limited to the 

16 period prior to a trial involving the tech17 nology; 

18 ‘‘(vi) is silent as to damages awarded 

19 for breach of the agreement, other than a 

20 reference to damages available under appli21 cable law; 

22 ‘‘(vii) allows disclosure of evidence of 

23 crime, including in response to a subpoena 

24 or warrant; 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
32 

•S 3100 IS

1 ‘‘(viii) allows the signatory to perform 

2 analyses on the technology (including by 

3 executing the technology), disclose reports 

4 and analyses that describe operational 

5 issues pertaining to the technology (includ6 ing vulnerabilities to tampering, errors, 

7 risks associated with use, failures as a re8 sult of use, and other problems), and de9 scribe or explain why or how a voting sys10 tem failed or otherwise did not perform as 

11 intended; and 

12 ‘‘(ix) provides that the agreement 

13 shall be governed by the trade secret laws 

14 of the applicable State. 

15 ‘‘(E) ELECTION-DEDICATED VOTING SYS16 TEM TECHNOLOGY DEFINED.—For purposes of 

17 this paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘elec19 tion-dedicated voting system technology’ 

20 means the following: 

21 ‘‘(I) The source code used for the 

22 trusted build and its file signatures. 

23 ‘‘(II) A complete disk image of 

24 the pre-build, build environment, and 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
33 

•S 3100 IS

1 any file signatures to validate that it 

2 is unmodified. 

3 ‘‘(III) A complete disk image of 

4 the post-build, build environment, and 

5 any file signatures to validate that it 

6 is unmodified. 

7 ‘‘(IV) All executable code pro8 duced by the trusted build and any 

9 file signatures to validate that it is 

10 unmodified. 

11 ‘‘(V) Installation devices and 

12 software file signatures. 

13 ‘‘(ii) EXCLUSION.—Such term does 

14 not include ‘commercial-off-the-shelf’ soft15 ware and hardware defined under under 

16 the 2005 voluntary voting system guide17 lines adopted by the Commission under 

18 section 222. 

19 ‘‘(9) PROHIBITION OF USE OF WIRELESS COM20 MUNICATIONS DEVICES IN VOTING SYSTEMS.—No 

21 voting device upon which ballots are programmed or 

22 votes are cast or tabulated shall contain, use, or be 

23 accessible by any wireless, power-line, or concealed 

24 communication device, except that enclosed infrared 

25 communications devices which are certified for use 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
34 

•S 3100 IS

1 in such device by the State and which cannot be 

2 used for any remote or wide area communications or 

3 used without the knowledge of poll workers shall be 

4 permitted. 

5 ‘‘(10) PROHIBITING CONNECTION OF SYSTEM

6 OR TRANSMISSION OF SYSTEM INFORMATION OVER

7 THE INTERNET.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No voting device upon 

9 which ballots are programmed or votes are cast 

10 or tabulated shall be connected to the Internet 

11 at any time. 

12 ‘‘(B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

13 contained in this paragraph shall be deemed to 

14 prohibit the Commission from conducting the 

15 studies under section 242 or to conduct other 

16 similar studies under any other provision of law 

17 in a manner consistent with this paragraph. 

18 ‘‘(11) SECURITY STANDARDS FOR VOTING SYS19 TEMS USED IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No voting system may 

21 be used in an election for Federal office unless 

22 the manufacturer of such system and the elec23 tion officials using such system meet the appli24 cable requirements described in subparagraph 

25 (B). 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
35 

•S 3100 IS

1 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS DESCRIBED.—The 

2 requirements described in this subparagraph 

3 are as follows: 

4 ‘‘(i) The manufacturer and the elec5 tion officials shall document the secure 

6 chain of custody for the handling of all 

7 software, hardware, vote storage media, 

8 ballots, and voter-verified ballots used in 

9 connection with voting systems, and shall 

10 make the information available upon re11 quest to the Commission. 

12 ‘‘(ii) The manufacturer shall disclose 

13 to an accredited laboratory under section 

14 231 and to the appropriate election official 

15 any information required to be disclosed 

16 under paragraph (8). 

17 ‘‘(iii) After the appropriate election 

18 official has certified the election-dedicated 

19 and other voting system software for use in 

20 an election, the manufacturer may not— 

21 ‘‘(I) alter such software; or 

22 ‘‘(II) insert or use in the voting 

23 system any software not certified by 

24 the State for use in the election. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
36 

•S 3100 IS

1 ‘‘(iv) At the request of the Commis2 sion— 

3 ‘‘(I) the appropriate election offi4 cial shall submit information to the 

5 Commission regarding the State’s 

6 compliance with this subparagraph; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(II) the manufacturer shall sub9 mit information to the Commission re10 garding the manufacturer’s compli11 ance with this subparagraph. 

12 ‘‘(C) DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLICATION OF

13 BEST PRACTICES ON DOCUMENTATION OF SE14 CURE CHAIN OF CUSTODY.—Not later than Au15 gust 1, 2010, the Commission shall develop and 

16 make publicly available best practices regarding 

17 the requirement of subparagraph (B)(i). 

18 ‘‘(D) DISCLOSURE OF SECURE CHAIN OF

19 CUSTODY.—The Commission shall make infor20 mation provided to the Commission under sub21 paragraph (B)(i) available to any person upon 

22 request. 

23 ‘‘(12) DURABILITY AND READABILITY REQUIRE24 MENTS FOR BALLOTS.— 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
37 

•S 3100 IS

1 ‘‘(A) DURABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR

2 PAPER BALLOTS.— 

3 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—All voter-verified 

4 paper ballots required to be used under 

5 this Act (including the paper ballots pro6 vided to voters under paragraph (13)) shall 

7 be marked, printed, or recorded on durable 

8 paper. 

9 ‘‘(ii) DEFINITION.—For purposes of 

10 this Act, paper is ‘durable’ if it is capable 

11 of withstanding multiple counts and re12 counts by hand without compromising the 

13 fundamental integrity of the ballots, and 

14 capable of retaining the information 

15 marked, printed, or recorded on them for 

16 the full duration of a retention and preser17 vation period of 22 months. 

18 ‘‘(B) READABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR

19 MACHINE-MARKED OR PRINTED PAPER BAL20 LOTS.—All voter-verified paper ballots com21 pleted by the voter through the use of a mark22 ing or printing device shall be clearly readable 

23 by the voter without assistance (other than eye24 glasses or other personal vision enhancing deVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:19 Jun 07, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00037 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3100.IS S3100

sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
38 

•S 3100 IS

1 vices) and by a scanner or other device 

2 equipped for individuals with disabilities. 

3 ‘‘(13) MANDATORY AVAILABILITY OF PAPER

4 BALLOTS AT POLLING PLACES.— 

5 ‘‘(A) REQUIRING BALLOTS TO BE OF6 FERED AND PROVIDED.— 

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The appropriate 

8 election official at each polling place in any 

9 election for Federal office shall offer each 

10 individual who is eligible to cast a vote in 

11 the election at the polling place the oppor12 tunity to cast the vote using a pre-printed 

13 paper ballot which the individual may 

14 mark by hand and which is not produced 

15 by the direct recording electronic voting 

16 machine. The official shall provide the in17 dividual with the ballot and the supplies 

18 necessary to mark the ballot. 

19 ‘‘(ii) SPECIAL RULE FOR LOCATIONS

20 USING DRE VOTING SYSTEMS.—In the case 

21 of a polling place that uses a direct record22 ing electronic voting device, if the indi23 vidual accepts the offer to cast the vote 

24 using a paper ballot, the official shall en25 sure (to the greatest extent practicable) 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
39 

•S 3100 IS

1 that the waiting period for the individual 

2 to cast a vote is not greater than the wait3 ing period for an individual who does not 

4 agree to cast the vote using such a paper 

5 ballot under this paragraph. 

6 ‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF BALLOT.—Any paper 

7 ballot which is cast by an individual under this 

8 paragraph shall be counted and otherwise treat9 ed as a regular ballot for all purposes (includ10 ing by incorporating it into the final unofficial 

11 vote count (as defined by the State) for the pre12 cinct) and not as a provisional ballot, unless the 

13 individual casting the ballot would have other14 wise been required to cast a provisional ballot. 

15 ‘‘(C) POSTING OF NOTICE.—The appro16 priate election official shall ensure there is 

17 prominently displayed at each polling place a 

18 notice that describes the obligation of the offi19 cial to offer individuals the opportunity to cast 

20 votes using a pre-printed paper ballot. 

21 ‘‘(D) TRAINING OF ELECTION OFFI22 CIALS.—The chief State election official shall 

23 ensure that election officials at polling places in 

24 the State are aware of the requirements of this 

25 paragraph, including the requirement to display 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
40 

•S 3100 IS

1 a notice under subparagraph (C), and are 

2 aware that it is a violation of the requirements 

3 of this title for an election official to fail to 

4 offer an individual the opportunity to cast a 

5 vote using a pre-printed paper ballot.’’. 

6 (2) REQUIRING LABORATORIES TO MEET

7 STANDARDS PROHIBITING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

8 AS CONDITION OF ACCREDITATION FOR TESTING OF

9 VOTING SYSTEM HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 231(b) of such 

11 Act (42 U.S.C. 15371(b)) is amended by add12 ing at the end the following new paragraphs: 

13 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST; 

14 ENSURING AVAILABILITY OF RESULTS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A laboratory may not 

16 be accredited by the Commission for purposes 

17 of this section unless— 

18 ‘‘(i) the laboratory certifies that the 

19 only compensation it receives for the test20 ing carried out in connection with the cer21 tification, decertification, and recertifi22 cation of the manufacturer’s voting system 

23 hardware and software is the payment 

24 made from the Testing Escrow Account 

25 under paragraph (4); 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
41 

•S 3100 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) the laboratory meets such stand2 ards as the Commission shall establish 

3 (after notice and opportunity for public 

4 comment) to prevent the existence or ap5 pearance of any conflict of interest in the 

6 testing carried out by the laboratory under 

7 this section, including standards to ensure 

8 that the laboratory does not have a finan9 cial interest in the manufacture, sale, and 

10 distribution of voting system hardware and 

11 software, and is sufficiently independent 

12 from other persons with such an interest; 

13 ‘‘(iii) the laboratory certifies that it 

14 will permit an expert designated by the 

15 Commission to observe any testing the lab16 oratory carries out under this section; and 

17 ‘‘(iv) the laboratory, upon completion 

18 of any testing carried out under this sec19 tion, discloses the test protocols, results, 

20 and all communication between the labora21 tory and the manufacturer to the Commis22 sion. 

23 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY OF RESULTS.—Upon 

24 receipt of information under subparagraph (A), 

25 the Commission shall make the information 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
42 

•S 3100 IS

1 available promptly to election officials and the 

2 public. 

3 ‘‘(4) PROCEDURES FOR CONDUCTING TESTING; 

4 PAYMENT OF USER FEES FOR COMPENSATION OF

5 ACCREDITED LABORATORIES.— 

6 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT OF ESCROW AC7 COUNT.—The Commission shall establish an es8 crow account (to be known as the ‘Testing Es9 crow Account’) for making payments to accred10 ited laboratories for the costs of the testing car11 ried out in connection with the certification, de12 certification, and recertification of voting sys13 tem hardware and software. 

14 ‘‘(B) SCHEDULE OF FEES.—In consulta15 tion with the accredited laboratories, the Com16 mission shall establish and regularly update a 

17 schedule of fees for the testing carried out in 

18 connection with the certification, decertification, 

19 and recertification of voting system hardware 

20 and software, based on the reasonable costs ex21 pected to be incurred by the accredited labora22 tories in carrying out the testing for various 

23 types of hardware and software. 

24 ‘‘(C) REQUESTS AND PAYMENTS BY MANU25 FACTURERS.—A manufacturer of voting system 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
43 

•S 3100 IS

1 hardware and software may not have the hard2 ware or software tested by an accredited labora3 tory under this section unless— 

4 ‘‘(i) the manufacturer submits a de5 tailed request for the testing to the Com6 mission; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) the manufacturer pays to the 

8 Commission, for deposit into the Testing 

9 Escrow Account established under sub10 paragraph (A), the applicable fee under the 

11 schedule established and in effect under 

12 subparagraph (B). 

13 ‘‘(D) SELECTION OF LABORATORY.—Upon 

14 receiving a request for testing and the payment 

15 from a manufacturer required under subpara16 graph (C), the Commission shall select at ran17 dom (to the greatest extent practicable), from 

18 all laboratories which are accredited under this 

19 section to carry out the specific testing re20 quested by the manufacturer, an accredited lab21 oratory to carry out the testing. 

22 ‘‘(E) PAYMENTS TO LABORATORIES.— 

23 Upon receiving a certification from a laboratory 

24 selected to carry out testing pursuant to sub25 paragraph (D) that the testing is completed, 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
44 

•S 3100 IS

1 along with a copy of the results of the test as 

2 required under paragraph (3)(A)(iv), the Com3 mission shall make a payment to the laboratory 

4 from the Testing Escrow Account established 

5 under subparagraph (A) in an amount equal to 

6 the applicable fee paid by the manufacturer 

7 under subparagraph (C)(ii). 

8 ‘‘(5) DISSEMINATION OF ADDITIONAL INFORMA9 TION ON ACCREDITED LABORATORIES.— 

10 ‘‘(A) INFORMATION ON TESTING.—Upon 

11 completion of the testing of a voting system 

12 under this section, the Commission shall 

13 promptly disseminate to the public the identi14 fication of the laboratory which carried out the 

15 testing. 

16 ‘‘(B) INFORMATION ON STATUS OF LAB17 ORATORIES.—The Commission shall promptly 

18 notify Congress, the chief State election official 

19 of each State, and the public whenever— 

20 ‘‘(i) the Commission revokes, termi21 nates, or suspends the accreditation of a 

22 laboratory under this section; 

23 ‘‘(ii) the Commission restores the ac24 creditation of a laboratory under this secVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:19 Jun 07, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00044 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3100.IS S3100

sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
45 

•S 3100 IS

1 tion which has been revoked, terminated, 

2 or suspended; or 

3 ‘‘(iii) the Commission has credible evi4 dence of significant security failure at an 

5 accredited laboratory.’’. 

6 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

7 231 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15371) is further 

8 amended— 

9 (i) in subsection (a)(1), by striking 

10 ‘‘testing, certification,’’ and all that follows 

11 and inserting the following: ‘‘testing of vot12 ing system hardware and software by ac13 credited laboratories in connection with the 

14 certification, decertification, and recertifi15 cation of the hardware and software for 

16 purposes of this Act.’’; 

17 (ii) in subsection (a)(2), by striking 

18 ‘‘testing, certification,’’ and all that follows 

19 and inserting the following: ‘‘testing of its 

20 voting system hardware and software by 

21 the laboratories accredited by the Commis22 sion under this section in connection with 

23 certifying, decertifying, and recertifying 

24 the hardware and software.’’; 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
46 

•S 3100 IS

1 (iii) in subsection (b)(1), by striking 

2 ‘‘testing, certification, decertification, and 

3 recertification’’ and inserting ‘‘testing’’; 

4 and 

5 (iv) in subsection (d), by striking 

6 ‘‘testing, certification, decertification, and 

7 recertification’’ each place it appears and 

8 inserting ‘‘testing’’. 

9 (C) DEADLINE FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF

10 STANDARDS, ESCROW ACCOUNT, AND SCHED11 ULE OF FEES.—The Election Assistance Com12 mission shall establish the standards described 

13 in section 231(b)(3) of the Help America Vote 

14 Act of 2002 and the Testing Escrow Account 

15 and schedule of fees described in section 

16 231(b)(4) of such Act (as added by subpara17 graph (A)) not later than January 1, 2010. 

18 (D) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA19 TIONS.—There are authorized to be appro20 priated to the Election Assistance Commission 

21 such sums as may be necessary to carry out the 

22 Commission’s duties under paragraphs (3) and 

23 (4) of section 231 of the Help America Vote 

24 Act of 2002 (as added by subparagraph (A)). 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
47 

•S 3100 IS

1 (3) SPECIAL CERTIFICATION OF BALLOT DURA2 BILITY AND READABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR

3 STATES NOT CURRENTLY USING DURABLE PAPER

4 BALLOTS.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—If any of the voting 

6 systems used in a State for the regularly sched7 uled 2008 general elections for Federal office 

8 did not require the use of or produce durable 

9 paper ballots, the State shall certify to the 

10 Election Assistance Commission not later than 

11 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 

12 Act that the State will be in compliance with 

13 the requirements of sections 301(a)(2) and 

14 301(a)(12) of the Help America Vote of 2002, 

15 as added or amended by this subsection, in ac16 cordance with the deadlines established under 

17 this Act, and shall include in the certification 

18 the methods by which the State will meet the 

19 requirements. 

20 (B) CERTIFICATIONS BY STATES THAT RE21 QUIRE CHANGES TO STATE LAW.—In the case 

22 of a State that requires State legislation to 

23 carry out an activity covered by any certifi24 cation submitted under this paragraph, the 

25 State shall be permitted to make the certifiVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:19 Jun 07, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00047 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3100.IS S3100

sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
48 

•S 3100 IS

1 cation notwithstanding that the legislation has 

2 not been enacted at the time the certification is 

3 submitted and such State shall submit an addi4 tional certification once such legislation is en5 acted. 

6 (4) GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON DEVELOPMENT

7 OF ELECTION-DEDICATED VOTING SYSTEM SOFT8 WARE.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title II of 

10 the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 

11 15401 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

12 the following new part: 

13 ‘‘PART 7—GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON DEVELOP14 MENT OF ELECTION-DEDICATED VOTING 

15 SYSTEM SOFTWARE 

16 ‘‘SEC. 297. GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON DEVELOPMENT OF 

17 ELECTION-DEDICATED VOTING SYSTEM 

18 SOFTWARE. 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National 

20 Science Foundation (hereafter in this part referred to as 

21 the ‘Director’) shall make grants to not fewer than 3 eligi22 ble entities to conduct research on the development of elec23 tion-dedicated voting system software. 

24 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—An entity is eligible to receive a 

25 grant under this part if it submits to the Director (at such 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
49 

•S 3100 IS

1 time and in such form as the Director may require) an 

2 application containing— 

3 ‘‘(1) certifications regarding the benefits of op4 erating voting systems on election-dedicated software 

5 which is easily understandable and which is written 

6 exclusively for the purpose of conducting elections; 

7 ‘‘(2) certifications that the entity will use the 

8 funds provided under the grant to carry out research 

9 on how to develop voting systems that run on elec10 tion-dedicated software and that will meet the appli11 cable requirements for voting systems under title III; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(3) such other information and certifications 

14 as the Director may require. 

15 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

16 are authorized to be appropriated for grants under this 

17 section $1,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 and 2011, 

18 to remain available until expended.’’. 

19 (B) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of 

20 contents of such Act is amended by adding at 

21 the end of the items relating to subtitle D of 

22 title II the following: 

‘‘PART 7—GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTIONDEDICATED VOTING SYSTEM SOFTWARE

‘‘Sec. 297. Grants for research on development of election-dedicated voting system software.’’. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
50 

•S 3100 IS

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

4 (1) EXTENSION OF REQUIREMENTS PAYMENTS

5 FOR MEETING REVISED REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

6 257(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 

7 U.S.C. 15407(a)) is amended by adding at the end 

8 the following new paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(4) For fiscal year 2010, $1,000,000,000, ex10 cept that any funds provided under the authoriza11 tion made by this paragraph shall be used by a 

12 State only to meet the requirements of title III 

13 which are first imposed on the State pursuant to the 

14 amendments made by section 401 of the Voting Op15 portunities and Integrity in the Conduct of Elections 

16 Act of 2008, or to otherwise modify or replace its 

17 voting systems in response to such amendments.’’. 

18 (2) USE OF REVISED FORMULA FOR ALLOCA19 TION OF FUNDS.—Section 252(b) of such Act (42 

20 U.S.C. 15402(b)) is amended to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(b) STATE ALLOCATION PERCENTAGE DEFINED.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para23 graph (2), the ‘State allocation percentage’ for a 

24 State is the amount (expressed as a percentage) 

25 equal to the quotient of— 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
51 

•S 3100 IS

1 ‘‘(A) the voting age population of the State 

2 (as reported in the most recent decennial cen3 sus); and 

4 ‘‘(B) the total voting age population of all 

5 States (as reported in the most recent decennial 

6 census). 

7 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR PAYMENTS FOR FIS8 CAL YEAR 2010.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of the re10 quirements payment made to a State for fiscal 

11 year 2010, the ‘State allocation percentage’ for 

12 a State is the amount (expressed as a percent13 age) equal to the quotient of— 

14 ‘‘(i) the sum of the number of non15 compliant precincts in the State and 50 

16 percent of the number of partially non17 compliant precincts in the State; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) the sum of the number of non19 compliant precincts in all States and 50 

20 percent of the number of partially non21 compliant precincts in all States. 

22 ‘‘(B) NONCOMPLIANT PRECINCT DE23 FINED.—In this paragraph, a ‘noncompliant 

24 precinct’ means any precinct (or equivalent lo25 cation) within a State for which the voting sysVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:19 Jun 07, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00051 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3100.IS S3100

sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
52 

•S 3100 IS

1 tem used to administer the regularly scheduled 

2 general election for Federal office held in No3 vember 2008 did not meet either of the require4 ments described in subparagraph (D). 

5 ‘‘(C) PARTIALLY NONCOMPLIANT PRE6 CINCT DEFINED.—In this paragraph, a ‘par7 tially noncompliant precinct’ means any pre8 cinct (or equivalent location) within a State for 

9 which the voting system used to administer the 

10 regularly scheduled general election for Federal 

11 office held in November 2008 met only one of 

12 the requirements described in subparagraph 

13 (D). 

14 ‘‘(D) REQUIREMENTS DESCRIBED.—The 

15 requirements described in this subparagraph 

16 with respect to a voting system are as follows: 

17 ‘‘(i) The primary voting system re18 quired the use of or produced durable 

19 paper ballots (as described in section 

20 301(a)(12)(A)) for every vote cast. 

21 ‘‘(ii) The voting system provided that 

22 the entire process of paper ballot 

23 verification was equipped for individuals 

24 with disabilities.’’. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
53 

•S 3100 IS

1 (3) REVISED CONDITIONS FOR RECEIPT OF

2 FUNDS.—Section 253 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

3 15403) is amended— 

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

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

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

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

8 subsection: 

9 ‘‘(f) SPECIAL RULE FOR FISCAL YEAR 2010.— 

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

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

12 a requirements payment for fiscal year 2010 if, not 

13 later than 90 days after the date of the enactment 

14 of the Voting Opportunities and Integrity in the 

15 Conduct of Elections Act of 2008, the chief execu16 tive officer of the State, or designee, in consultation 

17 and coordination with the chief State election offi18 cial— 

19 ‘‘(A) certifies to the Commission the num20 ber of noncompliant and partially noncompliant 

21 precincts in the State (as defined in section 

22 252(b)(2)); and 

23 ‘‘(B) files a statement with the Commis24 sion describing the State’s need for the pay25 ment and how the State will use the payment 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
54 

•S 3100 IS

1 to meet the requirements of title III (in accord2 ance with the limitations applicable to the use 

3 of the payment under section 257(a)(4)). 

4 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATIONS BY STATES THAT RE5 QUIRE CHANGES TO STATE LAW.—In the case of a 

6 State that requires State legislation to carry out any 

7 activity covered by any certification submitted under 

8 this subsection, the State shall be permitted to make 

9 the certification notwithstanding that the legislation 

10 has not been enacted at the time the certification is 

11 submitted and such State shall submit an additional 

12 certification once such legislation is enacted.’’. 

13 (4) PERMITTING USE OF FUNDS FOR REIM14 BURSEMENT FOR COSTS PREVIOUSLY INCURRED.— 

15 Section 251(c)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

16 15401(c)(1)) is amended by striking the period at 

17 the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, or as a reim18 bursement for any costs incurred after November 

19 2006 in meeting the requirements of title III which 

20 are imposed pursuant to the amendments made by 

21 section 401 of the Voting Opportunities and Integ22 rity in the Conduct of Elections Act of 2008 or in 

23 otherwise upgrading or replacing voting systems in 

24 a manner consistent with such amendments (so long 

25 as the voting systems meet any of the requirements 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
55 

•S 3100 IS

1 that apply with respect to elections for Federal office 

2 held in 2012 and each succeeding year).’’. 

3 (5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING

4 STATES RECEIVING OTHER FUNDS FOR REPLACING

5 PUNCH CARD, LEVER, OR OTHER VOTING MA6 CHINES.—Nothing in the amendments made by this 

7 subsection or in any other provision of the Help 

8 America Vote Act of 2002 may be construed to pro9 hibit a State which received or was authorized to re10 ceive a payment under title I or II of such Act for 

11 replacing punch card, lever, or other voting ma12 chines from receiving or using any funds which are 

13 made available under the amendments made by this 

14 subsection. 

15 (6) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING USE

16 OF FUNDS RECEIVED IN PRIOR YEARS.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing contained in 

18 this Act or the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

19 may be construed to prohibit a State from 

20 using funds received under title I or II of the 

21 Help America Vote Act of 2002— 

22 (i) to purchase or acquire by other 

23 means a voting system that meets the re24 quirements of paragraphs (2) and (3) of 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
56 

•S 3100 IS

1 section 301 of the Help America Vote Act 

2 of 2002 (as amended by this Act); or 

3 (ii) to retrofit a voting system so that 

4 it will meet such requirements, 

5 in order to replace or upgrade (as the case may 

6 be) voting systems purchased with funds re7 ceived under the Help America Vote Act of 

8 2002 that do not require the use of or produce 

9 paper ballots. 

10 (B) WAIVER OF NOTICE AND COMMENT

11 REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements of sub12 paragraphs (A), (B), and (C) of section 

13 254(a)(11) of the Help America Vote Act of 

14 2002 shall not apply to any State using funds 

15 received under such Act for the purposes de16 scribed in clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph (A). 

17 (7) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

18 by this subsection shall apply with respect to fiscal 

19 years beginning with fiscal year 2010. 

20 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE FOR NEW REQUIREMENTS.— 

21 Section 301(d) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15481(d)) is 

22 amended to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para25 graph (2), each State and jurisdiction shall be reVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:19 Jun 07, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00056 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3100.IS S3100

sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
57 

•S 3100 IS

1 quired to comply with the requirements of this sec2 tion on and after January 1, 2006. 

3 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN REQUIRE4 MENTS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

6 subparagraph (B), the requirements of this sec7 tion which are first imposed on a State and ju8 risdiction pursuant to the amendments made by 

9 section 401 of the Voting Opportunities and In10 tegrity in the Conduct of Elections Act of 2008 

11 shall apply with respect to the regularly sched12 uled general election for Federal office held in 

13 November 2010 and each succeeding election 

14 for Federal office. 

15 ‘‘(B) DELAY FOR JURISDICTIONS USING

16 CERTAIN PAPER BALLOT PRINTERS OR CERTAIN

17 PAPER BALLOT-EQUIPPED ACCESSIBLE MA18 CHINES IN 2006.— 

19 ‘‘(i) DELAY.—In the case of a juris20 diction described in clause (ii), subpara21 graph (A) shall apply to the jurisdiction as 

22 if the reference in such subparagraph to 

23 ‘the regularly scheduled general election 

24 for Federal office held in November 2010 

25 and each succeeding election for Federal 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
58 

•S 3100 IS

1 office’ were a reference to ‘elections for 

2 Federal office occurring during 2012 and 

3 each succeeding year’, but only with re4 spect to the following requirements of this 

5 section: 

6 ‘‘(I) Paragraph (3)(B)(ii)(I) and 

7 (II) of subsection (a) (relating to ac8 cess to verification from the durable 

9 paper ballot). 

10 ‘‘(II) Paragraph (12) of sub11 section (a) (relating to durability and 

12 readability requirements for ballots). 

13 ‘‘(ii) JURISDICTIONS DESCRIBED.—A 

14 jurisdiction described in this clause is— 

15 ‘‘(I) a jurisdiction which used 

16 thermal reel-to-reel voter verified 

17 paper ballot printers attached to di18 rect recording electronic voting ma19 chines for the administration of the 

20 regularly scheduled general election 

21 for Federal office held in November 

22 2008 and which will continue to use 

23 such printers (or other printers which 

24 meet the requirements of paragraph 

25 (3)(B)(ii)(I) and (II) of subsection 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
59 

•S 3100 IS

1 (a)) attached to such voting machines 

2 for the administration of elections for 

3 Federal office held in years before 

4 2012; or 

5 ‘‘(II) a jurisdiction which used 

6 voting machines which met the acces7 sibility requirements of paragraph (3) 

8 of subsection (a) (as in effect with re9 spect to such election) for the admin10 istration of the regularly scheduled 

11 general election for Federal office held 

12 in November 2008 and which used or 

13 produced a paper ballot, and which 

14 will continue to use such voting ma15 chines (or other voting machines 

16 which meet the requirements of this 

17 section) for the administration of elec18 tions for Federal office held in years 

19 before 2012.’’. 

20 SEC. 402. ENHANCEMENT OF ENFORCEMENT OF HELP 

21 AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2002. 

22 Section 401 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15511) is amend23 ed— 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
60 

•S 3100 IS

1 (1) by striking ‘‘The Attorney General’’ and in2 serting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General’’; 

3 and 

4 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub5 sections: 

6 ‘‘(b) FILING OF COMPLAINTS BY AGGRIEVED PER7 SONS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A person who is aggrieved 

9 by a violation of section 301, 302, 303, 304, or 305 

10 which has occurred, is occurring, or is about to 

11 occur may file a written, signed, notarized complaint 

12 with the Attorney General describing the violation 

13 and requesting the Attorney General to take appro14 priate action under this section. The Attorney Gen15 eral shall immediately provide a copy of a complaint 

16 filed under the previous sentence to the entity re17 sponsible for administering the State-based adminis18 trative complaint procedures described in section 

19 402(a) for the State involved. 

20 ‘‘(2) RESPONSE BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The 

21 Attorney General shall respond to each complaint 

22 filed under paragraph (1), in accordance with proce23 dures established by the Attorney General that re24 quire responses and determinations to be made with25 in the same (or shorter) deadlines which apply to a 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
61 

•S 3100 IS

1 State under the State-based administrative com2 plaint procedures described in section 402(a)(2). 

3 The Attorney General shall immediately provide a 

4 copy of the response made under the previous sen5 tence to the entity responsible for administering the 

6 State-based administrative complaint procedures de7 scribed in section 402(a) for the State involved. 

8 ‘‘(c) CLARIFICATION OF AVAILABILITY OF PRIVATE

9 RIGHT OF ACTION.—Nothing in this section may be con10 strued to prohibit any person from bringing an action 

11 under section 1979 of the Revised Statutes of the United 

12 States (42 U.S.C. 1983) (including any individual who 

13 seeks to enforce the individual’s right to a voter-verified 

14 paper ballot, the right to have the voter-verified paper bal15 lot counted in accordance with this Act, or any other right 

16 under subtitle A of title III) to enforce the uniform and 

17 nondiscriminatory election technology and administration 

18 requirements under sections 301, 302, 303, 304, and 305. 

19 ‘‘(d) NO EFFECT ON STATE PROCEDURES.—Nothing 

20 in this section may be construed to affect the availability 

21 of the State-based administrative complaint procedures re22 quired under section 402 to any person filing a complaint 

23 under this subsection.’’. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
62 

•S 3100 IS

1 SEC. 403. REQUIREMENT FOR MANDATORY MANUAL AU2 DITS BY HAND COUNT. 

3 (a) MANDATORY MANUAL AUDITS.—Title III of the 

4 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481 et seq.) 

5 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub6 title: 

7 ‘‘Subtitle C—Mandatory Manual 

8 Audits 

9 ‘‘SEC. 321. REQUIRING AUDITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS. 

10 ‘‘(a) REQUIRING AUDITS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with this 

12 subtitle, each State shall administer, without ad13 vance notice to the precincts selected, audits of the 

14 results of elections for Federal office held in the 

15 State (and, at the option of the State or jurisdiction 

16 involved, of elections for State and local office held 

17 at the same time as such election) consisting of ran18 dom hand counts of the voter-verified paper ballots 

19 required to be produced and preserved pursuant to 

20 section 301(a)(2). 

21 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN ELECTIONS.—A 

22 State shall not be required to administer an audit of 

23 the results of an election for Federal office under 

24 this subtitle if the winning candidate in the elec25 tion— 

26 ‘‘(A) had no opposition on the ballot; or 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
63 

•S 3100 IS

1 ‘‘(B) received 80 percent or more of the 

2 total number of votes cast in the election, as de3 termined on the basis of the final unofficial vote 

4 count. 

5 ‘‘(b) DETERMINATION OF ENTITY CONDUCTING AU6 DITS; APPLICATION OF GAO INDEPENDENCE STAND7 ARDS.—The State shall administer audits under this sub8 title through an entity selected for such purpose by the 

9 State in accordance with such criteria as the State con10 siders appropriate consistent with the requirements of this 

11 subtitle, except that the entity must meet the general 

12 standards established by the Comptroller General and as 

13 set forth in the Comptroller General’s Government Audit14 ing Standards to ensure the independence (including the 

15 organizational independence) of entities performing finan16 cial audits, attestation engagements, and performance au17 dits. 

18 ‘‘(c) REFERENCES TO ELECTION AUDITOR.—In this 

19 subtitle, the term ‘Election Auditor’ means, with respect 

20 to a State, the entity selected by the State under sub21 section (b). 

22 ‘‘SEC. 322. NUMBER OF BALLOTS COUNTED UNDER AUDIT. 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

24 (b), the number of voter-verified paper ballots which will 

25 be subject to a hand count administered by the Election 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
64 

•S 3100 IS

1 Auditor of a State under this subtitle with respect to an 

2 election shall be determined as follows: 

3 ‘‘(1) In the event that the unofficial count as 

4 described in section 323(a)(1) reveals that the mar5 gin of victory between the two candidates receiving 

6 the largest number of votes in the election is less 

7 than 1 percent of the total votes cast in that elec8 tion, the hand counts of the voter-verified paper bal9 lots shall occur in at least 10 percent of all precincts 

10 or equivalent locations (or alternative audit units 

11 used in accordance with the method provided for 

12 under subsection (b)) in the Congressional district 

13 involved (in the case of an election for the House of 

14 Representatives) or the State (in the case of any 

15 other election for Federal office). 

16 ‘‘(2) In the event that the unofficial count as 

17 described in section 323(a)(1) reveals that the mar18 gin of victory between the two candidates receiving 

19 the largest number of votes in the election is greater 

20 than or equal to 1 percent but less than 2 percent 

21 of the total votes cast in that election, the hand 

22 counts of the voter-verified paper ballots shall occur 

23 in at least 5 percent of all precincts or equivalent lo24 cations (or alternative audit units used in accord25 ance with the method provided for under subsection 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
65 

•S 3100 IS

1 (b)) in the Congressional district involved (in the 

2 case of an election for the House of Representatives) 

3 or the State (in the case of any other election for 

4 Federal office). 

5 ‘‘(3) In the event that the unofficial count as 

6 described in section 323(a)(1) reveals that the mar7 gin of victory between the two candidates receiving 

8 the largest number of votes in the election is equal 

9 to or greater than 2 percent of the total votes cast 

10 in that election, the hand counts of the voter-verified 

11 paper ballots shall occur in at least 3 percent of all 

12 precincts or equivalent locations (or alternative audit 

13 units used in accordance with the method provided 

14 for under subsection (b)) in the Congressional dis15 trict involved (in the case of an election for the 

16 House of Representatives) or the State (in the case 

17 of any other election for Federal office). 

18 ‘‘(b) USE OF ALTERNATIVE MECHANISM.—Notwith19 standing subsection (a), a State may adopt and apply an 

20 alternative mechanism to determine the number of voter21 verified paper ballots which will be subject to the hand 

22 counts required under this subtitle with respect to an elec23 tion, so long as the alternative mechanism uses the voter24 verified paper ballots to conduct the audit and the Na25 tional Institute of Standards and Technology determines 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
66 

•S 3100 IS

1 that the alternative mechanism will be at least as statis2 tically effective in ensuring the accuracy of the election 

3 results as the procedure under this subtitle. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 323. PROCESS FOR ADMINISTERING AUDITS. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Election Auditor of a State 

6 shall administer an audit under this section of the results 

7 of an election in accordance with the following procedures: 

8 ‘‘(1) Within 24 hours after the State announces 

9 the final unofficial vote count (as defined by the 

10 State) in each precinct in the State, the Election 

11 Auditor shall determine and then announce the pre12 cincts or equivalent locations (or alternative audit 

13 units used in accordance with the method provided 

14 under section 322(b)) in the State in which it will 

15 administer the audits. 

16 ‘‘(2) With respect to votes cast at the precinct 

17 or equivalent location on or before the date of the 

18 election (other than provisional ballots described in 

19 paragraph (3)), the Election Auditor shall admin20 ister the hand count of the votes on the voter21 verified paper ballots required to be produced and 

22 preserved under section 301(a)(2)(A) and the com23 parison of the count of the votes on those ballots 

24 with the final unofficial count of such votes as an25 nounced by the State. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
67 

•S 3100 IS

1 ‘‘(3) With respect to votes cast other than at 

2 the precinct on the date of the election (other than 

3 votes cast before the date of the election described 

4 in paragraph (2)) or votes cast by provisional ballot 

5 on the date of the election which are certified and 

6 counted by the State on or after the date of the elec7 tion, including votes cast by absent uniformed serv8 ices voters and overseas voters under the Uniformed 

9 and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, the 

10 Election Auditor shall administer the hand count of 

11 the votes on the applicable voter-verified paper bal12 lots required to be produced and preserved under 

13 section 301(a)(2)(A) and the comparison of the 

14 count of the votes on those ballots with the final un15 official count of such votes as announced by the 

16 State. 

17 ‘‘(b) USE OF PERSONNEL.—In administering the au18 dits, the Election Auditor may utilize the services of the 

19 personnel of the State or jurisdiction, including election 

20 administration personnel and poll workers, without regard 

21 to whether or not the personnel have professional auditing 

22 experience. 

23 ‘‘(c) LOCATION.—The Election Auditor shall admin24 ister an audit of an election— 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
68 

•S 3100 IS

1 ‘‘(1) at the location where the ballots cast in 

2 the election are stored and counted after the date of 

3 the election or such other appropriate and secure lo4 cation agreed upon by the Election Auditor and the 

5 individual that is responsible under State law for the 

6 custody of the ballots; and 

7 ‘‘(2) in the presence of the personnel who under 

8 State law are responsible for the custody of the bal9 lots. 

10 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULE IN CASE OF DELAY IN REPORT11 ING ABSENTEE VOTE COUNT.—In the case of a State in 

12 which the final count of absentee and provisional votes is 

13 not announced until after the expiration of the 7-day pe14 riod which begins on the date of the election, the Election 

15 Auditor shall initiate the process described in subsection 

16 (a) for administering the audit not later than 24 hours 

17 after the State announces the final unofficial vote count 

18 for the votes cast at the precinct or equivalent location 

19 on or before the date of the election, and shall initiate 

20 the administration of the audit of the absentee and provi21 sional votes pursuant to subsection (a)(3) not later than 

22 24 hours after the State announces the final unofficial 

23 count of such votes. 

24 ‘‘(e) ADDITIONAL AUDITS IF CAUSE SHOWN.— 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
69 

•S 3100 IS

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Election Auditor 

2 finds that any of the hand counts administered 

3 under this section do not match the final unofficial 

4 tally of the results of an election, the Election Audi5 tor shall administer hand counts under this section 

6 of such additional precincts (or equivalent jurisdic7 tions) as the Election Auditor considers appropriate 

8 to resolve any concerns resulting from the audit and 

9 ensure the accuracy of the results. 

10 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT AND PUBLICATION OF

11 PROCEDURES GOVERNING ADDITIONAL AUDITS.— 

12 Not later than August 1, 2010, each State shall es13 tablish and publish procedures for carrying out the 

14 additional audits under this subsection, including the 

15 means by which the State shall resolve any concerns 

16 resulting from the audit with finality and ensure the 

17 accuracy of the results. 

18 ‘‘(f) PUBLIC OBSERVATION OF AUDITS.—Each audit 

19 conducted under this section shall be conducted in a man20 ner that allows public observation of the entire process. 

21 ‘‘SEC. 324. SELECTION OF PRECINCTS. 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

23 (c), the selection of the precincts in the State in which 

24 the Election Auditor of the State shall administer the 

25 hand counts under this subtitle shall be made by the ElecVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:19 Jun 07, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00069 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3100.IS S3100

sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
70 

•S 3100 IS

1 tion Auditor on an entirely random basis using a uniform 

2 distribution in which all precincts in a Congressional dis3 trict have an equal chance of being selected, in accordance 

4 with procedures adopted by the National Institute of 

5 Standards and Technology, except that at least one pre6 cinct shall be selected at random in each county. 

7 ‘‘(b) PUBLIC SELECTION.—The random selection of 

8 precincts under subsection (a) shall be conducted in pub9 lic, at a time and place announced in advance. 

10 ‘‘(c) MANDATORY SELECTION OF PRECINCTS ESTAB11 LISHED SPECIFICALLY FOR ABSENTEE BALLOTS.—If a 

12 State establishes a separate precinct for purposes of 

13 counting the absentee ballots cast in an election and treats 

14 all absentee ballots as having been cast in that precinct, 

15 and if the State does not make absentee ballots sortable 

16 by precinct and include those ballots in the hand count 

17 administered with respect to that precinct, the State shall 

18 include that precinct among the precincts in the State in 

19 which the Election Auditor shall administer the hand 

20 counts under this subtitle. 

21 ‘‘(d) DEADLINE FOR ADOPTION OF PROCEDURES BY

22 COMMISSION.—The National Institute of Standards and 

23 Technology shall adopt the procedures described in sub24 section (a) not later than March 31, 2010, and shall pub25 lish them in the Federal Register upon adoption. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
71 

•S 3100 IS

1 ‘‘SEC. 325. PUBLICATION OF RESULTS. 

2 ‘‘(a) SUBMISSION TO COMMISSION.—As soon as prac3 ticable after the completion of an audit under this subtitle, 

4 the Election Auditor of a State shall—submit to the Com5 mission the results of the audit, and shall include in the 

6 submission a comparison of the results of the election in 

7 the precinct as determined by the Election Auditor under 

8 the audit and the final unofficial vote count in the precinct 

9 as announced by the State and all undervotes, overvotes, 

10 blank ballots, and spoiled, voided, or cancelled ballots, as 

11 well as a list of any discrepancies discovered between the 

12 initial, subsequent, and final hand counts administered by 

13 the Election Auditor and such final unofficial vote count 

14 and any explanation for such discrepancies, broken down 

15 by the categories of votes described in paragraphs (2) and 

16 (3) of section 323(a). 

17 ‘‘(b) PUBLICATION BY COMMISSION.—Immediately 

18 after receiving the submission of the results of an audit 

19 from the Election Auditor of a State under subsection (a), 

20 the Commission shall publicly announce and publish the 

21 information contained in the submission. 

22 ‘‘(c) DELAY IN CERTIFICATION OF RESULTS BY

23 STATE.— 

24 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITING CERTIFICATION UNTIL COM25 PLETION OF AUDITS.—No State may certify the reVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:19 Jun 07, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00071 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3100.IS S3100

sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
72 

•S 3100 IS

1 sults of any election which is subject to an audit 

2 under this subtitle prior to— 

3 ‘‘(A) to the completion of the audit (and, 

4 if required, any additional audit conducted 

5 under section 323(e)(1)) and the announcement 

6 and submission of the results of each such audit 

7 to the Commission for publication of the infor8 mation required under this section; and 

9 ‘‘(B) the completion of any procedure es10 tablished by the State pursuant to section 

11 323(e)(2) to resolve discrepancies and ensure 

12 the accuracy of results. 

13 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR COMPLETION OF AUDITS

14 OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.—In the case of an 

15 election for electors for President and Vice President 

16 which is subject to an audit under this subtitle, the 

17 State shall complete the audits and announce and 

18 submit the results to the Commission for publication 

19 of the information required under this section in 

20 time for the State to certify the results of the elec21 tion and provide for the final determination of any 

22 controversy or contest concerning the appointment 

23 of such electors prior to the deadline described in 

24 section 6 of title 3, United States Code. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
73 

•S 3100 IS

1 ‘‘SEC. 326. PAYMENTS TO STATES. 

2 ‘‘(a) PAYMENTS FOR COSTS OF CONDUCTING AU3 DITS.—In accordance with the requirements and proce4 dures of this section, the Commission shall make a pay5 ment to a State to cover the costs incurred by the State 

6 in carrying out this subtitle with respect to the elections 

7 that are the subject of the audits conducted under this 

8 subtitle. 

9 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE AND ANTICI10 PATED COSTS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—In order to 

12 receive a payment under this section, a State shall 

13 submit to the Commission, in such form as the Com14 mission may require, a statement containing— 

15 ‘‘(A) a certification that the State will con16 duct the audits required under this subtitle in 

17 accordance with all of the requirements of this 

18 subtitle; 

19 ‘‘(B) a notice of the reasonable costs in20 curred or the reasonable costs anticipated to be 

21 incurred by the State in carrying out this sub22 title with respect to the elections involved; and 

23 ‘‘(C) such other information and assur24 ances as the Commission may require. 

25 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.—The amount of a 

26 payment made to a State under this section shall be 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
74 

•S 3100 IS

1 equal to the reasonable costs incurred or the reason2 able costs anticipated to be incurred by the State in 

3 carrying out this subtitle with respect to the elec4 tions involved, as set forth in the statement sub5 mitted under paragraph (1). 

6 ‘‘(3) TIMING OF NOTICE.—The State may not 

7 submit a notice under paragraph (1) until can8 didates have been selected to appear on the ballot 

9 for all of the elections for Federal office which will 

10 be the subject of the audits involved. 

11 ‘‘(c) TIMING OF PAYMENTS.—The Commission shall 

12 make the payment required under this section to a State 

13 not later than 30 days after receiving the notice submitted 

14 by the State under subsection (b). 

15 ‘‘(d) RECOUPMENT OF OVERPAYMENTS.—No pay16 ment may be made to a State under this section unless 

17 the State agrees to repay to the Commission the excess 

18 (if any) of— 

19 ‘‘(1) the amount of the payment received by the 

20 State under this section with respect to the elections 

21 involved; over 

22 ‘‘(2) the actual costs incurred by the State in 

23 carrying out this subtitle with respect to the elec24 tions involved. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
75 

•S 3100 IS

1 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to the Commission for 

3 fiscal year 2010 and each succeeding fiscal year 

4 $100,000,000 for payments under this section. 

5 ‘‘SEC. 327. EXCEPTION FOR ELECTIONS SUBJECT TO RE6 COUNT UNDER STATE LAW PRIOR TO CER7 TIFICATION. 

8 ‘‘(a) EXCEPTION.—This subtitle does not apply to 

9 any election for which a recount under State law will com10 mence prior to the certification of the results of the elec11 tion, including but not limited to a recount required auto12 matically because of the margin of victory between the 2 

13 candidates receiving the largest number of votes in the 

14 election, but only if each of the following applies to the 

15 recount: 

16 ‘‘(1) The recount commences prior to the deter17 mination and announcement by the Election Auditor 

18 under section 323(a)(1) of the precincts in the State 

19 in which it will administer the audits under this sub20 title. 

21 ‘‘(2) If the recount would apply to fewer than 

22 100 percent of the ballots cast in the election— 

23 ‘‘(A) the number of ballots counted will be 

24 at least as many as would be counted if an 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
76 

•S 3100 IS

1 audit were conducted with respect to the elec2 tion in accordance with this subtitle; and 

3 ‘‘(B) the selection of the precincts in which 

4 the recount will be conducted will be made in 

5 accordance with the random selection proce6 dures applicable under section 324. 

7 ‘‘(3) The recount for the election meets the re8 quirements of section 323(f) (relating to public ob9 servation). 

10 ‘‘(4) The State meets the requirements of sec11 tion 325 (relating to the publication of results and 

12 the delay in the certification of results) with respect 

13 to the recount. 

14 ‘‘(b) CLARIFICATION OF EFFECT ON OTHER RE15 QUIREMENTS.—Nothing in this section may be construed 

16 to waive the application of any other provision of this Act 

17 to any election (including the requirement set forth in sec18 tion 301(a)(2) that the voter verified paper ballots serve 

19 as the vote of record and shall be counted by hand in all 

20 audits and recounts, including audits and recounts de21 scribed in this subtitle). 

22 ‘‘SEC. 328. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

23 ‘‘This subtitle shall apply with respect to elections for 

24 Federal office beginning with the regularly scheduled gen25 eral elections held in November 2010.’’. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
77 

•S 3100 IS

1 (b) AVAILABILITY OF ENFORCEMENT UNDER HELP

2 AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2002.—Section 401 of such Act 

3 (42 U.S.C. 15511), as amended by this Act, is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (a), by striking the period at 

5 the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, or the re6 quirements of subtitle C of title III.’’; 

7 (2) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘305’’ and 

8 inserting ‘‘305, or subtitle C of title III,’’; and 

9 (3) in subsection (c)— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘subtitle A’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘subtitles A or C’’, and 

12 (B) by striking the period at the end and 

13 inserting the following: ‘‘, or the requirements 

14 of subtitle C of title III.’’. 

15 (c) GUIDANCE ON BEST PRACTICES FOR ALTER16 NATIVE AUDIT MECHANISMS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than May 1, 2010, 

18 the Director of the National Institute for Standards 

19 and Technology shall establish guidance for States 

20 that wish to establish alternative audit mechanisms 

21 under section 322(b) of the Help America Vote Act 

22 of 2002 (as added by subsection (a)). Such guidance 

23 shall be based upon scientifically and statistically 

24 reasonable assumptions for the purpose of creating 

25 an alternative audit mechanism that will be at least 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
78 

•S 3100 IS

1 as effective in ensuring the accuracy of election re2 sults and as transparent as the procedure under 

3 subtitle C of title III of such Act (as so added). 

4 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

5 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

6 paragraph (1) $100,000, to remain available until 

7 expended. 

8 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

9 of such Act is amended by adding at the end of the items 

10 relating to title III the following: 

‘‘Subtitle C—Mandatory Manual Audits 

‘‘Sec. 321. Requiring audits of results of elections. 

‘‘Sec. 322. Number of ballots counted under audit. 

‘‘Sec. 323. Process for administering audits. 

‘‘Sec. 324. Selection of precincts. 

‘‘Sec. 325. Publication of results. 

‘‘Sec. 326. Payments to States. 

‘‘Sec. 327. Exception for elections subject to recount under State law prior to 

certification. 

‘‘Sec. 328. Effective date.’’. 

11 SEC. 404. REPEAL OF EXEMPTION OF ELECTION ASSIST12 ANCE COMMISSION FROM CERTAIN GOVERN13 MENT CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 205 of the Help America 

15 Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15325) is amended by strik16 ing subsection (e). 

17 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

18 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to contracts entered 

19 into by the Election Assistance Commission on or after 

20 the date of the enactment of this Act. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
79 

•S 3100 IS

1 SEC. 405. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 Except as otherwise provided, this title and the 

3 amendments made by this title shall apply with respect 

4 to the regularly scheduled general election for Federal of5 fice in November 2010 and each succeeding election for 

6 Federal office. 

7 TITLE V—VOTER REGISTRATION 

8 SEC. 501. GRANTS FOR PRE-REGISTRATION OF VOTERS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act, the Election Assistance 

11 Commission shall establish a pre-registration implementa12 tion grant program under which the Commission shall 

13 make grants to eligible States. 

14 (b) AMOUNT OF GRANT.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amount of a grant 

16 under this section to any eligible State shall be 

17 $500,000. 

18 (2) AWARDING OF IMPLEMENTATION

19 GRANTS.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Election Assist21 ance Commission shall award pre-registration 

22 implementation grants during each year in 

23 which the program is conducted. 

24 (B) ONE GRANT PER STATE.—The Elec25 tion Assistance Commission shall not award 

26 more than 1 implementation grant to any eligiVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:19 Jun 07, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00079 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3100.IS S3100

sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
80 

•S 3100 IS

1 ble State under this section over the duration of 

2 the program. 

3 (3) DURATION.—The program shall be con4 ducted for a period of 3 years. 

5 (c) USE OF FUNDS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State receiving a grant 

7 under this section shall use the grant only for costs 

8 associated with establishing a pre-registration pro9 gram. 

10 (2) LIMITATION.—A grant under this section 

11 may not be used for any costs incurred prior to the 

12 date of the enactment of this Act. 

13 (d) ELIGIBLE STATE.—For purposes of this section, 

14 the term ‘‘eligible State’’ means any State that— 

15 (1) submits an application to the Election As16 sistance Commission at such time and containing 

17 such information as the Commission may specify, 

18 and 

19 (2) agrees to implement a pre-registration pro20 gram. 

21 (e) PRE-REGISTRATION PROGRAM.—For purposes of 

22 this section: 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘pre-registration 

24 program’’ means a program under which the State 

25 pre-registers for voting purposes individuals who— 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
81 

•S 3100 IS

1 (A) have— 

2 (i) not attained the age of 18, but 

3 (ii) either— 

4 (I) attained the age of 16, or 

5 (II) received a valid driver’s li6 cense under the laws of the State, and 

7 (B) are otherwise eligible to vote in such 

8 State. 

9 (2) EFFECT OF PRE-REGISTRATION ON RIGHT

10 TO VOTE.—A voter pre-registration program shall 

11 permit any individual who is pre-registered under 

12 such program to vote in any election for which such 

13 individual is otherwise eligible to vote which occurs 

14 on or after such individual’s 18th birthday. 

15 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

17 appropriated for grants under this section such sums 

18 as may be necessary for fiscal years 2009 through 

19 2011. 

20 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Any amount appropriated 

21 pursuant to the authority under subsection (a) shall 

22 remain available without fiscal year limitation until 

23 expended. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
82 

•S 3100 IS

1 SEC. 502. GRANTS FOR AUTOMATIC RE-REGISTRATION OF 

2 VOTERS CHANGING RESIDENCE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days after the 

4 date of the enactment of this Act, the Election Assistance 

5 Commission shall establish an automatic re-registration 

6 grant program under which the Commission shall make 

7 grants to eligible States. 

8 (b) AMOUNT OF GRANT.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amount of a grant 

10 under this section to any eligible State shall be 

11 $500,000. 

12 (2) AWARDING OF IMPLEMENTATION

13 GRANTS.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Election Assist15 ance Commission shall award automatic re-reg16 istration implementation grants during each 

17 year in which the program is conducted. 

18 (B) ONE GRANT PER STATE.—The Elec19 tion Assistance Commission shall not award 

20 more than 1 implementation grant to any eligi21 ble State under this section over the duration of 

22 the program. 

23 (3) DURATION.—The program shall be con24 ducted for a period of 3 years. 

25 (c) USE OF FUNDS.— 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
83 

•S 3100 IS

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State receiving a grant 

2 under this section shall use the grant only for costs 

3 associated with establishing an automatic re-reg4 istration program. 

5 (2) LIMITATION.—A grant under this section 

6 may not be used for any costs incurred prior to the 

7 date of the enactment of this Act. 

8 (d) ELIGIBLE STATE.—For purposes of this section, 

9 the term ‘‘eligible State’’ means any State that— 

10 (1) submits an application to the Election As11 sistance Commission at such time and containing 

12 such information as the Commission may specify, 

13 (2) agrees to implement an automatic re-reg14 istration program, and 

15 (3) certifies that any automatic re-registration 

16 program has been tested and shown to accurately 

17 update voters’ registration status. 

18 (e) AUTOMATIC RE-REGISTRATION PROGRAM.—For 

19 purposes of this section: 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘automatic re-reg21 istration program’’ means a program under which, 

22 on a monthly basis, the State— 

23 (A) obtains permanent change of address 

24 information from the Postal Service through its 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
84 

•S 3100 IS

1 licensees with respect to individuals moving to, 

2 from, or within such State, and 

3 (B) automatically registers for voting pur4 poses specified individuals residing in such 

5 State at the specified individual’s current per6 manent address. 

7 (2) SPECIFIED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘speci8 fied individual’’ means, with respect to any State, 

9 any individual— 

10 (A) with respect to whom the State has ob11 tained permanent change of address informa12 tion from the Postal service through its licens13 ees, and 

14 (B) who is registered to vote in such State 

15 before the change of permanent address. 

16 (3) EXCEPTION TO NATIONAL VOTER REG17 ISTRATION ACT OF 1993 TO ENABLE AUTOMATIC

18 REGISTRATION.—Paragraph (1) of section 8(d) of 

19 the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 

20 U.S.C. 1973gg–6(d)) is amended by adding at the 

21 end the following flush sentence: 

22 ‘‘Subparagraph (B)(ii) shall not apply with respect 

23 to any removal carried out under an automatic re24 registration program described in section 501(e) of 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
85 

•S 3100 IS

1 the Voting Opportunities and Integrity in the Con2 duct of Elections Act of 2008.’’. 

3 (4) COMPLIANCE WITH VOTER REMOVAL

4 STANDARDS.—Except as otherwise provided by law, 

5 any automatic re-registration program shall meet 

6 the requirements for removing registrants from the 

7 official list of eligible voters under section 8 of the 

8 National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 

9 1973gg–6). 

10 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

12 appropriated for grants under this section such sums 

13 as may be necessary for fiscal years 2009 through 

14 2011. 

15 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Any amount appropriated 

16 pursuant to the authority under subsection (a) shall 

17 remain available without fiscal year limitation until 

18 expended. 

19 SEC. 503. INTEROPERABILITY OF VOTER REGISTRATION 

20 DATABASES. 

21 (a) INTEROPERABILITY.— 

22 (1) UNIFORM TEMPLATE AND DATA TRANSFER

23 TECHNOLOGY.—Subtitle C of title II of the Help 

24 America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15381 et 

25 seq.), as amended by this Act, is amended by redesVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:19 Jun 07, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00085 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3100.IS S3100

sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
86 

•S 3100 IS

1 ignating section 248 as section 249 and by inserting 

2 after section 248 the following new section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 249. DEVELOPMENT OF UNIFORM TEMPLATE AND 

4 PROVISION OF TECHNOLOGY TO ENSURE 

5 INTEROPERABILITY OF VOTER REGISTRA6 TION DATABASES. 

7 ‘‘(a) UNIFORM TEMPLATE.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall de9 velop a uniform template for the maintenance and 

10 exchange of voter registration information contained 

11 in the computerized statewide voter registration list 

12 of participating States. 

13 ‘‘(2) DATA FIELDS.—Such template shall in14 clude data fields for the following information: 

15 ‘‘(A) Full legal name. 

16 ‘‘(B) Date of birth. 

17 ‘‘(C) Digital signature image. 

18 ‘‘(D) Social Security number. 

19 ‘‘(b) INTEROPERABLE VOTER REGISTRATION DATA20 BASES.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall es22 tablish a computerized system that is capable of 

23 communicating and exchanging data among partici24 pating States in an accurate, effective, and con25 sistent manner. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
87 

•S 3100 IS

1 ‘‘(2) PROVISION TO STATES.—The Commission 

2 shall provide access to the system to participating 

3 States for the purpose of transferring and exchang4 ing voter registration data. 

5 ‘‘(3) PARTICIPATING STATE DEFINED.—In this 

6 subsection, the term ‘participating State’ means a 

7 State that meets the interoperability requirements of 

8 section 298A(b). 

9 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION WITH THE COMMISSIONER OF

10 SOCIAL SECURITY ON SAFEGUARDS.—The Commission 

11 shall consult with the Commissioner of Social Security for 

12 the purpose of providing procedures for safeguarding So13 cial Security numbers under the computerized system es14 tablished under subsection (b).’’. 

15 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con16 tents of such Act, as amended by this Act, is amend17 ed by inserting after the item relating to section 248 

18 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 249. Development of uniform template and provision of technology to ensure interoperability of voter registration databases.’’. 

19 (b) GRANTS TO STATES FOR DEVELOPMENT OF

20 INTEROPERABLE VOTER REGISTRATION DATABASES.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title II of the 

22 Help America Vote Act (42 U.S.C. 15321 et seq.), 

23 as amended by this Act, is amended by adding at 

24 the end the following new part: 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
88 

•S 3100 IS

1 ‘‘PART 7—INTEROPERABILITY REQUIREMENTS 

2 PAYMENTS 

3 ‘‘SEC. 298. INTEROPERABILITY REQUIREMENTS PAYMENTS. 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

5 ‘‘(1) INTEROPERABILITY REQUIREMENTS PAY6 MENTS.—The Commission shall make an interoper7 ability requirements payment each year to partici8 pating States. 

9 ‘‘(2) PARTICIPATING STATE DEFINED.—In this 

10 part, the term ‘participating State’ means a State 

11 that meets the interoperability requirements of sec12 tion 298A(b). 

13 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—A State receiving an inter14 operability requirements payment shall use the payment 

15 only to meet the requirements of section 298A(b). 

16 ‘‘(c) SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS.—As soon as prac17 ticable after the date of enactment of this subtitle, and 

18 not less frequently than once each calendar year there19 after, the Commission shall make interoperability require20 ments payments to States under this part. 

21 ‘‘SEC. 298A. CONDITION FOR RECEIPT OF FUNDS. 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State is eligible to receive an 

23 interoperability requirements payment for a fiscal year if 

24 the chief executive officer of the State, or designee, in con25 sultation and coordination with the chief State election of26 ficial, has filed with the Commission a statement certifying 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
89 

•S 3100 IS

1 that the State is in compliance with the requirements of 

2 subsection (b). 

3 ‘‘(b) INTEROPERABILITY REQUIREMENTS.—The 

4 interoperability requirements of this subsection are as fol5 lows: 

6 ‘‘(1) UNIQUE IDENTIFIER.—The State shall use 

7 the Social Security number of each legally registered 

8 voter in the State as the unique identifier required 

9 under section 303(a)(1)(A). 

10 ‘‘(2) UNIFORM TEMPLATE.—The State shall 

11 use the uniform template developed under section 

12 249(a) for voter information maintained in the com13 puterized statewide voter registration list of the 

14 State under section 303(a). 

15 ‘‘(3) INTEROPERABLE VOTER REGISTRATION

16 DATABASES.—The State shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) maintain the computerized statewide 

18 voter registration list under section 303(a) in a 

19 format that is compatible with the computerized 

20 system established by the Commission under 

21 section 249(b); and 

22 ‘‘(B) provide voter registration informa23 tion, upon request, to other participating States 

24 through the computerized system established 

25 under section 249(b). 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
90 

•S 3100 IS

1 ‘‘(4) ELECTRONIC POLL BOOKS.—The State 

2 shall establish an electronic system through which 

3 local election officials can identify the appropriate lo4 cation for registered voters to vote on the day of an 

5 election. 

6 ‘‘SEC. 298B. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be ap8 propriated for interoperability requirements payments 

9 under this part such sums as may be necessary. 

10 ‘‘(b) AVAILABILITY.—Any amounts appropriated 

11 pursuant to the authority of subsection (a) shall remain 

12 available without fiscal year limitation until expended.’’. 

13 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con14 tents of such Act, as amended by this Act, is amend15 ed by inserting after the item relating to section 297 

16 the following: 

‘‘PART 7—INTEROPERABILITY REQUIREMENTS PAYMENTS

‘‘Sec. 298. Interoperability requirements payments. 

‘‘Sec. 298A. Condition for receipt of funds. 

‘‘Sec. 298B. Authorization of appropriations.’’. 

17 (c) AUTHORIZATION TO USE SOCIAL SECURITY

18 NUMBERS.—Section 205(c)(2) of the Social Security Act 

19 (42 U.S.C. 405(c)(2)) is amended by adding at the end 

20 the following new subparagraph: 

21 ‘‘(I)(i) It is the policy of the United States that any 

22 State (or any political subdivision of a State) may utilize 

23 the Social Security account numbers issued by the ComVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:19 Jun 07, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00090 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3100.IS S3100

sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
91 

•S 3100 IS

1 missioner of Social Security for the administration of any 

2 voter registration law. 

3 ‘‘(ii) An agency of a State (or political subdivision 

4 thereof) charged with the administration of any voter reg5 istration law which did not use Social Security account 

6 numbers for identification under a law or regulation 

7 adopted before the date of the enactment of this subpara8 graph may require an individual to disclose his or her So9 cial Security number to such agency solely for the purpose 

10 of administering such law. 

11 ‘‘(iii) Any agency of a State (or any political subdivi12 sion thereof) which utilizes Social Security account num13 bers in the administration of voter registration laws in ac14 cordance with clause (i) shall provide such safeguards as 

15 the Commissioner of Social Security determines to be nec16 essary or appropriate to protect the confidentiality of such 

17 Social Security account numbers. 

18 ‘‘(iv) To the extent that any provision of Federal law 

19 enacted before the date of the enactment of this subpara20 graph is inconsistent with the policy set forth in clause 

21 (i), such provision shall, on and after that date, be null, 

22 void, and of no effect.’’. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
92 

•S 3100 IS

1 SEC. 504. CLARIFICATION OF STANDARDS FOR DETER2 MINING MATCHING OF INFORMATION PRO3 VIDED WITH APPLICATIONS. 

4 (a) STATE REQUIREMENTS FOR DETERMINATION OF

5 VALIDITY OF NUMBERS PROVIDED.—Section 

6 303(a)(5)(A)(iii) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

7 (42 U.S.C. 15483(a)(5)(A)(iii)) is amended by striking 

8 the period at the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, except 

9 that the information provided by an individual shall be 

10 sufficient to meet the requirements of this subparagraph 

11 if, based on the information provided, the State is able 

12 to determine the individual’s motor vehicle driver’s num13 ber or other personal identification document number or 

14 the last four digits of the individual’s Social Security num15 ber, or is able to locate one of those numbers in another 

16 State record.’’. 

17 (b) STANDARDS FOR DETERMINATION OF MATCH OF

18 SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS.— 

19 (1) REQUIREMENTS FOR STATES.—Section 

20 303(a)(5)(B) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

21 15483(a)(5)(B)) is amended by adding at the end 

22 the following new clause: 

23 ‘‘(iii) MATCHING STANDARDS.—Infor24 mation provided by an applicant for voter 

25 registration shall be deemed to be validly 

26 matched with information maintained by 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
93 

•S 3100 IS

1 the Commissioner of Social Security or 

2 with information in the database of the 

3 State motor vehicle authority for purposes 

4 of this subparagraph if it may be reason5 ably concluded that the applicant is sub6 stantially likely to be the same individual 

7 as an individual reflected in the database 

8 of the Social Security Administration.’’. 

9 (2) PROCEDURES OF COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL

10 SECURITY.—Section 205(r)(8) of the Social Security 

11 Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)(8)), as added by section 

12 303(a)(5)(C) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002, 

13 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

14 subparagraph: 

15 ‘‘(G) The Commissioner shall develop pro16 cedures consistent with the matching standard 

17 established under section 303(a)(5)(B)(iii) of 

18 the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to improve 

19 the accuracy of the matching process under the 

20 agreements under this paragraph, including 

21 procedures to account for typographical errors 

22 and common variations in recording data. Such 

23 procedures shall be uniform, nondiscriminatory, 

24 and open to public scrutiny.’’. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
94 

•S 3100 IS

1 (c) STATE.—For purposes of this section, the term 

2 ‘‘State’’ includes the District of Columbia and any posses3 sion of the United States. 

4 TITLE VI—VOTER CAGING 

5 SEC. 601. PROHIBITION ON VOTER CAGING. 

6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 (1) VOTER CAGING DOCUMENT.—The term 

8 ‘‘voter caging document’’ means— 

9 (A) any nonforwardable document that is 

10 sent to an individual at the address at which 

11 such individual is registered or seeking to be12 come registered as a voter in a Federal election 

13 and that is returned to the sender or to a third 

14 party as undelivered or undeliverable; and 

15 (B) any document (other than a notice de16 scribed in section 8(d) of the National Voter 

17 Registration Act of 1993) that is sent to an in18 dividual at the address at which such individual 

19 is registered as a voter in a Federal election 

20 and that contains instructions to return the 

21 document to the sender or a third party but is 

22 not so returned. 

23 (2) VOTER CAGING LIST.—The term ‘‘voter cag24 ing list’’ means any list of individuals compiled from 

25 voter caging documents. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
95 

•S 3100 IS

1 (3) UNVERIFIED LIST MATCH.—The term 

2 ‘‘unverified list match’’ means a list produced by 

3 matching— 

4 (A) the identity of registered voters or ap5 plicants for voter registration, with 

6 (B) the identity of individuals who are in7 eligible to vote in the registrar’s jurisdiction, by 

8 virtue of death, conviction, change of address, 

9 mental impairment, or otherwise; 

10 unless the information establishing the identity of 

11 the individual under both subparagraphs (A) and 

12 (B) contains a signature, photograph, or unique 

13 identifying number verifying the identity of the indi14 vidual. 

15 (b) CONDUCT BY ELECTION OFFICIALS PROHIB16 ITED.—No State or local election official shall prevent an 

17 individual from registering or voting in any election for 

18 Federal office, or permit in connection with any election 

19 for Federal office a formal challenge under State law to 

20 an individual’s registration status or eligibility to vote, if 

21 the sole basis for such decision or challenge is evidence 

22 consisting of— 

23 (1) a voter caging document or voter caging 

24 list; 

25 (2) an unverified match list; or 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
96 

•S 3100 IS

1 (3) notwithstanding section 209 of the Help 

2 America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15329), any 

3 other evidence so designated for the purposes of this 

4 section by the Election Assistance Commission. 

5 (c) REQUIREMENTS FOR CHALLENGES BY PERSONS

6 OTHER THAN ELECTION OFFICIALS.— 

7 (1) ATTESTATION OF FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE

8 OF INELIGIBILITY.—No person, other than a State 

9 or local election official, shall submit a formal chal10 lenge to an individual’s eligibility to register to vote 

11 in an election for Federal office or to vote in an elec12 tion for Federal office unless the challenge— 

13 (A) sets forth in writing the specific 

14 grounds for the ineligibility of the individual 

15 who is the subject of the challenge; and 

16 (B) is subject to an oath or attestation 

17 under penalty of perjury that such individual is 

18 ineligible to register to vote or to vote in that 

19 election. 

20 (2) PROHIBITING CHALLENGES BASED ON CER21 TAIN EVIDENCE.—No person shall submit a formal 

22 challenge to an individual’s eligibility to register to 

23 vote in an election for Federal office or to vote in 

24 an election for Federal office if the sole basis for 

25 such challenge is evidence consisting of— 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS
97 

•S 3100 IS

1 (A) a voter caging document or voter cag2 ing list; 

3 (B) an unverified match list; or 

4 (C) notwithstanding section 209 of the 

5 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 

6 15329), any other evidence so designated for 

7 the purposes of this section by the Election As8 sistance Commission. 

9 (3) PENALTIES FOR KNOWING MISCONDUCT.— 

10 Whoever knowingly challenges the eligibility of any 

11 individual to register or vote or knowingly causes the 

12 eligibility of such individuals to be challenged in vio13 lation of paragraph (1) or (2) with the intent that 

14 one or more such individuals be disqualified from 

15 voting, shall be fined not more than $50,000 for 

16 each such violation. 

17 (d) NO EFFECT ON NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRA18 TION ACT OF 1993.—Nothing in this section shall be con19 strued to override the protections of the National Voter 

20 Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg et seq.). 

Æ 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with BILLS