II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 804 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to improve the administration 

of elections for Federal office, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 7, 2007 

Mrs. CLINTON (for herself, Mrs. BOXER, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. KERRY, Mr. 

LEAHY, and Mr. LAUTENBERG) 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 improve 

the administration of elections for Federal office, 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 ‘‘Count Every Vote Act of 2007’’. 

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

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—VOTER VERIFICATION AND AUDITING 


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Sec. 101. Promoting accuracy, integrity, and security through preservation of 

a voter-verified paper record. 

Sec. 102. Requirement for mandatory manual audits. 

Sec. 103. Specific, delineated requirement of study, testing, and development of 

best practices. 

Sec. 104. Voter-verification and audit capacity funding. 

Sec. 105. Reports and provision of security consultation services. 

Sec. 106. Improvements to voting systems. 

Sec. 107. Requirements for testing laboratories. 

TITLE II—PROVISIONAL BALLOTS 

Sec. 201. Requirements for casting and counting provisional ballots. 

TITLE III—ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS UNDER THE HELP 

AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2002 

Subtitle A—Shortening Voter Wait Times 

Sec. 301. Equitable allocation of voting systems, poll workers, and election resources. 

Sec. 302. State plans to prevent unreasonable wait times; remedial plans; emergency ballots. 

Subtitle B—No-Excuse Absentee Voting 

Sec. 311. No-excuse absentee voting. 

Subtitle C—Collection and Dissemination of Election Data 

Sec. 321. Data collection. 

Subtitle D—Ensuring Well-Run Elections 

Sec. 331. Training of poll workers. 

Sec. 332. Impartial administration of elections. 

Sec. 333. Study on encouraging government employees and secondary school 

students to serve as poll workers. 

Subtitle E—Standards for Purging Voters 

Sec. 341. Standards for purging voters. 

Subtitle F—Election Day Registration and Early Voting 

Sec. 351. Election day registration. 

Sec. 352. Early voting. 

Subtitle G—Newly Eligible Voters 

Sec. 361. Encouraging the registration of newly eligible voters. 

Sec. 362. Civic education pilot program. 

TITLE IV—VOTER REGISTRATION AND IDENTIFICATION 

Sec. 401. Voter registration. 

Sec. 402. Establishing voter identification for certain voters who register by 

mail. 

Sec. 403. Requirement for Federal certification of technological security of 

voter registration lists. 


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Sec. 404. Coordination with state databases. 

TITLE V—PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES 

Sec. 501. Prohibition on certain campaign activities. 

TITLE VI—ENDING DECEPTIVE PRACTICES 

Sec. 601. Ending deceptive practices. 

TITLE VII—CIVIC PARTICIPATION BY EX-OFFENDERS 

Sec. 701. Voting rights of individuals convicted of criminal offenses. 

TITLE VIII—FEDERAL ELECTION DAY ACT 

Sec. 801. Short title. 

Sec. 802. Federal Election Day as a public holiday. 

TITLE IX—ADDITIONAL IMPROVEMENTS TO ELECTION 

PROCEDURES 

Sec. 901. Transmission of certificate of ascertainment of electors. 

Sec. 902. Study on feasibility of creating ranking system of State election administration processes. 

TITLE X—STRENGTHENING THE ELECTION ASSISTANCE 

COMMISSION 

Sec. 1001. Strengthening the Election Assistance Commission. 

Sec. 1002. Repeal of exemption of Election Assistance Commission from certain 

government contracting requirements. 

Sec. 1003. Membership of Technical Guidelines Development Committee. 

Sec. 1004. Authorization of appropriations for requirements payments. 

TITLE XI—EFFECTIVE DATE 

Sec. 1101. Effective date. 

1 TITLE I—VOTER VERIFICATION 

2 AND AUDITING 

3 SEC. 101. PROMOTING ACCURACY, INTEGRITY, AND SECU4 RITY THROUGH PRESERVATION OF A VOTER5 VERIFIED PAPER RECORD. 

6 (a) VOTER VERIFICATION AND MANUAL AUDIT CA7 PACITY.— 


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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) VOTER VERIFICATION AND MANUAL AUDIT

5 CAPACITY.— 

6 ‘‘(A) VOTER VERIFICATION.— 

7 ‘‘(i) The voting system shall produce, 

8 or require the use of, an individual voter9 verified paper record of the voter’s vote 

10 that shall be made available for inspection 

11 and verification by the voter, or marked by 

12 the voter, before the vote is cast. 

13 ‘‘(ii) The voting system shall provide 

14 the voter with an opportunity to correct 

15 any error made by the system in the voter16 verified paper record before the permanent 

17 voter-verified paper record is preserved in 

18 accordance with subparagraph (B)(i). 

19 ‘‘(iii) The voter-verified paper record 

20 shall use durable paper of archival quality 

21 capable of withstanding multiple counts 

22 and recounts without compromising the 

23 fundamental integrity of the records, and 

24 capable of retaining the information 

25 marked, printed, or recorded on them for 


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1 the full duration of the retention and pres2 ervation period called for by title III of the 

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

4 et seq.) or under applicable State law, 

5 whichever is longer. The paper records 

6 shall not be produced through a reel-to7 reel design. 

8 ‘‘(iv) The voter-verified paper record 

9 shall not be preserved in any manner that 

10 makes it possible, at any time after the 

11 ballot has been cast, to associate a voter 

12 with the record of the votes selected by the 

13 voter. 

14 ‘‘(B) MANUAL AUDIT CAPACITY.—The per15 manent voter-verified paper record produced in 

16 accordance with subparagraph (A) shall— 

17 ‘‘(i) be preserved within the polling 

18 place, in the manner, if any, in which all 

19 other paper ballots are preserved within 

20 that polling place, or, in the manner em21 ployed by the jurisdiction for preserving 

22 paper ballots in general, for later use in 

23 any manual audit; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) be suitable for a manual audit 

2 equivalent to that of any paper ballot vot3 ing system; 

4 ‘‘(iii) be the official ballot for use in 

5 any recount or audit conducted with re6 spect to any Federal election in which the 

7 system is used; and 

8 ‘‘(iv) in the event of an inconsistency 

9 between an electronic vote tally and the 

10 vote tally determined by a hand count of 

11 the individual voter-verified paper records, 

12 be considered the true and correct record 

13 of the votes cast, except as provided in 

14 subparagraph (C). 

15 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULES RELATING TO COM16 PROMISED PAPER RECORDS.—In the event of 

17 an inconsistency between an electronic vote tally 

18 and the vote tally determined by a hand count 

19 of the individual voter-verified paper records, 

20 the paper records shall be presumed to be au21 thoritative in determining the official count for 

22 the election, unless it is demonstrated by clear 

23 and convincing evidence, that the set of paper 

24 ballots associated with a particular machine has 


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1 been compromised (by damage or mischief or 

2 otherwise).’’. 

3 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

4 301(a)(1)(A)(ii) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 15481(a)(1)(A)(ii)) is amended by inserting ‘‘and 

6 before the paper ballot is preserved under paragraph 

7 (2)’’ before the semicolon at the end. 

8 (b) VOTER-VERIFICATION OF RESULTS FOR INDIVID9 UALS WITH DISABILITIES AND LANGUAGE MINORITY

10 VOTERS.—Section 301(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

11 15481(a)) is amended by striking paragraphs (3) and (4) 

12 and inserting the following: 

13 ‘‘(3) ACCESSIBILITY FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH

14 DISABILITIES.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The voting system 

16 shall— 

17 ‘‘(i) be accessible for individuals with 

18 disabilities, including nonvisual accessi19 bility for the blind and visually impaired, 

20 in a manner that provides the same oppor21 tunity for access, participation (including 

22 privacy and independence), inspection, and 

23 verification as for other voters; 

24 ‘‘(ii) satisfy the requirement of clause 

25 (i) through the use of at least one voting 


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1 system equipped for individuals with dis2 abilities at each polling place; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) if purchased with funds made 

4 available under title II on or after January 

5 1, 2007, meet the voting system standards 

6 for disability access (as outlined in this 

7 paragraph). 

8 ‘‘(B) VERIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Any 

9 voting system described in subparagraph (A)(ii) 

10 shall produce, or require the use of, in accord11 ance with paragraph (2)(A), an individual 

12 voter-verified paper record that— 

13 ‘‘(i) is produced using a mechanism 

14 that separates the function of vote genera15 tion from the function of vote casting; 

16 ‘‘(ii) shall be available for visual, en17 hanced visual, and audio verification by the 

18 voter, with language translation available 

19 for all forms of inspection and verification 

20 in accordance with the requirements of sec21 tion 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 

22 (42 U.S.C. 1973aa–1); and 

23 ‘‘(iii) shall not preclude the supple24 mentary use of Braille or tactile ballots for 

25 those voters who need them. 


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1 ‘‘(4) ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGE ACCESSI2 BILITY.—Any voting system and paper ballot shall 

3 provide alternative language accessibility in a man4 ner that provides the same opportunity for access, 

5 participation (including privacy and independence) 

6 inspection and verification as for other voters, and 

7 shall be subject to the requirements of section 203 

8 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to the extent such 

9 section is applicable to the State or jurisdiction in 

10 which such record is produced.’’. 

11 (c) ADDITIONAL VOTING SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS.— 

12 Section 301(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15481(a)) is 

13 amended by adding at the end the following new para14 graphs: 

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

16 Each State shall ensure that election officials are in17 structed on the right of any individual who requires 

18 assistance to vote by reason of blindness, other dis19 ability, or inability to read or write to be given as20 sistance by a person chosen by that individual under 

21 section 208 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

22 ‘‘(8) BALLOT CHAIN OF CUSTODY.—The appro23 priate State election official shall develop and imple24 ment, according to guidelines established by the 

25 Commission, procedures to monitor and document 


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1 the chain of custody for election ballots, voter2 verified paper records, software, hardware and vote 

3 storage media before, during, and after an election 

4 for Federal office. 

5 ‘‘(9) PROHIBITION OF USE OF UNDISCLOSED

6 SOFTWARE IN VOTING SYSTEMS.—No voting system 

7 shall at any time contain or use any software not 

8 disclosed to the State during the certification proc9 ess. The appropriate election official shall disclose to 

10 the Commission all system documentation, and (in 

11 electronic form) the source code, object code, and 

12 executable representation of software and firmware 

13 (including ballot programming files) of any voting 

14 system, and the Commission shall make that source 

15 code, object code, and executable representation 

16 available for inspection promptly upon request to 

17 any citizen, except that the system documentation, 

18 source code, object code and executable representa19 tion of unmodified commercial off-the-shelf software 

20 shall be disclosed only under confidentiality agree21 ment to persons authorized by the State. 

22 ‘‘(10) PROHIBITION OF COMMUNICATION DE23 VICES OR CONNECTION TO INTERNET.— 

24 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION.—No component of any 

25 voting device upon which votes are cast or any 


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1 election management system on which ballots 

2 are defined or vote totals are recorded or tab3 ulated shall use, contain, or be accessible by 

4 any wireless communication device or be con5 nected to the Internet at any time. 

6 ‘‘(B) ELECTION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM DE7 SCRIBED.—For the purposes of this paragraph, 

8 the election management system includes the 

9 computer server and connected devices within a 

10 voting system designed or used to— 

11 ‘‘(i) define, develop, or maintain elec12 tion results databases; 

13 ‘‘(ii) perform election definition and 

14 configuration functions; 

15 ‘‘(iii) prepare and format ballots; 

16 ‘‘(iv) record or count votes; 

17 ‘‘(v) accumulate, consolidate, and re18 port results; or 

19 ‘‘(vi) maintain audit trails. 

20 ‘‘(C) WIRELESS COMMUNICATION DEVICES

21 DESCRIBED.—For purposes of this paragraph, 

22 prohibited wireless communication devices in23 clude radio-frequency wireless, power line, re24 mote, and wide-area communication devices, but 

25 do not include enclosed and shielded commuVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:49 Mar 13, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S804.IS S804

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1 nications devices, such as infrared communica2 tions devices that cannot be used for remote 

3 communication. 

4 ‘‘(11) USABILITY TESTING.—Not later than 30 

5 days before an election for Federal office, each State 

6 shall undertake testing of its voting systems and bal7 lots to ensure that voters are able to understand the 

8 use of the system and ballot and cast their vote ac9 curately, easily, and efficiently. 

10 ‘‘(12) SECURITY STANDARDS FOR VOTING SYS11 TEMS USED IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.— 

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

13 be used in an election for Federal office unless 

14 the manufacturer of such system and the ap15 propriate election official each meet the applica16 ble requirements described in subparagraph 

17 (B). 

18 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS DESCRIBED.—The 

19 requirements described in this subparagraph 

20 are as follows: 

21 ‘‘(i) The appropriate election official 

22 shall ensure that all voting machines and 

23 related supplies to be used in the election 

24 shall remain secured within storage facili25 ties arranged for by the election official, 


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1 and shall not be removed from such facili2 ties until such time as they are to be deliv3 ered to the relevant polling place and se4 cured at the polling place until used in the 

5 election. 

6 ‘‘(ii) The manufacturer and the elec7 tion official shall document the chain of 

8 custody for the handling of software, hard9 ware, vote storage media and ballots used 

10 in connection with voting systems. 

11 ‘‘(iii) The manufacturer shall provide 

12 the appropriate election official with the 

13 material necessary for the official to pro14 vide information regarding software and 

15 firmware to the Commission pursuant to 

16 paragraph (9). 

17 ‘‘(iv) After the appropriate election 

18 has certified the source code, object code, 

19 and executable representation of the voting 

20 system software for use in an election, the 

21 manufacturer may not— 

22 ‘‘(I) alter such codes and rep23 resentation; 


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1 ‘‘(II) insert or use in the voting 

2 system any software not certified by 

3 the State for use in the election; or 

4 ‘‘(III) insert or use in the voting 

5 system any certified software without 

6 providing notice to the appropriate 

7 election official. 

8 ‘‘(v) The manufacturer shall meet 

9 standards established by the Commission 

10 to ensure that all voting systems and re11 lated supplies to be used in the election are 

12 secure. 

13 ‘‘(vi) The manufacturer shall meet the 

14 requirements of section 319A of the Fed15 eral Election Campaign Act and any other 

16 standards established by the Commission 

17 to prevent the existence or appearance of 

18 any conflict of interest with respect to can19 didates for public office and political par20 ties. 

21 ‘‘(vii) At the request of the Commis22 sion, the appropriate election official shall 

23 submit information to the Commission re24 garding the State’s compliance with this 

25 subparagraph.’’ 


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1 (d) GRANT PROGRAM.— 

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

3 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15401 

4 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing new part: 

6 ‘‘PART 7—VOTING SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT GRANT 

7 PROGRAM 

8 ‘‘SEC. 297. VOTING SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT GRANT PRO9 GRAM. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall make 

11 grants to eligible States and localities to carry out activi12 ties to improve voting technology and enhance the accessi13 bility of voting systems for individuals with disabilities, for 

14 voters who primary language is not English, and for voters 

15 with difficulties in literacy, including— 

16 ‘‘(1) improving voting system technology or de17 veloping new designs and technology for voting sys18 tems; and 

19 ‘‘(2) improving the accessibility of voting ma20 chines for people with disabilities, providing non21 visual access for voters with visual impairments, and 

22 providing assistance to voters with limited pro23 ficiency in the English language. 

24 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State locality is eligible 

2 to receive a payment under this section with respect 

3 to a fiscal year if it submits to the Commission a no4 tice not later than 3 months before the first day of 

5 the fiscal year (in such form as the Commission may 

6 require) that contains— 

7 ‘‘(A) certifications that the State or local8 ity will use the payment (either directly or as 

9 reimbursement) to carry out activities described 

10 in subsection (a); and 

11 ‘‘(B) such other information and certifi12 cations as the Commission may require which 

13 are necessary for the administration of the pro14 gram. 

15 ‘‘(2) COMPLIANCE OF STATES THAT REQUIRE

16 CHANGES TO STATE LAW.—In the case of a State or 

17 locality located in a State that requires the enact18 ment of State legislation to carry out an activity cov19 ered by any certification submitted under this sub20 section, the State or locality shall be permitted to 

21 make the certification notwithstanding that the leg22 islation has not been enacted at the time the certifi23 cation is submitted, and the State or locality shall 

24 submit an additional certification once such legisla25 tion is enacted. 


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1 ‘‘(c) REPORTS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each recipient of a grant 

3 under this section shall submit to the Commission a 

4 report describing the activities carried out with the 

5 funds provided under the grant. 

6 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE.—A recipient shall submit a re7 port required under paragraph (1) not later than 60 

8 days after the end of the fiscal year for which the 

9 recipient received the grant which is the subject of 

10 the report. 

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

12 are authorized to be appropriated for grants under this 

13 part $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008, 2009, 

14 2010, and 2011.’’. 

15 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con16 tents of such Act is amended by adding at the end 

17 of the items relating to subtitle D of title II the fol18 lowing: 

‘‘PART 7—VOTING SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT GRANT PROGRAM

‘‘Sec. 297. Voting system improvement grant program.’’. 

19 SEC. 102. REQUIREMENT FOR MANDATORY MANUAL AU20 DITS. 

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

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

23 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub24 title: 


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1 ‘‘Subtitle C—Mandatory Manual 

2 Audits by Chief Auditors 

3 ‘‘SEC. 321. MANUAL AUDITS BY STATE OFFICIALS. 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The chief auditor of each State 

5 shall administer the random unannounced manual manda6 tory recounts of the voter-verified paper ballots of each 

7 election for Federal office (and, at the option of the State 

8 or jurisdiction involved, of elections for State and local of9 fice held at the same time as such an election for Federal 

10 office). 

11 ‘‘(b) CHIEF AUDITOR.— 

12 ‘‘(1) DESIGNATION OF CHIEF AUDITOR.—Each 

13 State shall designate a State officer or employee as 

14 the chief auditor responsible for coordination of 

15 State responsibilities under this section. 

16 ‘‘(2) DESIGNATION BY ELECTION ASSISTANCE

17 COMMISSION.—In the event that no single official in 

18 the State meets the definition in subsection (1), the 

19 Commission shall designate a State official to serve 

20 as chief auditor of the State for purposes of this sec21 tion. 

22 ‘‘(3) INDEPENDENCE OF CHIEF AUDITOR.—An 

23 individual does not qualify as the chief auditor of a 

24 State for purposes of this section if the individual— 


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1 ‘‘(A) is designated as the chief election of2 ficial of the State under section 10 of the Na3 tional Voter Registration Act of 1993, or is an 

4 employee of or reports to such chief election of5 ficial; 

6 ‘‘(B) is serving in any position on any po7 litical campaign committee of any candidate for 

8 federal office in the election that is subject to 

9 the manual audit; or 

10 ‘‘(C) serves as the chief executive officer, 

11 chief financial officer, chief operating officer, or 

12 president of any entity that designs, manufac13 turers, or sells a voting system used in an elec14 tion for Federal office. 

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

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

17 (b), the number of voter-verified paper ballots that will 

18 be subject to a hand count administered by the chief audi19 tor under this subtitle with respect to an election shall 

20 be determined as follows: 

21 ‘‘(1) In the event that the initial vote count 

22 under section 324(a)(1) reveals that the margin of 

23 victory between the two candidates receiving the 

24 largest number of votes in the election is less than 

25 1 percent of the total votes cast in the election, the 


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1 hand counts of the voter-verified paper ballots shall 

2 occur in 10 percent of all precincts (or equivalent lo3 cations) in the Congressional district involved (in the 

4 case of an election for the House of Representatives) 

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

6 Federal office). 

7 ‘‘(2) In the event that the initial vote count 

8 under section 324(a)(1) reveals that the margin of 

9 victory between the two candidates receiving the 

10 largest number of votes in the election is greater 

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

12 of the total votes cast in the election, the hand 

13 counts of the voter-verified paper ballots shall occur 

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

15 in the Congressional district involved (in the case of 

16 an election for the House of Representatives) or the 

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

18 office). 

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

20 described in section 324(a)(1) reveals that the mar21 gin of victory between the two candidates receiving 

22 the largest number of votes in the election is equal 

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

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

25 paper ballots shall occur in 3 percent of all precincts 


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1 (or equivalent locations) in the Congressional district 

2 (in the case of an election for the House of Rep3 resentatives) or the State (in the case of any other 

4 election for Federal office). 

5 ‘‘(b) USE OF ALTERNATE MECHANISM.—Notwith6 standing subsection (a), a State may adopt and apply an 

7 alternative mechanism to determine the number of voter8 verified paper ballots that will be subject to the hand 

9 counts required under this subtitle with respect to an elec10 tion, so long as the National Institute of Standards and 

11 Technology determines that the alternative mechanism 

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

13 the election results and as transparent as the procedure 

14 under subsection (a). 

15 ‘‘SEC. 323. SELECTION OF PRECINCTS. 

16 ‘‘The selection of the precincts in the State in which 

17 the manual audit shall be conducted under this subtitle 

18 shall be made by the chief auditor on an entirely random 

19 basis using a uniform distribution in which all precincts 

20 (or other audited units permitted pursuant to section 

21 322(b)) in a State have an equal chance of being selected, 

22 in accordance with such procedures as the chief auditor 

23 determines appropriate, except that— 


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1 ‘‘(1) at least one precinct or audited unit (or 

2 equivalent jurisdiction) shall be selected in each 

3 county (or equivalent jurisdiction); 

4 ‘‘(2) the chief auditor shall publish the proce5 dures prior to the selection of the precincts or au6 dited units; and 

7 ‘‘(3) the chief auditor shall conduct and an8 nounce the selection of the precincts at a public 

9 meeting. 

10 ‘‘SEC. 324. PROCEDURE FOR CONDUCTING AUDITS. 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The chief auditor shall admin12 ister the conduct of an audit under this section of the re13 sults of an election in accordance with the following proce14 dures: 

15 ‘‘(1) As soon as practicable following the closing 

16 of the polls, local or county election officials shall 

17 complete the initial vote count for every precinct and 

18 publicly announce and report to the State the results 

19 of each initial vote count. 

20 ‘‘(2) Not later than 24 hours after the State 

21 announces the final vote count in each precinct in 

22 the State, the chief auditor shall determine and then 

23 announce the precincts (or other auditable units) in 

24 the State in which audits will be conducted. 


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1 ‘‘(3) As soon as practicable after the announce2 ment of the precincts (or other auditable units) in 

3 which an audit shall be conducted, local or county 

4 elections staff, or wherever appropriate the chief 

5 auditor, shall begin to count by hand the voter6 verified ballots produced and preserved under section 

7 301(a)(2)(A) in each precinct (or other auditable 

8 unit) in which the audit will be conducted and com9 pare those ballots with the initial count of such votes 

10 as announced by the State. 

11 ‘‘(4) Local or county officials shall conduct the 

12 recount using procedures developed in consultation 

13 with the chief auditor and operating under the over14 sight of the chief auditor. 

15 ‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL AUDITS IF CAUSE SHOWN.—If the 

16 chief auditor finds that any of the hand counts conducted 

17 under this section do not match the initial vote count of 

18 the results of an election, the chief auditor shall admin19 ister hand counts under this section of such additional pre20 cincts (or equivalent jurisdictions) as the chief auditor 

21 considers appropriate to resolve any concerns about the 

22 accuracy of the results. 

23 ‘‘(c) PUBLIC OBSERVATION OF THE AUDIT.—The au24 dits conducted under this subtitle shall be conducted in 

25 a manner that allows for observation by the public. Each 


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1 State shall issue uniform and nondiscriminatory standards 

2 for granting access to the audit that include reasonable 

3 restrictions designed to avoid disruption and crowding of 

4 the audit. 

5 ‘‘(d) NO PRECLUSION OF STATE AUDITS.—Nothing 

6 in this subtitle shall be construed to preclude a State from 

7 conducting audits or recounts of the election in addition 

8 to those audits required under this subtitle. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 325. PUBLICATION OF RESULTS. 

10 ‘‘(a) SUBMISSION TO COMMISSION.—As soon as prac11 ticable after the completion of an audit conducted under 

12 this subtitle, the Chief Auditor of a State shall submit to 

13 the Commission a report containing the results of the 

14 audit, including a list of any discrepancies between the ini15 tial vote count and any subsequent manual counts of the 

16 voter-verified paper record by precinct or audited unit, any 

17 explanations for such discrepancies, and a tally of all over18 votes, undervotes, blank ballots, spoiled ballots, and can19 cellations recorded on the voter-verified paper record. 

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

21 after receiving the submission of the results of an audit 

22 from the Chief Auditor of a State under subsection (a), 

23 the Commission shall announce and publish the informa24 tion contained in the submission. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 326. PAYMENTS TO STATES. 

2 ‘‘(a) PAYMENTS FOR COSTS OF CONDUCTING AU3 DITS.—The Commission shall make a payment to a State 

4 to cover the reasonable costs incurred by the State in car5 rying out this subtitle with respect to the elections that 

6 are the subject of the audits conducted under this subtitle. 

7 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 are authorized to be appropriated to the Commission for 

9 fiscal year 2008 and each succeeding fiscal year such sums 

10 as may be necessary for payments under this section. 

11 ‘‘SEC. 327. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

12 ‘‘This subtitle shall apply with respect to regularly 

13 scheduled general elections for Federal office beginning 

14 with the elections held in November 2008.’’. 

15 (b) AVAILABILITY OF ENFORCEMENT.—Section 401 

16 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15511) is amended by striking the 

17 period at the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, or the 

18 requirements of subtitle C of title III.’’. 

19 (c) STUDY OF SELECTION OF PRECINCTS FOR MAN20 UAL AUDITS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the 

21 enactment of this Act, the Election Assistance Commis22 sion shall conduct a study and make recommendations on 

23 methods to ensure that the mandatory manual audits con24 ducted under subtitle C of title III of the Help America 

25 Vote Act of 2002 (as added by subsection (a)) reflect a 

26 representative demographic (including by socioeconomic, 


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1 age, and ethnicity) in the selection of the precincts or 

2 other audited units subject to the audits. 

3 SEC. 103. SPECIFIC, DELINEATED REQUIREMENT OF 

4 STUDY, TESTING, AND DEVELOPMENT OF 

5 BEST PRACTICES. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title II of the Help 

7 America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15381 et seq.) is 

8 amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating section 247 as section 250; 

10 and 

11 (2) by inserting after section 246 the following 

12 new sections: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 247. STUDY, TESTING, AND DEVELOPMENT OF BEST 

14 PRACTICES TO IMPROVE VOTING SYSTEMS 

15 AND ENHANCE ACCESSIBILITY AND VOTER16 VERIFICATION MECHANISMS FOR VOTERS 

17 WITH DISABILITIES. 

18 ‘‘(a) STUDY; DEVELOPMENT OF BEST PRACTICES.— 

19 The Director of the National Institute of Standards and 

20 Technology shall study, test, and develop best practices 

21 to investigate and encourage existing and potential emerg22 ing technologies in voting systems and design innovations, 

23 and enhance the accessibility of ballot verification mecha24 nisms for individuals with disabilities, for alternative lan25 guage voters, and for voters with difficulties in literacy, 


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1 including best practices for the mechanisms themselves 

2 and the processes through which the mechanisms are used. 

3 ‘‘(b) DEADLINE.—The Director shall complete the re4 quirements of subsection (a) not later than January 1, 

5 2010. 

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

7 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out subsection 

8 (a) $5,000,000, to remain available until expended. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 248. STUDY, TESTING, AND DEVELOPMENT OF BEST 

10 PRACTICES REGARDING BALLOT CHAIN OF 

11 CUSTODY. 

12 ‘‘The Commission shall study, test, and develop best 

13 practices for documenting the chain of custody for election 

14 ballots. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 249. STUDY, TESTING, AND DEVELOPMENT OF BEST 

16 PRACTICES FOR DESIGN AND USABILITY 

17 TESTING OF BALLOTS. 

18 ‘‘(a) STUDY AND REPORT.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The National Institute for 

20 Standards and Technology shall conduct or contract 

21 with one or more parties to conduct studies on the 

22 best practices for ballot design, ballot instructions, 

23 and the testing of ballots, and shall produce one or 

24 more reports examining which practices increase and 


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1 decrease the likelihood that voter intent is accurately 

2 recorded. 

3 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE.—The National Institute for 

4 Standards and Technology shall complete and make 

5 available to the public the studies and reports de6 scribed in paragraph (1) not later than February 1, 

7 2008. 

8 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

9 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Na10 tional Institute of Standards and Technology 

11 $1,000,000 to carry out this subsection. 

12 ‘‘(b) GUIDANCE.—Not later than May 1, 2008, the 

13 Commission shall adopt voluntary guidance on the best 

14 practices for ballot design, instructions, and testing based 

15 on the study and report under subsection (a).’’. 

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

17 of such Act is amended— 

18 (1) by redesignating the item relating to section 

19 247 as relating to section 250; and 

20 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec21 tion 246 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 247. Study, testing, and development of best practices to improve voting 

systems and enhance accessibility and voter-verification mechanisms for voters with disabilities. 

‘‘Sec. 248. Study, testing, and development of best practices regarding ballot 

chain of custody. 

‘‘Sec. 249. Study, testing, and development of best practices for design and 

usability testing of ballots.’’. 


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1 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

3 of this Act. 

4 SEC. 104. VOTER-VERIFICATION AND AUDIT CAPACITY 

5 FUNDING. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title II of the Help 

7 America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15401 et seq.), as 

8 amended by this Act, is amended by adding at the end 

9 the following new part: 

10 ‘‘PART 8—VOTER-VERIFICATION AND AUDIT 

11 CAPACITY FUNDING 

12 ‘‘SEC. 297A. VOTER-VERIFICATION AND AUDIT CAPACITY 

13 FUNDING. 

14 ‘‘(a) PAYMENTS TO STATES.—Subject to subsection 

15 (b), not later than the date that is 30 days after the date 

16 of the enactment of the Count Every Vote Act of 2007, 

17 the Commission shall pay to each State an amount to as18 sist the State in paying for the implementation of the 

19 voter-verification and audit capacity requirements of para20 graphs (2) and (3) of section 301(a), as amended by sub21 sections (a) and (b) of section 101 of the Count Every 

22 Vote Act of 2007. 

23 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—The amount paid to a State 

24 under subsection (a) for each voting system purchased by 

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1 er with accessibility features to each type of voting system 

2 that the State could have purchased to meet the require3 ments described in such subsection. 

4 ‘‘(c) APPROPRIATIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) PAYMENTS TO STATES.—There are au6 thorized and appropriated $500,000,000, without 

7 fiscal year limitation, to make payments to States 

8 under this section. 

9 ‘‘(2) ASSISTANCE BY COMMISSION.—There are 

10 authorized and appropriated $20,000,000 to the 

11 Commission, for each of fiscal years 2008 through 

12 2012, in addition to any amounts otherwise appro13 priated for administrative costs, to assist with the 

14 implementation of voter verification systems and im15 proved security measures.’’. 

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

17 of such Act, as amended by this Act, is amended by adding 

18 at the end of the items relating to subtitle D of title II 

19 the following: 

‘‘PART 8—VOTER-VERIFICATION AND AUDIT CAPACITY FUNDING

‘‘Sec. 297A. Voter-verification and audit capacity funding.’’. 

20 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

21 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

22 of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 105. REPORTS AND PROVISION OF SECURITY CON2 SULTATION SERVICES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title II of the Help 

4 America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15381 et seq.), as 

5 amended by this Act, is amended by inserting after section 

6 249 the following new section. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 249A. REPORTS AND PROVISION OF SECURITY CON8 SULTATION SERVICES. 

9 ‘‘(a) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON SECURITY RE10 VIEW.—Not later than 6 months after the date of the en11 actment of the Count Every Vote Act of 2007, the Com12 mission, in consultation with the Director of the National 

13 Institute of Standards and Technology, shall submit to 

14 Congress a report on a proposed security review and cer15 tification process for all voting systems used in elections 

16 for Federal office, including a description of the certifi17 cation process to be implemented under section 231. 

18 ‘‘(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON OPERATIONAL AND

19 MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS.—Not later than 3 months after 

20 the date of the enactment of the Count Every Vote Act 

21 of 2007, the Commission shall submit to Congress a report 

22 on operational and management systems applicable with 

23 respect to elections for Federal office, including the secu24 rity standards for manufacturers described in section 

25 301(a)(12), that should be employed to safeguard the seVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:49 Mar 13, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S804.IS S804

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1 curity of voting systems, together with a proposed sched2 ule for the implementation of each such system. 

3 ‘‘(c) PROVISION OF SECURITY CONSULTATION SERV4 ICES.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—On and after the date of 

6 the enactment of the Count Every Vote Act of 2007, 

7 the Commission, in consultation with the Director of 

8 the National Institute of Standards and Technology, 

9 shall provide security consultation services to States 

10 and local jurisdictions with respect to the adminis11 tration of elections for Federal office. 

12 ‘‘(2) APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry out the pur13 poses of paragraph (1), there are authorized and ap14 propriated $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 

15 through 2012.’’. 

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

17 of such Act, as amended by this Act, is amended by insert18 ing after the item relating to section 249 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 249A. Reports and provision of security consultation services.’’. 

19 SEC. 106. IMPROVEMENTS TO VOTING SYSTEMS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 301(a)(1)(B) of the Help 

21 America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481(a)(1)(B)) is 

22 amended by striking ‘‘, a punch card voting system, or 

23 a central count voting system’’. 

24 (b) CLARIFICATION OF REQUIREMENTS FOR PUNCH

25 CARD SYSTEMS.—Section 301(a)(1)(A) of such Act (42 


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1 U.S.C. 15481(a)(1)(A)) is amended in the matter pre2 ceding clause (i) by striking ‘‘any lever voting system’’ and 

3 inserting ‘‘any punch card voting system, lever voting sys4 tem’’. 

5 (c) RESIDUAL VOTE BENCHMARK.—Section 

6 301(a)(5) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15481(a)(5)) is amend7 ed to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(5) ERROR RATES.— 

9 ‘‘(A) INITIAL RATES.—With respect to 

10 elections occurring prior to the regularly sched11 uled general election held in November 2008, 

12 the error rate of the voting system in counting 

13 ballots (determined by taking into account only 

14 those errors which are attributable to the voting 

15 system and not attributable to an act of the 

16 voter) shall comply with the error rate stand17 ards established under section 3.2.1 of the vot18 ing systems standards issued by the Federal 

19 Election Commission which are in effect on the 

20 date of the enactment of this Act. 

21 ‘‘(B) APPLICATION OF COMMISSION

22 STANDARDS.—With respect to the regularly 

23 scheduled general election for Federal office 

24 held in November 2008 and each subsequent 

25 election for Federal office, the error rate of the 


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1 voting system in counting ballots (determined 

2 by taking into account only those errors which 

3 are attributable to the voting system and not 

4 attributable to an act of the voter) shall not ex5 ceed the error rate standards established under 

6 the voting systems standards issued and main7 tained by the Commission. 

8 ‘‘(C) RESIDUAL BALLOT PERFORMANCE

9 BENCHMARK.—In addition to the error rate 

10 standards described in subparagraph (B), the 

11 Commission shall issue and maintain a uniform 

12 benchmark for the residual ballot error rate 

13 that jurisdictions may not exceed. For purposes 

14 of the preceding sentence, the residual vote 

15 error rate shall be equal to the combination of 

16 overvotes, spoiled or uncountable votes, and 

17 undervotes cast in the contest at the top of the 

18 ballot, but excluding an estimate, based upon 

19 the best available research, of intentional 

20 undervotes. The Commission shall base the 

21 benchmark issued and maintained under this 

22 subparagraph on evidence of good practices in 

23 representative jurisdictions. 

24 ‘‘(D) HISTORICALLY HIGH INTENTIONAL

25 UNDERVOTES.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) FINDING.—Congress finds that 

2 there are certain distinct communities in 

3 certain geographic areas that have histori4 cally high rates of intentional undervoting 

5 in elections for Federal office, relative to 

6 the rest of the Nation. 

7 ‘‘(ii) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN DIS8 TINCT COMMUNITIES.—In establishing the 

9 benchmark described in subparagraph (B), 

10 the Election Assistance Commission 

11 shall— 

12 ‘‘(I) study and report to Con13 gress on the occurrences of distinct 

14 communities that have significantly 

15 higher than average rates of historical 

16 intentional undervoting; and 

17 ‘‘(II) promulgate for local juris18 dictions in which that distinct commu19 nity has a substantial presence either 

20 a separate benchmark or an exclusion 

21 from the national benchmark, as ap22 propriate.’’. 


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1 SEC. 107. REQUIREMENTS FOR TESTING LABORATORIES. 

2 (a) REQUIREMENTS FOR LABORATORIES.—Section 

3 231 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 

4 15371(b)) is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 

6 subsections (h) and (i); and 

7 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol8 lowing new subsections: 

9 ‘‘(c) ESCROW FUND FOR PAYMENT OF LABORA10 TORIES.— 

11 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF ESCROW ACCOUNT.— 

12 The Commission shall establish an escrow account 

13 (to be known as the Testing Escrow Account) for 

14 making payments to accredited laboratories for the 

15 costs of the testing carried out in connection with 

16 the certification, decertification, and recertification 

17 of voting system hardware and software. 

18 ‘‘(2) SCHEDULE OF FEES.—In consultation 

19 with the accredited laboratories, the Commission 

20 shall establish and regularly update a schedule of 

21 fees for the testing carried out in connection with 

22 the certification, decertification, and recertification 

23 of voting system hardware and software, based on 

24 the reasonable costs expected to be incurred by the 

25 accredited laboratories in carrying out the testing 

26 for various types of hardware and software. 


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1 ‘‘(3) REQUESTS AND PAYMENTS BY MANUFAC2 TURERS.—A manufacturer of voting system hard3 ware and software may not have the hardware or 

4 software tested by an accredited laboratory under 

5 this section unless— 

6 ‘‘(A) the manufacturer submits a detailed 

7 request for the testing to the Commission; and 

8 ‘‘(B) the manufacturer pays to the Com9 mission, for deposit into the Testing Escrow 

10 Account, the applicable fee under the schedule 

11 established and in effect under paragraph (2). 

12 ‘‘(4) SELECTION OF LABORATORY.—Upon re13 ceiving a request for testing and the payment from 

14 a manufacturer required under paragraph (3)(B), 

15 the Commission shall select at random, from all lab16 oratories which are accredited under this section to 

17 carry out the specific testing requested by the manu18 facturer, an accredited laboratory to carry out the 

19 testing. The Commission may exclude from the se20 lection process any laboratory that the Commission 

21 determines does not have the resources to complete 

22 the required testing in a timely manner. 

23 ‘‘(5) PAYMENTS TO LABORATORIES.—Upon re24 ceiving a certification from a laboratory selected to 

25 carry out testing pursuant to paragraph (4) that the 


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1 testing is completed, along with a copy of the results 

2 of the test as required under subsection (d)(1)(D), 

3 the Commission shall make a payment to the labora4 tory from the Testing Escrow Account in an amount 

5 equal to the applicable fee paid by manufacturer 

6 under paragraph (3)(B). 

7 ‘‘(d) PROHIBITION OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A laboratory may not be 

9 accredited by the Commission for purposes of this 

10 section unless— 

11 ‘‘(A) the laboratory certifies that the only 

12 compensation it receives for the testing carried 

13 out in connection with the certification, decerti14 fication, and recertification of the manufactur15 ers voting system hardware and software is the 

16 payment made from the Testing Escrow Ac17 count established under subsection (c)(1); 

18 ‘‘(B) the laboratory meets the standards 

19 applicable to the manufacturers of voting sys20 tems under section 301(a)(12)(B)(vi), together 

21 with such standards as the Commission shall 

22 establish (after notice and opportunity for pub23 lic comment) to prevent the existence or ap24 pearance of any conflict of interest in the test25 ing carried out by the laboratory under this secVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:49 Mar 13, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00038 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S804.IS S804

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1 tion, including standards to ensure that the lab2 oratory does not have a financial interest in the 

3 manufacture, sale, and distribution of voting 

4 system hardware and software, and is suffi5 ciently independent from other persons with 

6 such an interest; 

7 ‘‘(C) the laboratory certifies that it will 

8 permit an expert designated by the Commission 

9 to observe any testing the laboratory carries out 

10 under this section; and 

11 ‘‘(D) the laboratory, upon completion of 

12 any testing carried out under this section, dis13 closes the test protocols, results, and all com14 munication between the laboratory and the 

15 manufacturer to the Commission. 

16 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY OF RESULTS.—Upon receipt 

17 of information under paragraph (1), the Commission 

18 shall make the information available promptly to 

19 election officials and the public. 

20 ‘‘(e) TESTING RESULTS; PUBLICATION.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon completion of any 

22 testing carried out under this section, a laboratory 

23 shall disclose the test protocols and results to the 

24 Commission. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION.—Upon receipt of the infor2 mation required under subsection (1), the Commis3 sion shall make such information available to elec4 tion officials and the public. If the Commission re5 vokes, terminates, or suspends the accreditation of a 

6 laboratory under this section, the Commission shall 

7 promptly notify Congress, the chief State election of8 ficial of each State, and the public. 

9 ‘‘(f) REPORTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each accredited laboratory 

11 shall provide an annual report to the Commission 

12 and the National Institute of Standards and Tech13 nology that sets out the following: 

14 ‘‘(A) The methods and protocols the lab15 oratory used to test, certify, decertify and recer16 tify machines under this section. 

17 ‘‘(B) A list of the directors and officers of 

18 the firm, and the background and qualifications 

19 of those individuals, including whether any indi20 vidual has ever been convicted of a crime involv21 ing election, accounting, or computer security 

22 fraud. 

23 ‘‘(C) The results of the tests, certifications, 

24 decertifications and re-certifications conducted 

25 under this section in the preceding year. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION.—The Commission, in con2 sultation with the National Institute of Standards 

3 and Technology, shall submit an annual report to 

4 the Congress on the laboratory testing and certifi5 cation process conducted under this section, includ6 ing a summary of the reports it receives under para7 graph (1) of this subsection.’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 231 of 

9 such Act (42 U.S.C. 15371) is further amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘testing, 

11 certification,’’ and all that follows and inserting the 

12 following: ‘‘testing of voting system hardware and 

13 software by accredited laboratories in connection 

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

16 this Act.’’; 

17 (2) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘testing, 

18 certification,’’ and all that follows and inserting the 

19 following: ‘‘testing of its voting system hardware and 

20 software by the laboratories accredited by the Com21 mission under this section in connection with certi22 fying, decertifying, and recertifying the hardware 

23 and software.’’; 


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1 (3) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘testing, 

2 certification, decertification, and recertification’’ and 

3 inserting ‘‘testing’’; and 

4 (4) in subsection (i) (as redesignated above), by 

5 striking ‘‘testing, certification, decertification, and 

6 recertification’’ each place it appears and inserting 

7 ‘‘testing’’. 

8 (c) DEADLINE FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF STANDARDS

9 AND ESCROW ACCOUNT.—The Election Assistance Com10 mission shall establish the standards described in section 

11 231(d)(1)(B) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 and 

12 the Testing Escrow Account described in section 231(c)(1) 

13 of such Act by not later than January 1, 2008. 

14 TITLE II—PROVISIONAL 

15 BALLOTS 

16 SEC. 201. REQUIREMENTS FOR CASTING AND COUNTING 

17 PROVISIONAL BALLOTS. 

18 (a) ELIGIBILITY OF PROVISIONAL BALLOTS.—Para19 graph (4) of section 302(a) of the Help America Vote Act 

20 of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15482(a)(4)) is amended by adding 

21 at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘A properly reg22 istered voter who casts a provisional ballot in the county 

23 (or equivalent jurisdiction) in which the individual is reg24 istered to vote shall have the ballot counted as a vote in 

25 all races in which the individual is eligible to vote. A proviVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:49 Mar 13, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00042 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S804.IS S804

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1 sional ballot cast by an eligible and registered voter shall 

2 be counted as a vote without regard to any requirement 

3 to present identification to an election official.’’. 

4 (b) PROVISIONAL BALLOT AS APPLICATION FOR

5 VOTER REGISTRATION.—Section 302(a) of such Act is 

6 amended by inserting after paragraph (5) the following 

7 new paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(6) If the appropriate State or local election 

9 official determines that the individual who cast the 

10 provisional ballot is not registered to vote in the 

11 election, the provisional ballot shall be treated as an 

12 application to register the individual to vote in the 

13 next election for Federal office in that State. If the 

14 State or local election official determines that the in15 dividual is registered to vote in the election, the offi16 cial shall use the information in the provisional bal17 lot to update the voters registration records.’’. 

18 (c) TIMELY PROCESSING OF BALLOTS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 302(a) of such Act 

20 (42 U.S.C. 15482(a)), as amended by subsection (c), 

21 is amended by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol22 lowing new paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(7) The appropriate State election official 

24 shall develop, according to guidelines established by 

25 the Election Assistance Commission, reasonable proVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:49 Mar 13, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00043 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S804.IS S804

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1 cedures to assure the timely processing and counting 

2 of provisional ballots, including— 

3 ‘‘(A) standards for timely processing and 

4 counting to assure that, after the conclusion of 

5 the provisional vote count, parties and can6 didates may have full, timely, and effective re7 course to the recount and contest procedures 

8 provided by State law; and 

9 ‘‘(B) standards for the informed participa10 tion of candidates and parties such as are con11 sistent with reasonable procedures to protect 

12 the security, confidentiality, and integrity of 

13 personal information collected in the course of 

14 the processing and counting of provisional bal15 lots.’’. 

16 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 302(d) of such 

17 Act (42 U.S.C. 15482(d)) is amended— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘Each State’’ and inserting 

19 the following: 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para21 graph (2), each State; and’’. 

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

23 paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(2) PROCESSING.—Each State shall be re25 quired to develop and publish the guidelines required 


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1 under subsection (a)(7) not later than the expiration 

2 of the 6-month period which begins on the date of 

3 the enactment of the Count Every Vote Act of 

4 2007.’’. 

5 (d) PUBLICATION OF STANDARDS FOR COUNTING

6 PROVISIONAL BALLOTS.—Section 302(a) of such Act (42 

7 U.S.C. 15482(a)), as amended by subsections (b) and (c), 

8 is amended by inserting after paragraph (7) the following 

9 new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(8) Not later than 90 days prior to any elec11 tion for Federal office, each State shall publish uni12 form standards for counting provisional ballots.’’. 

13 TITLE III—ADDITIONAL RE14 QUIREMENTS UNDER THE 

15 HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 

16 2002 

17 Subtitle A—Shortening Voter Wait 

18 Times 

19 SEC. 301. EQUITABLE ALLOCATION OF VOTING SYSTEMS, 

20 POLL WORKERS, AND ELECTION RESOURCES. 

21 (a) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Help Amer23 ica Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481 et seq.), as 

24 amended by section 102(a), is amended by adding at 

25 the end the following new subtitle: 


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1 ‘‘Subtitle D—Additional 

2 Requirements 

3 ‘‘SEC. 331. MINIMUM REQUIRED VOTING SYSTEMS AND 

4 POLL WORKERS. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall provide for the 

6 minimum required number of voting systems, poll workers, 

7 and other election resources (including all other physical 

8 resources) for each voting site on the day of any Federal 

9 election and on any days during which such State allows 

10 early voting for a Federal election in accordance with the 

11 standards determined under section 299. 

12 ‘‘(b) VOTING SITE.—For purposes of this section, the 

13 term ‘voting site’ means a polling location, except that in 

14 the case of any polling location which serves more than 

15 1 precinct, such term shall mean a precinct.’’. 

16 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 401 

17 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15511), as amended by sec18 tion 102(b), is amended by striking ‘‘subtitle C’’ and 

19 inserting ‘‘subtitles C and D’’. 

20 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con21 tents of such Act is amended by adding at the end 

22 of the items relating to title III the following: 

‘‘Subtitle D—Additional Requirements 

‘‘Sec. 331. Minimum required voting systems and poll workers.’’. 

23 (b) STANDARDS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title II of such Act (42 

2 U.S.C. 15321 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 

3 end the following new subtitle: 

4 ‘‘Subtitle E—Guidance and 

5 Standards 

6 ‘‘SEC. 299. STANDARDS FOR THE EQUITABLE ALLOCATION 

7 OF VOTING SYSTEMS, POLL WORKERS, AND 

8 ELECTION RESOURCES. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 1, 2008, 

10 the Commission shall conduct a study and then issue 

11 standards that establish a minimum number of voting sys12 tems, poll workers, and other election resources (including 

13 all other physical resources) for each voting site on the 

14 day of any Federal election and on any days during which 

15 early voting is allowed for a Federal election. 

16 ‘‘(b) DISTRIBUTION.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The standards described in 

18 subsection (a) shall provide for a uniform and non19 discriminatory distribution of such systems, workers, 

20 and other resources, and, to the extent possible, 

21 shall take into account, among other factors, the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(A) The voting age population. 

24 ‘‘(B) Voter turnout in past elections. 

25 ‘‘(C) The number of voters registered. 


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1 ‘‘(D) The number of voters who have reg2 istered since the most recent Federal election. 

3 ‘‘(E) Census data for the population served 

4 by such voting site. 

5 ‘‘(F) The educational levels and socio-eco6 nomic factors of the population served by such 

7 voting site. 

8 ‘‘(G) The needs and numbers of voters 

9 with disabilities and voters with limited English 

10 proficiency. 

11 ‘‘(H) The type of voting systems used. 

12 ‘‘(2) NO FACTOR DISPOSITIVE.—The standards 

13 shall provide that the distribution of such systems 

14 should take into account the totality of all relevant 

15 factors, and no single factor shall be dispositive 

16 under the standards. 

17 ‘‘(3) PURPOSE.—To the extent possible, the 

18 standards shall provide for a distribution of voting 

19 systems, poll workers, and other election resources 

20 with the goals of— 

21 ‘‘(A) ensuring a fair and equitable waiting 

22 time for all voters in the State; and 

23 ‘‘(B) preventing a waiting time of over 1 

24 hour at any voting site. 


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1 ‘‘(c) VOTING SITE.—For purposes of this section, the 

2 term ‘voting site’ means a polling location, except that in 

3 the case of any polling location which serves more than 

4 1 precinct, such term shall mean a precinct. 

5 ‘‘(d) DEVIATION.—The standards described in sub6 section (a) shall permit States, upon giving reasonable 

7 public notice, to deviate from any allocation requirements 

8 in the case of unforeseen circumstances such as a natural 

9 disaster or terrorist attack.’’. 

10 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 202 

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

12 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and 

13 (6) as paragraphs (6) and (7); and 

14 (B) by inserting after paragraph (4) the 

15 following new paragraph: 

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

17 subtitle E;’’. 

18 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con19 tents of such Act is amended by adding at the end 

20 of the items relating to title II the following: 

‘‘Subtitle E—Guidance and Standards 

‘‘Sec. 299. Standards for the equitable allocation of voting systems, poll workers, and election resources.’’. 


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1 SEC. 302. STATE PLANS TO PREVENT UNREASONABLE WAIT 

2 TIMES; REMEDIAL PLANS; EMERGENCY BAL3 LOTS. 

4 (a) STATE PLANS REQUIRED.—Title III of the Help 

5 America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481 et seq.) is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as 

8 sections 305 and 306; and 

9 (2) by inserting after section 303 the following 

10 new section: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 304. ALLOCATION OF ELECTION RESOURCES. 

12 ‘‘(a) STATE PLANS TO PREVENT UNREASONABLE

13 VOTER WAITING TIMES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days be15 fore each election for Federal office, each State shall 

16 submit a written plan to the Commission describing 

17 the measures it is implementing to ensure, to the 

18 greatest extent possible, an equitable waiting time 

19 for all voters in the State, and a waiting time of less 

20 than 1 hour at any polling place in the election. 

21 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 30 days 

22 after receiving a State plan under paragraph (1), 

23 the Commission shall make the plan available to the 

24 public. 

25 ‘‘(b) REMEDIAL PLANS FOR STATES WITH EXCES26 SIVE VOTER WAIT TIMES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) COMPLIANCE WITH STATE REMEDIAL

2 PLANS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) REMEDIAL PLANS.—Each jurisdiction 

4 for which the Commission determines that a 

5 substantial number of voters waited more than 

6 90 minutes to cast a vote in an election for 

7 Federal office, or in which there were substan8 tial violations of the standards established 

9 under section 299 with respect to an election 

10 for Federal office, shall comply with a State re11 medial plan established by the Commission to 

12 provide for the effective allocation of resources 

13 to administer elections held in the State and to 

14 reduce the waiting time of voters. 

15 ‘‘(B) COORDINATION WITH ATTORNEY

16 GENERAL AND STATES.—Each remedial plan 

17 established by the Commission shall provide for 

18 coordination between the Commission, the At19 torney General, and the State involved to mon20 itor the compliance of the State with the reme21 dial plan during the period leading up to the 

22 election and on the date of the election and to 

23 respond to serious delays in the ability of voters 

24 to cast their ballots at polling places. 


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1 ‘‘(2) JURISDICTION DEFINED.—For purposes of 

2 this subsection, the term ‘jurisdiction’ has the mean3 ing given the term ‘registrar’s jurisdiction’ in section 

4 8(j) of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 

5 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–6(j)). 

6 ‘‘(c) EMERGENCY BALLOTS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the event of a failure of 

8 voting equipment or other circumstance at a polling 

9 place that causes an unreasonable delay, any indi10 vidual who is waiting at the polling place to cast a 

11 ballot in an election for Federal office at the time 

12 of the failure shall be advised immediately of the in13 dividuals right to use an emergency paper ballot, 

14 and upon request shall be provided with an emer15 gency paper ballot for the election and the supplies 

16 necessary to mark the ballot. 

17 ‘‘(2) DISPOSITION OF BALLOT.—Any emergency 

18 paper ballot which is cast by an individual under 

19 this subsection shall be counted in the same manner 

20 as a regular ballot, unless the individual casting the 

21 ballot would have otherwise been required to cast a 

22 provisional ballot in the absence of the delay, in 

23 which case that ballot shall be treated in the same 

24 manner as a provisional ballot.’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

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

3 (1) by redesignating the items relating to sec4 tions 304 and 305 as relating to sections 305 and 

5 306; and 

6 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec7 tion 303 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 304. Allocation of election resources.’’. 

8 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

9 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

10 of this Act. 

11 Subtitle B—No-Excuse Absentee 

12 Voting 

13 SEC. 311. NO-EXCUSE ABSENTEE VOTING. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title III of the Help 

15 America Vote Act of 2002, as added by this Act, is amend16 ed by adding at the end the following new section: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 332. NO-EXCUSE ABSENTEE VOTING. 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State and jurisdiction shall 

19 permit any person who is otherwise qualified to vote in 

20 an election for Federal office to vote in such election in 

21 a manner other than in person, and shall not impose any 

22 additional conditions or restrictions on absentee voting 

23 other than a reasonable deadline for requesting and re24 turning the ballot. 

25 ‘‘(b) SUBMISSION AND PROCESSING.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any ballot cast under sub2 section (a) shall be submitted and processed in the 

3 manner provided for absentee ballots under State 

4 law. 

5 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE.—Any ballot cast under sub6 section (a) shall be counted if postmarked before the 

7 close of the polls on Election Day and received by 

8 the appropriate State election official on or before 

9 the date which is 10 days after the date of the elec10 tion or the date provided for the receipt of absentee 

11 ballots under State law, whichever is later. 

12 ‘‘(c) NO EFFECT ON ABSENT UNIFORMED AND

13 OVERSEAS VOTERS.—Nothing in this section may be con14 strued to permit a State or jurisdiction to revise any dead15 line applicable with respect to any absentee ballot re16 quested or submitted by an individual under the Uni17 formed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (42 

18 U.S.C. 1973ff–1 et seq.).’’. 

19 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

20 of such Act, as amended by this Act, is amended by adding 

21 at the end of the items relating to subtitle D of title III 

22 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 332. No-excuse absentee voting.’’. 


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1 Subtitle C—Collection and 

2 Dissemination of Election Data 

3 SEC. 321. DATA COLLECTION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title III of the Help 

5 America Vote Act of 2002, as added and amended by this 

6 Act, is amended by adding at the end the following new 

7 section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 333. PUBLIC REPORTS ON FEDERAL ELECTIONS. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after 

10 a Federal election, each State and jurisdiction shall pub11 licly report information with respect to such election, in12 cluding the following: 

13 ‘‘(1) The total number of individuals of voting 

14 age in the population. 

15 ‘‘(2) The total number of individuals registered 

16 to vote, and a breakdown of the number based on 

17 demographic criteria including age, gender, race and 

18 ethnicity. 

19 ‘‘(3) The total number of registered voters who 

20 voted, and a breakdown of the number based on de21 mographic criteria including age, gender, race and 

22 ethnicity. 

23 ‘‘(4) The number of absentee and overseas bal24 lots requested, including the numbers of such ballots 


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1 requested by military personnel and citizens living 

2 overseas. 

3 ‘‘(5) The number of absentee and overseas bal4 lots cast, including the numbers of such ballots cast 

5 by military personnel and citizens living overseas. 

6 ‘‘(6) The total number of absentee and overseas 

7 ballots counted, including the number of such ballots 

8 which were cast by military personnel and citizens 

9 living overseas that were counted. 

10 ‘‘(7) The total number of absentee and overseas 

11 ballots rejected, including the numbers of such bal12 lots which were cast by military personnel and citi13 zens living overseas that were rejected, and the rea14 sons for any such rejections. 

15 ‘‘(8) The number of votes cast in early voting 

16 at the polls before the day of the election. 

17 ‘‘(9) The number of provisional ballots cast. 

18 ‘‘(10) The number of provisional ballots count19 ed. 

20 ‘‘(11) The number of provisional ballots re21 jected and the reasons the ballots were rejected. 

22 ‘‘(12) The number of voting sites (within the 

23 meaning of section 321(b)) in the State or jurisdic24 tion, including how many voting sites were moved 

25 since the last election and the reason for the move. 


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1 ‘‘(13) The number of voting machines in each 

2 such voting site on the day of the election and the 

3 type and manufacturer of each machine. 

4 ‘‘(14) The total number of voting machines 

5 available in the State or jurisdiction for distribution 

6 to each such voting site. 

7 ‘‘(15) The total number of voting machines ac8 tually distributed to such voting sites (including vot9 ing machines distributed as replacement voting ma10 chines on the day of the election), and where they 

11 were distributed. 

12 ‘‘(16) The total number of voting machines of 

13 any type, whether electronic or manual, that mal14 functioned on the day of the election and the reason 

15 for any malfunction. 

16 ‘‘(17) The total number of voting machines that 

17 were replaced on the day of the election. 

18 ‘‘(18) The amount of money the State or juris19 diction expended on the election, including the 

20 amount expended on voting machines, ballots, train21 ing materials, and other election resources. 

22 ‘‘(b) REPORT BY COMMISSION.—The Commission 

23 shall collect the information published under subsection 

24 (a) with respect to an election and shall report to Congress 


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1 not later than 9 months after the date of the election the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(1) The funding and expenditures of each 

4 State under the provisions of this Act. 

5 ‘‘(2) The voter turnout in the election. 

6 ‘‘(3) The number of registered voters and the 

7 number of individuals eligible to register who are not 

8 registered. 

9 ‘‘(4) The number of voters who have registered 

10 to vote in a Federal election since the most recent 

11 such election. 

12 ‘‘(5) The extent to which voter registration in13 formation has been shared among government agen14 cies (including any progress on implementing state15 wide voter registration databases under section 

16 303(a)). 

17 ‘‘(6) The number, types and manufacturers of 

18 new voting systems purchased by States and juris19 dictions. 

20 ‘‘(7) The amount of time individuals waited to 

21 vote. 

22 ‘‘(8) The number of early votes, provisional 

23 votes, absentee ballots, and overseas ballots distrib24 uted, cast, and counted. 


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1 ‘‘(9) The amount of training that poll workers 

2 received. 

3 ‘‘(10) The number of poll workers. 

4 ‘‘(11) The number of polling locations and pre5 cincts. 

6 ‘‘(12) The ratio of the number of voting ma7 chines to the number of registered voters. 

8 ‘‘(13) Such other information pertaining to 

9 electoral participation as the Commission deems ap10 propriate.’’. 

11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

12 of such Act, as amended by this Act, is amended by adding 

13 at the end of the items relating to subtitle D of title III 

14 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 333. Public reports on Federal elections.’’. 

15 Subtitle D—Ensuring Well-Run 

16 Elections 

17 SEC. 331. TRAINING OF POLL WORKERS. 

18 (a) TRAINING.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title III of the 

20 Help America Vote Act of 2002, as added and 

21 amended by this Act, is amended by adding at the 

22 end the following new section: 

23 ‘‘SEC. 334. TRAINING OF POLL WORKERS. 

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State and jurisdiction shall 

25 require that each person who works in a polling place durVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:49 Mar 13, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00059 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S804.IS S804

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1 ing an election for Federal office receives adequate train2 ing not earlier than 3 months before the election. 

3 ‘‘(b) TRAINING.—The training required under sub4 section (a) shall, at a minimum, include— 

5 ‘‘(1) hands-on training on all voting systems 

6 used in the election; 

7 ‘‘(2) training on accommodating individuals 

8 with disabilities, individuals who are of limited 

9 English proficiency, and individuals who are illit10 erate; 

11 ‘‘(3) training on requirements for the identifica12 tion of voters; 

13 ‘‘(4) training on the appropriate use of provi14 sional ballots and the process for casting such bal15 lots; 

16 ‘‘(5) training on registering voters on the day 

17 of the election; 

18 ‘‘(6) training on which individuals have the au19 thority to challenge voter eligibility and the process 

20 for any such challenges; 

21 ‘‘(7) training on security procedures; and 

22 ‘‘(8) the development and distribution to poll 

23 workers of statewide and uniform training manu24 als.’’. 


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1 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con2 tents of such Act, as amended by this Act, is amend3 ed by adding at the end of the items relating to sub4 title D of title III the following: 

‘‘Sec. 334. Training of poll workers.’’. 

5 (b) GRANT PROGRAM.— 

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

7 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15401 

8 et seq.), as amended by this Act, is amended by add9 ing at the end the following new part: 

10 ‘‘PART 9—POLL WORKER TRAINING GRANT 

11 PROGRAM 

12 ‘‘SEC. 297B. POLL WORKER TRAINING GRANT PROGRAM. 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall make 

14 grants to States and other jurisdictions to train individ15 uals to serve as poll workers in elections for Federal office. 

16 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A recipient of a grant 

18 under this section shall use the funds provided by 

19 the grant to develop training materials and proce20 dures for poll workers and provide poll workers with 

21 the necessary training to effectively and fairly ad22 minister elections for Federal office. 

23 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF TRAINING.—The training 

24 provided to poll workers with the payment made 

25 under this section shall include— 


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1 ‘‘(A) hands-on training on the functioning 

2 of the voting systems used in the election; 

3 ‘‘(B) training on how to prevent, detect 

4 and address problems with voting systems used 

5 in the election; 

6 ‘‘(C) training on accommodating individ7 uals with disabilities or other specific needs; 

8 ‘‘(D) training on requirements for the 

9 identification of voters; 

10 ‘‘(E) training on the appropriate use of 

11 provisional ballots and the process for casting 

12 such ballots; and 

13 ‘‘(F) training through the development and 

14 distribution of educational materials. 

15 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State or jurisdiction is 

17 eligible to receive a grant under this section with re18 spect to a fiscal year if it submits to the Commission 

19 a notice not later than 3 months before the first day 

20 of the fiscal year (in such form as the Commission 

21 may require) that contains— 

22 ‘‘(A) certifications that the State or juris23 diction will use the grant (either directly or as 

24 reimbursement) for the uses described in sub25 section (b); and 


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1 ‘‘(B) such other information and certifi2 cations as the Administrator may require which 

3 are necessary for the administration of the pro4 gram. 

5 ‘‘(2) COMPLIANCE OF STATES THAT REQUIRE

6 CHANGES TO STATE LAW.—In the case of a State or 

7 jurisdiction located in a State that requires the en8 actment of State legislation to carry out an activity 

9 covered by any certification submitted under this 

10 subsection, the State or jurisdiction shall be per11 mitted to make the certification notwithstanding 

12 that the legislation has not been enacted at the time 

13 the certification is submitted, and such State or ju14 risdiction shall submit an additional certification 

15 once such legislation is enacted. 

16 ‘‘(d) REPORTS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each recipient of a grant 

18 under this section shall submit to the Commissioner 

19 a report describing the activities carried out with the 

20 funds provided under the grant. 

21 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE.—The recipient of a grant shall 

22 submit the report required under paragraph (1) not 

23 later than 60 days after the end of the fiscal year 

24 for which the entity received the grant which is the 

25 subject of the report. 


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

2 are authorized to be appropriated for grants under this 

3 part $20,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008, 2009, 

4 2010, and 2011.’’. 

5 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con6 tents of such Act, as amended by this Act, is amend7 ed by adding at the end of the items relating to sub8 title D of title II the following: 

‘‘PART 9—POLL WORKER TRAINING GRANT PROGRAM

‘‘Sec. 297B. Poll worker training grant program.’’. 

9 SEC. 332. IMPARTIAL ADMINISTRATION OF ELECTIONS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title III of the Help 

11 America Vote Act of 2002, as added and amended by this 

12 Act, is amended by adding at the end the following new 

13 section: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 335. ELECTION ADMINISTRATION REQUIREMENTS. 

15 ‘‘(a) PUBLICATION OF STATE ELECTION LAWS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall be re17 quired to publish all State laws, regulations, proce18 dures, and practices relating to Federal elections on 

19 January 1 of each year in which there is a regularly 

20 scheduled election for a Federal office (beginning 

21 with 2008). 

22 ‘‘(2) MAINTENANCE OF LAWS ON THE INTER23 NET.—Each State shall be required to maintain an 

24 updated version of all material published under 


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1 paragraph (1) on an easily accessible public web site 

2 on the Internet. 

3 ‘‘(b) NOTICE OF CHANGES IN STATE ELECTION

4 LAWS.—Not later than 45 days prior to any Federal elec5 tion, each State shall issue a public notice describing all 

6 changes in State law affecting voting in Federal elections 

7 and the administration of Federal elections since the most 

8 recent prior such election. 

9 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION ON LAST-MINUTE CHANGES TO

10 ELECTION LAWS.—No State or local government shall 

11 make any change to election laws or regulations affecting 

12 the administration of Federal elections within 45 days of 

13 a Federal election, unless— 

14 ‘‘(1) ordered to do so by a court of competent 

15 jurisdiction, or 

16 ‘‘(2) upon giving reasonable public notice, in 

17 the case of an unforeseen circumstance such as a 

18 natural disaster or a terrorist attack. 

19 ‘‘(d) OBSERVERS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) STANDARDS.—Each State shall issue uni21 form and nondiscriminatory standards for granting 

22 access to nonpartisan election observers to polling 

23 places. Such standards shall account for the need to 

24 avoid disruption and crowding in polling places, and 

25 shall be developed in consultation with civil rights, 


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1 voting rights, and voting protection organizations, 

2 State and local election officials, and other inter3 ested members of the community. 

4 ‘‘(2) ACCESS TO POLLING PLACES.—In accord5 ance with the standards issued under paragraph (1), 

6 each State shall allow reasonable and nondiscrim7 inatory access to any polling place to nonpartisan 

8 domestic observers (including voting rights and civil 

9 rights organizations) and international observers for 

10 purposes of observing a federal election. 

11 ‘‘(3) EXPULSION FROM POLLING PLACES.—To 

12 facilitate a fair, efficient, and transparent election 

13 process, decisions to expel a poll watcher from a 

14 polling place shall be made in a non-discriminatory 

15 manner. 

16 ‘‘(4) NOTICE OF DENIAL OF OBSERVATION RE17 QUEST.—Each State shall issue a public notice with 

18 respect to any denial of a request by any observer 

19 described in paragraph (2) for access to any polling 

20 place for purposes of observing a Federal election. 

21 Such notice shall be issued not later than 7 days 

22 after such denial. 

23 ‘‘(5) RIGHT OF APPEAL.—Each State shall pro24 vide an expedited opportunity to appeal to an elecVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:49 Mar 13, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00066 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S804.IS S804

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1 tion official a denial of access to, or an expulsion 

2 from, a polling place.’’. 

3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

4 of such Act, as amended by this Act, is amended by adding 

5 at the end of the items relating to subtitle D of title III 

6 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 335. Election administration requirements.’’. 

7 SEC. 333. STUDY ON ENCOURAGING GOVERNMENT EM8 PLOYEES AND SECONDARY SCHOOL STU9 DENTS TO SERVE AS POLL WORKERS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title II of such Act 

11 (42 U.S.C. 15381 et seq.), as amended by this Act, is 

12 amended by inserting after section 249A the following new 

13 section: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 249B. STUDY ON ENCOURAGING GOVERNMENT EM15 PLOYEES AND SECONDARY SCHOOL STU16 DENTS TO SERVE AS POLL WORKERS. 

17 ‘‘(a) STUDY.—The Commission shall conduct a study 

18 on appropriate methods to encourage State and local gov19 ernment employees and secondary school students to serve 

20 as poll workers in Federal elections. 

21 ‘‘(b) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after the 

22 date of the enactment of the Count Every Vote Act of 

23 2007, the Commission shall transmit to Congress a report 

24 on the results of the study conducted under subsection (a). 


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1 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Of the 

2 amount authorized to be appropriated under section 210 

3 for fiscal year 2008, $100,000 shall be used solely to carry 

4 out the purposes of this section.’’. 

5 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

6 of such Act, as amended by this Act, is amended by insert7 ing after the item relating to section 249A the following: 

‘‘Sec. 249B. Study on encouraging government employees and secondary school 

students to serve as poll workers.’’. 

8 Subtitle E—Standards for Purging 

9 Voters 

10 SEC. 341. STANDARDS FOR PURGING VOTERS. 

11 (a) STANDARDS.—Subtitle D of title III of the Help 

12 America Vote Act of 2002, as added and amended by this 

13 Act, is amended by adding at the end the following new 

14 section: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 336. REMOVAL FROM VOTER REGISTRATION LIST. 

16 ‘‘(a) STATE RULES.—Each State shall adopt uniform 

17 and nondiscriminatory criteria, processes, and procedures 

18 for the removal of voters from a voter registration list and 

19 the restoration of voters to the list if improperly removed. 

20 ‘‘(b) PUBLIC NOTICE.—Not later than 45 days before 

21 any Federal election, each State shall provide public notice 

22 of— 

23 ‘‘(1) all names which have been removed from 

24 the voter registration list of such State under section 


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1 303 since the later of the most recent election for 

2 Federal office or the day of the most recent previous 

3 public notice provided under this section; and 

4 ‘‘(2) the criteria, processes, and procedures 

5 used to determine which names were removed. 

6 ‘‘(c) NOTICE TO INDIVIDUAL VOTERS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No individual shall be re8 moved from the voter registration list under section 

9 303 unless such individual is first provided with a 

10 notice and opportunity to cure that meet the re11 quirements of paragraphs (2) and (3). 

12 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS OF NOTICE.—The notice 

13 required under paragraph (1) shall be— 

14 ‘‘(A) provided to each voter in a uniform 

15 and nondiscriminatory manner; 

16 ‘‘(B) consistent with the requirements of 

17 the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 

18 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg et seq.); 

19 ‘‘(C) transmitted to the last known address 

20 of the voter by certified mail, and include a 

21 postage pre-paid response card; 

22 ‘‘(D) in a form that provides the voter with 

23 clear notice of the reason for removal, the op24 portunity to cure, and the option to cast a pro25 visional ballot; and 


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1 ‘‘(E) mailed to each voter not later than 

2 30 days before the State or local election offi3 cial removes the voter’s name from the registra4 tion list. 

5 ‘‘(3) OPPORTUNITY TO CURE.—The opportunity 

6 to cure required under paragraph (1) shall— 

7 ‘‘(A) give the voter a reasonable oppor8 tunity to file a written request that the appro9 priate State election official retain the voter on 

10 the registration rolls (including through the 

11 postage pre-paid response card required under 

12 paragraph (2)); 

13 ‘‘(B) allow the voter to submit to the ap14 propriate State election official any information 

15 or evidence the voter believes demonstrates that 

16 the State is in error and the voter should re17 main on the registration rolls; and 

18 ‘‘(C) not later than 14 days after the ap19 propriate State election official receives a re20 quest to retain the voter on the registration list, 

21 require the official to send the voter a written 

22 response that approves or rejects the request 

23 and, if the request was rejected, includes an ex24 planation for the rejection. 


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1 ‘‘(4) PROVISIONAL BALLOT.—A voter who re2 ceives notice that he or she will be removed from the 

3 registration list, and who has not received a re4 sponse approving a request to cure under paragraph 

5 (3), shall be permitted to cast a provisional ballot 

6 consistent with section 302 of this Act, and if it is 

7 determined that the voter should remain on the rolls, 

8 such provisional ballot shall be counted as a vote in 

9 that election in accordance with State law and the 

10 requirements of this Act. 

11 ‘‘(d) PRESERVATION OF RECORDS.—Each State shall 

12 retain the registration records of individuals removed from 

13 the voter registration rolls for a period of at least 5 years 

14 after the date of removal. 

15 ‘‘(e) PRIVACY.—Notwithstanding subsection (b), no 

16 State or jurisdiction may disclose that a voter was re17 moved from the voter registration list for reason of a fel18 ony conviction or an adjudication of incompetency, other 

19 than to the voter, unless ordered to do so by a court of 

20 competent jurisdiction or otherwise required to do so 

21 under State or Federal law. 

22 ‘‘(f) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN STATES.—The re23 quirements of this section shall not apply to a State in 

24 which, under a State law in effect continuously on and 

25 after the date of the enactment of the Count Every Vote 


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1 Act of 2007, there is no voter registration requirement for 

2 individuals in the State with respect to elections for Fed3 eral office.’’. 

4 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

5 of such Act, as amended by this Act, is amended by adding 

6 at the end of the items relating to subtitle D of title III 

7 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 336. Removal from voter registration list.’’. 

8 Subtitle F—Election Day 

9 Registration and Early Voting 

10 SEC. 351. ELECTION DAY REGISTRATION. 

11 (a) REQUIREMENT.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title III of the 

13 Help America Vote Act of 2002, as added and 

14 amended by this Act, is amended by adding at the 

15 end the following new section: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 337. ELECTION DAY REGISTRATION. 

17 ‘‘(a) REGISTRATION.—Notwithstanding section 

18 8(a)(1)(D) of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 

19 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–6), each State shall permit any indi20 vidual on the day of a Federal election— 

21 ‘‘(1) to register to vote in such election at the 

22 polling place; and 

23 ‘‘(2) to cast a vote in such election and have 

24 that vote counted in the same manner as a vote cast 


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1 by an eligible voter who properly registered during 

2 the regular registration period. 

3 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.—The requirements under para4 graph (1) shall not apply to a State in which, under a 

5 State law in effect continuously on and after the date of 

6 the enactment of the Count Every Vote Act of 2007, there 

7 is no voter registration requirement for individuals in the 

8 State with respect to elections for Federal office.’’. 

9 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con10 tents of such Act, as amended by this Act, is amend11 ed by adding at the end of the items relating to sub12 title D of title III the following: 

‘‘Sec. 337. Election Day registration.’’. 

13 (b) ELECTION DAY REGISTRATION FORM.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle E of title II of the 

15 Help America Vote Act of 2002, as added by this 

16 Act, is amended by adding at the end the following 

17 new section: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 299A. ELECTION DAY REGISTRATION FORMS. 

19 ‘‘The Commission shall develop an election day reg20 istration form for elections for Federal office.’’. 

21 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con22 tents of such Act, as amended by this Act, is amend23 ed by adding at the end of the items relating to sub24 title E of title II the following: 

‘‘Sec. 299A. Election Day registration forms.’’. 


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1 (c) ELECTION DAY REGISTRATION GRANT PRO2 GRAM.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title II of such 

4 Act (42 U.S.C. 15401 et seq.), as amended by this 

5 Act, is amended by adding at the end the following 

6 new part: 

7 ‘‘PART 10—ELECTION DAY REGISTRATION GRANT 

8 PROGRAM 

9 ‘‘SEC. 297C. ELECTION DAY REGISTRATION GRANT PRO10 GRAM. 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall make 

12 grants to States and other jurisdictions to carry out activi13 ties to provide access, and allow real-time updates, to com14 puterized registration lists at polling places in order to fa15 cilitate the implementation of same-day election registra16 tion and resolve problems with voter lists at the polling 

17 place, including— 

18 ‘‘(1) providing secure access at polling places to 

19 the computerized statewide voter database required 

20 under section 303(a); 

21 ‘‘(2) creating and implementing secure mecha22 nisms to update those lists at the polling place in 

23 order to facilitate same-day registration; 

24 ‘‘(3) testing and monitoring the use and imple25 mentation of the database at polling places and proVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:49 Mar 13, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00074 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S804.IS S804

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1 vide a paper copy of the database at the polling 

2 place; and 

3 ‘‘(4) training poll workers in how to use and 

4 update the database at a polling place. 

5 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State or jurisdiction is 

7 eligible to receive a payment under the program 

8 under this section with respect to a fiscal year if it 

9 submits to the Commission a notice not later than 

10 3 months before the first day of the fiscal year (in 

11 such form as the Commission may require) that con12 tains— 

13 ‘‘(A) certifications that the State or juris14 diction will use the payment (either directly or 

15 as reimbursement) to carry out the activities 

16 described in subsection (a); and 

17 ‘‘(B) such other information and certifi18 cations as the Commission may require which 

19 are necessary for the administration of the pro20 gram. 

21 ‘‘(2) COMPLIANCE OF STATES THAT REQUIRE

22 CHANGES TO STATE LAW.—In the case of a State or 

23 a jurisdiction located in a State that requires the en24 actment of State legislation to carry out an activity 

25 covered by any certification submitted under this 


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1 subsection, the State or jurisdiction shall be per2 mitted to make the certification notwithstanding 

3 that the legislation has not been enacted at the time 

4 the certification is submitted, and such State or ju5 risdiction shall submit an additional certification 

6 once such legislation is enacted. 

7 ‘‘(c) REPORTS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each entity which receives 

9 a grant under this part shall submit to the Commis10 sion a report describing the activities carried out 

11 with the funds provided under the grant. 

12 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE.—Each entity shall submit a 

13 report required under paragraph (1) not later than 

14 60 days after the end of the fiscal year for which the 

15 entity received the grant which is the subject of the 

16 report. 

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

18 are authorized be appropriated for grants under this part 

19 $30,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008, 2009, 2010, 

20 and 2011.’’. 

21 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con22 tents of such Act, as amended by this Act, is amend23 ed by adding at the end of the items relating to sub24 title D of title II the following: 

‘‘PART 10—ELECTION DAY REGISTRATION GRANT PROGRAM

‘‘Sec. 297C. Election Day registration grant program.’’. 


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1 SEC. 352. EARLY VOTING. 

2 (a) REQUIREMENTS.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title III of the 

4 Help America Vote Act of 2002, as added and 

5 amended by this Act, is amended by adding at the 

6 end the following new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 338. EARLY VOTING. 

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

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

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

11 allow individuals to vote in the election in the same man12 ner as voting is allowed on the date of such election. 

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

14 Each polling place which allows voting prior to the day 

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

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

17 on each day (other than Sunday); and 

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

19 which such voting occurs. 

20 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION OF ELECTION DAY REGISTRATION

21 TO EARLY VOTING.—A State shall permit individuals to 

22 register to vote at each polling place which allows voting 

23 prior to the day of a Federal election pursuant to sub24 section (a) in the same manner as the State is required 

25 to permit individuals to register to vote and vote on the 

26 day of the election under section 337.’’. 


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1 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con2 tents of such Act, as amended by this Act, is amend3 ed by adding at the end of the items relating to sub4 title D of title III the following: 

‘‘Sec. 338. Early voting.’’. 

5 (b) STANDARDS FOR EARLY VOTING.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle E of title II of such 

7 Act, as added and amended by this Act, is amended 

8 by adding at the end the following new section: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 299B. STANDARDS FOR EARLY VOTING. 

10 ‘‘(a) STANDARDS.— 

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

12 standards for the administration of voting prior to 

13 the day scheduled for a Federal election. 

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

15 standards shall include the nondiscriminatory geo16 graphic placement of polling places at which such 

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

18 and location of polling places no earlier than 10 days 

19 before the date on which such voting begins. 

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

21 developed in consultation with civil rights, voting 

22 rights, and voting protection organizations, State 

23 and local election officials, and other interested 

24 members of the community. 


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1 ‘‘(b) DEVIATION.—The standards described in sub2 section (a) shall permit States, upon giving reasonable 

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

4 of unforeseen circumstances such as a natural disaster or 

5 a terrorist attack.’’. 

6 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con7 tents of such Act, as amended by this Act, is amend8 ed by adding at the end of the items relating to sub9 title E of title II the following: 

‘‘Sec. 299B. Standards for early voting.’’. 

10 Subtitle G—Newly Eligible Voters 

11 SEC. 361. ENCOURAGING THE REGISTRATION OF NEWLY 

12 ELIGIBLE VOTERS. 

13 (a) REQUIREMENT.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title III of the 

15 Help America Vote Act of 2002, as added and 

16 amended by this Act, is amended by adding at the 

17 end the following new section: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 339. ENCOURAGING THE REGISTRATION OF NEWLY 

19 ELIGIBLE VOTERS. 

20 ‘‘(a) NEWLY ELIGIBLE VOTERS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall mail a 

22 voter registration application to each individual who 

23 is a citizen of the United States residing in that 

24 State on the date the individual reaches 18 years of 

25 age, if the State has issued a driver’s license or has 


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1 another accessible record of the individual’s address 

2 and date of birth. 

3 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN STATES.—The 

4 requirement under paragraph (1) shall not apply to 

5 a State in which, under a State law in effect con6 tinuously on and after the date of the enactment of 

7 the Count Every Vote Act of 2007, there is no voter 

8 registration requirement for individuals in the State 

9 with respect to elections for Federal office. 

10 ‘‘(b) PUBLIC EDUCATION.—Each State, in consulta11 tion with the Secretary of Education and the Commission, 

12 shall develop and implement procedures to provide oppor13 tunities for persons to apply to register to vote at public 

14 educational institutions, including but not limited to— 

15 ‘‘(1) high school graduation ceremonies; 

16 ‘‘(2) orientation at public colleges and univer17 sities; and 

18 ‘‘(3) colleges, universities, and trade schools 

19 participating in Federal student loan programs. 

20 ‘‘(c) NATURALIZATION PROCEEDINGS.—The Sec21 retary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the 

22 Commission, shall develop and implement procedures to 

23 provide opportunities for persons to apply to register to 

24 vote at, or otherwise in connection with, naturalization 

25 proceedings. 


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1 ‘‘(d) CHANGES OF ADDRESS FORMS.—The United 

2 States Postal Service shall include the National mail voter 

3 registration application form developed pursuant to sec4 tion 9 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 

5 along with the materials made available to citizens who 

6 change their address. The Postal Service shall also make 

7 such form available on its change of address web site. 

8 ‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON USE OF INFORMATION.—No in9 formation relating to the failure of an individual to sign 

10 a voter registration application may be used for any pur11 pose other than voter registration.’’. 

12 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con13 tents of such Act, as amended by this Act, is amend14 ed by adding at the end of the items relating to sub15 title D of title III the following: 

‘‘Sec. 339. Encouraging the registration of newly eligible voters.’’. 

16 SEC. 362. CIVIC EDUCATION PILOT PROGRAM. 

17 (a) PROGRAM.—Subtitle D of title II of the Help 

18 America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15401 et seq.), as 

19 amended by this Act, is amended by adding at the end 

20 the following new part: 

21 ‘‘PART 11—CIVIC EDUCATION PILOT PROGRAM 

22 ‘‘SEC. 297D. CIVIC EDUCATION PILOT PROGRAM. 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall make 

24 grants to carry out pilot programs under which States will 


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1 teach high school students the mechanics and importance 

2 of participation in the democratic process. 

3 ‘‘(b) MATERIALS.—The Commission shall develop 

4 educational materials to assist States in meeting the pur5 poses of this pilot program. 

6 ‘‘(c) CURRICULUM.—A State receiving funds under a 

7 pilot program under this section shall use the funds to 

8 encourage leadership, community development, and par9 ticipation in the political process, including through— 

10 ‘‘(1) the provision of cross-disciplinary instruc11 tion in government, history, law and democracy, in12 cluding the importance of voting and registering to 

13 vote; 

14 ‘‘(2) the incorporation of a discussion of current 

15 issues and events into the classroom; 

16 ‘‘(3) the development and implementation of 

17 programs that provide students with the opportunity 

18 to apply what they learn through performing com19 munity service that is linked to classroom discussion; 

20 ‘‘(4) the development and implementation of 

21 programs that allow students to meet and discuss 

22 current events and legislation with community and 

23 political leaders; or 


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1 ‘‘(5) the development of simulations of demo2 cratic processes and procedures and the encourage3 ment of student participation in those simulations. 

4 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS FOR GRANT RECIPIENTS.—In 

5 making grants under this section, the Commission shall 

6 ensure that the funds provided are spent for projects and 

7 activities which are carried out without partisan bias and 

8 without promoting any particular point of view regarding 

9 any issue, and that each recipient is governed in a bal10 anced manner without any partisan bias. A grant recipient 

11 who is determined to have violated this subsection shall 

12 be disqualified from receiving any additional grants under 

13 this part. 

14 ‘‘(e) REPORTS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State which receives 

16 a grant under this part shall submit to the Commis17 sion a report describing the activities carried out 

18 with the funds provided under the grant. 

19 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE.—An State shall submit a re20 port required under paragraph (1) not later than 60 

21 days after the end of the fiscal year for which the 

22 entity received the grant which is the subject of the 

23 report. 

24 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

25 are authorized to be appropriated for grants under this 


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1 part $5,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008, 2009, 

2 2010, and 2011.’’. 

3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

4 of such Act, as amended by this Act, is amended by adding 

5 at the end of the items relating to subtitle D of title II 

6 the following: 

‘‘PART 11—CIVIC EDUCATION PILOT PROGRAM

‘‘Sec. 297D. Civic education pilot program.’’. 

7 TITLE IV—VOTER REGISTRA8 TION AND IDENTIFICATION 

9 SEC. 401. VOTER REGISTRATION. 

10 (a) CONTENTS OF REGISTRATION APPLICATIONS.— 

11 (1) MAIL-IN APPLICATION.—Paragraph (4) of 

12 section 303(b) of the Help America Vote Act of 

13 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15483(b)(4)) is amended by adding 

14 at the end the following new subparagraph: 

15 ‘‘(C) EXCEPTION.—On and after the date 

16 of the enactment of the Count Every Vote Act 

17 of 2007— 

18 ‘‘(i) in lieu of the questions and state19 ments required under subparagraph (A), 

20 such mail voter registration form shall in21 clude on the form an affidavit to be signed 

22 by the registrant attesting both to citizen23 ship and age; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) subparagraph (B) shall not 

2 apply.’’. 

3 (2) APPLICATION IDENTIFYING NUMBERS.— 

4 (A) REGISTRATION APPLICATION.—Sub5 paragraph (A) of section 303(a)(5) of such Act 

6 (42 U.S.C. 15483(a)(5)) is amended— 

7 (i) by redesignating clause (iii) as 

8 clause (iv); and 

9 (ii) by inserting after clause (ii) the 

10 following new clause: 

11 ‘‘(iii) IDENTIFYING NUMBERS IN REG12 ISTRATION APPLICATIONS.—An application 

13 for voter registration shall— 

14 ‘‘(I) provide a space for appli15 cants to state if they lack a driver’s li16 cense or Social Security number, and 

17 ‘‘(II) state explicitly that the ap18 plicant may enter any personal identi19 fication document number issued by a 

20 State motor vehicle authority in the 

21 space provided for a driver’s license 

22 number.’’. 

23 (B) CLARIFICATION.—Section 

24 303(a)(5)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

25 15483(a)(5)(A)) is amended— 


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1 (i) in clause (i)(I), by striking ‘‘driv2 er’s license, the applicant’s driver’s license 

3 number’’ and inserting ‘‘motor vehicle driv4 er’s license (as defined in section 3(3) of 

5 the National Voter Registration Act of 

6 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–1(3))), the appli7 cant’s motor vehicle driver’s license num8 ber’’; and 

9 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘driver’s 

10 license’’ and inserting ‘‘motor vehicle driv11 er’s license (as defined in section 3(3) of 

12 the National Voter Registration Act of 

13 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–1(3)))’’. 

14 (3) TESTING.—Section 303 of such Act (42 

15 U.S.C. 15483) is amended— 

16 (A) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub17 section (e); and 

18 (B) by inserting after subsection (c) the 

19 following new subsection: 

20 ‘‘(d) TESTING.—Not later than 6 months after the 

21 date of the enactment of the Count Every Vote Act of 

22 2007, the Commission shall— 

23 ‘‘(1) issue voluntary guidance for usability test24 ing of registration forms; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) conduct usability testing of all national or 

2 Federal registration forms, and make the results 

3 available upon request to the public.’’. 

4 (b) CLARIFICATION OF STANDARDS FOR DETER5 MINING MATCHING OF INFORMATION PROVIDED WITH

6 APPLICATIONS.— 

7 (1) STATE REQUIREMENTS FOR DETERMINA8 TION OF VALIDITY OF NUMBERS PROVIDED.—Sec9 tion 303(a)(5)(A)(iii) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

10 15483(a)(5)(A)(iii)) is amended by striking the pe11 riod at the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, except 

12 that the information provided by an individual shall 

13 be sufficient to meet the requirements of this sub14 paragraph if, based on the information provided, the 

15 State is able to determine the individual’s motor ve16 hicle driver’s number or other personal identification 

17 document number or the last four digits of the indi18 vidual’s Social Security number, or is able to locate 

19 one of those numbers in another State record.’’. 

20 (2) STANDARDS FOR DETERMINATION OF

21 MATCH OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS.— 

22 (A) REQUIREMENTS FOR STATES.—Section 

23 303(a)(5)(B) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

24 15483(a)(5)(B)) is amended by adding at the 

25 end the following new clause: 


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1 ‘‘(iii) MATCHING STANDARDS.—Infor2 mation provided by an applicant for voter 

3 registration shall be deemed to be validly 

4 matched with information maintained by 

5 the Commissioner of Social Security shall 

6 be deemed validly matched for purposes of 

7 this subparagraph if it may be reasonably 

8 concluded that the applicant is substan9 tially likely to be the same individual as an 

10 individual reflected in the database of the 

11 Social Security Administration.’’. 

12 (B) PROCEDURES OF COMMISSIONER OF

13 SOCIAL SECURITY.—Section 205(r)(8) of the 

14 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(r)(8)), as 

15 added by section 303(a)(5)(C) of the Help 

16 America Vote Act of 2002, is amended by add17 ing at the end the following new subparagraph: 

18 ‘‘(G) The Commissioner shall develop pro19 cedures consistent with the matching standard 

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

21 the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to improve 

22 the accuracy of the matching process under the 

23 agreements under this paragraph, including 

24 procedures to account for typographical errors 

25 and common variations in recording data. Such 


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1 procedures shall be uniform, nondiscriminatory, 

2 and open to public scrutiny.’’. 

3 (c) PROCESSING OF REGISTRATION APPLICATIONS.— 

4 (1) PROCESSING REQUIREMENTS.—Subtitle D 

5 of title III of the Help America Vote Act of 2002, 

6 as added and amended by this Act, is amended by 

7 adding at the end the following new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 340. PROCESSING OF REGISTRATION APPLICATIONS. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro10 vision of law, each State and jurisdiction shall accept and 

11 process a voter registration application for an election for 

12 Federal office unless there is a material omission or infor13 mation that specifically affects the eligibility of the voter. 

14 ‘‘(b) PRESUMPTION TO REGISTER.—There shall be 

15 a presumption that persons who submit voter registration 

16 applications should be registered. 

17 ‘‘(c) PRESUMPTION TO CURE MATERIAL OMIS18 SION.—Each State and jurisdiction shall— 

19 ‘‘(1) provide a process to permit voters an op20 portunity to cure any material omission on the voter 

21 registration application within a reasonable period of 

22 time before the election; and 

23 ‘‘(2) accept any application which is so cured as 

24 having been filed on the date on which such applica25 tion is originally received. 


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1 ‘‘(d) STANDARDS FOR MATERIAL OMISSION FROM

2 REGISTRATION FORMS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec4 tion, a ‘material omission or information that spe5 cifically affects the eligibility of the voter’ consists 

6 of— 

7 ‘‘(A) the omission of information necessary 

8 to establish the eligibility of the applicant to 

9 vote; or 

10 ‘‘(B) the inclusion of information that es11 tablishes the applicant’s ineligibility to vote. 

12 ‘‘(2) CERTAIN INFORMATION NOT A MATERIAL

13 OMISSION.—For purposes of this section, the fol14 lowing shall not constitute a ‘material omission or 

15 information that specifically affects the eligibility of 

16 the voter’: 

17 ‘‘(A) The failure to provide a Social Secu18 rity number or driver’s license number. 

19 ‘‘(B) The failure to provide information 

20 concerning citizenship or age in a manner other 

21 than the attestation required under section 

22 9(b)(2) of the National Voter Registration Act 

23 of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–7). 

24 ‘‘(C) The mere fact of a mismatch between 

25 the information provided by the voter and the 


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1 information in a State government database, 

2 absent cause to believe that the mismatch is 

3 evidence of ineligibility. 

4 ‘‘(e) STATE RULES.—Each State shall adopt uniform 

5 and nondiscriminatory standards regarding the eligibility 

6 of citizens to vote in elections in the State, and describing 

7 the procedures and circumstances under which a voter reg8 istration form may be rejected, consistent with the re9 quirements of this Act and the National Voter Registra10 tion Act of 1993. 

11 ‘‘(f) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN STATES.—The re12 quirements of this section shall not apply to a State in 

13 which, under a State law in effect continuously on and 

14 after the date of the enactment of the Count Every Vote 

15 Act of 2007, there is no voter registration requirement for 

16 individuals in the State with respect to elections for Fed17 eral office.’’. 

18 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con19 tents of such Act, as amended by this Act, is amend20 ed by adding at the end of the items relating to sub21 title D of title III the following: 

‘‘Sec. 340. Processing of registration applications.’’. 

22 (d) STUDY ON USES OF THE INTERNET IN FEDERAL

23 ELECTIONS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title II of such 

25 Act (42 U.S.C. 15381 et seq.), as amended by this 


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1 Act, is amended by inserting after section 249B the 

2 following new section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 249C. STUDY ON INTERNET REGISTRATION AND 

4 OTHER USES OF THE INTERNET IN FEDERAL 

5 ELECTIONS. 

6 ‘‘(a) STUDY.—The Commission shall conduct a study 

7 on— 

8 ‘‘(1) the feasibility of voter registration through 

9 the Internet for Federal elections; and 

10 ‘‘(2) other uses of the Internet in Federal elec11 tions, including— 

12 ‘‘(A) the use of the Internet to publicize 

13 information related to Federal elections; 

14 ‘‘(B) the use of the Internet to provide 

15 public access portals through which voters can 

16 confirm, correct and update voter registration 

17 records; and 

18 ‘‘(C) the use of the Internet to vote in 

19 Federal elections. 

20 ‘‘(b) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after the 

21 date of the enactment of the Count Every Vote Act of 

22 2007, the Commission shall transmit to Congress a report 

23 on the results of the study conducted under subsection 

24 (a).’’. 


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1 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con2 tents of such Act, as amended by this Act, is amend3 ed by inserting after the item relating to section 

4 249B the following: 

‘‘Sec. 249C. Study on Internet registration and other uses of the Internet in 

Federal elections.’’. 

5 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

6 by this subsection shall take effect on the date of the 

7 enactment of this Act. 

8 SEC. 402. ESTABLISHING VOTER IDENTIFICATION FOR CER9 TAIN VOTERS WHO REGISTER BY MAIL. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

11 (1) INDIVIDUALS VOTING IN PERSON.—Section 

12 303(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Help America Vote Act of 

13 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15483(b)(2)(A)(i)) is amended— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of sub15 clause (I); and 

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

17 subclause: 

18 ‘‘(III) executes a written affidavit 

19 attesting to such individual’s identity; 

20 or’’. 

21 (2) INDIVIDUALS VOTING BY MAIL.—Section 

22 303(b)(2)(A)(ii) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

23 15483(b)(2)(A)(ii)) is amended— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of sub2 clause (I); 

3 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

4 subclause (II) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

5 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

6 subclause: 

7 ‘‘(III) a written affidavit exe8 cuted by such individual attesting to 

9 the individual’s identity.’’. 

10 (b) STANDARDS FOR VERIFYING VOTER INFORMA11 TION.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle E of title II of such 

13 Act, as added and amended by this Act, is amended 

14 by adding at the end the following new section: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 299C. VOTER IDENTIFICATION. 

16 ‘‘The Commission shall develop standards for 

17 verifying the identification information required under sec18 tion 303(a)(5) in connection with the registration of an 

19 individual to vote in a Federal election.’’. 

20 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con21 tents of such Act, as amended by this Act, is amend22 ed by adding at the end of the items relating to sub23 title E of title II the following: 

‘‘Sec. 299C. Voter identification.’’. 


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1 SEC. 403. REQUIREMENT FOR FEDERAL CERTIFICATION OF 

2 TECHNOLOGICAL SECURITY OF VOTER REG3 ISTRATION LISTS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 303(a)(3) of the Help 

5 America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15483(a)(3)) is 

6 amended by striking ‘‘measures to prevent the’’ and in7 serting ‘‘measures, as certified by the Commission, to pre8 vent’’. 

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

10 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

11 of this Act. 

12 SEC. 404. COORDINATION WITH STATE DATABASES. 

13 Section 303(a)(1)(A)(iv) of the Help America Vote 

14 Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15483(a)(1)(A)(iv)) is amended 

15 by striking the period at the end and inserting the fol16 lowing: ‘‘including the databases of social services agen17 cies, in order to confirm and correct information in voter 

18 registration records and ensure the accurate and timely 

19 processing of applications to register to vote.’’. 

20 TITLE V—PROHIBITION ON 

21 CERTAIN CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES 

22 SEC. 501. PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN CAMPAIGN ACTIVI23 TIES. 

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

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

26 by inserting after section 319 the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES BY ELECTION OFFICIALS AND

2 VOTING SYSTEM MANUFACTURERS

3 ‘‘SEC. 319A. (a) PROHIBITION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) CHIEF STATE ELECTION OFFICIALS.—It 

5 shall be unlawful for any chief State election official 

6 to take part in prohibited political activities with re7 spect to any election for Federal office over which 

8 such official has managerial authority. 

9 ‘‘(2) VOTING SYSTEM MANUFACTURERS.—It 

10 shall be unlawful for any person who owns or serves 

11 as the chief executive officer, chief financial officer, 

12 chief operating officer, or president of any entity 

13 that designs or manufacturers a voting system to 

14 take part in prohibited political activities with re15 spect to any election for a Federal office for which 

16 a voting system produced by such manufacturer is 

17 used. 

18 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

19 ‘‘(1) CHIEF STATE ELECTION OFFICIAL.—The 

20 term ‘chief State election official’ means the indi21 vidual designated as such under section 10 of the 

22 National Voter Registration Act of 1993. 

23 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITED POLITICAL ACTIVITIES.—The 

24 term ‘prohibited political activities’ means actively 

25 campaigning to support or oppose a candidate or 


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1 slate of candidates for Federal office, making public 

2 speeches in support of such a candidate, soliciting 

3 and collecting contributions on behalf of such a can4 didate, distributing campaign materials with respect 

5 to such a candidate, organizing campaign events 

6 with respect to such a candidate, and serving in any 

7 position on any political campaign committee of such 

8 a candidate. 

9 ‘‘(c) OWNERSHIP.—For purposes of subsection 

10 (a)(2), a person shall be considered to own an entity if 

11 such person controls at least 20 percent, by vote or value, 

12 of the entity.’’. 

13 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

14 this section shall take effect upon the expiration of the 

15 90-day period which begins on the date of the enactment 

16 of this Act. 

17 TITLE VI—ENDING DECEPTIVE 

18 PRACTICES 

19 SEC. 601. ENDING DECEPTIVE PRACTICES. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

21 (1) Subsection (b) of section 2004 of the Re22 vised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1971(b)) is amended— 

23 (A) by striking ‘‘No person’’ and inserting 

24 the following: 

25 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No person’’; and 


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1 (B) by inserting at the end the following 

2 new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(3) DECEPTIVE ACTS.—No person, whether 

4 acting under color of law or otherwise, shall know5 ingly deceive any other person regarding the time, 

6 place, or manner of conducting a general, primary, 

7 run-off, or special election for the office of Presi8 dent, Vice President, presidential elector, Member of 

9 the Senate, or Member of the House of Representa10 tives, Delegates, or Commissioners from the Terri11 tories or possessions; nor shall any person knowingly 

12 deceive any person regarding the qualifications or 

13 restrictions of voter eligibility for any general, pri14 mary, run-off, or special election for the office of 

15 President, Vice President, presidential elector, Mem16 ber of the Senate, or Member of the House of Rep17 resentatives, Delegates, or Commissioners from the 

18 Territories or possessions.’’. 

19 (2) The heading of section 2004(b) of the Re20 vised Statutes is amended by striking ‘‘or coercion’’ 

21 and inserting ‘‘coercion, or deceptive acts’’. 

22 (b) CRIMINAL PENALTY.—Section 594 of title 18, 

23 United States Code, is amended— 

24 (1) by striking ‘‘Whoever’’ and inserting the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(a) INTIMIDATION.—Whoever’’; and 

2 (2) by inserting at the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(b) DECEPTIVE ACTS.—Whoever knowingly deceives 

4 any person regarding— 

5 ‘‘(1) the time, place, or manner of conducting 

6 a general, primary, run-off, or special election for 

7 the office of President, Vice President, presidential 

8 elector, Member of the Senate, or Member of the 

9 House of Representatives, Delegates, or Commis10 sioners from the Territories or possessions; or 

11 ‘‘(2) the qualifications or restrictions of voter 

12 eligibility for any general, primary, run-off or special 

13 election for the office of President, Vice President, 

14 presidential elector, Member of the Senate, or Mem15 ber of the House of Representatives, Delegates, or 

16 Commissioners from the Territories or possessions 

17 shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more 

18 than five years, or both.’’. 

19 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

20 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

21 of this Act. 


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1 TITLE VII—CIVIC PARTICIPA2 TION BY EX-OFFENDERS 

3 SEC. 701. VOTING RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUALS CONVICTED OF 

4 CRIMINAL OFFENSES. 

5 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This title may be cited as the 

6 ‘‘Civic Participation Act of 2007’’. 

7 (b) FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.— 

8 (1) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following 

9 findings: 

10 (A) The right to vote is the most basic 

11 constitutive act of citizenship and regaining the 

12 right to vote reintegrates offenders into free so13 ciety. The right to vote may not be abridged or 

14 denied by the United States or by any State on 

15 account of race, color, gender, or previous con16 dition of servitude. Basic constitutional prin17 ciples of fairness and equal protection require 

18 an equal opportunity for United States citizens 

19 to vote in Federal elections. 

20 (B) Congress has ultimate supervisory 

21 power over Federal elections, an authority that 

22 has repeatedly been upheld by the Supreme 

23 Court. 

24 (C) Although State laws determine the 

25 qualifications for voting in Federal elections, 


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1 Congress must ensure that those laws are in ac2 cordance with the Constitution. Currently, those 

3 laws vary throughout the Nation, resulting in 

4 discrepancies regarding which citizens may vote 

5 in Federal elections. 

6 (D) An estimated 5,400,000 individuals in 

7 the United States, or 1 in 40 adults, currently 

8 cannot vote as a result of a felony conviction. 

9 Women represent about 650,000 and military 

10 veterans represent about 500,000 of those 

11 5,300,000. 

12 (E) State disenfranchisement laws dis13 proportionately impact ethnic minorities. 

14 (F) 12 States disenfranchise some or all 

15 ex-offenders who have fully served their sen16 tences, regardless of the nature or seriousness 

17 of the offense. 

18 (G) In those States that disenfranchise ex19 offenders who have fully served their sentences, 

20 the right to vote can be regained in theory, but 

21 in practice this possibility is often illusory. 

22 (H) In 8 States, a pardon or order from 

23 the Governor is required for an ex-offender to 

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1 fenders must obtain action by the parole or par2 don board to regain that right. 

3 (I) Offenders convicted of a Federal of4 fense often have additional barriers to regaining 

5 voting rights. Many States do not offer a res6 toration procedure for Federal offenders who 

7 have completed supervision. The only method 

8 available to such persons is a Presidential par9 don. 

10 (J) State procedures that require individ11 uals to apply to have their voting rights re12 stored are often unfair and inefficient. Long 

13 backlogs often cause delays of months or years 

14 before individual applications are processed. 

15 Few persons who seek to have their right to 

16 vote restored have the financial and political re17 sources needed to succeed. 

18 (K) Thirteen percent of the African-Amer19 ican adult male population, or 1,400,000 Afri20 can-American men, are disenfranchised. Given 

21 current rates of incarceration, 3 in 10 African22 American men in the next generation will be 

23 disenfranchised at some point during their life24 times. Hispanic citizens are also disproportion25 ately disenfranchised, since those citizens are 


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1 disproportionately represented in the criminal 

2 justice system. 

3 (L) The discrepancies described in this 

4 paragraph should be addressed by Congress, in 

5 the name of fundamental fairness and equal 

6 protection. 

7 (2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this title is to 

8 restore fairness in the Federal election process by 

9 ensuring that ex-offenders who have fully served 

10 their sentences are not denied the right to vote. 

11 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this title: 

12 (1) CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION OR FACIL13 ITY.—The term ‘‘correctional institution or facility’’ 

14 means any prison, penitentiary, jail, or other institu15 tion or facility for the confinement of individuals 

16 convicted of criminal offenses, whether publicly or 

17 privately operated, except that such term does not 

18 include any residential community treatment center 

19 (or similar public or private facility). 

20 (2) ELECTION.—The term ‘‘election’’ means— 

21 (A) a general, special, primary, or runoff 

22 election; 

23 (B) a convention or caucus of a political 

24 party held to nominate a candidate; 


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1 (C) a primary election held for the selec2 tion of delegates to a national nominating con3 vention of a political party; or 

4 (D) a primary election held for the expres5 sion of a preference for the nomination of per6 sons for election to the office of President. 

7 (3) FEDERAL OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Federal of8 fice’’ means the office of President or Vice Presi9 dent, or of Senator or Representative in, or Delegate 

10 or Resident Commissioner to, Congress. 

11 (4) PAROLE.—The term ‘‘parole’’ means parole 

12 (including mandatory parole), or conditional or su13 pervised release (including mandatory supervised re14 lease), imposed by a Federal, State, or local court. 

15 (5) PROBATION.—The term probation means 

16 probation imposed by a Federal, State, or local 

17 court, with or without a condition on the individual 

18 involved concerning— 

19 (A) the individual’s freedom of movement; 

20 (B) the payment of damages by the indi21 vidual; 

22 (C) periodic reporting by the individual to 

23 an officer of the court; or 

24 (D) supervision of the individual by an of25 ficer of the court. 


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1 (d) RIGHTS OF CITIZENS.—The right of an individual 

2 who is a citizen of the United States to vote in any election 

3 for Federal office shall not be denied or abridged because 

4 that individual has been convicted of a criminal offense 

5 unless, at the time of the election, such individual— 

6 (1) is serving a felony sentence in a correctional 

7 institution or facility; or 

8 (2) is on parole or probation for a felony of9 fense. 

10 (e) ENFORCEMENT.— 

11 (1) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney Gen12 eral may bring a civil action in a court of competent 

13 jurisdiction to obtain such declaratory or injunctive 

14 relief as is necessary to remedy a violation of this 

15 section. 

16 (2) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

17 (A) NOTICE.—A person who is aggrieved 

18 by a violation of this section may provide writ19 ten notice of the violation to the chief election 

20 official of the State involved. 

21 (B) ACTION.—Except as provided in sub22 paragraph (C), if the violation is not corrected 

23 within 90 days after receipt of a notice provided 

24 under subparagraph (A), or within 20 days 

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1 curred within 120 days before the date of an 

2 election for Federal office, the aggrieved person 

3 may bring a civil action in such a court to ob4 tain declaratory or injunctive relief with respect 

5 to the violation. 

6 (C) ACTION FOR VIOLATION SHORTLY BE7 FORE A FEDERAL ELECTION.—If the violation 

8 occurred within 30 days before the date of an 

9 election for Federal office, the aggrieved person 

10 shall not be required to provide notice to the 

11 chief election official of the State under sub12 paragraph (A) before bringing a civil action in 

13 such a court to obtain declaratory or injunctive 

14 relief with respect to the violation. 

15 (f) RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.— 

16 (1) NO PROHIBITION ON LESS RESTRICTIVE

17 LAWS.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to 

18 prohibit a State from enacting any State law that 

19 affords the right to vote in any election for Federal 

20 office on terms less restrictive than those terms es21 tablished by this section. 

22 (2) NO LIMITATION ON OTHER LAWS.—The 

23 rights and remedies established by this section shall 

24 be in addition to all other rights and remedies pro25 vided by law, and shall not supersede, restrict, or 


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1 limit the application of the Voting Rights Act of 

2 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.) or the National Voter 

3 Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg et 

4 seq.). 

5 (g) NOTIFICATION OF RESTORATION OF VOTING

6 RIGHTS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of title III of the 

8 Help America Vote Act of 2002, as added and 

9 amended by this Act, is amended by adding at the 

10 end the following new section: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 341. NOTIFICATION OF RESTORATION OF VOTING 

12 RIGHTS. 

13 ‘‘(a) NOTIFICATION.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—On the date determined 

15 under subsection (b), each State shall notify in writ16 ing any qualified ex-offender who resides in the 

17 State that such qualified ex-offender has the right to 

18 vote in an election for Federal office pursuant to the 

19 Civic Participation Act of 2007 and may register to 

20 vote in any such election. 

21 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED EX-OFFENDER.—For the pur22 pose of this section, the term ‘qualified ex-offender’ 

23 means any individual who resides in the State who 

24 has been convicted of a criminal offense and is not 

25 serving a felony sentence in a correctional institution 


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1 or facility and who is not on parole or probation for 

2 a felony offense. 

3 ‘‘(b) DATE OF NOTIFICATION.—The notification re4 quired under subsection (a) shall be given on the later of 

5 the date on which such individual is released from a cor6 rectional institution or facility for serving a felony sen7 tence or the date on which such individual is released from 

8 parole for a felony offense. 

9 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—Any term which is used in this 

10 section that is also used in the Civic Participation Act of 

11 2007 shall have the meaning given to such term in that 

12 Act. 

13 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Each State shall be re14 quired to comply with the requirements of this section on 

15 and after the date of the enactment of the Civic Participa16 tion Act of 2007.’’. 

17 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con18 tents of such Act, as amended by this Act, is amend19 ed by adding at the end of the items relating to sub20 title D of title III the following: 

‘‘Sec. 341. Notification of restoration of voting rights.’’. 

21 (h) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—This section shall apply to 

23 citizens of the United States voting in any election 

24 for Federal office after the date of the enactment of 

25 this Act. 


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1 (2) AMENDMENTS.—The amendment made by 

2 subsection (g) shall take effect on the date of the en3 actment of this Act. 

4 TITLE VIII—FEDERAL ELECTION 

5 DAY ACT 

6 SEC. 801. SHORT TITLE. 

7 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Election Day 

8 Act of 2007’’. 

9 SEC. 802. FEDERAL ELECTION DAY AS A PUBLIC HOLIDAY. 

10 (a) ELECTION DAY AS A FEDERAL HOLIDAY.—Sec11 tion 6103(a) of title 5, United States Code, is amended 

12 by inserting after the matter relating to Columbus Day, 

13 the following undesignated paragraph: 

14 ‘‘Federal Election Day, the Tuesday next after 

15 the first Monday in November in each even num16 bered year.’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 241(b) of 

18 the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15381(b)) 

19 is amended by striking paragraph (10) and by redesig20 nating paragraphs (11) through (19) as paragraphs (10) 

21 through (18), respectively. 

22 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

23 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

24 of this Act. 


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1 TITLE IX—ADDITIONAL IM2 PROVEMENTS TO ELECTION 

3 PROCEDURES 

4 SEC. 901. TRANSMISSION OF CERTIFICATE OF ASCERTAIN5 MENT OF ELECTORS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6 of title 3, United States 

7 Code, is amended— 

8 (1) by inserting ‘‘and before the date that is 6 

9 days before the date on which the electors are to 

10 meet under section 7,’’ after ‘‘under and in pursu11 ance of the laws of such State providing for such as12 certainment,’’; and 

13 (2) by striking ‘‘by registered mail’’ and insert14 ing ‘‘by overnight courier’’. 

15 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

16 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

17 of this Act. 

18 SEC. 902. STUDY ON FEASIBILITY OF CREATING RANKING 

19 SYSTEM OF STATE ELECTION ADMINISTRA20 TION PROCESSES. 

21 (a) STUDY.—Subtitle C of title II of the Help Amer22 ica Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15381 et seq.), as amend23 ed by this Act, is amended by inserting after section 249C 

24 the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 249D. STUDY ON FEASIBILITY OF CREATING RANKING 

2 SYSTEM OF STATE ELECTION ADMINISTRA3 TION PROCESSES. 

4 ‘‘(a) STUDY.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall con6 duct and make publicly available a comprehensive 

7 study of the costs and benefits of developing a De8 mocracy Index (Index) of State election administra9 tion processes. 

10 ‘‘(2) STUDY THROUGH APPROPRIATE ENTITY.— 

11 Not later than 60 days after the date of the enact12 ment of the Count Every Vote Act of 2007, the 

13 Commission shall seek to enter into agreement with 

14 the National Academy of Sciences, the National 

15 Science Foundation, the AEI–Brookings Election 

16 Reform Project, or other appropriate nongovern17 mental entity to carry out the study required in sub18 section (a). 

19 ‘‘(3) ISSUES CONSIDERED.—The study shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) identify the appropriate scope and 

21 methodology, if any, to be used in organizing 

22 and administering the Index; 

23 ‘‘(B) recommend an appropriate method24 ology for gathering and standardizing informa25 tion related to the quality of each State’s elec26 tion administration processes; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) recommend an appropriate method2 ology for ranking the quality of State election 

3 administration processes. 

4 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, 

5 ‘election administration processes’ includes the registra6 tion of eligible voters, the casting of ballots, and the count7 ing of ballots. 

8 ‘‘(c) REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not later 

9 than 12 months after the date of the enactment of the 

10 Count Every Vote Act of 2007, the Commission shall sub11 mit to the President and Congress a report on the study 

12 conducted under subsection (a), together with rec13 ommendations for administrative and legislative action as 

14 the Commission deems appropriate. The report shall be 

15 made publicly available in paper copy and electronically.’’. 

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

17 of such Act, as amended by this Act, is amended by insert18 ing after the item relating to section 249C the following: 

‘‘Sec. 249D. Study on feasibility of creating ranking system of State election 

administration processes.’’. 


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1 TITLE X—STRENGTHENING THE 

2 ELECTION ASSISTANCE COM3 MISSION 

4 SEC. 1001. STRENGTHENING THE ELECTION ASSISTANCE 

5 COMMISSION. 

6 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

7 210 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 

8 15330) is amended by striking ‘‘for each of fiscal years 

9 2003 through 2005 such sums as may be necessary (but 

10 not to exceed $10,000,000 for each such year)’’ and in11 serting ‘‘$15,000,000 for fiscal year 2008, $10,000,000 

12 for fiscal year 2009, $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2010, and 

13 such sums as may be necessary for each succeeding fiscal 

14 year’’. 

15 (b) BUDGET REQUESTS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Part 1 of subtitle A of title 

17 II of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15321 et seq.) is amended 

18 by inserting after section 209 the following new sec19 tion: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 209A. SUBMISSION OF BUDGET REQUESTS. 

21 ‘‘Whenever the Commission submits any budget esti22 mate or request to the President or the Office of Manage23 ment and Budget, it shall concurrently transmit a copy 

24 of such estimate or request to the Congress and to the 

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1 resentatives and the Committee on Rules and Administra2 tion of the Senate.’’. 

3 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con4 tents of such Act is amended by inserting after the 

5 item relating to section 209 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 209A. Submission of budget requests.’’. 

6 (c) EXEMPTION FROM PAPERWORK REDUCTION

7 ACT.—Paragraph (1) of section 3502 of title 44, United 

8 States Code, is amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (B), (C), 

10 and (D) as subparagraphs (C), (D), and (E); and 

11 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol12 lowing new subparagraph: 

13 ‘‘(B) the Election Assistance Commis14 sion;’’. 

15 (d) NIST AUTHORITY.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle E of title II of the 

17 Help America Vote Act of 2002, as added and 

18 amended by this Act, is amended by adding at the 

19 end the following new section: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 299D. TECHNICAL SUPPORT. 

21 ‘‘At the request of the Commission, the Director of 

22 the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall 

23 provide the Commission with technical support necessary 

24 for the Commission to carry out its duties under this 

25 title’’. 


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1 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con2 tents of such Act, as amended by this Act, is amend3 ed by adding at the end of the items relating to sub4 title E of title II the following: 

‘‘Sec. 299D. Technical support.’’. 

5 (e) REMOVAL OF FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE CAP.—Not6 withstanding any other provision of law, there shall be no 

7 cap on the number of full-time equivalent personnel who 

8 may be employed at the Election Assistance Commission. 

9 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

10 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

11 of this Act. 

12 SEC. 1002. REPEAL OF EXEMPTION OF ELECTION ASSIST13 ANCE COMMISSION FROM CERTAIN GOVERN14 MENT CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS. 

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

16 Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15325) is amended by strik17 ing subsection (e). 

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

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

20 into by the Election Assistance Commission on or after 

21 the date of enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 1003. MEMBERSHIP OF TECHNICAL GUIDELINES DE2 VELOPMENT COMMITTEE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 221(c)(1) of the Help 

4 America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15361(c)(1)) is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as sub7 paragraph (F); and 

8 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the fol9 lowing new subparagraph: 

10 ‘‘(E) An individual with expertise in pro11 viding assistive technology to individuals with a 

12 wide range of disabilities.’’. 

13 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

14 this section shall take effect on the date of enactment of 

15 this Act. 

16 SEC. 1004. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR RE17 QUIREMENTS PAYMENTS. 

18 Subsection (a) of section 257 of the Help America 

19 Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15407(a)) is amended by 

20 adding at the end the following new paragraphs: 

21 ‘‘(4) For fiscal year 2008, $3,000,000,000. 

22 ‘‘(5) For each fiscal year after 2008, such sums 

23 as are necessary.’’. 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS
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•S 804 IS

1 TITLE XI—EFFECTIVE DATE 

2 SEC. 1101. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

3 Except as otherwise provided, this Act and the 

4 amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to 

5 the regularly scheduled general election for Federal office 

6 held in November 2008 and each succeeding election for 

7 Federal office. 

Æ 


hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMBILLS