II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 559 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require a voter-verified 

permanent paper ballot under title III of such Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 13, 2007 

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

referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require 

a voter-verified permanent paper ballot under title III 

of such Act, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Vote Integrity and 

5 Verification Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROMOTING ACCURACY, INTEGRITY, AND SECU7 RITY THROUGH VOTER-VERIFIED PERMA8 NENT PAPER BALLOT. 

9 (a) BALLOT VERIFICATION AND AUDIT CAPACITY.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 301(a)(2) of the 

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

3 15481(a)(2)) is amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘(2) BALLOT VERIFICATION AND AUDIT CAPAC5 ITY.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 

7 ‘‘(i) The voting system shall require 

8 the use of or produce an individual voter9 verified paper ballot of the voter’s vote 

10 that shall be created by or made available 

11 for inspection and verification by the voter 

12 before the voter’s vote is cast and counted. 

13 For purposes of this clause, examples of 

14 such a ballot include a paper ballot marked 

15 by the voter for the purpose of being 

16 counted by hand or read by an optical 

17 scanner or other similar device, a paper 

18 ballot prepared by the voter to be mailed 

19 to an election official (whether from a do20 mestic or overseas location), a paper ballot 

21 created through the use of a ballot mark22 ing device or system, or a paper ballot pro23 duced by a touch screen or other electronic 

24 voting machine, so long as in each case the 

25 voter is permitted to verify the ballot in a 


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1 paper form in accordance with this sub2 paragraph. 

3 ‘‘(ii) The voting system shall provide 

4 the voter with an opportunity to correct 

5 any error made by the system in the voter6 verified paper ballot before the permanent 

7 voter-verified paper ballot is preserved in 

8 accordance with subparagraph (B)(i). 

9 ‘‘(iii) The voting system shall not pre10 serve the voter-verifiable paper ballots in 

11 any manner that makes it possible, at any 

12 time after the ballot has been cast, to asso13 ciate a voter with the record of the voter’s 

14 vote. 

15 ‘‘(B) MANUAL AUDIT CAPACITY.— 

16 ‘‘(i) The permanent voter-verified 

17 paper ballot produced in accordance with 

18 subparagraph (A) shall be preserved— 

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

20 the polling place on the date of the 

21 election, within the polling place in 

22 the manner or method in which all 

23 other paper ballots are preserved 

24 within such polling place; 


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1 ‘‘(II) in the case of votes cast at 

2 the polling place prior to the date of 

3 the election or cast by mail, in a man4 ner which is consistent with the man5 ner employed by the jurisdiction for 

6 preserving such ballots in general; or 

7 ‘‘(III) in the absence of either 

8 such manner or method, in a manner 

9 which is consistent with the manner 

10 employed by the jurisdiction for pre11 serving paper ballots in general. 

12 ‘‘(ii) Each paper ballot produced pur13 suant to subparagraph (A) shall be suit14 able for a manual audit equivalent to that 

15 of a paper ballot voting system. 

16 ‘‘(iii) In the event of any inconsist17 encies or irregularities between any elec18 tronic vote tallies and the vote tallies de19 termined by counting by hand the indi20 vidual permanent paper ballots produced 

21 pursuant to subparagraph (A), and subject 

22 to subparagraph (D), the individual perma23 nent paper ballots shall be the true and 

24 correct record of the votes cast and shall 

25 be used as the official ballots for purposes 


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1 of any recount or audit conducted with re2 spect to any election for Federal office in 

3 which the voting system is used. 

4 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULE FOR VOTES CAST BY

5 ABSENT MILITARY AND OVERSEAS VOTERS.—In 

6 the case of votes cast by absent uniformed serv7 ices voters and overseas voters under the Uni8 formed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting 

9 Act, the ballots cast by such voters shall serve 

10 as the permanent paper ballot under subpara11 graph (A) in accordance with protocols estab12 lished by the Commission, in consultation with 

13 the Secretary of Defense after notice and op14 portunity for public comment, which preserve 

15 the privacy of the voter and are consistent with 

16 the requirements of such Act and this Act, ex17 cept that to the extent that such protocols per18 mit the use of electronic mail in the delivery or 

19 submission of such ballots, paragraph (11) shall 

20 not apply with respect to the delivery or sub21 mission of the ballots. 

22 ‘‘(D) SPECIAL RULE FOR TREATMENT OF

23 DISPUTES WHEN PAPER BALLOTS HAVE BEEN

24 SHOWN TO BE COMPROMISED.—In the event of 

25 any inconsistency between any electronic vote 


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1 tallies and the vote tallies determined by count2 ing by hand the individual permanent paper 

3 ballots produced pursuant to subparagraph (A), 

4 any person seeking to show that the electronic 

5 vote tally should be given preference in deter6 mining the official count for the election shall 

7 be required to demonstrate, by clear and con8 vincing evidence, that the paper ballots have 

9 been compromised (by damage or mischief or 

10 otherwise) and that a sufficient number of the 

11 ballots have been so compromised that the re12 sult of the election would be changed. For pur13 poses of the previous sentence, the paper ballots 

14 associated with each voting machine shall be 

15 considered on a voting-machine-by-voting-ma16 chine basis, and only the sets of paper ballots 

17 deemed compromised, if any, shall be consid18 ered in the calculation of whether or not the 

19 election would be changed due to the com20 promised paper ballots.’’. 

21 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT CLARIFYING AP22 PLICABILITY OF ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGE ACCESSI23 BILITY.—Section 301(a)(4) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

24 15481(a)(4)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(including 

25 the paper ballots required to be produced under 


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1 paragraph (2) and the notice required under para2 graph (8))’’ after ‘‘voting system’’. 

3 (3) OTHER CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Sec4 tion 301(a)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15481(a)(1)) 

5 is amended— 

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

7 ‘‘counted’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in accord8 ance with paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; 

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

10 ‘‘counted’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in accord11 ance with paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; 

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

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

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

15 and (3)’’; and 

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

17 ‘‘counted’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in accord18 ance with paragraphs (2) and (3)’’. 

19 (b) ACCESSIBILITY AND BALLOT VERIFICATION IN20 DIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.— 

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

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

23 read as follows: 

24 ‘‘(B)(i) satisfy the requirement of subpara25 graph (A) through the use of at least one voting 


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1 system equipped for individuals with disabilities 

2 at each polling place; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) meet the requirements of subpara4 graph (A) and paragraph (2)(A) by using a sys5 tem that— 

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

7 independently verify the content of the per8 manent paper ballot through the conver9 sion of the printed content into accessible 

10 media, and 

11 ‘‘(II) ensures that the entire process 

12 of ballot verification and vote casting is 

13 equipped for individuals with disabilities.’’. 

14 (2) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT OF STUDY, TEST15 ING, AND DEVELOPMENT OF ACCESSIBLE BALLOT

16 VERIFICATION MECHANISMS.— 

17 (A) STUDY AND REPORTING.—Subtitle C 

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

19 is amended— 

20 (i) by redesignating section 247 as 

21 section 248; and 

22 (ii) by inserting after section 246 the 

23 following new section: 


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

2 VERIFICATION MECHANISMS. 

3 ‘‘(a) STUDY AND REPORT.—The Director of the Na4 tional Institute of Standards and Technology shall study, 

5 test, and develop best practices to enhance the accessibility 

6 of ballot verification mechanisms for individuals with dis7 abilities, for voters whose primary language is not English, 

8 and for voters with difficulties in literacy, including best 

9 practices for the mechanisms themselves and the processes 

10 through which the mechanisms are used. In carrying out 

11 this section, the Director shall specifically investigate ex12 isting and potential methods or devices that will assist 

13 such individuals and voters in creating voter-verified paper 

14 ballots and in reading or transmitting the information 

15 printed or marked on such ballots back to such individuals 

16 and voters. 

17 ‘‘(b) DEADLINE.—The Director shall complete the re18 quirements of subsection (a) not later than January 1, 

19 2010. 

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

21 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out subsection 

22 (a) $1,000,000, to remain available until expended.’’. 

23 (B) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of 

24 contents of such Act is amended— 


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1 (i) by redesignating the item relating 

2 to section 247 as relating to section 248; 

3 and 

4 (ii) by inserting after the item relating 

5 to section 246 the following new item: 

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

6 (3) CLARIFICATION OF ACCESSIBILITY STAND7 ARDS UNDER VOLUNTARY VOTING SYSTEM GUID8 ANCE.—In adopting any voluntary guidance under 

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

10 with respect to the accessibility of the ballot 

11 verification requirements for individuals with disabil12 ities, the Election Assistance Commission shall in13 clude and apply the same accessibility standards ap14 plicable under the voluntary guidance adopted for 

15 accessible voting systems under such subtitle. 

16 (c) ADDITIONAL VOTING SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS.— 

17 (1) REQUIREMENTS DESCRIBED.—Section 

18 301(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15481(a)) is amend19 ed by adding at the end the following new para20 graphs: 

21 ‘‘(7) INSTRUCTION OF ELECTION OFFICIALS.— 

22 Each State shall ensure that all election officials are 

23 instructed on the right of any individual who re24 quires assistance to vote by reason of blindness, 

25 other disability, or inability to read or write to be 


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1 given assistance by a person chosen by that indi2 vidual under section 208 of the Voting Rights Act 

3 of 1965. 

4 ‘‘(8) INSTRUCTION REMINDING VOTERS OF IM5 PORTANCE OF VERIFYING PAPER BALLOT.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The appropriate elec7 tion official at each polling place shall cause to 

8 be placed in a prominent location in the polling 

9 place a notice containing the following state10 ment, in boldface type, large font, and using 

11 only upper-case letters: ‘THE PAPER BAL12 LOT REPRESENTING YOUR VOTE 

13 SHALL SERVE AS THE VOTE OF 

14 RECORD IN ALL RECOUNTS AND AU15 DITS. DO NOT LEAVE THE VOTING 

16 BOOTH UNTIL YOU HAVE CONFIRMED 

17 THAT IT ACCURATELY RECORDS YOUR 

18 VOTE’. 

19 ‘‘(B) SYSTEMS FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH

20 DISABILITIES.—All voting systems equipped for 

21 individuals with disabilities shall transmit by 

22 accessible media the statement referred to in 

23 subparagraph (A), as well as an explanation of 

24 the verification process described in paragraph 

25 (3)(B)(ii). 


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1 ‘‘(9) PROHIBITION OF USE OF UNDISCLOSED

2 SOFTWARE IN VOTING SYSTEMS.—No voting system 

3 used in an election for Federal office shall at any 

4 time contain or use any software not certified by the 

5 State for use in the election or any software undis6 closed to the State in the certification process. The 

7 appropriate election official shall disclose, in elec8 tronic form, the source code, object code, and exe9 cutable representation of the voting system software 

10 and firmware to the Commission, including ballot 

11 programming files, and the Commission shall make 

12 that source code, object code, executable representa13 tion, and ballot programming files available for in14 spection promptly upon request to any person. 

15 ‘‘(10) PROHIBITION OF USE OF WIRELESS COM16 MUNICATIONS DEVICES IN VOTING SYSTEMS.—No 

17 voting system shall contain, use, or be accessible by 

18 any wireless, power-line, remote, wide area, or con19 cealed communication device at all. 

20 ‘‘(11) PROHIBITING CONNECTION OF SYSTEM

21 OR TRANSMISSION OF SYSTEM INFORMATION OVER

22 THE INTERNET.—No component of any voting de23 vice upon which votes are cast shall be connected to 

24 the Internet at any time. 


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1 ‘‘(12) SECURITY STANDARDS FOR VOTING SYS2 TEMS USED IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.— 

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

4 be used in an election for Federal office unless 

5 the manufacturer of such system and the elec6 tion officials using such system meet the appli7 cable requirements described in subparagraph 

8 (B). 

9 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS DESCRIBED.—The 

10 requirements described in this subparagraph 

11 are as follows: 

12 ‘‘(i) The manufacturer and the elec13 tion officials shall document the secure 

14 chain of custody for the handling of all 

15 software, hardware, vote storage media, 

16 and ballots used in connection with voting 

17 systems, and shall make the information 

18 available upon request to the Commission. 

19 ‘‘(ii) The manufacturer of the soft20 ware used in the operation of the system 

21 shall provide the appropriate election offi22 cial with updated information regarding 

23 the identification of each individual who 

24 participated in the writing of the software, 

25 including specific information regarding 


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1 whether the individual has ever been con2 victed of a crime involving election, ac3 counting, or computer security fraud. 

4 ‘‘(iii) The manufacturer shall provide 

5 the appropriate election official with the 

6 information necessary for the official to 

7 provide information to the Commission 

8 under paragraph (9). 

9 ‘‘(iv) After the appropriate election of10 ficial has certified the source code, object 

11 code, and executable representation of the 

12 voting system software for use in an elec13 tion, the manufacturer may not— 

14 ‘‘(I) alter such codes and rep15 resentation; or 

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

17 system any software not certified by 

18 the State for use in the election. 

19 ‘‘(v) The appropriate election official 

20 shall ensure that all voting machines and 

21 related supplies to be used in the election 

22 shall remain secured within storage facili23 ties arranged for by the election official, 

24 and shall not be removed from such facili25 ties until such time as they are to be delivVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:26 Feb 17, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S559.IS S559

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1 ered to the relevant polling place and se2 cured at the polling place until used in the 

3 election. 

4 ‘‘(vi) The manufacturer shall meet 

5 standards established by the Commission 

6 to prevent the existence or appearance of 

7 any conflict of interest with respect to can8 didates for public office and political par9 ties, including standards to ensure that the 

10 manufacturer’s officers and directors do 

11 not hold positions of authority in any polit12 ical party or in any partisan political cam13 paign, and shall certify to the Commission 

14 not later than January 31 of each even15 numbered year that it meets the standards 

16 established under this clause. 

17 ‘‘(vii) At the request of the Commis18 sion, the appropriate election official shall 

19 submit information to the Commission re20 garding the State’s compliance with this 

21 subparagraph. 

22 ‘‘(13) DURABILITY AND READABILITY REQUIRE23 MENTS FOR BALLOTS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) DURABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR

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1 lots required to be used under this Act (includ2 ing the emergency paper ballots used under 

3 paragraph (14)) shall be marked, printed, or re4 corded on durable paper of archival quality ca5 pable of withstanding multiple counts and re6 counts without compromising the fundamental 

7 integrity of the ballots, and capable of retaining 

8 the information marked, printed, or recorded on 

9 them for the full duration of the retention and 

10 preservation period called for by title III of the 

11 Civil Rights Act of 1960 (42 U.S.C. 1974 et 

12 seq.) or under applicable State law, whichever is 

13 longer. 

14 ‘‘(B) READABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR

15 MACHINE-MARKED OR PRINTED PAPER BAL16 LOTS.—All voter-verified paper ballots marked 

17 or printed through the use of a marking or 

18 printing device shall be clearly readable by the 

19 naked eye and by a scanner or other device 

20 equipped for voters with disabilities. 

21 ‘‘(14) PROHIBITING TURNING INDIVIDUALS

22 AWAY FROM POLLING PLACES BECAUSE OF PROB23 LEMS WITH OR SHORTAGES OF EQUIPMENT, BAL24 LOTS, OR SUPPLIES.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) ENSURING ADEQUATE EQUIPMENT

2 AND SUPPLIES.—Each State shall ensure that 

3 the voting systems it uses to conduct elections 

4 for Federal office are designed in a manner 

5 that ensures that no voter will be unable to cast 

6 a ballot at a polling place due to a shortage or 

7 failure of voting equipment, ballots, or nec8 essary supplies. 

9 ‘‘(B) USE OF EMERGENCY PAPER BALLOTS

10 IN CASE OF SYSTEM OR EQUIPMENT FAIL11 URE.—In the event of the failure of voting 

12 equipment or other circumstance at a polling 

13 place that causes a delay, any individual who is 

14 waiting at the polling place to cast a ballot in 

15 an election for Federal office and who would be 

16 delayed due to such failure or other cir17 cumstance shall be advised immediately of the 

18 individual’s right to use an emergency paper 

19 ballot, and upon request shall be provided with 

20 an emergency paper ballot for the election and 

21 the supplies necessary to mark the ballot. Any 

22 emergency paper ballot which is cast by an indi23 vidual under this subparagraph shall be counted 

24 and otherwise treated as a regular ballot and 

25 not as a provisional ballot, unless the individual 


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1 casting the ballot would have otherwise been re2 quired to cast a provisional ballot if the voting 

3 equipment at the polling place had not failed.’’. 

4 (2) REQUIRING LABORATORIES TO MEET

5 STANDARDS PROHIBITING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

6 AS CONDITION OF ACCREDITATION FOR TESTING OF

7 VOTING SYSTEM HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE.— 

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

9 Act (42 U.S.C. 15371(b)) is amended by add10 ing at the end the following new paragraphs: 

11 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST; 

12 ENSURING AVAILABILITY OF RESULTS.— 

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

14 be accredited by the Commission for purposes 

15 of this section unless— 

16 ‘‘(i) the laboratory certifies that the 

17 only compensation it receives for the test18 ing carried out in connection with the cer19 tification, decertification, and recertifi20 cation of the manufacturer’s voting system 

21 hardware and software is the payment 

22 made from the Testing Escrow Account 

23 under paragraph (4); 

24 ‘‘(ii) the laboratory meets the stand25 ards applicable to the manufacturers of 


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1 voting systems under section 

2 301(a)(12)(B)(vi), together with such 

3 standards as the Commission shall estab4 lish (after notice and opportunity for pub5 lic comment) to prevent the existence or 

6 appearance of any conflict of interest in 

7 the testing carried out by the laboratory 

8 under this section, including standards to 

9 ensure that the laboratory does not have a 

10 financial interest in the manufacture, sale, 

11 and distribution of voting system hardware 

12 and software, and is sufficiently inde13 pendent from other persons with such an 

14 interest; 

15 ‘‘(iii) the laboratory certifies that it 

16 will permit an expert designated by the 

17 Commission to observe any testing the lab18 oratory carries out under this section; and 

19 ‘‘(iv) the laboratory, upon completion 

20 of any testing carried out under this sec21 tion, discloses the test protocols, results, 

22 and all communication between the labora23 tory and the manufacturer to the Commis24 sion. 


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

2 receipt of information under subparagraph (A), 

3 the Commission shall make the information 

4 available promptly to election officials and the 

5 public. 

6 ‘‘(4) PROCEDURES FOR CONDUCTING TESTING; 

7 PAYMENT OF USER FEES FOR COMPENSATION OF

8 ACCREDITED LABORATORIES.— 

9 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT OF ESCROW AC10 COUNT.—The Commission shall establish an es11 crow account (to be known as the ‘Testing Es12 crow Account’) for making payments to accred13 ited laboratories for the costs of the testing car14 ried out in connection with the certification, de15 certification, and recertification of voting sys16 tem hardware and software. 

17 ‘‘(B) SCHEDULE OF FEES.—In consulta18 tion with the accredited laboratories, the Com19 mission shall establish and regularly update a 

20 schedule of fees for the testing carried out in 

21 connection with the certification, decertification, 

22 and recertification of voting system hardware 

23 and software, based on the reasonable costs ex24 pected to be incurred by the accredited laboraVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:26 Feb 17, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S559.IS S559

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1 tories in carrying out the testing for various 

2 types of hardware and software. 

3 ‘‘(C) REQUESTS AND PAYMENTS BY MANU4 FACTURERS.—A manufacturer of voting system 

5 hardware and software may not have the hard6 ware or software tested by an accredited labora7 tory under this section unless— 

8 ‘‘(i) the manufacturer submits a de9 tailed request for the testing to the Com10 mission; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) the manufacturer pays to the 

12 Commission, for deposit into the Testing 

13 Escrow Account established under sub14 paragraph (A), the applicable fee under the 

15 schedule established and in effect under 

16 subparagraph (B). 

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

18 receiving a request for testing and the payment 

19 from a manufacturer required under subpara20 graph (C), the Commission shall select at ran21 dom, from all laboratories which are accredited 

22 under this section to carry out the specific test23 ing requested by the manufacturer, an accred24 ited laboratory to carry out the testing. 


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1 ‘‘(E) PAYMENTS TO LABORATORIES.— 

2 Upon receiving a certification from a laboratory 

3 selected to carry out testing pursuant to sub4 paragraph (D) that the testing is completed, 

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

6 required under paragraph (3)(A)(iii), the Com7 mission shall make a payment to the laboratory 

8 from the Testing Escrow Account established 

9 under subparagraph (A) in an amount equal to 

10 the applicable fee paid by the manufacturer 

11 under subparagraph (C)(ii). 

12 ‘‘(5) DISSEMINATION OF ADDITIONAL INFORMA13 TION ON ACCREDITED LABORATORIES.— 

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

15 completion of the testing of a voting system 

16 under this section, the Commission shall 

17 promptly disseminate to the public the identi18 fication of the laboratory which carried out the 

19 testing. 

20 ‘‘(B) LABORATORIES WITH ACCREDITA21 TION REVOKED OR SUSPENDED.—If the Com22 mission revokes, terminates, or suspends the ac23 creditation of a laboratory under this section, 

24 the Commission shall promptly notify Congress, 


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1 the chief State election official of each State, 

2 and the public.’’. 

3 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

4 231 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15371) is further 

5 amended— 

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

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

8 and inserting the following: ‘‘testing of vot9 ing system hardware and software by ac10 credited laboratories in connection with the 

11 certification, decertification, and recertifi12 cation of the hardware and software for 

13 purposes of this Act.’’; 

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

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

16 and inserting the following: ‘‘testing of its 

17 voting system hardware and software by 

18 the laboratories accredited by the Commis19 sion under this section in connection with 

20 certifying, decertifying, and recertifying 

21 the hardware and software.’’; 

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

23 ‘‘testing, certification, decertification, and 

24 recertification’’ and inserting ‘‘testing’’; 

25 and 


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

2 ‘‘testing, certification, decertification, and 

3 recertification’’ each place it appears and 

4 inserting ‘‘testing’’. 

5 (C) DEADLINE FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF

6 STANDARDS AND ESCROW ACCOUNT.—The 

7 Election Assistance Commission shall establish 

8 the standards described in section 231(b)(3) of 

9 the Help America Vote Act of 2002 and the 

10 Testing Escrow Account described in section 

11 231(b)(4) of such Act (as added by subpara12 graph (A)) not later than January 1, 2008. 

13 (3) SPECIAL CERTIFICATION OF BALLOT DURA14 BILITY AND READABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR

15 STATES NOT CURRENTLY USING PAPER BALLOTS.— 

16 If any of the voting systems used in a State for the 

17 regularly scheduled 2006 general elections for Fed18 eral office did not operate by having voters cast 

19 votes on paper ballots (such as through the use of 

20 an optical scan voting system), the State shall cer21 tify to the Election Assistance Commission not later 

22 than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 

23 Act that the State will be in compliance with the re24 quirements of section 301(a)(13) of the Help Amer25 ica Vote of 2002, as added by paragraph (1), in acVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:26 Feb 17, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S559.IS S559

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1 cordance with the deadline established under this 

2 Act, and shall include in the certification the meth3 ods by which the State will meet the requirements. 

4 (d) AVAILABILITY OF ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO EN5 ABLE STATES TO MEET COSTS OF REVISED REQUIRE6 MENTS.— 

7 (1) EXTENSION OF REQUIREMENTS PAYMENTS

8 FOR MEETING REVISED REQUIREMENTS.—Section 

9 257(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 

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

11 the following new paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(4) For fiscal year 2007, $300,000,000, except 

13 that any funds provided under the authorization 

14 made by this paragraph shall be used by a State 

15 only to meet the requirements of title III which are 

16 first imposed on the State pursuant to the amend17 ments made by section 2 of the Vote Integrity and 

18 Verification Act of 2007, or to otherwise modify or 

19 replace its voting systems in response to such 

20 amendments.’’. 

21 (2) USE OF REVISED FORMULA FOR ALLOCA22 TION OF FUNDS.—Section 252(b) of such Act (42 

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

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


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graph (2), the ‘State allocation percentage’ for a 

3 State is the amount (expressed as a percentage) 

4 equal to the quotient of— 

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

6 (as reported in the most recent decennial cen7 sus); and 

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

9 States (as reported in the most recent decennial 

10 census). 

11 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR PAYMENTS FOR FIS12 CAL YEAR 2007.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of the re14 quirements payment made to a State for fiscal 

15 year 2007, the ‘State allocation percentage’ for 

16 a State is the amount (expressed as a percent17 age) equal to the quotient of— 

18 ‘‘(i) the number of remedial precincts 

19 in the State; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) the total number of remedial pre21 cincts in all States. 

22 ‘‘(B) REMEDIAL PRECINCT DEFINED.—In 

23 this paragraph, a ‘remedial precinct’ means any 

24 precinct (or equivalent location) within the 

25 State for which the voting system used to adVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:26 Feb 17, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S559.IS S559

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1 minister the regularly scheduled general election 

2 for Federal office held in November 2006— 

3 ‘‘(i) did not use paper as the medium 

4 for vote casting, or if the system used 

5 paper, did not use durable paper of archi6 val quality; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) did not provide that the entire 

8 process of ballot verification was equipped 

9 for individuals with disabilities.’’. 

10 (3) INCREASE IN STATE MINIMUM SHARE OF

11 PAYMENT.—Section 252(c) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 15402(c)) is amended— 

13 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting after 

14 ‘‘one-half of 1 percent’’ the following: ‘‘(or, in 

15 the case of the payment made for fiscal year 

16 2007, 1 percent)’’; and 

17 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting after 

18 ‘‘one-tenth of 1 percent’’ the following: ‘‘(or, in 

19 the case of the payment made for fiscal year 

20 2007, one-half of 1 percent)’’. 

21 (4) REVISED CONDITIONS FOR RECEIPT OF

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

23 15403) is amended— 


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

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

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

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

5 subsection: 

6 ‘‘(f) SPECIAL RULE FOR FISCAL YEAR 2007.—Not7 withstanding any other provision of this part, a State is 

8 eligible to receive a requirements payment for fiscal year 

9 2007 if— 

10 ‘‘(1) not later than 30 days after the date of 

11 the enactment of the Vote Integrity and Verification 

12 Act of 2007, the State certifies to the Commission 

13 the number of remedial precincts in the State (as 

14 defined in section 252(b)(2)(B)); and 

15 ‘‘(2) not later than 90 days after the date of 

16 the enactment of such Act, the chief executive officer 

17 of the State, or designee, in consultation and coordi18 nation with the chief State election official, has filed 

19 a statement with the Commission describing the 

20 State’s need for the payment and how the State will 

21 use the payment to meet the requirements of title 

22 III (in accordance with the limitations applicable to 

23 the use of the payment under section 257(a)(4)).’’. 

24 (5) PERMITTING USE OF FUNDS FOR REIM25 BURSEMENT FOR COSTS PREVIOUSLY INCURRED.— 


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

2 15401(c)(1)) is amended by striking the period at 

3 the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, or as a reim4 bursement for any costs incurred in meeting the re5 quirements of title III which are imposed pursuant 

6 to the amendments made by section 2 of the Vote 

7 Integrity and Verification Act of 2007 or in other8 wise modifying or replacing voting systems in re9 sponse to such amendments.’’. 

10 (6) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING

11 STATES RECEIVING OTHER FUNDS FOR REPLACING

12 PUNCH CARD, LEVER, OR OTHER VOTING MA13 CHINES.—Nothing in the amendments made by this 

14 subsection or in any other provision of the Help 

15 America Vote Act of 2002 may be construed to pro16 hibit a State which received or was authorized to re17 ceive a payment under title I or II of such Act for 

18 replacing punch card, lever, or other voting ma19 chines from receiving or using any funds which are 

20 made available under the amendments made by this 

21 subsection. 

22 (7) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

23 by this subsection shall apply with respect to fiscal 

24 years beginning with fiscal year 2007. 


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1 SEC. 3. ENHANCEMENT OF ENFORCEMENT OF HELP AMER2 ICA VOTE ACT OF 2002. 

3 Section 401 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15511) is amend4 ed— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘The Attorney General’’ and in6 serting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General’’; 

7 and 

8 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub9 sections: 

10 ‘‘(b) FILING OF COMPLAINTS BY AGGRIEVED PER11 SONS.— 

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

13 by a violation of section 301, 302, or 303 which has 

14 occurred, is occurring, or is about to occur may file 

15 a written, signed, notarized complaint with the At16 torney General describing the violation and request17 ing the Attorney General to take appropriate action 

18 under this section. 

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

20 Attorney General shall respond to each complaint 

21 filed under paragraph (1), in accordance with proce22 dures established by the Attorney General that re23 quire responses and determinations to be made with24 in the same (or shorter) deadlines which apply to a 

25 State under the State-based administrative com26 plaint procedures described in section 402(a)(2). 


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1 ‘‘(c) CLARIFICATION OF AVAILABILITY OF PRIVATE

2 RIGHT OF ACTION.—Nothing in this section may be con3 strued to prohibit any person from bringing an action 

4 under section 1979 of the Revised Statutes of the United 

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

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

7 paper ballot, the right to have the voter-verified paper bal8 lot counted in an election, or any other right under subtitle 

9 A of title III) to enforce the uniform and nondiscrim10 inatory election technology and administration require11 ments under sections 301, 302, and 303. 

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

13 in this section may be construed to affect the availability 

14 of the State-based administrative complaint procedures re15 quired under section 402 to any person filing a complaint 

16 under this subsection.’’. 

17 SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF AUTHORIZATION OF ELECTION AS18 SISTANCE COMMISSION. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 210 of the Help America 

20 Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15330) is amended by strik21 ing ‘‘each of the fiscal years 2003 through 2005’’ and in22 serting ‘‘each fiscal year beginning with fiscal year 2003’’. 

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

24 subsection (a) shall take effect as if included in the enact25 ment of the Help America Vote Act of 2002. 


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1 SEC. 5. REQUIREMENT FOR MANDATORY MANUAL AUDITS 

2 BY HAND COUNT. 

3 (a) MANDATORY MANUAL AUDITS BY ELECTION

4 AUDIT BOARDS.—Title III of the Help America Vote Act 

5 of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481 et seq.) is amended by adding 

6 at the end the following new subtitle: 

7 ‘‘Subtitle C—Mandatory Manual 

8 Audits by Election Audit Boards 

9 ‘‘SEC. 321. ESTABLISHMENT OF ELECTION AUDIT BOARDS. 

10 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 60 days be11 fore the date of each election for Federal office held in 

12 the State, the chief auditor of each State shall appoint 

13 an Election Audit Board to administer, without advance 

14 notice to the precincts selected, random hand counts of 

15 the voter-verified paper ballots required to be produced 

16 and preserved pursuant to section 301(a)(2) for each such 

17 election held in the State (and, at the option of the State 

18 or jurisdiction involved, of elections for State and local of19 fice held at the same time as such election). 

20 ‘‘(b) COMPOSITION.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each political party in the 

22 State with a candidate in any of the regularly sched23 uled elections for Federal office held in the State 

24 whose candidates in the most recent regularly sched25 uled general elections in the State received at least 

26 5 percent of the aggregate number of all votes cast 


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1 in such elections, together with any independent can2 didate who received at least 5 percent of the aggre3 gate number of all votes cast in the most recent reg4 ularly scheduled general elections in the State, shall 

5 select a qualified individual for appointment to the 

6 Election Audit Board of the State. 

7 ‘‘(2) UNAFFILIATED MEMBERS.—In addition to 

8 the individuals serving on the Board pursuant to 

9 paragraph (1), the chief auditor of the State shall 

10 appoint qualified individuals who are not nominated 

11 by any political party or candidate and who are not 

12 employees or agents of any political party or can13 didate to serve on the Board. The number of individ14 uals appointed pursuant to this paragraph shall be 

15 sufficient to ensure that the total number of individ16 uals serving on the Board is an odd number not less 

17 than 7. 

18 ‘‘(3) QUALIFICATIONS.—An individual is quali19 fied to be appointed to the Board if the individual 

20 has professional experience in carrying out audits on 

21 an impartial basis, and does not have any conflict of 

22 interest with the manufacturer or vendor of any vot23 ing system which was used in any of the elections 

24 that will be audited by the Board. 


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1 ‘‘(4) DIVERSITY IN APPOINTMENTS.—In mak2 ing appointments to the Board, the chief auditor of 

3 the State shall (to the greatest extent practicable) 

4 ensure that the members of the Board reflect the de5 mographic composition of the voting age population 

6 of the State. 

7 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULE FOR RUNOFF AND SPECIAL

8 ELECTIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) RUNOFF ELECTIONS.—If a runoff election 

10 for Federal office is held in the State, the Election 

11 Audit Board which was appointed for the initial elec12 tion which resulted in the runoff election shall serve 

13 as the Election Audit Board with respect to the run14 off election. 

15 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL ELECTIONS.—If a special election 

16 for Federal office is held in the State (other than a 

17 special election held on the same date as the date of 

18 a regularly scheduled election for Federal office), the 

19 Election Audit Board which was appointed for the 

20 most recent regularly scheduled election for Federal 

21 office in the State shall serve as the Election Audit 

22 Board with respect to the special election. 

23 ‘‘(d) CHIEF AUDITOR DEFINED.—In this subsection, 

24 the ‘chief auditor’ of a State is an official of the State 

25 government, who, as designated by the Attorney General 


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1 of the State and certified by the Attorney General of the 

2 State to the Commission, is responsible for conducting an3 nual audits of the operations of the government of the 

4 State under the laws or constitution of the State, except 

5 that in no case may an individual serve as the chief audi6 tor of a State under this subsection if the individual is 

7 the chief State election official. 

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

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

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

11 be subject to a hand count administered by the Election 

12 Audit Board of a State under this subtitle with respect 

13 to an election shall be determined as follows: 

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

15 described in section 323(a)(1) reveals that the mar16 gin of victory between the two candidates receiving 

17 the largest number of votes in the election is less 

18 than 1 percent of the total votes cast in that elec19 tion, the hand counts of the voter-verified paper bal20 lots shall occur in 10 percent of all precincts (or 

21 equivalent locations) in the Congressional district in22 volved (in the case of an election for the House of 

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

24 other election for Federal office). 


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

2 described in section 323(a)(1) reveals that the mar3 gin of victory between the two candidates receiving 

4 the largest number of votes in the election is greater 

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

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

7 counts of the voter-verified paper ballots shall occur 

8 in 5 percent of all precincts (or equivalent locations) 

9 in the Congressional district involved (in the case of 

10 an election for the House of Representatives) or the 

11 State (in the case of any other election for Federal 

12 office). 

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

14 described in section 323(a)(1) reveals that the mar15 gin of victory between the two candidates receiving 

16 the largest number of votes in the election is equal 

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

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

19 paper ballots shall occur in 3 percent of all precincts 

20 (or equivalent locations) in the Congressional district 

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

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

23 other election for Federal office). 

24 ‘‘(b) USE OF ALTERNATIVE MECHANISM.—Notwith25 standing subsection (a), a State may adopt and apply an 


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1 alternative mechanism to determine the number of voter2 verified paper ballots which will be subject to the hand 

3 counts required under this subtitle with respect to an elec4 tion, so long as the National Institute of Standards and 

5 Technology determines that the alternative mechanism 

6 will be at least as effective in ensuring the accuracy of 

7 the election results and as transparent as the procedure 

8 under subsection (a). 

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

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Election Audit Board of a 

11 State shall administer an audit under this section of the 

12 results of an election in accordance with the following pro13 cedures: 

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

15 the final unofficial vote count in each precinct in the 

16 State, the Board shall determine and then announce 

17 the precincts in the State in which it will administer 

18 the audits. 

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

20 or equivalent location on or before the date of the 

21 election (other than provisional ballots described in 

22 paragraph (3)), the Board shall administer the hand 

23 count of the votes on the paper voter-verified ballots 

24 required to be produced and preserved under section 

25 301(a)(2)(A) and the comparison of the count of the 


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1 votes on those ballots with the final unofficial count 

2 of such votes as announced by the State. 

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

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

5 votes cast before the date of the election described 

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

7 on the date of the election which are certified and 

8 counted by the State on or after the date of the elec9 tion, including votes cast by absent uniformed serv10 ices voters and overseas voters under the Uniformed 

11 and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, the 

12 Board shall administer the hand count of the appli13 cable voter-verified ballots required to be produced 

14 and preserved under section 301(a)(2)(A) and sec15 tion 301(a)(2)(B) and compare the count it admin16 isters with the count of such votes as announced by 

17 the State. 

18 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULE IN CASE OF DELAY IN REPORT19 ING ABSENTEE VOTE COUNT.—In the case of a State in 

20 which, under State law, the final count of absentee and 

21 provisional votes is not announced until after the expira22 tion of the 7-day period which begins on the date of the 

23 election, the Election Audit Board shall initiate the proc24 ess described in subsection (a) for administering the audit 

25 not later than 24 hours after the State announces the final 


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1 unofficial vote count for the votes cast at the precinct or 

2 equivalent location on or before the date of the election, 

3 and shall initiate the administration of the audit of the 

4 absentee and provisional votes pursuant to subsection 

5 (a)(3) not later than 24 hours after the State announces 

6 the final unofficial count of such votes. 

7 ‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL AUDITS IF CAUSE SHOWN.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Election Audit 

9 Board finds that any of the hand counts adminis10 tered under this section do not match the final unof11 ficial tally of the results of an election, the Board 

12 shall administer hand counts under this section of 

13 such additional precincts (or equivalent jurisdictions) 

14 as the Board considers appropriate to resolve any 

15 concerns resulting from the audit and ensure the ac16 curacy of the results. 

17 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT AND PUBLICATION OF

18 PROCEDURES GOVERNING ADDITIONAL AUDITS.— 

19 Not later than January 1, 2008, each State shall es20 tablish and publish procedures for carrying out the 

21 additional audits under this subsection, including the 

22 means by which the State shall resolve any concerns 

23 resulting from the audit with finality and ensure the 

24 accuracy of the results. 


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1 ‘‘(d) PUBLIC OBSERVATION OF AUDITS.—Each audit 

2 conducted under this section shall be conducted in a man3 ner that allows public observation of the entire process. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 324. SELECTION OF PRECINCTS. 

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

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

7 the Election Audit Board of the State shall administer the 

8 hand counts under this subtitle shall be made by the 

9 Board on an entirely random basis using a uniform dis10 tribution in which all precincts in a State have an equal 

11 chance of being selected, in accordance with such proce12 dures as the Commission determines appropriate, except 

13 that— 

14 ‘‘(1) at least one precinct shall be selected at 

15 random in each county; and 

16 ‘‘(2) the Commission shall publish the proce17 dures in the Federal Register prior to the selection 

18 of the precincts. 

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

20 precincts under subsection (a) shall be conducted in pub21 lic, at a time and place announced in advance. 

22 ‘‘(c) MANDATORY SELECTION OF PRECINCTS ESTAB23 LISHED SPECIFICALLY FOR ABSENTEE BALLOTS.—If a 

24 State establishes a separate precinct for purposes of 

25 counting the absentee ballots cast in an election and treats 


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

2 and if the state does not make absentee ballots sortable 

3 by precinct, the State shall include that precinct among 

4 the precincts in the State in which the Election Audit 

5 Board shall administer the hand counts under this sub6 title. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 325. PUBLICATION OF RESULTS. 

8 ‘‘(a) SUBMISSION TO COMMISSION.—As soon as prac9 ticable after the completion of an audit under this subtitle, 

10 the Election Audit Board of a State shall submit to the 

11 Commission the results of the audit, and shall include in 

12 the submission a comparison of the results of the election 

13 in the precinct as determined by the Board under the 

14 audit and the final unofficial vote count in the precinct 

15 as announced by the State, as well as a list of any discrep16 ancies discovered between the initial, subsequent, and final 

17 hand counts administered by the Board and such final un18 official vote count and any explanation for such discrep19 ancies, broken down by the categories of votes described 

20 in paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 323(a). 

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

22 after receiving the submission of the results of an audit 

23 from the Election Audit Board of a State under subsection 

24 (a), the Commission shall publicly announce and publish 

25 the information contained in the submission. 


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

2 STATE.— 

3 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITING CERTIFICATION UNTIL COM4 PLETION OF AUDITS.—No State may certify the re5 sults of any election which is subject to an audit 

6 under this subtitle prior to the completion of the 

7 audit and the announcement and submission of the 

8 results of the audit to the Commission for publica9 tion of the information required under this section. 

10 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR COMPLETION OF AUDITS

11 OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.—In the case of an 

12 election for electors for President and Vice President 

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

14 State shall complete the audits and announce and 

15 submit the results to the Commission for publication 

16 of the information required under this section in 

17 time for the State to certify the results of the elec18 tion and provide for the final determination of any 

19 controversy or contest concerning the appointment 

20 of such electors prior to the deadline described in 

21 section 6 of title 3, United States Code. 

22 ‘‘SEC. 326. PAYMENTS TO STATES. 

23 ‘‘(a) PAYMENTS FOR COSTS OF CONDUCTING AU24 DITS.—In accordance with the requirements and proce25 dures of this section, the Commission shall make a payVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:26 Feb 17, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00042 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S559.IS S559

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1 ment to a State to cover the costs incurred by the State 

2 in carrying out this subtitle with respect to the elections 

3 that are the subject of the audits conducted under this 

4 subtitle. 

5 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE AND ANTICI6 PATED COSTS.— 

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

8 receive a payment under this section, a State shall 

9 submit to the Commission, in such form as the Com10 mission may require, a statement containing— 

11 ‘‘(A) a certification that the State will con12 duct the audits required under this subtitle in 

13 accordance with all of the requirements of this 

14 subtitle; 

15 ‘‘(B) a notice of the reasonable costs an16 ticipated to be incurred by the State in carrying 

17 out this subtitle with respect to the elections in18 volved; and 

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

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

22 payment made to a State under this section shall be 

23 equal to the reasonable costs anticipated to be in24 curred by the State in carrying out this subtitle with 

25 respect to the elections involved, as set forth in the 


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1 statement submitted under paragraph (1) a notice 

2 submitted by the State to the Commission (in such 

3 form and containing such information as the Com4 mission may require). 

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

6 submit a notice under paragraph (1) until can7 didates have been selected to appear on the ballot 

8 for all of the elections for Federal office which will 

9 be the subject of the audits involved. 

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

11 make the payment required under this section to a State 

12 not later than 30 days after receiving the notice submitted 

13 by the State under subsection (b). 

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

15 are authorized to be appropriated to the Commission for 

16 fiscal year 2008 and each succeeding fiscal year such sums 

17 as may be necessary for payments under this section. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 327. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

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

20 Federal office beginning with the regularly scheduled gen21 eral elections held in November 2008.’’. 

22 (b) AVAILABILITY OF ENFORCEMENT UNDER HELP

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

24 (42 U.S.C. 15511), as amended by section 3, is amend25 ed— 


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

2 the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, or the re3 quirements of subtitle C of title III.’’; 

4 (2) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘section 

5 303’’ and inserting ‘‘section 303, or subtitle C of 

6 title III,’’; and 

7 (3) in subsection (c)— 

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

9 ‘‘subtitles A or C’’, and 

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

11 inserting the following: ‘‘, or the requirements 

12 of subtitle C of title III.’’. 

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

14 of such Act is amended by adding at the end of the item 

15 relating to title III the following: 

‘‘Subtitle C—Mandatory Manual Audits by Election Audit Boards 

‘‘Sec. 321. Establishment of Election Audit Boards. 

‘‘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. Effective date.’’. 

16 SEC. 6. REPEAL OF EXEMPTION OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE 

17 COMMISSION FROM CERTAIN GOVERNMENT 

18 CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS. 

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

20 Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15325) is amended by strik21 ing subsection (e). 


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

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

3 into by the Election Assistance Commission on or after 

4 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

5 SEC. 7. PROHIBITION ON CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES BY ELEC6 TION ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Federal Election 

8 Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended 

9 by inserting after section 319 the following new section: 

10 ‘‘CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES BY ELECTION OFFICIALS

11 ‘‘SEC. 319A. (a) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful 

12 for a chief State election administration official to take 

13 an active part in political management or in a political 

14 campaign with respect to any election for Federal office 

15 over which such official has supervisory authority. 

16 ‘‘(b) CHIEF STATE ELECTION ADMINISTRATION OF17 FICIAL.—The term ‘chief State election administration of18 ficial’ means the highest State official with responsibility 

19 for the administration of Federal elections under State 

20 law. 

21 ‘‘(c) ACTIVE PART IN POLITICAL MANAGEMENT OR

22 IN A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN.—The term ‘active part in po23 litical management or in a political campaign’ means— 

24 ‘‘(1) serving as a member of an authorized com25 mittee of a candidate for Federal office; 


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1 ‘‘(2) the use of official authority or influence 

2 for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the 

3 result of an election for Federal office; 

4 ‘‘(3) the solicitation, acceptance, or receipt of a 

5 political contribution from any person on behalf of 

6 a candidate for Federal office; 

7 ‘‘(4) the solicitation or discouragement of the 

8 participation in any political activity of any person; 

9 ‘‘(5) engaging in partisan political activity on 

10 behalf of a candidate for Federal office; and 

11 ‘‘(6) any other act prohibited under section 

12 7323(b)(4) of title 5, United States Code (other 

13 than any prohibition on running for public office).’’. 

14 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 309 of such Act (42 

15 U.S.C. 437g) is amended by adding at the end the fol16 lowing new subsection: 

17 ‘‘(e)(1) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) through (5) 

18 of subsection (a), any person who has knowledge that a 

19 violation of section 319A has occurred may file a com20 plaint with the Commission. Such complaint shall be in 

21 writing, signed and sworn to by the person filing such 

22 complaint, shall be notarized, and shall be made under 

23 penalty of perjury subject to the provisions of section 1001 

24 of title 18, United States Code. The Commission shall 

25 promptly notify any person alleged in the complaint, and 


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1 shall give such person an opportunity to respond. Not later 

2 than 14 days after the date on which such a complaint 

3 is filed, the Commission shall make a determination on 

4 such complaint. 

5 ‘‘(2) If the Commission determines by an affirmative 

6 vote of a majority of the members voting that it has reason 

7 to believe that a person has committed a violation of sec8 tion 319A, the Commission shall require the person to pay 

9 a civil money penalty in an amount determined under a 

10 schedule of penalties which is established and published 

11 by the Commission.’’. 

12 SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

13 Except as otherwise provided, this Act and the 

14 amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to 

15 elections for Federal office occurring during 2008 and 

16 each succeeding year. 

Æ 


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