I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5803 

To direct the Election Assistance Commission to establish a program to 

make grants to participating States and units of local government which 

will administer the regularly scheduled general election for Federal office 

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

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

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

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 15, 2008 

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

referred to the Committee on House Administration 

A BILL 

To direct the Election Assistance Commission to establish 

a program to make grants to participating States and 

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

in November 2008 for carrying out a program to make 

backup paper ballots available in the case of the failure 

of a voting system or voting equipment in the election 

or some other emergency situation, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

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1 SECTION 1. GRANTS TO STATES AND UNITS OF LOCAL GOV2 ERNMENT FOR MAKING BACKUP PAPER BAL3 LOTS AVAILABLE IN CASE OF VOTING SYS4 TEM OR EQUIPMENT FAILURE OR OTHER 

5 EMERGENCY SITUATION. 

6 (a) GRANTS BY ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMIS7 SION.—The Election Assistance Commission (hereafter re8 ferred to as the ‘‘Commission’’) shall establish a program 

9 under which the Commission shall make a grant to each 

10 participating State and each participating unit of local 

11 government for carrying out a program to make backup 

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

13 system or voting equipment or some other emergency situ14 ation in the administration of the regularly scheduled gen15 eral election for Federal office held in November 2008. 

16 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBILITY.— 

17 (1) APPLICATION.—A State or unit of local gov18 ernment is eligible to participate in the program es19 tablished by the Commission under this Act if the 

20 State or unit of local government submits an appli21 cation to the Commission at such time and in such 

22 manner as the Commission shall require, and in23 cludes in the application— 

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

25 local government has established a program 

26 that meets the requirements of paragraph (2) 

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1 to make backup paper ballots available in the 

2 case of the failure of a voting system or voting 

3 equipment or some other emergency situation; 

4 (B) a statement of the reasonable costs the 

5 State or unit of local government expects to 

6 incur in carrying out its program; 

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

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

9 unit of local government will provide the Com10 mission with a statement of the actual costs in11 curred in carrying out its program; 

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

13 local government will repay the Commission any 

14 amount by which the payment made under this 

15 Act exceeds the actual costs incurred in car16 rying out its program; and 

17 (E) such other information and certifi18 cations as the Commission may require. 

19 (2) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—The require20 ments of this paragraph for a program to make 

21 backup paper ballots available in the case of the fail22 ure of a voting system or voting equipment or some 

23 other emergency situation are as follows: 

24 (A) In the event that the voting equipment 

25 at a polling place malfunctions and cannot be 

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1 used to cast ballots on the date of the election 

2 or some other emergency situation exists which 

3 prevents the use of such equipment to cast bal4 lots on that date, any individual who is waiting 

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

6 in the election and who would be delayed due 

7 to such malfunction or other emergency situa8 tion shall be notified by the appropriate election 

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

10 paper ballot, and shall be provided with a 

11 backup paper ballot for the election, the sup12 plies necessary to mark the ballot, and instruc13 tions on how to mark the ballot to prevent over14 votes. 

15 (B) Any backup paper ballot which is cast 

16 by an individual pursuant to the program of a 

17 State or unit of local government shall be 

18 counted as a regular ballot cast in the election 

19 and tabulated on the date of the election, and 

20 shall not be treated (for eligibility purposes) as 

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

22 Help America Vote Act of 2002, unless the in23 dividual casting the ballot would have otherwise 

24 been required to cast a provisional ballot if the 

25 voting equipment at the polling place had not 

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1 malfunctioned or an emergency situation had 

2 not existed which prevented the use of such 

3 equipment to cast ballots. 

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

5 government is carried out in accordance with 

6 standards established by the State or unit of 

7 local government which include protocols for de8 livering and supplying backup paper ballots to 

9 polling places and for notifying individuals of 

10 the right to use the backup paper ballots. 

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

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

13 program established by the Commission under this Act 

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

15 State or unit of local government expects to incur in car16 rying out its program, as provided in the application under 

17 subsection (b)(1)(B). 

18 SEC. 2. STATE DEFINED. 

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

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

21 American Samoa, and the United States Virgin Islands. 

22 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

23 There are authorized to be appropriated for grants 

24 under the program established by the Commission under 

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

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1 to the authority of this section shall remain available with2 out fiscal year limitation until expended. 

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