II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1540 

To protect elections for public office by providing financial support and 

enhanced security for the infrastructure used to carry out such elections, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 16, 2019 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. WARNER, Mr. REED, Mrs. 

FEINSTEIN, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BROWN, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. CASEY, Mr. 

COONS, Ms. HARRIS, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. HEINRICH, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. 

JONES, Mr. KAINE, Mr. KING, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MERKLEY, 

Mrs. MURRAY, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SCHATZ, Mrs. SHAHEEN, 

Ms. SMITH, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. TESTER, Mr. UDALL, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. WARREN, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. CARPER, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, 

and Mr. PETERS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

To protect elections for public office by providing financial 

support and enhanced security for the infrastructure 

used to carry out such elections, 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 ‘‘Election Security Act of 2019’’. 


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

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE 

Subtitle A—Voting System Security Improvement Grants 

PART 1—PROMOTING ACCURACY, INTEGRITY, AND SECURITY THROUGH

VOTER-VERIFIED PERMANENT PAPER BALLOT

Sec. 101. Short title. 

Sec. 102. Paper ballot and manual counting requirements. 

Sec. 103. Accessibility and ballot verification for individuals with disabilities. 

Sec. 104. Durability and readability requirements for ballots. 

Sec. 105. Paper ballot printing requirements. 

Sec. 106. Study and report on optimal ballot design. 

Sec. 107. Effective date for new requirements. 

PART 2—GRANTS TO CARRY OUT IMPROVEMENTS

Sec. 111. Grants for obtaining compliant paper ballot voting systems and carrying out voting system security improvements. 

‘‘PART 7—GRANTS FOR OBTAINING COMPLIANT PAPER BALLOT VOTING

SYSTEMS AND CARRYING OUT VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS

‘‘Sec. 297. Grants for obtaining compliant paper ballot voting systems and 

carrying out voting system security improvements. 

‘‘Sec. 297A. Voting system security improvements described. 

‘‘Sec. 297B. Eligibility of States. 

‘‘Sec. 297C. Reports to Congress. 

‘‘Sec. 297D. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 112. Coordination of voting system security activities with use of requirements payments and election administration requirements 

under Help America Vote Act of 2002. 

Sec. 113. Incorporation of definitions. 

Subtitle B—Grants for Risk-Limiting Audits of Results of Elections 

Sec. 121. Grants to States for conducting risk-limiting audits of results of elections. 

‘‘PART 8—GRANTS FOR CONDUCTING RISK-LIMITING AUDITS OF RESULTS

OF ELECTIONS

‘‘Sec. 298. Grants for conducting risk-limiting audits of results of elections. 

‘‘Sec. 298A. Eligibility of States. 

‘‘Sec. 298B. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 122. GAO analysis of effects of audits. 

Subtitle C—Election Infrastructure Innovation Grant Program 

Sec. 131. Election infrastructure innovation grant program. 


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TITLE II—SECURITY MEASURES 

Sec. 201. Election infrastructure designation. 

Sec. 202. Timely threat information. 

Sec. 203. Security clearance assistance for election officials. 

Sec. 204. Security risk and vulnerability assessments. 

Sec. 205. Annual reports. 

Sec. 206. Pre-election threat assessments. 

TITLE III—ENHANCING PROTECTIONS FOR UNITED STATES 

DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS 

Sec. 301. National strategy to protect United States democratic institutions. 

Sec. 302. National Commission to Protect United States Democratic Institutions. 

TITLE IV—PROMOTING CYBERSECURITY THROUGH 

IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTION ADMINISTRATION 

Sec. 401. Testing of existing voting systems to ensure compliance with election 

cybersecurity guidelines and other guidelines. 

Sec. 402. Treatment of electronic poll books as part of voting systems. 

Sec. 403. Pre-election reports on voting system usage. 

Sec. 404. Streamlining collection of election information. 

TITLE V—PREVENTING ELECTION HACKING 

Sec. 501. Short title. 

Sec. 502. Election Security Bug Bounty Program. 

Sec. 503. Definitions. 

TITLE VI—ELECTION SECURITY GRANTS ADVISORY COMMITTEE 

Sec. 601. Establishment of advisory committee. 

TITLE VII—USE OF VOTING MACHINES MANUFACTURED IN THE 

UNITED STATES 

Sec. 701. Use of voting machines manufactured in the United States. 

TITLE VIII—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 

Sec. 801. Definitions. 

Sec. 802. Initial report on adequacy of resources available for implementation. 

TITLE IX—SEVERABILITY 

Sec. 901. Severability. 


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1 TITLE I—FINANCIAL SUPPORT 

2 FOR ELECTION INFRASTRUC3 TURE 

4 Subtitle A—Voting System Security 

5 Improvement Grants 

6 PART 1—PROMOTING ACCURACY, INTEGRITY, 

7 AND SECURITY THROUGH VOTER-VERIFIED 

8 PERMANENT PAPER BALLOT 

9 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE. 

10 This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Voter Confidence 

11 and Increased Accessibility Act of 2019’’. 

12 SEC. 102. PAPER BALLOT AND MANUAL COUNTING RE13 QUIREMENTS. 

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

15 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)(2)) is 

16 amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(2) PAPER BALLOT REQUIREMENT.— 

18 ‘‘(A) VOTER-VERIFIED PAPER BALLOTS.— 

19 ‘‘(i) PAPER BALLOT REQUIREMENT.— 

20 (I) The voting system shall require the use 

21 of an individual, durable, voter-verified 

22 paper ballot of the voter’s vote that shall 

23 be marked and made available for inspec24 tion and verification by the voter before 

25 the voter’s vote is cast and counted, and 


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1 which shall be counted by hand or read by 

2 an optical character recognition device or 

3 other counting device. For purposes of this 

4 subclause, the term ‘individual, durable, 

5 voter-verified paper ballot’ means a paper 

6 ballot marked by the voter by hand or a 

7 paper ballot marked through the use of a 

8 nontabulating ballot marking device or sys9 tem, so long as the voter shall have the op10 tion to mark his or her ballot by hand. 

11 ‘‘(II) The voting system shall provide 

12 the voter with an opportunity to correct 

13 any error on the paper ballot before the 

14 permanent voter-verified paper ballot is 

15 preserved in accordance with clause (ii). 

16 ‘‘(III) The voting system shall not 

17 preserve the voter-verified paper ballots in 

18 any manner that makes it possible, at any 

19 time after the ballot has been cast, to asso20 ciate a voter with the record of the voter’s 

21 vote without the voter’s consent. 

22 ‘‘(ii) PRESERVATION AS OFFICIAL

23 RECORD.—The individual, durable, voter24 verified paper ballot used in accordance 

25 with clause (i) shall constitute the official 


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1 ballot and shall be preserved and used as 

2 the official ballot for purposes of any re3 count or audit conducted with respect to 

4 any election for Federal office in which the 

5 voting system is used. 

6 ‘‘(iii) MANUAL COUNTING REQUIRE7 MENTS FOR RECOUNTS AND AUDITS.—(I) 

8 Each paper ballot used pursuant to clause 

9 (i) shall be suitable for a manual audit, 

10 and shall be counted by hand in any re11 count or audit conducted with respect to 

12 any election for Federal office. 

13 ‘‘(II) In the event of any inconsist14 encies or irregularities between any elec15 tronic vote tallies and the vote tallies de16 termined by counting by hand the indi17 vidual, durable, voter-verified paper ballots 

18 used pursuant to clause (i), and subject to 

19 subparagraph (B), the individual, durable, 

20 voter-verified paper ballots shall be the 

21 true and correct record of the votes cast. 

22 ‘‘(iv) APPLICATION TO ALL BAL23 LOTS.—The requirements of this subpara24 graph shall apply to all ballots cast in elec25 tions for Federal office, including ballots 


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1 cast by absent uniformed services voters 

2 and overseas voters under the Uniformed 

3 and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act 

4 and other absentee voters. 

5 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR TREATMENT OF

6 DISPUTES WHEN PAPER BALLOTS HAVE BEEN

7 SHOWN TO BE COMPROMISED.— 

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the event 

9 that— 

10 ‘‘(I) there is any inconsistency 

11 between any electronic vote tallies and 

12 the vote tallies determined by count13 ing by hand the individual, durable, 

14 voter-verified paper ballots used pur15 suant to subparagraph (A)(i) with re16 spect to any election for Federal of17 fice; and 

18 ‘‘(II) it is demonstrated by clear 

19 and convincing evidence (as deter20 mined in accordance with the applica21 ble standards in the jurisdiction in22 volved) in any recount, audit, or con23 test of the result of the election that 

24 the paper ballots have been com25 promised (by damage or mischief or 


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1 otherwise) and that a sufficient num2 ber of the ballots have been so com3 promised that the result of the elec4 tion could be changed, 

5 the determination of the appropriate rem6 edy with respect to the election shall be 

7 made in accordance with applicable State 

8 law, except that the electronic tally shall 

9 not be used as the exclusive basis for de10 termining the official certified result. 

11 ‘‘(ii) RULE FOR CONSIDERATION OF

12 BALLOTS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH VOTING

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

14 only the paper ballots deemed com15 promised, if any, shall be considered in the 

16 calculation of whether or not the result of 

17 the election could be changed due to the 

18 compromised paper ballots.’’. 

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT CLARIFYING APPLI20 CABILITY OF ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGE ACCESSIBILITY.— 

21 Section 301(a)(4) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)(4)) 

22 is amended by inserting ‘‘(including the paper ballots re23 quired to be used under paragraph (2))’’ after ‘‘voting sys24 tem’’. 


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1 (c) OTHER CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

2 301(a)(1) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)(1)) is amend3 ed— 

4 (1) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking ‘‘count5 ed’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in accordance with 

6 paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; 

7 (2) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking ‘‘count8 ed’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in accordance with 

9 paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; 

10 (3) in subparagraph (A)(iii), by striking ‘‘count11 ed’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘counted, in 

12 accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; and 

13 (4) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ‘‘count14 ed’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in accordance with 

15 paragraphs (2) and (3)’’. 

16 SEC. 103. ACCESSIBILITY AND BALLOT VERIFICATION FOR 

17 INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 301(a)(3)(B) of the Help 

19 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)(3)(B)) is 

20 amended to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(B)(i) ensure that individuals with dis22 abilities and others are given an equivalent op23 portunity to vote, including with privacy and 

24 independence, in a manner that produces a 

25 voter-verified paper ballot as for other voters; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) satisfy the requirement of subpara2 graph (A) through the use of at least one voting 

3 system equipped for individuals with disabil4 ities, including nonvisual and enhanced visual 

5 accessibility for the blind and visually impaired, 

6 and nonmanual and enhanced manual accessi7 bility for the mobility and dexterity impaired, at 

8 each polling place; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) meet the requirements of subpara10 graph (A) and paragraph (2)(A) by using a sys11 tem that— 

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

13 independently verify the permanent paper 

14 ballot through the presentation, in acces15 sible form, of the printed or marked vote 

16 selections from the same printed or 

17 marked information that would be used for 

18 any vote counting or auditing; and 

19 ‘‘(II) allows the voter to privately and 

20 independently verify and cast the perma21 nent paper ballot without requiring the 

22 voter to manually handle the paper bal23 lot;’’. 


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1 (b) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT OF STUDY, TESTING, 

2 AND DEVELOPMENT OF ACCESSIBLE PAPER BALLOT

3 VERIFICATION MECHANISMS.— 

4 (1) STUDY AND REPORTING.—Subtitle C of 

5 title II of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is 

6 amended— 

7 (A) by redesignating section 247 as section 

8 248; and 

9 (B) by inserting after section 246 the fol10 lowing new section: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 247. STUDY AND REPORT ON ACCESSIBLE PAPER 

12 BALLOT VERIFICATION MECHANISMS. 

13 ‘‘(a) STUDY AND REPORT.—The Commission shall 

14 make grants to not fewer than 3 eligible entities to study, 

15 test, and develop accessible paper ballot voting, 

16 verification, and casting mechanisms and devices and best 

17 practices to enhance the accessibility of paper ballot voting 

18 and verification mechanisms for individuals with disabil19 ities, for voters whose primary language is not English, 

20 and for voters with difficulties in literacy, including best 

21 practices for the mechanisms themselves and the processes 

22 through which the mechanisms are used. 

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

24 grant under this part if it submits to the Commission (at 


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1 such time and in such form as the Commission may re2 quire) an application containing— 

3 ‘‘(1) certifications that the entity shall specifi4 cally investigate enhanced methods or devices, in5 cluding non-electronic devices, that will assist such 

6 individuals and voters in marking voter-verified 

7 paper ballots and presenting or transmitting the in8 formation printed or marked on such ballots back to 

9 such individuals and voters, and casting such ballots; 

10 ‘‘(2) a certification that the entity shall com11 plete the activities carried out with the grant not 

12 later than December 31, 2020; and 

13 ‘‘(3) such other information and certifications 

14 as the Director may require. 

15 ‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY OF TECHNOLOGY.—Any tech16 nology developed with the grants made under this section 

17 shall be treated as non-proprietary and shall be made 

18 available to the public, including to manufacturers of vot19 ing systems. 

20 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION WITH GRANTS FOR TECH21 NOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS.—The Commission shall carry 

22 out this section so that the activities carried out with the 

23 grants made under subsection (a) are coordinated with the 

24 research conducted under the grant program carried out 

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1 termines necessary to provide for the advancement of ac2 cessible voting technology. 

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

4 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out subsection 

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

6 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con7 tents of such Act is amended— 

8 (A) by redesignating the item relating to 

9 section 247 as relating to section 248; and 

10 (B) by inserting after the item relating to 

11 section 246 the following new item: 

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

12 (c) CLARIFICATION OF ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS

13 UNDER VOLUNTARY VOTING SYSTEM GUIDANCE.—In 

14 adopting any voluntary guidance under subtitle B of title 

15 III of the Help America Vote Act with respect to the ac16 cessibility of the paper ballot verification requirements for 

17 individuals with disabilities, the Election Assistance Com18 mission shall include and apply the same accessibility 

19 standards applicable under the voluntary guidance adopt20 ed for accessible voting systems under such subtitle. 

21 (d) PERMITTING USE OF FUNDS FOR PROTECTION

22 AND ADVOCACY SYSTEMS TO SUPPORT ACTIONS TO EN23 FORCE ELECTION-RELATED DISABILITY ACCESS.—Sec24 tion 292(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 


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1 U.S.C. 21062(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘; except that’’ 

2 and all that follows and inserting a period. 

3 SEC. 104. DURABILITY AND READABILITY REQUIREMENTS 

4 FOR BALLOTS. 

5 Section 301(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

6 (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)) is amended by adding at the end 

7 the following new paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(7) DURABILITY AND READABILITY REQUIRE9 MENTS FOR BALLOTS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) DURABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR

11 PAPER BALLOTS.— 

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

13 paper ballots required to be used under 

14 this Act shall be marked or printed on du15 rable paper. 

16 ‘‘(ii) DEFINITION.—For purposes of 

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

18 of withstanding multiple counts and re19 counts by hand without compromising the 

20 fundamental integrity of the ballots, and 

21 capable of retaining the information 

22 marked or printed on them for the full du23 ration of a retention and preservation pe24 riod of 22 months. 


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1 ‘‘(B) READABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR

2 PAPER BALLOTS MARKED BY BALLOT MARKING

3 DEVICE.—All voter-verified paper ballots com4 pleted by the voter through the use of a ballot 

5 marking device shall be clearly readable by the 

6 voter without assistance (other than eyeglasses 

7 or other personal vision enhancing devices) and 

8 by an optical character recognition device or 

9 other device equipped for individuals with dis10 abilities.’’. 

11 SEC. 105. PAPER BALLOT PRINTING REQUIREMENTS. 

12 (a) REQUIRING PAPER BALLOTS TO BE PRINTED ON

13 RECYCLED PAPER MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED

14 STATES.—Section 301(a) of the Help America Vote Act 

15 of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)), as amended by section 104, 

16 is amended by adding at the end the following new para17 graph: 

18 ‘‘(8) PRINTING REQUIREMENTS FOR BAL19 LOTS.—All paper ballots used in an election for Fed20 eral office shall be printed in the United States on 

21 recycled paper manufactured in the United States.’’. 

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

23 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to elections occur24 ring on or after January 1, 2021. 


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1 SEC. 106. STUDY AND REPORT ON OPTIMAL BALLOT DE2 SIGN. 

3 (a) STUDY.—The Election Assistance Commission 

4 shall conduct a study of the best ways to design ballots 

5 used in elections for public office, including paper ballots 

6 and electronic or digital ballots, to minimize confusion and 

7 user errors. 

8 (b) REPORT.—Not later than January 1, 2020, the 

9 Election Assistance Commission shall submit to Congress 

10 a report on the study conducted under subsection (a). 

11 SEC. 107. EFFECTIVE DATE FOR NEW REQUIREMENTS. 

12 Section 301(d) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

13 (52 U.S.C. 21081(d)) is amended to read as follows: 

14 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para16 graph (2), each State and jurisdiction shall be re17 quired to comply with the requirements of this sec18 tion on and after January 1, 2006. 

19 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN REQUIRE20 MENTS.— 

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

22 section 105(b) of the Election Security Act of 

23 2019 and subparagraphs (B) and (C), the re24 quirements of this section which are first im25 posed on a State and jurisdiction pursuant to 

26 the amendments made by the Voter Confidence 


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1 and Increased Accessibility Act of 2019 shall 

2 apply with respect to voting systems used for 

3 any election for Federal office held in 2020 or 

4 any succeeding year. 

5 ‘‘(B) DELAY FOR JURISDICTIONS USING

6 CERTAIN PAPER RECORD PRINTERS OR CERTAIN

7 SYSTEMS USING OR PRODUCING VOTER8 VERIFIABLE PAPER RECORDS IN 2018.— 

9 ‘‘(i) DELAY.—In the case of a juris10 diction described in clause (ii), subpara11 graph (A) shall apply to a voting system in 

12 the jurisdiction as if the reference in such 

13 subparagraph to ‘2020’ were a reference to 

14 ‘2022’, but only with respect to the fol15 lowing requirements of this section: 

16 ‘‘(I) Paragraph (2)(A)(i)(I) of 

17 subsection (a) (relating to the use of 

18 voter-verified paper ballots). 

19 ‘‘(II) Paragraph (3)(B)(ii)(I) and 

20 (II) of subsection (a) (relating to ac21 cess to verification from and casting 

22 of the durable paper ballot). 

23 ‘‘(III) Paragraph (7) of sub24 section (a) (relating to durability and 

25 readability requirements for ballots). 


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1 ‘‘(ii) JURISDICTIONS DESCRIBED.—A 

2 jurisdiction described in this clause is a ju3 risdiction— 

4 ‘‘(I) which used voter verifiable 

5 paper record printers attached to di6 rect recording electronic voting ma7 chines, or which used other voting 

8 systems that used or produced paper 

9 records of the vote verifiable by voters 

10 but that are not in compliance with 

11 paragraphs (2)(A)(i)(I), (3)(B)(iii)(I) 

12 and (II), and (7) of subsection (a) (as 

13 amended or added by the Voter Con14 fidence and Increased Accessibility 

15 Act of 2019), for the administration 

16 of the regularly scheduled general 

17 election for Federal office held in No18 vember 2018; and 

19 ‘‘(II) which will continue to use 

20 such printers or systems for the ad21 ministration of elections for Federal 

22 office held in years before 2022. 

23 ‘‘(iii) MANDATORY AVAILABILITY OF

24 PAPER BALLOTS AT POLLING PLACES


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1 USING GRANDFATHERED PRINTERS AND

2 SYSTEMS.— 

3 ‘‘(I) REQUIRING BALLOTS TO BE

4 OFFERED AND PROVIDED.—The ap5 propriate election official at each poll6 ing place that uses a printer or sys7 tem described in clause (ii)(I) for the 

8 administration of elections for Federal 

9 office shall offer each individual who 

10 is eligible to cast a vote in the election 

11 at the polling place the opportunity to 

12 cast the vote using a blank pre-print13 ed paper ballot which the individual 

14 may mark by hand and which is not 

15 produced by the direct recording elec16 tronic voting machine or other such 

17 system. The official shall provide the 

18 individual with the ballot and the sup19 plies necessary to mark the ballot, and 

20 shall ensure (to the greatest extent 

21 practicable) that the waiting period 

22 for the individual to cast a vote is the 

23 lesser of 30 minutes or the average 

24 waiting period for an individual who 


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1 does not agree to cast the vote using 

2 such a paper ballot under this clause. 

3 ‘‘(II) TREATMENT OF BALLOT.— 

4 Any paper ballot which is cast by an 

5 individual under this clause shall be 

6 counted and otherwise treated as a 

7 regular ballot for all purposes (includ8 ing by incorporating it into the final 

9 unofficial vote count (as defined by 

10 the State) for the precinct) and not as 

11 a provisional ballot, unless the indi12 vidual casting the ballot would have 

13 otherwise been required to cast a pro14 visional ballot. 

15 ‘‘(III) POSTING OF NOTICE.— 

16 The appropriate election official shall 

17 ensure there is prominently displayed 

18 at each polling place a notice that de19 scribes the obligation of the official to 

20 offer individuals the opportunity to 

21 cast votes using a pre-printed blank 

22 paper ballot. 

23 ‘‘(IV) TRAINING OF ELECTION

24 OFFICIALS.—The chief State election 

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1 cials at polling places in the State are 

2 aware of the requirements of this 

3 clause, including the requirement to 

4 display a notice under subclause (III), 

5 and are aware that it is a violation of 

6 the requirements of this title for an 

7 election official to fail to offer an indi8 vidual the opportunity to cast a vote 

9 using a blank pre-printed paper ballot. 

10 ‘‘(V) PERIOD OF APPLICA11 BILITY.—The requirements of this 

12 clause apply only during the period in 

13 which the delay is in effect under 

14 clause (i). 

15 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULE FOR JURISDICTIONS

16 USING CERTAIN NONTABULATING BALLOT

17 MARKING DEVICES.—In the case of a jurisdic18 tion which uses a nontabulating ballot marking 

19 device which automatically deposits the ballot 

20 into a privacy sleeve, subparagraph (A) shall 

21 apply to a voting system in the jurisdiction as 

22 if the reference in such subparagraph to ‘any 

23 election for Federal office held in 2020 or any 

24 succeeding year’ were a reference to ‘elections 

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1 ceeding year’, but only with respect to para2 graph (3)(B)(iii)(II) of subsection (a) (relating 

3 to nonmanual casting of the durable paper bal4 lot).’’. 

5 PART 2—GRANTS TO CARRY OUT 

6 IMPROVEMENTS 

7 SEC. 111. GRANTS FOR OBTAINING COMPLIANT PAPER BAL8 LOT VOTING SYSTEMS AND CARRYING OUT 

9 VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS. 

10 (a) AVAILABILITY OF GRANTS.—Subtitle D of title 

11 II of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 

12 21001 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol13 lowing new part: 

14 ‘‘PART 7—GRANTS FOR OBTAINING COMPLIANT 

15 PAPER BALLOT VOTING SYSTEMS AND CAR16 RYING OUT VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY IM17 PROVEMENTS 

18 ‘‘SEC. 297. GRANTS FOR OBTAINING COMPLIANT PAPER 

19 BALLOT VOTING SYSTEMS AND CARRYING 

20 OUT VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY IMPROVE21 MENTS. 

22 ‘‘(a) AVAILABILITY AND USE OF GRANT.—The Com23 mission shall make a grant to each eligible State— 

24 ‘‘(1) to replace a voting system— 


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1 ‘‘(A) which does not meet the requirements 

2 which are first imposed on the State pursuant 

3 to the amendments made by the Voter Con4 fidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2019 

5 with a voting system which does meet such re6 quirements, for use in the regularly scheduled 

7 general elections for Federal office held in No8 vember 2020, or 

9 ‘‘(B) which does meet such requirements 

10 but which is not in compliance with the most 

11 recent voluntary voting system guidelines issued 

12 by the Commission prior to the regularly sched13 uled general election for Federal office held in 

14 November 2020 with another system which does 

15 meet such requirements and is in compliance 

16 with such guidelines; 

17 ‘‘(2) to carry out voting system security im18 provements described in section 297A with respect 

19 to the regularly scheduled general elections for Fed20 eral office held in November 2020 and each suc21 ceeding election for Federal office; and 

22 ‘‘(3) to implement and model best practices for 

23 ballot design, ballot instructions, and the testing of 

24 ballots. 


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1 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of a grant 

2 made to a State under this section shall be such amount 

3 as the Commission determines to be appropriate, except 

4 that such amount may not be less than the product of 

5 $1 and the average of the number of individuals who cast 

6 votes in any of the two most recent regularly scheduled 

7 general elections for Federal office held in the State. 

8 ‘‘(c) PRO RATA REDUCTIONS.—If the amount of 

9 funds appropriated for grants under this part is insuffi10 cient to ensure that each State receives the amount of the 

11 grant calculated under subsection (b), the Commission 

12 shall make such pro rata reductions in such amounts as 

13 may be necessary to ensure that the entire amount appro14 priated under this part is distributed to the States. 

15 ‘‘(d) SURPLUS APPROPRIATIONS.—If the amount of 

16 funds appropriated for grants authorized under section 

17 297D(a)(2) exceed the amount necessary to meet the re18 quirements of subsection (b), the Commission shall con19 sider the following in making a determination to award 

20 remaining funds to a State: 

21 ‘‘(1) The record of the State in carrying out the 

22 following with respect to the administration of elec23 tions for Federal office: 

24 ‘‘(A) Providing voting machines that are 

25 less than 10 years old. 


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1 ‘‘(B) Implementing strong chain of custody 

2 procedures for the physical security of voting 

3 equipment and paper records at all stages of 

4 the process. 

5 ‘‘(C) Conducting pre-election testing on 

6 every voting machine and ensuring that paper 

7 ballots are available wherever electronic ma8 chines are used. 

9 ‘‘(D) Maintaining offline backups of voter 

10 registration lists. 

11 ‘‘(E) Providing a secure voter registration 

12 database that logs requests submitted to the 

13 database. 

14 ‘‘(F) Publishing and enforcing a policy de15 tailing use limitations and security safeguards 

16 to protect the personal information of voters in 

17 the voter registration process. 

18 ‘‘(G) Providing secure processes and proce19 dures for reporting vote tallies. 

20 ‘‘(H) Providing a secure platform for dis21 seminating vote totals. 

22 ‘‘(2) Evidence of established conditions of inno23 vation and reform in providing voting system secu24 rity and the proposed plan of the State for imple25 menting additional conditions. 


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1 ‘‘(3) Evidence of collaboration between relevant 

2 stakeholders, including local election officials, in de3 veloping the grant implementation plan described in 

4 section 297B. 

5 ‘‘(4) The plan of the State to conduct a rig6 orous evaluation of the effectiveness of the activities 

7 carried out with the grant. 

8 ‘‘(e) ABILITY OF REPLACEMENT SYSTEMS TO AD9 MINISTER RANKED CHOICE ELECTIONS.—To the greatest 

10 extent practicable, an eligible State which receives a grant 

11 to replace a voting system under this section shall ensure 

12 that the replacement system is capable of administering 

13 a system of ranked choice voting under which each voter 

14 shall rank the candidates for the office in the order of 

15 the voter’s preference. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 297A. VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS 

17 DESCRIBED. 

18 ‘‘(a) PERMITTED USES.—A voting system security 

19 improvement described in this section is any of the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(1) The acquisition of goods and services from 

22 qualified election infrastructure vendors by purchase, 

23 lease, or such other arrangements as may be appro24 priate. 

25 ‘‘(2) Cyber and risk mitigation training. 


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1 ‘‘(3) A security risk and vulnerability assess2 ment of the State’s election infrastructure which is 

3 carried out by a provider of cybersecurity services 

4 under a contract entered into between the chief 

5 State election official and the provider. 

6 ‘‘(4) The maintenance of election infrastruc7 ture, including addressing risks and vulnerabilities 

8 which are identified under either of the security risk 

9 and vulnerability assessments described in para10 graph (3), except that none of the funds provided 

11 under this part may be used to renovate or replace 

12 a building or facility which is used primarily for pur13 poses other than the administration of elections for 

14 public office. 

15 ‘‘(5) Providing increased technical support for 

16 any information technology infrastructure that the 

17 chief State election official deems to be part of the 

18 State’s election infrastructure or designates as crit19 ical to the operation of the State’s election infra20 structure. 

21 ‘‘(6) Enhancing the cybersecurity and oper22 ations of the information technology infrastructure 

23 described in paragraph (4). 

24 ‘‘(7) Enhancing the cybersecurity of voter reg25 istration systems. 


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1 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE VEN2 DORS DESCRIBED.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this part, 

4 a ‘qualified election infrastructure vendor’ is any 

5 person who provides, supports, or maintains, or who 

6 seeks to provide, support, or maintain, election in7 frastructure on behalf of a State, unit of local gov8 ernment, or election agency (as defined in section 

9 801 of the Election Security Act) who meets the cri10 teria described in paragraph (2). 

11 ‘‘(2) CRITERIA.—The criteria described in this 

12 paragraph are such criteria as the Chairman, in co13 ordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security, 

14 shall establish and publish, and shall include each of 

15 the following requirements: 

16 ‘‘(A) The vendor must be owned and con17 trolled by a citizen or permanent resident of the 

18 United States. 

19 ‘‘(B) The vendor must disclose to the 

20 Chairman and the Secretary, and to the chief 

21 State election official of any State to which the 

22 vendor provides any goods and services with 

23 funds provided under this part, of any sourcing 

24 outside the United States for parts of the elec25 tion infrastructure. 


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1 ‘‘(C) The vendor agrees to ensure that the 

2 election infrastructure will be developed and 

3 maintained in a manner that is consistent with 

4 the cybersecurity best practices issued by the 

5 Technical Guidelines Development Committee. 

6 ‘‘(D) The vendor agrees to maintain its in7 formation technology infrastructure in a man8 ner that is consistent with the cybersecurity 

9 best practices issued by the Technical Guide10 lines Development Committee. 

11 ‘‘(E) The vendor agrees to meet the re12 quirements of paragraph (3) with respect to 

13 any known or suspected cybersecurity incidents 

14 involving any of the goods and services provided 

15 by the vendor pursuant to a grant under this 

16 part. 

17 ‘‘(F) The vendor agrees to permit inde18 pendent security testing by the Commission (in 

19 accordance with section 231(a)) and by the Sec20 retary of the goods and services provided by the 

21 vendor pursuant to a grant under this part. 

22 ‘‘(3) CYBERSECURITY INCIDENT REPORTING

23 REQUIREMENTS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A vendor meets the 

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1 ing aware of the possibility that an election cy2 bersecurity incident has occurred involving any 

3 of the goods and services provided by the ven4 dor pursuant to a grant under this part— 

5 ‘‘(i) the vendor promptly assesses 

6 whether or not such an incident occurred, 

7 and submits a notification meeting the re8 quirements of subparagraph (B) to the 

9 Secretary and the Chairman of the assess10 ment as soon as practicable (but in no case 

11 later than 3 days after the vendor first be12 comes aware of the possibility that the in13 cident occurred); 

14 ‘‘(ii) if the incident involves goods or 

15 services provided to an election agency, the 

16 vendor submits a notification meeting the 

17 requirements of subparagraph (B) to the 

18 agency as soon as practicable (but in no 

19 case later than 3 days after the vendor 

20 first becomes aware of the possibility that 

21 the incident occurred), and cooperates with 

22 the agency in providing any other nec23 essary notifications relating to the inci24 dent; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the vendor provides all necessary 

2 updates to any notification submitted 

3 under clause (i) or clause (ii). 

4 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS OF NOTIFICATIONS.— 

5 Each notification submitted under clause (i) or 

6 clause (ii) of subparagraph (A) shall contain 

7 the following information with respect to any 

8 election cybersecurity incident covered by the 

9 notification: 

10 ‘‘(i) The date, time, and time zone 

11 when the election cybersecurity incident 

12 began, if known. 

13 ‘‘(ii) The date, time, and time zone 

14 when the election cybersecurity incident 

15 was detected. 

16 ‘‘(iii) The date, time, and duration of 

17 the election cybersecurity incident. 

18 ‘‘(iv) The circumstances of the elec19 tion cybersecurity incident, including the 

20 specific election infrastructure systems be21 lieved to have been accessed and informa22 tion acquired, if any. 

23 ‘‘(v) Any planned and implemented 

24 technical measures to respond to and re25 cover from the incident. 


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1 ‘‘(vi) In the case of any notification 

2 which is an update to a prior notification, 

3 any additional material information relat4 ing to the incident, including technical 

5 data, as it becomes available. 

6 ‘‘SEC. 297B. ELIGIBILITY OF STATES. 

7 ‘‘A State is eligible to receive a grant under this part 

8 if the State submits to the Commission, at such time and 

9 in such form as the Commission may require, an applica10 tion containing— 

11 ‘‘(1) a description of how the State will use the 

12 grant to carry out the activities authorized under 

13 this part; 

14 ‘‘(2) a certification and assurance that, not 

15 later than 5 years after receiving the grant, the 

16 State will carry out risk-limiting audits and will 

17 carry out voting system security improvements, as 

18 described in section 297A; and 

19 ‘‘(3) such other information and assurances as 

20 the Commission may require. 

21 ‘‘SEC. 297C. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

22 ‘‘Not later than 90 days after the end of each fiscal 

23 year, the Commission shall submit a report to the appro24 priate congressional committees, including the Committees 

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1 diciary of the House of Representatives and the Commit2 tees on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the 

3 Judiciary, and Rules and Administration of the Senate, 

4 on the activities carried out with the funds provided under 

5 this part. 

6 ‘‘SEC. 297D. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

7 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to be 

8 appropriated for grants under this part— 

9 ‘‘(1) $1,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2019; and 

10 ‘‘(2) $175,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 

11 2020, 2022, 2024, and 2026. 

12 ‘‘(b) CONTINUING AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS.—Any 

13 amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization of 

14 this section shall remain available until expended.’’. 

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

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

17 relating to subtitle D of title II the following: 

‘‘PART 7—GRANTS FOR OBTAINING COMPLIANT PAPER BALLOT VOTING

SYSTEMS AND CARRYING OUT VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS

‘‘Sec. 297. Grants for obtaining compliant paper ballot voting systems and 

carrying out voting system security improvements. 

‘‘Sec. 297A. Voting system security improvements described. 

‘‘Sec. 297B. Eligibility of States. 

‘‘Sec. 297C. Reports to Congress. 

‘‘Sec. 297D. Authorization of appropriations. 


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1 SEC. 112. COORDINATION OF VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY 

2 ACTIVITIES WITH USE OF REQUIREMENTS 

3 PAYMENTS AND ELECTION ADMINISTRATION 

4 REQUIREMENTS UNDER HELP AMERICA 

5 VOTE ACT OF 2002. 

6 (a) DUTIES OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMIS7 SION.—Section 202 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

8 (52 U.S.C. 20922) is amended in the matter preceding 

9 paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘by’’ and inserting ‘‘and the se10 curity of election infrastructure by’’. 

11 (b) MEMBERSHIP OF SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SE12 CURITY ON BOARD OF ADVISORS OF ELECTION ASSIST13 ANCE COMMISSION.—Section 214(a) of such Act (52 

14 U.S.C. 20944(a)) is amended— 

15 (1) by striking ‘‘37 members’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘38 members’’; and 

17 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

18 paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(17) The Secretary of Homeland Security or 

20 the Secretary’s designee.’’. 

21 (c) REPRESENTATIVE OF DEPARTMENT OF HOME22 LAND SECURITY ON TECHNICAL GUIDELINES DEVELOP23 MENT COMMITTEE.—Section 221(c)(1) of such Act (52 

24 U.S.C. 20961(c)(1)) is amended— 

25 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as sub26 paragraph (F); and 


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1 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the fol2 lowing new subparagraph: 

3 ‘‘(E) A representative of the Department 

4 of Homeland Security.’’. 

5 (d) GOALS OF PERIODIC STUDIES OF ELECTION AD6 MINISTRATION ISSUES; CONSULTATION WITH SECRETARY

7 OF HOMELAND SECURITY.—Section 241(a) of such Act 

8 (52 U.S.C. 20981(a)) is amended— 

9 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

10 striking ‘‘the Commission shall’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

11 Commission, in consultation with the Secretary of 

12 Homeland Security (as appropriate), shall’’; 

13 (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

14 (3); 

15 (3) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para16 graph (5); and 

17 (4) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol18 lowing new paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(4) will be secure against attempts to under20 mine the integrity of election systems by cyber or 

21 other means; and’’. 

22 (e) REQUIREMENTS PAYMENTS.— 

23 (1) USE OF PAYMENTS FOR VOTING SYSTEM

24 SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS.—Section 251(b) of such 


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1 Act (52 U.S.C. 21001(b)) is amended by adding at 

2 the end the following new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(4) PERMITTING USE OF PAYMENTS FOR VOT4 ING SYSTEM SECURITY IMPROVEMENTS.—A State 

5 may use a requirements payment to carry out any 

6 of the following activities: 

7 ‘‘(A) Cyber and risk mitigation training. 

8 ‘‘(B) Providing increased technical support 

9 for any information technology infrastructure 

10 that the chief State election official deems to be 

11 part of the State’s election infrastructure or 

12 designates as critical to the operation of the 

13 State’s election infrastructure. 

14 ‘‘(C) Enhancing the cybersecurity and op15 erations of the information technology infra16 structure described in subparagraph (B). 

17 ‘‘(D) Enhancing the security of voter reg18 istration databases.’’. 

19 (2) INCORPORATION OF ELECTION INFRA20 STRUCTURE PROTECTION IN STATE PLANS FOR USE

21 OF PAYMENTS.—Section 254(a)(1) of such Act (52 

22 U.S.C. 21004(a)(1)) is amended by striking the pe23 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘, including the protec24 tion of election infrastructure.’’. 


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1 (3) COMPOSITION OF COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

2 FOR DEVELOPING STATE PLAN FOR USE OF PAY3 MENTS.—Section 255 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 

4 21005) is amended— 

5 (A) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub6 section (c); and 

7 (B) by inserting after subsection (a) the 

8 following new subsection: 

9 ‘‘(b) GEOGRAPHIC REPRESENTATION.—The mem10 bers of the committee shall be a representative group of 

11 individuals from the State’s counties, cities, towns, and 

12 Indian tribes, and shall represent the needs of rural as 

13 well as urban areas of the State, as the case may be.’’. 

14 (f) ENSURING PROTECTION OF COMPUTERIZED

15 STATEWIDE VOTER REGISTRATION LIST.—Section 

16 303(a)(3) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21083(a)(3)) is amend17 ed by striking the period at the end and inserting ‘‘, as 

18 well as other measures to prevent and deter cybersecurity 

19 incidents, as identified by the Commission, the Secretary 

20 of Homeland Security, and the Technical Guidelines De21 velopment Committee.’’. 

22 SEC. 113. INCORPORATION OF DEFINITIONS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 901 of the Help America 

24 Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21141) is amended to read 

25 as follows: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 901. DEFINITIONS. 

2 ‘‘In this Act, the following definitions apply: 

3 ‘‘(1) The term ‘cybersecurity incident’ has the 

4 meaning given the term ‘incident’ in section 227 of 

5 the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 148). 

6 ‘‘(2) The term ‘election infrastructure’ has the 

7 meaning given such term in section 3501 of the 

8 Election Security Act. 

9 ‘‘(3) The term ‘State’ means each of the several 

10 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 

11 of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United 

12 States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the 

13 Northern Mariana Islands.’’. 

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

15 of such Act is amended by amending the item relating to 

16 section 901 to read as follows: 

‘‘Sec. 901. Definitions.’’. 

17 Subtitle B—Grants for Risk-Lim18 iting Audits of Results of Elec19 tions 

20 SEC. 121. GRANTS TO STATES FOR CONDUCTING RISK-LIM21 ITING AUDITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS. 

22 (a) AVAILABILITY OF GRANTS.—Subtitle D of title 

23 II of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 

24 21001 et seq.), as amended by section 111(a), is amended 

25 by adding at the end the following new part: 


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1 ‘‘PART 8—GRANTS FOR CONDUCTING RISK2 LIMITING AUDITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS 

3 ‘‘SEC. 298. GRANTS FOR CONDUCTING RISK-LIMITING AU4 DITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS. 

5 ‘‘(a) AVAILABILITY OF GRANTS.—The Commission 

6 shall make a grant to each eligible State to conduct risk7 limiting audits as described in subsection (b) with respect 

8 to the regularly scheduled general elections for Federal of9 fice held in November 2020 and each succeeding election 

10 for Federal office. 

11 ‘‘(b) RISK-LIMITING AUDITS DESCRIBED.—In this 

12 part, a ‘risk-limiting audit’ is a post-election process— 

13 ‘‘(1) which is conducted in accordance with 

14 rules and procedures established by the chief State 

15 election official of the State which meet the require16 ments of subsection (c); and 

17 ‘‘(2) under which, if the reported outcome of 

18 the election is incorrect, there is at least a predeter19 mined percentage chance that the audit will replace 

20 the incorrect outcome with the correct outcome as 

21 determined by a full, hand-to-eye tabulation of all 

22 votes validly cast in that election that ascertains 

23 voter intent manually and directly from voter24 verifiable paper records. 

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1 ducting a risk-limiting audit shall include the following 

2 elements: 

3 ‘‘(1) Rules for ensuring the security of ballots 

4 and documenting that prescribed procedures were 

5 followed. 

6 ‘‘(2) Rules and procedures for ensuring the ac7 curacy of ballot manifests produced by election agen8 cies. 

9 ‘‘(3) Rules and procedures for governing the 

10 format of ballot manifests, cast vote records, and 

11 other data involved in the audit. 

12 ‘‘(4) Methods to ensure that any cast vote 

13 records used in the audit are those used by the vot14 ing system to tally the election results sent to the 

15 chief State election official and made public. 

16 ‘‘(5) Procedures for the random selection of 

17 ballots to be inspected manually during each audit. 

18 ‘‘(6) Rules for the calculations and other meth19 ods to be used in the audit and to determine wheth20 er and when the audit of an election is complete. 

21 ‘‘(7) Procedures and requirements for testing 

22 any software used to conduct risk-limiting audits. 

23 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this part, the following defi24 nitions apply: 


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1 ‘‘(1) The term ‘ballot manifest’ means a record 

2 maintained by each election agency that meets each 

3 of the following requirements: 

4 ‘‘(A) The record is created without reliance 

5 on any part of the voting system used to tab6 ulate votes. 

7 ‘‘(B) The record functions as a sampling 

8 frame for conducting a risk-limiting audit. 

9 ‘‘(C) The record contains the following in10 formation with respect to the ballots cast and 

11 counted in the election: 

12 ‘‘(i) The total number of ballots cast 

13 and counted by the agency (including 

14 undervotes, overvotes, and other invalid 

15 votes). 

16 ‘‘(ii) The total number of ballots cast 

17 in each election administered by the agency 

18 (including undervotes, overvotes, and other 

19 invalid votes). 

20 ‘‘(iii) A precise description of the 

21 manner in which the ballots are physically 

22 stored, including the total number of phys23 ical groups of ballots, the numbering sys24 tem for each group, a unique label for each 


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1 group, and the number of ballots in each 

2 such group. 

3 ‘‘(2) The term ‘incorrect outcome’ means an 

4 outcome that differs from the outcome that would be 

5 determined by a full tabulation of all votes validly 

6 cast in the election, determining voter intent manu7 ally, directly from voter-verifiable paper records. 

8 ‘‘(3) The term ‘outcome’ means the winner of 

9 an election, whether a candidate or a position. 

10 ‘‘(4) The term ‘reported outcome’ means the 

11 outcome of an election which is determined accord12 ing to the canvass and which will become the official, 

13 certified outcome unless it is revised by an audit, re14 count, or other legal process. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 298A. ELIGIBILITY OF STATES. 

16 ‘‘A State is eligible to receive a grant under this part 

17 if the State submits to the Commission, at such time and 

18 in such form as the Commission may require, an applica19 tion containing— 

20 ‘‘(1) a certification that, not later than 5 years 

21 after receiving the grant, the State will conduct risk22 limiting audits of the results of elections for Federal 

23 office held in the State as described in section 298; 

24 ‘‘(2) a certification that, not later than one year 

25 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 


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1 chief State election official of the State has estab2 lished or will establish the rules and procedures for 

3 conducting the audits which meet the requirements 

4 of section 298(c); 

5 ‘‘(3) a certification that the audit shall be com6 pleted not later than the date on which the State 

7 certifies the results of the election; 

8 ‘‘(4) a certification that, after completing the 

9 audit, the State shall publish a report on the results 

10 of the audit, together with such information as nec11 essary to confirm that the audit was conducted prop12 erly; 

13 ‘‘(5) a certification that, if a risk-limiting audit 

14 conducted under this part leads to a full manual 

15 tally of an election, State law requires that the State 

16 or election agency shall use the results of the full 

17 manual tally as the official results of the election; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(6) such other information and assurances as 

20 the Commission may require. 

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

22 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated for grants 

23 under this part $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2019, to re24 main available until expended.’’. 


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

2 of such Act, as amended by section 111(b), is further 

3 amended by adding at the end of the items relating to 

4 subtitle D of title II the following: 

‘‘PART 8—GRANTS FOR CONDUCTING RISK-LIMITING AUDITS OF RESULTS

OF ELECTIONS

‘‘Sec. 298. Grants for conducting risk-limiting audits of results of elections. 

‘‘Sec. 298A. Eligibility of States. 

‘‘Sec. 298B. Authorization of appropriations. 

5 SEC. 122. GAO ANALYSIS OF EFFECTS OF AUDITS. 

6 (a) ANALYSIS.—Not later than 6 months after the 

7 first election for Federal office is held after grants are 

8 first awarded to States for conducting risk-limiting audits 

9 under part 8 of subtitle D of title II of the Help America 

10 Vote Act of 2002 (as added by section 121) for conducting 

11 risk-limiting audits of elections for Federal office, the 

12 Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct 

13 an analysis of the extent to which such audits have im14 proved the administration of such elections and the secu15 rity of election infrastructure in the States receiving such 

16 grants. 

17 (b) REPORT.—The Comptroller General of the 

18 United States shall submit a report on the analysis con19 ducted under subsection (a) to the appropriate congres20 sional committees. 


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1 Subtitle C—Election Infrastructure 

2 Innovation Grant Program 

3 SEC. 131. ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION 

4 GRANT PROGRAM. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Homeland Secu6 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 181 et seq.) is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating the second section 319 (re8 lating to EMP and GMD mitigation research and 

9 development) as section 320; and 

10 (2) by adding at the end the following new sec11 tion: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 321. ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE INNOVATION 

13 GRANT PROGRAM. 

14 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, acting 

15 through the Under Secretary for Science and Technology, 

16 in coordination with the Chairman of the Election Assist17 ance Commission (established pursuant to the Help Amer18 ica Vote Act of 2002) and in consultation with the Direc19 tor of the National Science Foundation and the Director 

20 of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, 

21 shall establish a competitive grant program to award 

22 grants to eligible entities, on a competitive basis, for pur23 poses of research and development that are determined to 

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1 sibility, and affordability of election infrastructure, and in2 crease voter participation. 

3 ‘‘(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 90 days 

4 after the conclusion of each fiscal year for which grants 

5 are awarded under this section, the Secretary shall submit 

6 to the Committee on Homeland Security and the Com7 mittee on House Administration of the House of Rep8 resentatives and the Committee on Homeland Security 

9 and Governmental Affairs and the Committee on Rules 

10 and Administration of the Senate a report describing such 

11 grants and analyzing the impact, if any, of such grants 

12 on the security and operation of election infrastructure, 

13 and on voter participation. 

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

15 is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 

16 $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2027 

17 for purposes of carrying out this section. 

18 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.—In this section, 

19 the term ‘eligible entity’ means— 

20 ‘‘(1) an institution of higher education (as de21 fined in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act 

22 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)), including an institu23 tion of higher education that is a historically Black 

24 college or university (which has the meaning given 

25 the term ‘‘part B institution’’ in section 322 of such 


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1 Act (20 U.S.C. 1061)) or other minority-serving in2 stitution listed in section 371(a) of such Act (20 

3 U.S.C. 1067q(a)); 

4 ‘‘(2) an organization described in section 

5 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and 

6 exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such Code; 

7 or 

8 ‘‘(3) an organization, association, or a for-profit 

9 company, including a small business concern (as 

10 such term is defined under section 3 of the Small 

11 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632)), including a small 

12 business concern owned and controlled by socially 

13 and economically disadvantaged individuals as de14 fined under section 8(d)(3)(C) of the Small Business 

15 Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(3)(C)).’’. 

16 (b) DEFINITION.—Section 2 of the Homeland Secu17 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101) is amended— 

18 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (6) through 

19 (20) as paragraphs (7) through (21), respectively; 

20 and 

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

23 ‘‘(6) ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE.—The term 

24 ‘election infrastructure’ means storage facilities, 

25 polling places, and centralized vote tabulation locaVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 May 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00047 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1540.IS S1540

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1 tions used to support the administration of elections 

2 for public office, as well as related information and 

3 communications technology, including voter registra4 tion databases, voting machines, electronic mail and 

5 other communications systems (including electronic 

6 mail and other systems of vendors who have entered 

7 into contracts with election agencies to support the 

8 administration of elections, manage the election 

9 process, and report and display election results), and 

10 other systems used to manage the election process 

11 and to report and display election results on behalf 

12 of an election agency.’’. 

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

14 in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is 

15 amended by striking both items relating to section 319 

16 and the item relating to section 318 and inserting the fol17 lowing new items: 

‘‘Sec. 318. Social media working group. 

‘‘Sec. 319. Transparency in research and development. 

‘‘Sec. 320. EMP and GMD mitigation research and development. 

‘‘Sec. 321. Election infrastructure innovation grant program.’’. 

18 TITLE II—SECURITY MEASURES 

19 SEC. 201. ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGNATION. 

20 Subparagraph (J) of section 2001(3) of the Home21 land Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 601(3)) is amended 

22 by inserting ‘‘, including election infrastructure’’ before 

23 the period at the end. 


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1 SEC. 202. TIMELY THREAT INFORMATION. 

2 Subsection (d) of section 201 of the Homeland Secu3 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 121) is amended by adding 

4 at the end the following new paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(24) To provide timely threat information re6 garding election infrastructure to the chief State 

7 election official of the State with respect to which 

8 such information pertains.’’. 

9 SEC. 203. SECURITY CLEARANCE ASSISTANCE FOR ELEC10 TION OFFICIALS. 

11 In order to promote the timely sharing of information 

12 on threats to election infrastructure, the Secretary may— 

13 (1) help expedite a security clearance for the 

14 chief State election official and other appropriate 

15 State personnel involved in the administration of 

16 elections, as designated by the chief State election 

17 official; 

18 (2) sponsor a security clearance for the chief 

19 State election official and other appropriate State 

20 personnel involved in the administration of elections, 

21 as designated by the chief State election official; and 

22 (3) facilitate the issuance of a temporary clear23 ance to the chief State election official and other ap24 propriate State personnel involved in the administra25 tion of elections, as designated by the chief State 

26 election official, if the Secretary determines classiVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 May 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00049 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1540.IS S1540

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1 fied information to be timely and relevant to the 

2 election infrastructure of the State at issue. 

3 SEC. 204. SECURITY RISK AND VULNERABILITY ASSESS4 MENTS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (6) of section 2209(c) 

6 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 659(c)) 

7 is amended by inserting ‘‘(including by carrying out a se8 curity risk and vulnerability assessment)’’ after ‘‘risk 

9 management support’’. 

10 (b) PRIORITIZATION TO ENHANCE ELECTION SECU11 RITY.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

13 receiving a written request from a chief State elec14 tion official, the Secretary shall, to the extent prac15 ticable, commence a security risk and vulnerability 

16 assessment (pursuant to paragraph (6) of section 

17 2209(c) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as 

18 amended by subsection (a)) on election infrastruc19 ture in the State at issue. 

20 (2) NOTIFICATION.—If the Secretary, upon re21 ceipt of a request described in paragraph (1), deter22 mines that a security risk and vulnerability assess23 ment cannot be commenced within 90 days, the Sec24 retary shall expeditiously notify the chief State elec25 tion official who submitted such request. 


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1 SEC. 205. ANNUAL REPORTS. 

2 (a) REPORTS ON ASSISTANCE AND ASSESSMENTS.— 

3 Not later than one year after the date of the enactment 

4 of this Act and annually thereafter through 2026, the Sec5 retary shall submit to the appropriate congressional com6 mittees— 

7 (1) efforts to carry out section 203 during the 

8 prior year, including specific information on which 

9 States were helped, how many officials have been 

10 helped in each State, how many security clearances 

11 have been sponsored in each State, and how many 

12 temporary clearances have been issued in each State; 

13 and 

14 (2) efforts to carry out section 204 during the 

15 prior year, including specific information on which 

16 States were helped, the dates on which the Secretary 

17 received a request for a security risk and vulner18 ability assessment pursuant to such section, the 

19 dates on which the Secretary commenced each such 

20 request, and the dates on which the Secretary trans21 mitted a notification in accordance with subsection 

22 (b)(2) of such section. 

23 (b) REPORTS ON FOREIGN THREATS.—Not later 

24 than 90 days after the end of each fiscal year (beginning 

25 with fiscal year 2019), the Secretary and the Director of 

26 National Intelligence, in coordination with the heads of 


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1 appropriate offices of the Federal government, shall sub2 mit a joint report to the appropriate congressional com3 mittees on foreign threats to elections in the United 

4 States, including physical and cybersecurity threats. 

5 (c) INFORMATION FROM STATES.—For purposes of 

6 preparing the reports required under this section, the Sec7 retary shall solicit and consider information and comments 

8 from States and election agencies, except that the provi9 sion of such information and comments by a State or elec10 tion agency shall be voluntary and at the discretion of the 

11 State or agency. 

12 SEC. 206. PRE-ELECTION THREAT ASSESSMENTS. 

13 (a) SUBMISSION OF ASSESSMENT BY DNI.—Not 

14 later than 180 days before the date of each regularly 

15 scheduled general election for Federal office, the Director 

16 of National Intelligence shall submit an assessment of the 

17 full scope of threats to election infrastructure, including 

18 cybersecurity threats posed by state actors and terrorist 

19 groups, and recommendations to address or mitigate the 

20 threats, as developed by the Secretary and Chairman, to— 

21 (1) the chief State election official of each 

22 State; 

23 (2) the Committees on Homeland Security and 

24 House Administration of the House of Representa25 tives and the Committees on Homeland Security and 


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1 Governmental Affairs and Rules and Administration 

2 of the Senate; and 

3 (3) any other appropriate congressional com4 mittees. 

5 (b) UPDATES TO INITIAL ASSESSMENTS.—If, at any 

6 time after submitting an assessment with respect to an 

7 election under subsection (a), the Director of National In8 telligence determines that the assessment should be up9 dated to reflect new information regarding the threats in10 volved, the Director shall submit a revised assessment 

11 under such subsection. 

12 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi13 nitions apply: 

14 (1) The term ‘‘Chairman’’ means the chair of 

15 the Election Assistance Commission. 

16 (2) The term ‘‘chief State election official’’ 

17 means, with respect to a State, the individual des18 ignated by the State under section 10 of the Na19 tional Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

20 20509) to be responsible for coordination of the 

21 State’s responsibilities under such Act. 

22 (3) The term ‘‘election infrastructure’’ means 

23 storage facilities, polling places, and centralized vote 

24 tabulation locations used to support the administra25 tion of elections for public office, as well as related 


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1 information and communications technology, includ2 ing voter registration databases, voting machines, 

3 electronic mail and other communications systems 

4 (including electronic mail and other systems of ven5 dors who have entered into contracts with election 

6 agencies to support the administration of elections, 

7 manage the election process, and report and display 

8 election results), and other systems used to manage 

9 the election process and to report and display elec10 tion results on behalf of an election agency. 

11 (4) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

12 of Homeland Security. 

13 (5) The term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning given 

14 such term in section 901 of the Help America Vote 

15 Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21141). 

16 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This title shall apply with re17 spect to the regularly scheduled general election for Fed18 eral office held in November 2020 and each succeeding 

19 regularly scheduled general election for Federal office. 


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1 TITLE III—ENHANCING PROTEC2 TIONS FOR UNITED STATES 

3 DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS 

4 SEC. 301. NATIONAL STRATEGY TO PROTECT UNITED 

5 STATES DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

7 date of the enactment of this Act, the President, acting 

8 through the Secretary, in consultation with the Chairman, 

9 the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the At10 torney General, the Secretary of Education, the Director 

11 of National Intelligence, the Chairman of the Federal 

12 Election Commission, and the heads of any other appro13 priate Federal agencies, shall issue a national strategy to 

14 protect against cyber attacks, influence operations, 

15 disinformation campaigns, and other activities that could 

16 undermine the security and integrity of United States 

17 democratic institutions. 

18 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—The national strategy re19 quired under subsection (a) shall include consideration of 

20 the following: 

21 (1) The threat of a foreign state actor, foreign 

22 terrorist organization (as designated pursuant to 

23 section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

24 (8 U.S.C. 1189)), or a domestic actor carrying out 

25 a cyber attack, influence operation, disinformation 


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1 campaign, or other activity aimed at undermining 

2 the security and integrity of United States demo3 cratic institutions. 

4 (2) The extent to which United States demo5 cratic institutions are vulnerable to a cyber attack, 

6 influence operation, disinformation campaign, or 

7 other activity aimed at undermining the security and 

8 integrity of such democratic institutions. 

9 (3) Potential consequences, such as an erosion 

10 of public trust or an undermining of the rule of law, 

11 that could result from a successful cyber attack, in12 fluence operation, disinformation campaign, or other 

13 activity aimed at undermining the security and in14 tegrity of United States democratic institutions. 

15 (4) Lessons learned from other Western govern16 ments the institutions of which were subject to a 

17 cyber attack, influence operation, disinformation 

18 campaign, or other activity aimed at undermining 

19 the security and integrity of such institutions, as 

20 well as actions that could be taken by the United 

21 States Government to bolster collaboration with for22 eign partners to detect, deter, prevent, and counter 

23 such activities. 

24 (5) Potential impacts such as an erosion of 

25 public trust in democratic institutions as could be 


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1 associated with a successful cyber breach or other 

2 activity negatively-affecting election infrastructure. 

3 (6) Roles and responsibilities of the Secretary, 

4 the Chairman, and the heads of other Federal enti5 ties and non-Federal entities, including chief State 

6 election officials and representatives of multi-state 

7 information sharing and analysis center. 

8 (7) Any findings, conclusions, and recommenda9 tions to strengthen protections for United States 

10 democratic institutions that have been agreed to by 

11 a majority of Commission members on the National 

12 Commission to Protect United States Democratic 

13 Institutions, authorized pursuant to section 302. 

14 (c) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Not later than 90 

15 days after the issuance of the national strategy required 

16 under subsection (a), the President, acting through the 

17 Secretary, in coordination with the Chairman, shall issue 

18 an implementation plan for Federal efforts to implement 

19 such strategy that includes the following: 

20 (1) Strategic objectives and corresponding 

21 tasks. 

22 (2) Projected timelines and costs for the tasks 

23 referred to in paragraph (1). 

24 (3) Metrics to evaluate performance of such 

25 tasks. 


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1 (d) CLASSIFICATION.—The national strategy re2 quired under subsection (a) shall be in unclassified form. 

3 (e) CIVIL RIGHTS REVIEW.—Not later than 60 days 

4 after the issuance of the national strategy required under 

5 subsection (a), and not later than 60 days after the 

6 issuance of the implementation plan required under sub7 section (c), the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight 

8 Board (established under section 1061 of the Intelligence 

9 Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (42 U.S.C. 

10 2000ee)) shall submit a report to Congress on any poten11 tial privacy and civil liberties impacts of such strategy and 

12 implementation plan, respectively. 

13 SEC. 302. NATIONAL COMMISSION TO PROTECT UNITED 

14 STATES DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS. 

15 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

16 the legislative branch the National Commission to Protect 

17 United States Democratic Institutions (hereafter in this 

18 section referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

19 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Commission is to 

20 counter efforts to undermine democratic institutions with21 in the United States. 

22 (c) COMPOSITION.— 

23 (1) MEMBERSHIP.—The Commission shall be 

24 composed of 10 members appointed for the life of 

25 the Commission as follows: 


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1 (A) One member shall be appointed by the 

2 Secretary. 

3 (B) One member shall be appointed by the 

4 Chairman. 

5 (C) Two members shall be appointed by 

6 the majority leader of the Senate, in consulta7 tion with the Chairman of the Committee on 

8 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 

9 the Chairman of the Committee on the Judici10 ary, and the Chairman of the Committee on 

11 Rules and Administration. 

12 (D) Two members shall be appointed by 

13 the minority leader of the Senate, in consulta14 tion with the ranking minority member of the 

15 Committee on Homeland Security and Govern16 mental Affairs, the ranking minority member of 

17 the Committee on the Judiciary, and the rank18 ing minority member of the Committee on 

19 Rules and Administration. 

20 (E) Two members shall be appointed by 

21 the Speaker of the House of Representatives, in 

22 consultation with the Chairman of the Com23 mittee on Homeland Security, the Chairman of 

24 the Committee on House Administration, and 


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1 the Chairman of the Committee on the Judici2 ary. 

3 (F) Two members shall be appointed by 

4 the minority leader of the House of Representa5 tives, in consultation with the ranking minority 

6 member of the Committee on Homeland Secu7 rity, the ranking minority member of the Com8 mittee on the Judiciary, and the ranking minor9 ity member of the Committee on House Admin10 istration. 

11 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—Individuals shall be se12 lected for appointment to the Commission solely on 

13 the basis of their professional qualifications, achieve14 ments, public stature, experience, and expertise in 

15 relevant fields, including, but not limited to cyberse16 curity, national security, and the Constitution of the 

17 United States. 

18 (3) NO COMPENSATION FOR SERVICE.—Mem19 bers shall not receive compensation for service on 

20 the Commission, but shall receive travel expenses, 

21 including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accord22 ance with chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code. 

23 (4) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENT.—All mem24 bers of the Commission shall be appointed no later 


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1 than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this 

2 Act. 

3 (5) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Commission 

4 shall not affect its powers and shall be filled in the 

5 manner in which the original appointment was 

6 made. The appointment of the replacement member 

7 shall be made not later than 60 days after the date 

8 on which the vacancy occurs. 

9 (d) CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.—The Commission shall 

10 elect a Chair and Vice Chair from among its members. 

11 (e) QUORUM AND MEETINGS.— 

12 (1) QUORUM.—The Commission shall meet and 

13 begin the operations of the Commission not later 

14 than 30 days after the date on which all members 

15 have been appointed or, if such meeting cannot be 

16 mutually agreed upon, on a date designated by the 

17 Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 

18 President pro Tempore of the Senate. Each subse19 quent meeting shall occur upon the call of the Chair 

20 or a majority of its members. A majority of the 

21 members of the Commission shall constitute a 

22 quorum, but a lesser number may hold meetings. 

23 (2) AUTHORITY OF INDIVIDUALS TO ACT FOR

24 COMMISSION.—Any member of the Commission may, 

25 if authorized by the Commission, take any action 


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1 that the Commission is authorized to take under this 

2 section. 

3 (f) POWERS.— 

4 (1) HEARINGS AND EVIDENCE.—The Commis5 sion (or, on the authority of the Commission, any 

6 subcommittee or member thereof) may, for the pur7 pose of carrying out this section, hold hearings and 

8 sit and act at such times and places, take such testi9 mony, receive such evidence, and administer such 

10 oaths as the Commission considers advisable to 

11 carry out its duties. 

12 (2) CONTRACTING.—The Commission may, to 

13 such extent and in such amounts as are provided in 

14 appropriation Acts, enter into contracts to enable 

15 the Commission to discharge its duties under this 

16 section. 

17 (g) ASSISTANCE FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

18 (1) GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION.— 

19 The Administrator of General Services shall provide 

20 to the Commission on a reimbursable basis adminis21 trative support and other services for the perform22 ance of the Commission’s functions. 

23 (2) OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES.—In 

24 addition to the assistance provided under paragraph 

25 (1), the Department of Homeland Security, the 


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1 Election Assistance Commission, and other appro2 priate departments and agencies of the United 

3 States shall provide to the Commission such serv4 ices, funds, facilities, and staff as they may deter5 mine advisable and as may be authorized by law. 

6 (h) PUBLIC MEETINGS.—Any public meetings of the 

7 Commission shall be conducted in a manner consistent 

8 with the protection of information provided to or developed 

9 for or by the Commission as required by any applicable 

10 statute, regulation, or Executive order. 

11 (i) SECURITY CLEARANCES.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The heads of appropriate 

13 departments and agencies of the executive branch 

14 shall cooperate with the Commission to expeditiously 

15 provide Commission members and staff with appro16 priate security clearances to the extent possible 

17 under applicable procedures and requirements. 

18 (2) PREFERENCES.—In appointing staff, ob19 taining detailees, and entering into contracts for the 

20 provision of services for the Commission, the Com21 mission shall give preference to individuals otherwise 

22 who have active security clearances. 

23 (j) REPORTS.— 

24 (1) INTERIM REPORTS.—At any time prior to 

25 the submission of the final report under paragraph 


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1 (2), the Commission may submit interim reports to 

2 the President and Congress such findings, conclu3 sions, and recommendations to strengthen protec4 tions for democratic institutions in the United 

5 States as have been agreed to by a majority of the 

6 members of the Commission. 

7 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 18 months 

8 after the date of the first meeting of the Commis9 sion, the Commission shall submit to the President 

10 and Congress a final report containing such find11 ings, conclusions, and recommendations to strength12 en protections for democratic institutions in the 

13 United States as have been agreed to by a majority 

14 of the members of the Commission. 

15 (k) TERMINATION.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall termi17 nate upon the expiration of the 60-day period which 

18 begins on the date on which the Commission submits 

19 the final report required under subsection (j)(2). 

20 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES PRIOR TO

21 TERMINATION.—During the 60-day period described 

22 in paragraph (2), the Commission may carry out 

23 such administrative activities as may be required to 

24 conclude its work, including providing testimony to 


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1 committees of Congress concerning the final report 

2 and disseminating the final report. 

3 TITLE IV—PROMOTING CYBER4 SECURITY THROUGH IM5 PROVEMENTS IN ELECTION 

6 ADMINISTRATION 

7 SEC. 401. TESTING OF EXISTING VOTING SYSTEMS TO EN8 SURE COMPLIANCE WITH ELECTION CYBER9 SECURITY GUIDELINES AND OTHER GUIDE10 LINES. 

11 (a) REQUIRING TESTING OF EXISTING VOTING SYS12 TEMS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 231(a) of the Help 

14 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20971(a)) is 

15 amended by adding at the end the following new 

16 paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(3) TESTING TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE WITH

18 GUIDELINES.— 

19 ‘‘(A) TESTING.—Not later than 9 months 

20 before the date of each regularly scheduled gen21 eral election for Federal office, the Commission 

22 shall provide for the testing by accredited lab23 oratories under this section of the voting system 

24 hardware and software which was certified for 

25 use in the most recent such election, on the 


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1 basis of the most recent voting system guide2 lines applicable to such hardware or software 

3 (including election cybersecurity guidelines) 

4 issued under this Act. 

5 ‘‘(B) DECERTIFICATION OF HARDWARE OR

6 SOFTWARE FAILING TO MEET GUIDELINES.—If, 

7 on the basis of the testing described in subpara8 graph (A), the Commission determines that any 

9 voting system hardware or software does not 

10 meet the most recent guidelines applicable to 

11 such hardware or software issued under this 

12 Act, the Commission shall decertify such hard13 ware or software.’’. 

14 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

15 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to the reg16 ularly scheduled general election for Federal office 

17 held in November 2020 and each succeeding regu18 larly scheduled general election for Federal office. 

19 (b) ISSUANCE OF CYBERSECURITY GUIDELINES BY

20 TECHNICAL GUIDELINES DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE.— 

21 Section 221(b) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 

22 U.S.C. 20961(b)) is amended by adding at the end the 

23 following new paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(3) ELECTION CYBERSECURITY GUIDE25 LINES.—Not later than 6 months after the date of 


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1 the enactment of this paragraph, the Development 

2 Committee shall issue election cybersecurity guide3 lines, including standards and best practices for pro4 curing, maintaining, testing, operating, and updat5 ing election systems to prevent and deter cybersecu6 rity incidents.’’. 

7 SEC. 402. TREATMENT OF ELECTRONIC POLL BOOKS AS 

8 PART OF VOTING SYSTEMS. 

9 (a) INCLUSION IN DEFINITION OF VOTING SYS10 TEM.—Section 301(b) of the Help America Vote Act of 

11 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081(b)) is amended— 

12 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

13 striking ‘‘this section’’ and inserting ‘‘this Act’’; 

14 (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

15 (1); 

16 (3) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para17 graph (3); and 

18 (4) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol19 lowing new paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(2) any electronic poll book used with respect 

21 to the election; and’’. 

22 (b) DEFINITION.—Section 301 of such Act (52 

23 U.S.C. 21081) is amended— 

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

25 subsections (d) and (e); and 


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1 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol2 lowing new subsection: 

3 ‘‘(c) ELECTRONIC POLL BOOK DEFINED.—In this 

4 Act, the term ‘electronic poll book’ means the total com5 bination of mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic 

6 equipment (including the software, firmware, and docu7 mentation required to program, control, and support the 

8 equipment) that is used— 

9 ‘‘(1) to retain the list of registered voters at a 

10 polling location, or vote center, or other location at 

11 which voters cast votes in an election for Federal of12 fice; and 

13 ‘‘(2) to identify registered voters who are eligi14 ble to vote in an election.’’. 

15 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 301(e) of such Act 

16 (52 U.S.C. 21081(e)), as redesignated by subsection (b), 

17 is amended by striking the period at the end and inserting 

18 the following: ‘‘, or, with respect to any requirements re19 lating to electronic poll books, on and after January 1, 

20 2020.’’. 

21 SEC. 403. PRE-ELECTION REPORTS ON VOTING SYSTEM 

22 USAGE. 

23 (a) REQUIRING STATES TO SUBMIT REPORTS.—Title 

24 III of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 


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1 21081 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 301 

2 the following new section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 301A. PRE-ELECTION REPORTS ON VOTING SYSTEM 

4 USAGE. 

5 ‘‘(a) REQUIRING STATES TO SUBMIT REPORTS.— 

6 Not later than 120 days before the date of each regularly 

7 scheduled general election for Federal office, the chief 

8 State election official of a State shall submit a report to 

9 the Commission containing a detailed voting system usage 

10 plan for each jurisdiction in the State which will admin11 ister the election, including a detailed plan for the usage 

12 of electronic poll books and other equipment and compo13 nents of such system. 

14 ‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (a) shall apply 

15 with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 

16 Federal office held in November 2020 and each succeeding 

17 regularly scheduled general election for Federal office.’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN19 FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 

20 is amended by striking ‘‘sections 301, 302, and 303’’ and 

21 inserting ‘‘subtitle A of title III’’. 

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

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

24 to section 301 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 301A. Pre-election reports on voting system usage.’’. 


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1 SEC. 404. STREAMLINING COLLECTION OF ELECTION IN2 FORMATION. 

3 Section 202 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

4 (52 U.S.C. 20922) is amended— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘The Commission’’ and insert6 ing ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission’’; and 

7 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub8 section: 

9 ‘‘(b) WAIVER OF CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS.—Sub10 chapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, 

11 shall not apply to the collection of information for pur12 poses of maintaining the clearinghouse described in para13 graph (1) of subsection (a).’’. 

14 TITLE V—PREVENTING 

15 ELECTION HACKING 

16 SEC. 501. SHORT TITLE. 

17 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Prevent Election 

18 Hacking Act of 2019’’. 

19 SEC. 502. ELECTION SECURITY BUG BOUNTY PROGRAM. 

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 

21 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

22 establish a program to be known as the ‘‘Election Security 

23 Bug Bounty Program’’ (hereafter in this subtitle referred 

24 to as the ‘‘Program’’) to improve the cybersecurity of the 

25 systems used to administer elections for Federal office by 

26 facilitating and encouraging assessments by independent 


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1 technical experts, in cooperation with State and local elec2 tion officials and election service providers, to identify and 

3 report election cybersecurity vulnerabilities. 

4 (b) VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION BY ELECTION OFFI5 CIALS AND ELECTION SERVICE PROVIDERS.— 

6 (1) NO REQUIREMENT TO PARTICIPATE IN PRO7 GRAM.—Participation in the Program shall be en8 tirely voluntary for State and local election officials 

9 and election service providers. 

10 (2) ENCOURAGING PARTICIPATION AND INPUT

11 FROM ELECTION OFFICIALS.—In developing the Pro12 gram, the Secretary shall solicit input from, and en13 courage participation by, State and local election of14 ficials. 

15 (c) ACTIVITIES FUNDED.—In establishing and car16 rying out the Program, the Secretary shall— 

17 (1) establish a process for State and local elec18 tion officials and election service providers to volun19 tarily participate in the Program; 

20 (2) designate appropriate information systems 

21 to be included in the Program; 

22 (3) provide compensation to eligible individuals, 

23 organizations, and companies for reports of pre24 viously unidentified security vulnerabilities within 

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1 graph (A) and establish criteria for individuals, or2 ganizations, and companies to be considered eligible 

3 for such compensation in compliance with Federal 

4 laws; 

5 (4) consult with the Attorney General on how 

6 to ensure that approved individuals, organizations, 

7 or companies that comply with the requirements of 

8 the Program are protected from prosecution under 

9 section 1030 of title 18, United States Code, and 

10 similar provisions of law, and from liability under 

11 civil actions for specific activities authorized under 

12 the Program; 

13 (5) consult with the Secretary of Defense and 

14 the heads of other departments and agencies that 

15 have implemented programs to provide compensation 

16 for reports of previously undisclosed vulnerabilities 

17 in information systems, regarding lessons that may 

18 be applied from such programs; 

19 (6) develop an expeditious process by which an 

20 individual, organization, or company can register 

21 with the Department, submit to a background check 

22 as determined by the Department, and receive a de23 termination as to eligibility for participation in the 

24 Program; and 


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1 (7) engage qualified interested persons, includ2 ing representatives of private entities, about the 

3 structure of the Program and, to the extent prac4 ticable, establish a recurring competition for inde5 pendent technical experts to assess election systems 

6 for the purpose of identifying and reporting election 

7 cybersecurity vulnerabilities. 

8 (d) USE OF SERVICE PROVIDERS.—The Secretary 

9 may award competitive contracts as necessary to manage 

10 the Program. 

11 SEC. 503. DEFINITIONS. 

12 In this title, the following definitions apply: 

13 (1) The terms ‘‘election’’ and ‘‘Federal office’’ 

14 have the meanings given such terms in section 301 

15 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 

16 U.S.C. 30101). 

17 (2) The term ‘‘election cybersecurity vulner18 ability’’ means any security vulnerability (as defined 

19 in section 102 of the Cybersecurity Information 

20 Sharing Act of 2015 (6 U.S.C. 1501)) that affects 

21 an election system. 

22 (3) The term ‘‘election service provider’’ means 

23 any person providing, supporting, or maintaining an 

24 election system on behalf of a State or local election 

25 official, such as a contractor or vendor. 


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1 (4) The term ‘‘election system’’ means any in2 formation system (as defined in section 3502 of title 

3 44, United States Code) which is part of an election 

4 infrastructure. 

5 (5) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

6 of Homeland Security, or, upon designation by the 

7 Secretary of Homeland Security, the Deputy Sec8 retary of Homeland Security, the Director of Cyber9 security and Infrastructure Security of the Depart10 ment of Homeland Security, or a Senate-confirmed 

11 official that reports to the Director. 

12 (6) The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several 

13 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 

14 of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Com15 monwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, and the 

16 United States Virgin Islands. 

17 (7) The term ‘‘voting system’’ has the meaning 

18 given such term in section 301(b) of the Help Amer19 ica Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081(b)). 

20 TITLE VI—ELECTION SECURITY 

21 GRANTS ADVISORY COMMITTEE 

22 SEC. 601. ESTABLISHMENT OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title II of the Help 

24 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20921 et seq.) is 

25 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘PART 4—ELECTION SECURITY GRANTS 

2 ADVISORY COMMITTEE 

3 ‘‘SEC. 225. ELECTION SECURITY GRANTS ADVISORY COM4 MITTEE. 

5 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established 

6 an advisory committee (hereinafter in this part referred 

7 to as the ‘Committee’) to assist the Commission with re8 spect to the award of grants to States under this Act for 

9 the purpose of election security. 

10 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall, with 

12 respect to an application for a grant received by the 

13 Commission— 

14 ‘‘(A) review such application; and 

15 ‘‘(B) recommend to the Commission 

16 whether to award the grant to the applicant. 

17 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In reviewing an appli18 cation pursuant to paragraph (1)(A), the Committee 

19 shall consider— 

20 ‘‘(A) the record of the applicant with re21 spect to— 

22 ‘‘(i) compliance of the applicant with 

23 the requirements under subtitle A of title 

24 III; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) adoption of voluntary guidelines 

2 issued by the Commission under subtitle B 

3 of title III; and 

4 ‘‘(B) the goals and requirements of elec5 tion security as described in title III of the For 

6 the People Act of 2019. 

7 ‘‘(c) MEMBERSHIP.—The Committee shall be com8 posed of 15 individuals appointed by the Executive Direc9 tor of the Commission with experience and expertise in 

10 election security. 

11 ‘‘(d) NO COMPENSATION FOR SERVICE.—Members of 

12 the Committee shall not receive any compensation for 

13 their service, but shall be paid travel expenses, including 

14 per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for em15 ployees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of 

16 title 5, United States Code, while away from their homes 

17 or regular places of business in the performance of services 

18 for the Committee.’’. 

19 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

20 this section shall take effect 1 year after the date of enact21 ment of this Act. 


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1 TITLE VII—USE OF VOTING MA2 CHINES MANUFACTURED IN 

3 THE UNITED STATES 

4 SEC. 701. USE OF VOTING MACHINES MANUFACTURED IN 

5 THE UNITED STATES. 

6 Section 301(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

7 (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)), as amended by section 104 and sec8 tion 105, is amended by adding at the end the following 

9 new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(9) VOTING MACHINE REQUIREMENTS.—By 

11 not later than the date of the regularly scheduled 

12 general election for Federal office occurring in No13 vember 2022, each State shall seek to ensure that 

14 any voting machine used in such election and in any 

15 subsequent election for Federal office is manufac16 tured in the United States.’’. 

17 TITLE VIII—MISCELLANEOUS 

18 PROVISIONS 

19 SEC. 801. DEFINITIONS. 

20 Except as provided in section 503, in this Act, the 

21 following definitions apply: 

22 (1) The term ‘‘Chairman’’ means the chair of 

23 the Election Assistance Commission. 

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1 rity and House Administration of the House of Rep2 resentatives and the Committees on Homeland Secu3 rity and Governmental Affairs and Rules and Ad4 ministration of the Senate. 

5 (3) The term ‘‘chief State election official’’ 

6 means, with respect to a State, the individual des7 ignated by the State under section 10 of the Na8 tional Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 

9 20509) to be responsible for coordination of the 

10 State’s responsibilities under such Act. 

11 (4) The term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Election 

12 Assistance Commission. 

13 (5) The term ‘‘democratic institutions’’ means 

14 the diverse range of institutions that are essential to 

15 ensuring an independent judiciary, free and fair elec16 tions, and rule of law. 

17 (6) The term ‘‘election agency’’ means any com18 ponent of a State, or any component of a unit of 

19 local government in a State, which is responsible for 

20 the administration of elections for Federal office in 

21 the State. 

22 (7) The term ‘‘election infrastructure’’ means 

23 storage facilities, polling places, and centralized vote 

24 tabulation locations used to support the administra25 tion of elections for public office, as well as related 


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1 information and communications technology, includ2 ing voter registration databases, voting machines, 

3 electronic mail and other communications systems 

4 (including electronic mail and other systems of ven5 dors who have entered into contracts with election 

6 agencies to support the administration of elections, 

7 manage the election process, and report and display 

8 election results), and other systems used to manage 

9 the election process and to report and display elec10 tion results on behalf of an election agency. 

11 (8) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

12 of Homeland Security. 

13 (9) The term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning given 

14 such term in section 901 of the Help America Vote 

15 Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21141). 

16 SEC. 802. INITIAL REPORT ON ADEQUACY OF RESOURCES 

17 AVAILABLE FOR IMPLEMENTATION. 

18 Not later than 120 days after enactment of this Act, 

19 the Chairman and the Secretary shall submit a report to 

20 the appropriate committees of Congress, including the 

21 Committees on Homeland Security and House Adminis22 tration of the House of Representatives and the Com23 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

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1 sources, and personnel available to carry out this Act and 

2 the amendments made by this Act. 

3 TITLE IX—SEVERABILITY 

4 SEC. 901. SEVERABILITY. 

5 If any provision of this Act or amendment made by 

6 this Act, or the application of a provision or amendment 

7 to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitu8 tional, the remainder of this Act and amendments made 

9 by this Act, and the application of the provisions and 

10 amendment to any person or circumstance, shall not be 

11 affected by the holding. 

Æ 


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