II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1487 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require an individual, 

durable, voter-verified paper record under title III of such Act, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 24, 2007 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. DODD, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. INOUYE, Mr. 

OBAMA, Mr. BROWN, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. KENNEDY, and 

Mrs. CLINTON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require 

an individual, durable, voter-verified paper record under 

title III of such Act, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Ballot Integrity Act of 2007’’. 

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

7 this Act is as follows: 


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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—MORATORIUM ON, AND REPLACEMENT AND RETROFITTING OF, CERTAIN DIRECT RECORDING ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEMS 

Sec. 101. Moratorium on acquisition of certain direct recording electronic voting systems and certain other voting systems. 

Sec. 102. Grant program to replace or retrofit direct recording electronic voting 

systems. 

Sec. 103. Grants for research on voting technology improvements for the development of completely accessible voting systems. 

Sec. 104. Authorization of appropriations for Election Assistance Commission; 

etc. 

TITLE II—BALLOT INTEGRITY 

Sec. 201. Promoting accuracy, integrity, and security through individual, durable, voter-verified paper records. 

Sec. 202. Requirement for mandatory manual audits. 

TITLE III—IMPROVING FEDERAL ELECTIONS 

Subtitle A—Additional Requirements for Federal Elections 

Sec. 301. Absentee voting. 

Sec. 302. Third-party voter registration. 

Sec. 303. Training of poll workers. 

Sec. 304. Equitable allocation of voting systems, poll workers, and election resources. 

Sec. 305. Prohibition on campaign activities by chief State election officials. 

Sec. 306. Standards for purging voters. 

Sec. 307. Election observers. 

Sec. 308. Early voting. 

Sec. 309. Requirements for counting provisional ballots. 

Sec. 310. Conforming amendments. 

Subtitle B—Military and Overseas Voting 

Sec. 311. Prohibiting refusal to accept voter registration and absentee ballot 

applications and federal write-in absentee ballot for failure to 

meet nonessential requirements. 

Sec. 312. Federal write-in absentee ballots cast by overseas voters located in 

the United States. 


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1 TITLE I—MORATORIUM ON, AND 

2 REPLACEMENT AND RETRO3 FITTING OF, CERTAIN DIRECT 

4 RECORDING ELECTRONIC 

5 VOTING SYSTEMS 

6 SEC. 101. MORATORIUM ON ACQUISITION OF CERTAIN DI7 RECT RECORDING ELECTRONIC VOTING SYS8 TEMS AND CERTAIN OTHER VOTING SYS9 TEMS. 

10 Section 301 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

11 (42 U.S.C. 15481) is amended— 

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

13 subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and 

14 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol15 lowing new subsection: 

16 ‘‘(c) MORATORIUM ON ACQUISITION OF DIRECT RE17 CORDING ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEMS AND CERTAIN

18 OTHER VOTING SYSTEMS.—Beginning on the date of en19 actment of the Ballot Integrity Act of 2007, no State or 

20 jurisdiction may purchase or otherwise acquire for use in 

21 an election for Federal office a direct recording electronic 

22 voting system or other electronic voting system that does 

23 not produce a voter-verified paper record as required by 

24 section 301(a)(2) (as amended by such Act).’’. 


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1 SEC. 102. GRANT PROGRAM TO REPLACE OR RETROFIT DI2 RECT RECORDING ELECTRONIC VOTING SYS3 TEMS. 

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

5 America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15401 et seq.) is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following new part: 

7 ‘‘PART 7—GRANTS FOR REPLACING OR RETRO8 FITTING DIRECT RECORDING ELECTRONIC 

9 VOTING SYSTEMS AND CERTAIN OTHER VOT10 ING SYSTEMS 

11 ‘‘SEC. 297. GRANTS FOR REPLACING OR RETROFITTING DI12 RECT RECORDING ELECTRONIC VOTING SYS13 TEMS AND CERTAIN OTHER VOTING SYS14 TEMS. 

15 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Election Assistance 

17 Commission shall make payments in an amount de18 termined under subsection (c) to each State which 

19 meets the conditions described in subsection (b). 

20 ‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—A State shall use the 

21 funds provided under a payment under this section 

22 for (either directly or as reimbursement, including as 

23 reimbursement for costs incurred on or after Janu24 ary 1, 2007, under multiyear contracts) replacing or 

25 retrofitting any nonqualified voting systems in reme26 dial precincts within that State with voting systems 


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1 (by purchase, lease, or such other arrangement as 

2 may be appropriate) that— 

3 ‘‘(A) meet the requirements of section 301 

4 (as amended by the Ballot Integrity Act of 

5 2007); and 

6 ‘‘(B) are not inconsistent with the require7 ments of the laws described in section 906. 

8 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State is eligible to re10 ceive a payment under this section if it submits to 

11 the Commission, not later than 1 year after the date 

12 of the enactment of the Ballot Integrity Act of 

13 2007— 

14 ‘‘(A) a notice (in such form as the Com15 mission may require) certifying the number of 

16 remedial precincts in the State; and 

17 ‘‘(B) a statement made by the chief execu18 tive officer of the State, or designee, in con19 sultation and coordination with the chief State 

20 election official— 

21 ‘‘(i) describing the State’s need for 

22 the payment and how the State will use 

23 the payment to meet the requirements of 

24 section 301(a)(2) (as amended by such 

25 Act); 


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1 ‘‘(ii) certifying that the State will con2 tinue to comply with the laws described in 

3 section 906; 

4 ‘‘(iii) certifying that any voting sys5 tems which are replaced or retrofitted will 

6 meet the requirements of section 301 (as 

7 amended by such Act); and 

8 ‘‘(iv) containing such other informa9 tion and certifications as the Commission 

10 may require. 

11 ‘‘(2) COMPLIANCE OF STATES THAT REQUIRE

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

13 that requires State legislation to carry out an activ14 ity covered by any certification submitted under this 

15 subsection, the State shall be permitted to make the 

16 certification notwithstanding that the legislation has 

17 not been enacted at the time the certification is sub18 mitted and such State shall submit an additional 

19 certification once such legislation is enacted. 

20 ‘‘(c) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (3), 

22 the amount of payment made to a State under this 

23 section shall be equal to the product of— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the total amount appropriated for 

2 payments for the year pursuant to the author3 ization under subsection (e); and 

4 ‘‘(B) the State allocation percentage for 

5 the State (as determined under paragraph (2)). 

6 ‘‘(2) STATE ALLOCATION PERCENTAGE DE7 FINED.—The ‘State allocation percentage’ for a 

8 State is the amount (expressed as a percentage) 

9 equal to the quotient of— 

10 ‘‘(A) the number of remedial precincts in 

11 the State; and 

12 ‘‘(B) the total number of remedial pre13 cincts in all States. 

14 ‘‘(3) MINIMUM AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.—The 

15 amount of a payment under this section made to a 

16 State for a year may not be less than— 

17 ‘‘(A) in the case of any of the several 

18 States or the District of Columbia, one-half of 

19 1 percent of the total amount appropriated for 

20 requirements payments for the year under sub21 section (e); or 

22 ‘‘(B) in the case of the Commonwealth of 

23 Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, or the 

24 United States Virgin Islands, one-tenth of 1 

25 percent of such total amount. 


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1 ‘‘(4) PRO RATA REDUCTIONS.—The Commis2 sion shall make such pro rata reductions to the allo3 cations determined under paragraph (1) as are nec4 essary to comply with the requirements of paragraph 

5 (3). 

6 ‘‘(5) CONTINUING AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS

7 AFTER APPROPRIATION.—Any payment made to a 

8 State under this part shall be available to the State 

9 without fiscal year limitation. 

10 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

11 ‘‘(1) NONQUALIFIED VOTING SYSTEM.—The 

12 term ‘nonqualified voting system’ means a direct re13 cording electronic voting system or other electronic 

14 voting system which does not meet the vote 

15 verification and audit capacity requirements of sec16 tion 301(a)(2), as amended by the Ballot Integrity 

17 Act of 2007. 

18 ‘‘(2) REMEDIAL PRECINCT DEFINED.—The 

19 term ‘remedial precinct’ means any precinct (or 

20 equivalent location) within the State for which the 

21 voting system used to administer the regularly 

22 scheduled general election for Federal office held in 

23 November 2006— 

24 ‘‘(A) was a nonqualifying voting system; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) did not provide that the entire proc2 ess of vote verification was equipped for individ3 uals with disabilities. 

4 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

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

6 appropriated $300,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

7 2008 and 2009 for grants under subsection (a). 

8 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY.—Any amounts appro9 priated pursuant to the authority of paragraph (1) 

10 shall remain available without fiscal year limitation 

11 until expended.’’. 

12 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING STATES

13 RECEIVING OTHER FUNDS FOR REPLACING PUNCH

14 CARD, LEVER, OR OTHER VOTING SYSTEMS.—Nothing in 

15 the amendment made by subsection (a) or in any other 

16 provision of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 may be 

17 construed to prohibit a State which received or was au18 thorized to receive a payment under title I or II of such 

19 Act for replacing punch card, lever, or other voting sys20 tems from receiving or using any funds which are made 

21 available (either directly or as reimbursement) under the 

22 amendment made by such subsection. 

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

24 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 is amended by in25 serting after the item relating to section 296 the following: 


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‘‘PART 7—GRANTS FOR REPLACING OR RETROFITTING DIRECT RECORDING

ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEMS AND CERTAIN OTHER VOTING SYSTEMS

‘‘Sec. 297. Grants for replacing or retrofitting direct recording electronic voting 

systems and certain other voting systems.’’. 

1 SEC. 103. GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON VOTING TECH2 NOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS FOR THE DEVELOP3 MENT OF COMPLETELY ACCESSIBLE VOTING 

4 SYSTEMS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 271 of the Help America 

6 Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15441) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (b), in the matter preceding 

8 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘An entity’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘Subject to subsection (c), an entity’’; 

10 (2) by redesignating subsections (c), (d), and 

11 (e) as subsections (d), (e), and (f), respectively; and 

12 (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol13 lowing new subsection: 

14 ‘‘(c) DEEMED ELIGIBILITY FOR DEVELOPMENT OF

15 COMPLETELY ACCESSIBLE VOTING SYSTEMS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An entity shall be deemed 

17 to be eligible to receive a grant under this part if the 

18 entity submits a grant application to conduct re19 search and develop voting systems that meet the 

20 verification and audit requirements of section 

21 301(a)(2) using a voting system that is completely 

22 accessible for all individuals, including individuals 

23 with disabilities, language minorities described in 


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1 section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and 

2 individuals with difficulties in literacy. 

3 ‘‘(2) NUMBER OF ENTITIES RECEIVING A

4 GRANT.—The Commission, in consultation with the 

5 Technical Guidelines Development Committee, shall 

6 make grants to not less than 3 entities, including 

7 academic, non-profit, and public and private entities, 

8 that are deemed to be eligible to receive a grant 

9 under paragraph (1).’’. 

10 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

11 273 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 

12 15443) is amended— 

13 (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub14 section (c); and 

15 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol16 lowing new subsection: 

17 ‘‘(b) ACCESSIBLE VOTING SYSTEMS.—There are au18 thorized to be appropriated for grants to entities deemed 

19 eligible under section 271(c) $3,000,000 for fiscal years 

20 2008 and 2009.’’; and 

21 (3) in subsection (c), as redesignated by para22 graph (1), by striking ‘‘authorization under this sec23 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘authorizations under sub24 sections (a) and (b)’’. 


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1 SEC. 104. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR ELEC2 TION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION; ETC. 

3 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

4 210 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 

5 15330) is amended by striking ‘‘for each of the fiscal 

6 years’’ through the end and inserting ‘‘for fiscal year 2008 

7 and each fiscal year thereafter such sums as are necessary 

8 for the Commission to carry out this title.’’. 

9 (b) BUDGET REQUESTS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Part 1 of subtitle A of title 

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

12 15321 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 

13 209 the following new section: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 209A. SUBMISSION OF BUDGET REQUESTS. 

15 ‘‘Whenever the Commission submits any budget esti16 mate or request to the President or the Office of Manage17 ment and Budget, it shall concurrently transmit a copy 

18 of such estimate or request to Congress and to the Com19 mittee on House Administration of the House of Rep20 resentatives and the Committee on Rules and Administra21 tion of the Senate.’’. 

22 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con23 tents of such Act is amended by inserting after the 

24 item relating to section 209 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 209A. Submission of budget requests.’’. 


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1 (c) EXEMPTION FROM PAPERWORK REDUCTION

2 ACT.—Paragraph (1) of section 3502 of title 44, United 

3 States Code, is amended by redesignating subparagraphs 

4 (B), (C), and (D) as subparagraphs (C), (D), and (E), 

5 respectively, and by inserting after subparagraph (A) the 

6 following new subparagraph: 

7 ‘‘(B) the Election Assistance Commis8 sion;’’. 

9 TITLE II—BALLOT INTEGRITY 

10 SEC. 201. PROMOTING ACCURACY, INTEGRITY, AND SECU11 RITY THROUGH INDIVIDUAL, DURABLE, 

12 VOTER-VERIFIED PAPER RECORDS. 

13 (a) VOTE VERIFICATION AND AUDIT CAPACITY.— 

14 (1) VOTER-VERIFIED PAPER RECORDS.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 301(a)(2) of 

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

17 15481(a)(2)) is amended to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(2) VOTE VERIFICATION AND AUDIT CAPAC19 ITY.— 

20 ‘‘(A) VOTER-VERIFIED PAPER RECORDS.— 

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The voting system 

22 shall require the use of or produce an indi23 vidual, durable, voter-verified paper record 

24 of the voter’s vote that shall be created by 

25 or made available for inspection and 


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1 verification by the voter before the voter’s 

2 vote is cast and counted. For purposes of 

3 this subclause, examples of such a record 

4 include a paper ballot marked by the voter 

5 for the purpose of being counted by hand 

6 or read by an optical scanner or other 

7 similar device, a paper ballot prepared by 

8 the voter to be mailed to an election offi9 cial (whether from a domestic or overseas 

10 location), a paper ballot created through 

11 the use of a ballot marking device or sys12 tem, or a paper record or ballot produced 

13 by a touch screen or other electronic voting 

14 system, so long as in each case the voter 

15 is permitted to verify the vote in a paper 

16 form in accordance with this subpara17 graph. 

18 ‘‘(ii) VERIFICATION.—The voting sys19 tem shall provide the voter with an oppor20 tunity to correct any error made by the 

21 system in the voter-verified paper record 

22 before the individual, durable, voter23 verified paper record is preserved in ac24 cordance with subparagraph (C). 


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1 ‘‘(iii) MAINTENANCE OF SECRET BAL2 LOT.—The voting system shall not pre3 serve the voter-verified paper records in 

4 any manner that makes it possible, at any 

5 time after the vote has been cast, to asso6 ciate a voter with the record of the voter’s 

7 vote. 

8 ‘‘(B) DURABILITY AND READABILITY RE9 QUIREMENTS.— 

10 ‘‘(i) DURABILITY REQUIREMENTS.— 

11 The individual, durable, voter-verified 

12 paper record produced in accordance with 

13 subparagraph (A) shall be marked, print14 ed, or recorded on durable paper capable 

15 of withstanding multiple counts and re16 counts without compromising the funda17 mental integrity of the records, and capa18 ble of retaining the information marked, 

19 printed, or recorded on them for the full 

20 duration of a retention and preservation 

21 period of 2 years. 

22 ‘‘(ii) READABILITY REQUIREMENTS

23 FOR MACHINE-MARKED OR PRINTED

24 VOTER-VERIFIED PAPER RECORDS.—All 

25 voter-verified paper records marked or 


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1 printed through the use of a marking or 

2 printing device shall be clearly readable by 

3 both the voter and by a scanner or other 

4 device equipped for voters with disabilities 

5 and for voters who are language minorities 

6 described in section 203 of the Voting 

7 Rights Act of 1965. 

8 ‘‘(C) PRESERVATION.—The individual, du9 rable, voter-verified paper record produced in 

10 accordance with subparagraph (A) shall be used 

11 as the official ballot for purposes of any recount 

12 or audit conducted with respect to any election 

13 for Federal office in which the voting system is 

14 used and shall be preserved in the following 

15 manner: 

16 ‘‘(i) In the case of votes cast at the 

17 polling place on the date of the election, 

18 within the polling place in the manner or 

19 method in which paper ballots are pre20 served within such polling place. 

21 ‘‘(ii) In any other case, including any 

22 case where no such manner or method has 

23 been established under clause (i), in the 

24 manner or method which is consistent with 


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1 the manner employed by the jurisdiction 

2 for preserving paper ballots in general. 

3 ‘‘(D) MANUAL AUDIT CAPACITY.—Each 

4 paper record produced pursuant to subpara5 graph (A) shall be suitable for a manual audit 

6 equivalent to that of a paper ballot voting sys7 tem, and shall be counted in any recount or 

8 audit conducted with respect to any election for 

9 Federal office. 

10 ‘‘(E) INCONSISTENCIES BETWEEN

11 RECORDS AND ELECTRONIC VOTE TALLIES.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

13 (ii), in the event of any inconsistencies or 

14 irregularities between any electronic vote 

15 tallies and the vote tallies determined by 

16 counting by hand the individual, durable, 

17 voter-verified paper records produced pur18 suant to subparagraph (A), the individual, 

19 durable, voter-verified paper records shall 

20 be the true and correct record of the votes 

21 cast. 

22 ‘‘(ii) SPECIAL RULE FOR TREATMENT

23 OF DISPUTES WHEN VOTER-VERIFIED

24 PAPER RECORDS HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO

25 BE COMPROMISED.—If, with respect to any 


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1 recount, audit, or contest proceeding with 

2 respect to an election for Federal office— 

3 ‘‘(I) there is any inconsistency 

4 between any electronic vote tallies and 

5 the vote tallies determined by count6 ing by hand the individual, durable, 

7 voter-verified paper records produced 

8 pursuant to subparagraph (A); and 

9 ‘‘(II) it is determined that a suf10 ficient number of voter-verified paper 

11 records were compromised (by damage 

12 or mischief or otherwise) before the 

13 start of such recount, audit, or con14 test proceeding such that the result of 

15 the election would be changed, 

16 the electronic vote tallies in the precincts 

17 in which voter-verified paper records were 

18 compromised may, to the extent provided 

19 under State law, be taken into consider20 ation as a factor, but not the only factor, 

21 in determining the true and correct count 

22 of the votes.’’. 

23 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

24 301(a)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15481(a)(1)) 

25 is amended— 


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

2 ‘‘counted’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in ac3 cordance with paragraph (2)(A)(i)’’; 

4 (ii) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by strik5 ing ‘‘counted’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in 

6 accordance with paragraph (2)(A)(ii)’’; and 

7 (iii) in subparagraph (A)(iii)(III), by 

8 striking ‘‘counted’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, 

9 in accordance with paragraph (2)’’. 

10 (C) SPECIAL CERTIFICATION OF VOTER11 VERIFIED PAPER RECORD DURABILITY AND

12 READABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR STATES NOT

13 CURRENTLY USING VOTER-VERIFIED PAPER

14 RECORDS.—If any of the voting systems used in 

15 a State for the regularly scheduled 2008 gen16 eral elections for Federal office did not operate 

17 by having voters cast votes on paper ballots or 

18 otherwise produce or use a voter-verified paper 

19 record, the State shall certify to the Election 

20 Assistance Commission not later than July 1, 

21 2009, that the State will be in compliance with 

22 the requirements of section 301(a)(2)(B) of the 

23 Help America Vote of 2002, as added by sub24 paragraph (A), in accordance with the deadline 

25 established under this Act, and shall include in 


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1 the certification the methods by which the State 

2 will meet the requirements. 

3 (2) ACCESSIBILITY AND VOTE VERIFICATION

4 FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.— 

5 (A) MODIFICATION OF ACCESSIBILITY RE6 QUIREMENT.— 

7 (i) IN GENERAL.—Section 

8 301(a)(3)(B) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

9 15481(a)(3)(B)) is amended to read as fol10 lows: 

11 ‘‘(B)(i) satisfy the requirement of subpara12 graph (A) through the use of at least one voting 

13 system equipped for individuals with disabilities 

14 at each polling place; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) meet the requirements of subpara16 graph (A) and paragraph (2)(A) by using a sys17 tem that— 

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

19 independently verify the individual, dura20 ble, voter-verified paper record produced in 

21 accordance with paragraph (2)(A) through 

22 the conversion of the human-readable 

23 printed vote selections into accessible form; 

24 ‘‘(II) ensures that the entire process, 

25 including vote verification and vote casting, 


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1 is equipped for individuals with disabilities; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(III) does not preclude the supple4 mentary use of Braille or tactile ballots; 

5 and’’. 

6 (ii) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Sec7 tion 301(a)(3)(C) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

8 15481(a)(3)(C)) is amended by striking 

9 ‘‘January 1, 2007’’ and inserting ‘‘Janu10 ary 1, 2010’’. 

11 (B) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT OF STUDY, 

12 TESTING, AND DEVELOPMENT OF ACCESSIBLE

13 VOTE VERIFICATION MECHANISMS.— 

14 (i) STUDY AND REPORTING.—Subtitle 

15 C of title II of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15381 

16 et seq.) is amended— 

17 (I) by redesignating section 247 

18 as section 248; and 

19 (II) by inserting after section 

20 246 the following new section: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 247. STUDY AND REPORT ON ACCESSIBLE VOTE 

22 VERIFICATION MECHANISMS. 

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

24 study, test, and develop best practices to enhance the ac25 cessibility of vote verification mechanisms for individuals 


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1 with disabilities, for language minorities described in sec2 tion 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and for individ3 uals with difficulties in literacy, including best practices 

4 for the mechanisms themselves and the processes through 

5 which the mechanisms are used. In carrying out this sec6 tion, the Commission shall specifically investigate existing 

7 and potential methods or devices that will assist such indi8 viduals in creating voter-verified paper records and in pre9 senting or transmitting the information printed or marked 

10 on such records back to such individuals for purposes of 

11 verification. 

12 ‘‘(b) COORDINATION WITH GRANTS FOR TECH13 NOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS.—The Commission shall coordi14 nate the study conducted under subsection (a) with the 

15 research conducted under the grant program under section 

16 271 to the extent that the Commission determines nec17 essary to provide for the uniform advancement of acces18 sible voting technology. 

19 ‘‘(c) DEADLINE.—The Commission shall complete the 

20 requirements of subsection (a) not later than January 1, 

21 2010. 

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

23 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out subsection 

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


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1 (ii) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The 

2 table of contents of such Act is amended— 

3 (I) by redesignating the item re4 lating to section 247 as relating to 

5 section 248; and 

6 (II) by inserting after the item 

7 relating to section 246 the following 

8 new item: 

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

9 (C) CLARIFICATION OF ACCESSIBILITY

10 STANDARDS UNDER VOLUNTARY VOTING SYS11 TEM GUIDANCE.—In adopting any voluntary 

12 guidance under subtitle B of title III of the 

13 Help America Vote Act of 2002 with respect to 

14 the accessibility of the vote verification require15 ments under section 301(a)(2)(A)(ii) of such 

16 Act for individuals with disabilities, the Election 

17 Assistance Commission shall include and apply 

18 the same accessibility standards applicable 

19 under the voluntary guidance adopted for acces20 sible voting systems under such subtitle. 

21 (3) MODIFICATION OF ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGE

22 ACCESSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—Paragraph (4) of 

23 section 301(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15481(a)) is 

24 amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(4) ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGE ACCESSI2 BILITY.—The voting system (including the indi3 vidual, durable, voter-verified paper record produced 

4 under paragraph (2))— 

5 ‘‘(A) shall provide alternative language ac6 cessibility to individuals who are language mi7 norities described in section 203 of the Voting 

8 Rights Act of 1965 in a manner that provides 

9 the same opportunity for access, participation, 

10 and private and independent inspection and 

11 verification as for other voters; and 

12 ‘‘(B) shall be subject to the requirements 

13 of section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 

14 to the extent such section is applicable to the 

15 State or jurisdiction in which such voting sys16 tem used or in which such record is produced.’’. 

17 (4) REQUIREMENT FOR RESIDUAL VOTE

18 BENCHMARK.—Section 301(a)(5) of such Act (42 

19 U.S.C. 15481(a)(5)) is amended to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The error rate of the 

21 voting system in counting votes (determined by 

22 taking into account only those errors which are 

23 attributable to the voting system and not attrib24 utable to an act of the voter) shall not exceed 

25 the error rate standards established under the 


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1 voting systems standards issued and maintained 

2 by the Commission. 

3 ‘‘(B) RESIDUAL BALLOT PERFORMANCE

4 BENCHMARK.—In addition to the error rate 

5 standards described in subparagraph (A), the 

6 Commission shall issue and maintain a uniform 

7 benchmark for the residual vote error rate that 

8 States may not exceed. For purposes of the pre9 ceding sentence, the residual vote error rate 

10 shall be equal to the combination of overvotes, 

11 spoiled or uncountable votes, and undervotes 

12 cast in all Federal election contents on the bal13 lot, but excluding an estimate, based upon the 

14 best available research, of intentional under15 votes. The Commission shall base the bench16 mark issued and maintained under this sub17 paragraph on evidence of best practices in rep18 resentative jurisdictions. 

19 ‘‘(C) HISTORICALLY HIGH INTENTIONAL

20 UNDERVOTES.— 

21 ‘‘(i) FINDING.—Congress finds that 

22 there are certain distinct communities in 

23 certain geographic areas that have histori24 cally high rates of intentional undervoting 


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1 in elections for Federal office, relative to 

2 the rest of the Nation. 

3 ‘‘(ii) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN DIS4 TINCT COMMUNITIES.—In establishing the 

5 benchmark described in subparagraph (B), 

6 the Commission shall— 

7 ‘‘(I) study and report to Con8 gress on the occurrences of distinct 

9 communities that have significantly 

10 higher than average rates of historical 

11 intentional undervoting; and 

12 ‘‘(II) promulgate for local juris13 dictions in which that distinct commu14 nity has a substantial presence either 

15 a separate benchmark or an exclusion 

16 from the national benchmark, as ap17 propriate.’’. 

18 (b) ADDITIONAL VOTING SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 301(a) of such Act 

20 (42 U.S.C. 15481(a)) is amended by adding at the 

21 end the following new paragraphs: 

22 ‘‘(7) CERTIFICATION AND DISCLOSURE OF

23 SOFTWARE.— 

24 ‘‘(A) CERTIFICATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—No voting system 

2 shall at any time contain or use any soft3 ware which has not been certified— 

4 ‘‘(I) in the case of systems used 

5 in Federal elections before January 1, 

6 2010, by the Commission or by the 

7 State under section 231; and 

8 ‘‘(II) in the case of systems used 

9 in Federal elections on and after Jan10 uary 1, 2010, by the Commission 

11 under section 231. 

12 ‘‘(ii) EMERGENCY SOFTWARE CER13 TIFICATION.—The Commission shall estab14 lish guidelines for the expedited and secure 

15 certification of any software additions or 

16 patches to existing voting systems— 

17 ‘‘(I) that are necessary for the 

18 secure and accurate counting of voter19 verified paper records; and 

20 ‘‘(II) the certification of which 

21 cannot be completed through the ordi22 nary certification process in adequate 

23 time to allow the secure and accurate 

24 use of the voting system in the next 

25 election for Federal office. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) EXCEPTION.—The Commission 

2 may exempt commercial off-the-shelf soft3 ware that is not election-dedicated software 

4 from the certification requirements of this 

5 subparagraph if the Commission deter6 mines such an exemption is appropriate. 

7 ‘‘(B) DISCLOSURE.— 

8 ‘‘(i) DISCLOSURE OF ELECTION-DEDI9 CATED SOFTWARE.— 

10 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—No voting 

11 system shall at any time contain or 

12 use any election-dedicated software 

13 unless such software has been dis14 closed as provided under subclause 

15 (II). 

16 ‘‘(II) DISCLOSURE.—Software 

17 disclosed under this clause shall be 

18 disclosed to the Commission and to 

19 any State using such voting system in 

20 electronic form and shall include such 

21 information as necessary to assess the 

22 integrity and efficacy of such soft23 ware. 

24 ‘‘(ii) DISCLOSURE OF OTHER SOFT25 WARE.—No voting system shall at any 


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1 time contain or use any software other 

2 than election-dedicated software unless the 

3 manufacturer of such software discloses in 

4 electronic form such information as the 

5 Commission determines appropriate to the 

6 Commission, the National Institute of 

7 Standards and Technology, and the Chief 

8 State election official of any State using 

9 such voting system. 

10 ‘‘(iii) STORAGE OF SOFTWARE.—The 

11 Commission shall transmit the information 

12 disclosed under clauses (i) and (ii) to an 

13 entity selected by the National Institute of 

14 Standards and Technology for the purpose 

15 of holding such information. 

16 ‘‘(iv) USE OF INFORMATION.— 

17 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Information 

18 disclosed under this subparagraph 

19 may not be provided to any person ex20 cept as provided in this clause. 

21 ‘‘(II) DISCLOSURE TO GOVERN22 MENTAL ENTITIES.—Information dis23 closed under this subparagraph may 

24 be provided to the Commission, the 

25 National Institute of Standards and 


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1 Technology, the Chief State election 

2 official of any State using such elec3 tronic voting software in an voting 

4 system, or any other Federal or State 

5 governmental entity responsible for 

6 the administration or enforcement of 

7 election laws, but only for the pur8 poses of administering or enforcing 

9 election laws, or for review, analysis, 

10 and reporting as provided in clause 

11 (v). 

12 ‘‘(III) DISCLOSURE TO PARTIES

13 IN LITIGATION.—Information dis14 closed under this subparagraph may 

15 be provided to a party involved in liti16 gation with respect to an election in 

17 which such electronic voting software 

18 is used, but only if such information 

19 is disclosed to all parties involved in 

20 such litigation and only to the extent 

21 necessary for the review and analysis 

22 of such information (as provided in 

23 clause (v)) for use in such litigation. 

24 ‘‘(IV) DISCLOSURE TO OTHER

25 PERSONS.—Information disclosed 


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1 under this subparagraph may be pro2 vided to independent technical experts 

3 and other persons and entities con4 sistent with standards established by 

5 the Commission, but only for purposes 

6 of reviewing, analyzing, and reporting 

7 on the operation of such software as 

8 provided in clause (v). 

9 ‘‘(v) SCOPE OF REVIEW, ANALYSES, 

10 AND REPORTING.—The review, analysis, 

11 and reporting of software permitted under 

12 clause (iv) may only consist of the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(I) In the case of election-dedi15 cated software, performing review and 

16 analyses of the software, disclosing re17 ports and analyses that describe oper18 ational issues (including 

19 vulnerabilities to tampering, errors, 

20 risks associated with use, failures as a 

21 result of use, and other operational 

22 issues), and describing or explaining 

23 why or how a voting system failed or 

24 otherwise did not perform as in25 tended, but only if the information 


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1 published does not compromise the in2 tegrity of the software or result in the 

3 disclosure of trade secrets or other 

4 confidential commercial information, 

5 or violate intellectual property rights 

6 in such software. 

7 ‘‘(II) In the case of software 

8 other than election-dedicated software, 

9 performing review and analyses of the 

10 software, and issuing reports that de11 scribe operational issues, but only if 

12 the information published does not 

13 compromise the integrity of the soft14 ware or result in the disclosure of 

15 trade secrets or other confidential 

16 commercial information, or violate in17 tellectual property rights in such soft18 ware. 

19 ‘‘(vi) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION

20 PROVIDED THROUGH DISCLOSURE.—Any 

21 recipient of information disclosed under 

22 this subparagraph— 

23 ‘‘(I) shall not compromise the in24 tegrity of the software with respect to 

25 which such information relates; 


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1 ‘‘(II) shall not disclose any trade 

2 secrets or other confidential commer3 cial information with respect to such 

4 software; and 

5 ‘‘(III) shall not violate any intel6 lectual property rights in such soft7 ware. 

8 The Commission shall develop a process 

9 with manufacturers and holders of intellec10 tual property to ensure compliance with 

11 the requirements of this clause. 

12 ‘‘(C) ELECTION-DEDICATED SOFTWARE.— 

13 For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘elec14 tion-dedicated software’ means software that— 

15 ‘‘(i) is specifically designed for use 

16 primarily in a voting system; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) has been specifically modified for 

18 use primarily in a voting system, but only 

19 to the extent of such modification. 

20 ‘‘(8) PROHIBITION OF USE OF WIRELESS COM21 MUNICATIONS DEVICES IN VOTING SYSTEMS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No voting system 

23 shall contain, use, or be accessible by any wire24 less, power-line, or concealed communication de25 vice. 


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1 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN SYSTEMS

2 USING INFRARED TECHNOLOGY.—Subpara3 graph (A) shall not apply to a voting system 

4 that uses software which is loaded using solely 

5 infrared technology if the infrared technology is 

6 certified as part of the voting system. 

7 ‘‘(9) PROHIBITING CONNECTION OF SYSTEM OR

8 TRANSMISSION OF SYSTEM INFORMATION OVER THE

9 INTERNET.—No component of any voting device 

10 upon which votes are cast shall be connected to the 

11 Internet at any time. Nothing in this section shall 

12 be construed to prohibit any study on Internet vot13 ing required under this Act or any other provision 

14 of law. 

15 ‘‘(10) SECURITY STANDARDS FOR VOTING SYS16 TEMS USED IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.— 

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

18 be used in an election for Federal office unless 

19 the manufacturer of such system and the elec20 tion officials using such system meet the appli21 cable requirements described in subparagraph 

22 (B). 

23 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS DESCRIBED.—The 

24 requirements described in this subparagraph 

25 are as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(i) The chain of custody for the han2 dling of all software, hardware, vote stor3 age media, ballots, and voter-verified paper 

4 records used in connection with voting sys5 tems is documented by State election offi6 cials, under standards developed by the 

7 State, and made available to the Commis8 sion upon request. 

9 ‘‘(ii) The manufacturer discloses to 

10 the Commission and to the appropriate 

11 election official any software or other infor12 mation required to be disclosed under 

13 paragraph (7)(B). 

14 ‘‘(iii) Except as provided in paragraph 

15 (7)(A)(ii), after the voting system software 

16 has been certified for use in an election, 

17 the manufacturer may not— 

18 ‘‘(I) alter such software; or 

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

20 system any software not certified for 

21 use in the election. 

22 ‘‘(iv) At the request of the Commis23 sion, the appropriate election official sub24 mits information to the Commission reVerDate Aug 31 2005 18:58 May 27, 2007 Jkt 059196 PO 00000 Frm 00035 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1487.IS S1487

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1 garding the State’s compliance with this 

2 subparagraph. 

3 ‘‘(11) USE OF EMERGENCY PAPER BALLOTS IN

4 CASE OF SYSTEM OR EQUIPMENT FAILURE.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the event of the 

6 failure of voting equipment or other cir7 cumstance at a polling place that causes a sig8 nificant disruption of the voting process for vot9 ers, any individual who is waiting at the polling 

10 place to cast a ballot in an election for Federal 

11 office shall be advised immediately of the indi12 vidual’s right to use an emergency paper ballot, 

13 and upon request shall be provided with an 

14 emergency paper ballot for the election and the 

15 supplies necessary to mark the ballot. 

16 ‘‘(B) DURABILITY OF EMERGENCY PAPER

17 BALLOTS.—Any emergency paper ballot used in 

18 a Federal election shall be marked on durable 

19 paper capable of withstanding multiple counts 

20 and recounts without compromising the funda21 mental integrity of the ballot, and capable of re22 taining the information marked on it for the 

23 full duration of a retention and preservation pe24 riod of 2 years. 


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1 ‘‘(C) COUNTING OF EMERGENCY PAPER

2 BALLOTS.—Any emergency paper ballot which 

3 is cast by an individual under subparagraph (A) 

4 shall be counted and otherwise treated as a reg5 ular ballot and not as a provisional ballot, un6 less the individual casting the ballot would have 

7 otherwise been required to cast a provisional 

8 ballot if the voting equipment at the polling 

9 place had not failed. 

10 ‘‘(D) POSTING OF NOTICE.—The appro11 priate election official shall ensure that at each 

12 polling place a notice is displayed prominently 

13 which describes the right of an individual under 

14 this paragraph to be provided with a paper bal15 lot for voting in the election.’’. 

16 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 231(a)(2) of 

18 such Act (42 U.S.C. 15371(a)(2)), as amended 

19 by subsection (c)(2)(B), is amended by striking 

20 ‘‘and software’’. 

21 (B) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment 

22 made by subparagraph (A) shall take effect on 

23 January 1, 2010. 

24 (c) REQUIRING LABORATORIES TO MEET STAND25 ARDS PROHIBITING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AS A CONVerDate Aug 31 2005 20:42 May 27, 2007 Jkt 059196 PO 00000 Frm 00037 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1487.IS S1487

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1 DITION OF ACCREDITATION FOR TESTING OF VOTING

2 SYSTEM HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 231(b) of such Act 

4 (42 U.S.C. 15371(b)) is amended by adding at the 

5 end the following new paragraphs: 

6 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST; 

7 ENSURING AVAILABILITY OF RESULTS.— 

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

9 be accredited by the Commission for purposes 

10 of this section unless— 

11 ‘‘(i) the laboratory certifies that the 

12 only compensation it receives for the test13 ing carried out in connection with the cer14 tification, decertification, and recertifi15 cation of the manufacturer’s voting system 

16 hardware and software is the payment 

17 made from the Testing Escrow Account 

18 under paragraph (4); 

19 ‘‘(ii) the laboratory meets such stand20 ards as the Commission shall establish 

21 (after notice and opportunity for public 

22 comment) to prevent the existence or ap23 pearance of any conflict of interest in the 

24 testing carried out by the laboratory under 

25 this section, including standards to ensure 


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•S 1487 IS

1 that the laboratory does not have a finan2 cial interest in the manufacture, sale, and 

3 distribution of voting system hardware and 

4 software, and is sufficiently independent 

5 from other persons with such an interest; 

6 ‘‘(iii) the laboratory certifies that it 

7 will permit an expert designated by the 

8 Commission to observe any testing the lab9 oratory carries out under this section; and 

10 ‘‘(iv) the laboratory, upon completion 

11 of any testing carried out under this sec12 tion, discloses the test protocols, results, 

13 and all communication between the labora14 tory and the manufacturer to the Commis15 sion. 

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

17 receipt of information under subparagraph (A), 

18 the Commission shall make the information 

19 available promptly to election officials and the 

20 public. 

21 ‘‘(4) PROCEDURES FOR CONDUCTING TESTING; 

22 PAYMENT OF USER FEES FOR COMPENSATION OF

23 ACCREDITED LABORATORIES.— 

24 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT OF ESCROW AC25 COUNT.—The Commission shall establish an esVerDate Aug 31 2005 18:58 May 27, 2007 Jkt 059196 PO 00000 Frm 00039 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1487.IS S1487

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1 crow account (to be known as the ‘Testing Es2 crow Account’) for making payments to accred3 ited laboratories for the costs of testing carried 

4 out in connection with the certification, decerti5 fication, and recertification of voting system 

6 hardware and software. 

7 ‘‘(B) SCHEDULE OF FEES.—In consulta8 tion with the accredited laboratories, the Com9 mission shall establish and regularly update a 

10 schedule of fees for testing carried out in con11 nection with the certification, decertification, 

12 and recertification of voting system hardware 

13 and software, based on the reasonable costs ex14 pected to be incurred by the accredited labora15 tories in carrying out such testing for various 

16 types of hardware and software. 

17 ‘‘(C) REQUESTS AND PAYMENTS BY MANU18 FACTURERS.—A manufacturer of voting system 

19 hardware and software may not have the hard20 ware or software tested by an accredited labora21 tory under this section unless— 

22 ‘‘(i) the manufacturer submits a de23 tailed request for the testing to the Com24 mission; and 


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•S 1487 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) the manufacturer pays to the 

2 Commission, for deposit into the Testing 

3 Escrow Account established under sub4 paragraph (A), the applicable fee under the 

5 schedule established and in effect under 

6 subparagraph (B). 

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

8 receiving a request for testing and the payment 

9 from a manufacturer required under subpara10 graph (C), the Commission shall select at ran11 dom, from all laboratories which are accredited 

12 under this section to carry out the specific test13 ing requested by the manufacturer, an accred14 ited laboratory to carry out the testing. 

15 ‘‘(E) PAYMENTS TO LABORATORIES.— 

16 Upon receiving a certification from a laboratory 

17 selected to carry out testing pursuant to sub18 paragraph (D) that testing is completed, along 

19 with a copy of the results of the test as re20 quired under paragraph (3)(A)(iv), the Com21 mission shall make a payment to the laboratory 

22 from the Testing Escrow Account established 

23 under subparagraph (A) in an amount equal to 

24 the applicable fee paid by the manufacturer 

25 under subparagraph (C)(ii). 


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1 ‘‘(5) DISSEMINATION OF ADDITIONAL INFORMA2 TION ON ACCREDITED LABORATORIES.— 

3 ‘‘(A) INFORMATION ON TESTING.—Upon 

4 completion of the testing of a voting system 

5 under this section, the Commission shall 

6 promptly disseminate to the public the identi7 fication of the laboratory which carried out the 

8 testing. 

9 ‘‘(B) LABORATORIES WITH ACCREDITA10 TION REVOKED OR SUSPENDED.—If the Com11 mission revokes, terminates, or suspends the ac12 creditation of a laboratory under this section, or 

13 if the Commission has credible evidence of sig14 nificant security failures at accredited labora15 tories, the Commission shall promptly notify 

16 Congress, the chief State election official of 

17 each State, and the public.’’. 

18 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 231 

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

20 (A) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘test21 ing, certification,’’ and all that follows and in22 serting the following: ‘‘testing of voting system 

23 hardware and software by accredited labora24 tories in connection with the certification, deVerDate Aug 31 2005 18:58 May 27, 2007 Jkt 059196 PO 00000 Frm 00042 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1487.IS S1487

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1 certification, and recertification of the hardware 

2 and software for purposes of this Act.’’; 

3 (B) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘test4 ing, certification,’’ and all that follows and in5 serting the following: ‘‘testing of its voting sys6 tem hardware and software by the laboratories 

7 accredited by the Commission under this section 

8 in connection with certifying, decertifying, and 

9 recertifying such hardware.’’; 

10 (C) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘test11 ing, certification, decertification, and recertifi12 cation’’ and inserting ‘‘testing’’; and 

13 (D) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘testing, 

14 certification, decertification, and recertification’’ 

15 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘testing’’. 

16 (3) DEADLINE FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF

17 STANDARDS AND ESCROW ACCOUNT.—The Election 

18 Assistance Commission shall establish the standards 

19 described in section 231(b)(3) of the Help America 

20 Vote Act of 2002 and the Testing Escrow Account 

21 described in section 231(b)(4) of such Act (as added 

22 by subparagraph (A)) not later than January 1, 

23 2008. 


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1 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE FOR NEW REQUIREMENTS.— 

2 Section 301(e) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15481(d)), as re3 designated by section 101, is amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

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

6 subsection, each State and jurisdiction shall be re7 quired to comply with the requirements of this sec8 tion on and after January 1, 2006. 

9 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN REQUIRE10 MENTS.—Each State and jurisdiction shall be re11 quired to comply with the requirements of para12 graphs (7), (8), (9), and (10) of subsection (a) on 

13 and after January 1, 2008. 

14 ‘‘(3) EMERGENCY PAPER BALLOTS.—Each 

15 State and jurisdiction shall be required to comply 

16 with the requirements of subsection (a)(11) with re17 spect to the regularly scheduled general election for 

18 Federal office held in November 2008 and each suc19 ceeding election for Federal office. 

20 ‘‘(4) VOTE VERIFICATION AND AUDIT CAPACITY

21 REQUIREMENTS.—Each State and jurisdiction shall 

22 be required to comply with the requirements of this 

23 section which are first imposed pursuant to the 

24 amendments made by section 201(a) of the Ballot 


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1 Integrity Act of 2007 on and after January 1, 

2 2010.’’. 

3 SEC. 202. REQUIREMENT FOR MANDATORY MANUAL AU4 DITS. 

5 (a) MANDATORY MANUAL AUDITS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title III of the 

7 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481 

8 et seq.) is amended by redesignating sections 304 

9 and 305 as sections 305 and 306, respectively, and 

10 by inserting after section 303 the following new sec11 tion: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 304. MANDATORY ELECTION AUDITS. 

13 ‘‘(a) STATE GUIDELINES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days be15 fore the date of each regularly scheduled general 

16 election for Federal office, each State shall establish 

17 guidelines and standards for local jurisdictions to 

18 utilize in conducting audits under this section. 

19 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATION OF MODEL GUIDE20 LINES.—In adopting the State guidelines and stand21 ards under paragraph (1), the State shall consider 

22 the model audit guidelines established under part 4 

23 of subtitle A of title II. 


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1 ‘‘(b) AUDITS.—Each State shall require an audit of 

2 results for elections for Federal office that meets the fol3 lowing minimum requirements: 

4 ‘‘(1) The audit shall be conducted— 

5 ‘‘(A) at the same time as the official can6 vass of each Federal election; and 

7 ‘‘(B) in a public and transparent manner, 

8 such that members of the public are able to ob9 serve the entire process. 

10 ‘‘(2) The audit shall be of not less than 2 per11 cent of precincts in the State. 

12 ‘‘(3) The State shall select the precincts audited 

13 under this section in a random manner following the 

14 election. 

15 ‘‘(4) In the case of any State which uses elec16 tronic voting systems, the audit shall compare the 

17 vote tallies from the hand count of the individual, 

18 durable, voter-verified paper records produced under 

19 section 301(a)(2)(A) with electronic vote tallies. 

20 ‘‘(c) COMPLETION OF AUDITS; COLLECTION OF

21 AUDIT RESULTS; PUBLICATION.— 

22 ‘‘(1) STATE SUBMISSION OF REPORT.—Each 

23 State shall submit to the Commission a report, in 

24 such form as the Commission may require, on the 

25 results of the audit conducted under this section. 


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1 ‘‘(2) COMMISSION ACTION.—The Commission 

2 may request additional information from each State 

3 based on the results of the audit conducted under 

4 this section. 

5 ‘‘(3) PUBLICATION.—The Commission shall 

6 publish each report submitted under paragraph (1) 

7 upon receipt. 

8 ‘‘(d) DELAY IN CERTIFICATION OF RESULTS BY

9 STATE.—No State may certify the results of any election 

10 which is subject to an audit under this section prior to 

11 the completion of the audit and the submission of the re12 sults of the audit to the Commission. 

13 ‘‘(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Each State shall be re14 quired to comply with the requirements of this section on 

15 and after January 1, 2010.’’. 

16 (2) AVAILABILITY OF ENFORCEMENT UNDER

17 HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2002.—Section 401 of 

18 such Act (42 U.S.C. 15511) is amended by striking 

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

20 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con21 tents of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 is 

22 amended by striking the items relating to sections 

23 304 and 305 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 304. Mandatory election audits. 

‘‘Sec. 305. Minimum requirements. 

‘‘Sec. 306. Methods of implementation left to discretion of State.’’. 

24 (b) COMMISSION GUIDANCE.— 


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•S 1487 IS

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

2 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15321 

3 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing new part: 

5 ‘‘PART 4—MODEL AUDIT GUIDELINES. 

6 ‘‘SEC. 223. AUDIT GUIDELINES DEVELOPMENT TASK FORCE. 

7 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Commission shall es8 tablish an Audit Guidelines Development Task Force 

9 (hereafter in this part referred to as the ‘Task Force’). 

10 ‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall be 

12 composed of individuals who are experts in the fields 

13 of election audits, recounts, computer technology, 

14 and election management. The composition of the 

15 Task Force shall (to the extent possible) reflect the 

16 demographic composition of the voting age popu17 lation of the United States. 

18 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—The Commission shall 

19 consult with the Technical Guidelines Development 

20 Committee on— 

21 ‘‘(A) the composition of the Task Force; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(B) the appointment of members to the 

24 Task Force. 

25 ‘‘(c) DUTIES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall as2 sist the Commission in developing model audit 

3 guidelines for administrative and procedural prac4 tices to ensure efficient, transparent, and accurate 

5 audits and recounts of ballots cast in Federal elec6 tions. 

7 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR INITIAL SET OF REC8 OMMENDATIONS.—The Task Force shall provide its 

9 first set of recommendations under this section to 

10 the Executive Director of the Commission not later 

11 than 10 months after the Task Force is established. 

12 ‘‘(d) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing the model 

13 audit guidelines under subsection (c), the Task Force shall 

14 consider— 

15 ‘‘(1) the time, place, and manner of developing 

16 audit procedures; 

17 ‘‘(2) processes for completing manual audits of 

18 voter-verified paper records and comparing such 

19 records with any electronic tallies; 

20 ‘‘(3) the timing of starting and completing 

21 audit functions; 

22 ‘‘(4) the cost and burden on local election offi23 cials of conducting an audit; and 

24 ‘‘(5) the personnel and management require25 ments of conducting audits. 


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1 ‘‘(e) PUBLICATION OF REPORT.—The Task Force 

2 shall make its recommendations to the Commission public 

3 upon delivering them to the Commission. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 224. PROCESS FOR ADOPTION. 

5 ‘‘The Commission shall provide for publication of the 

6 recommendations from the Task Force, an opportunity for 

7 public comment on the proposed model audit guidelines, 

8 and an opportunity for a public hearing on the record. 

9 Final model audit guidelines shall be adopted by the Com10 mission after a majority vote of the members of the Com11 mission.’’. 

12 (2) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 202 of 

13 such Act (42 U.S.C. 15322) is amended by striking 

14 ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (5), by striking the 

15 period at the end of paragraph (6) and inserting ‘‘; 

16 and’’, and by adding at the end the following new 

17 paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(7) carrying out the duties described in part 4 

19 (relating to the adoption of model audit guidelines), 

20 including the maintenance of a clearinghouse of in21 formation on the experiences of State and local gov22 ernments in implementing the guidelines and in con23 ducting audits in general.’’. 


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1 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con2 tents of such Act is amended by inserting after the 

3 item relating to section 222 the following: 

‘‘PART 4—MODEL AUDIT GUIDELINES

‘‘Sec. 223. Audit Guidelines Development Task Force. 

‘‘Sec. 224. Process for adoption.’’. 

4 TITLE III—IMPROVING FEDERAL 

5 ELECTIONS 

6 Subtitle A—Additional Require7 ments for Federal Elections 

8 SEC. 301. ABSENTEE VOTING. 

9 Title III of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 

10 U.S.C. 15481 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

11 the following new subtitle: 

12 ‘‘Subtitle C—Additional 

13 Requirements 

14 ‘‘SEC. 321. ABSENTEE VOTING. 

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

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

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

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

19 conditions or restrictions on absentee voting other than 

20 a reasonable deadline for requesting and returning the bal21 lot. 


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•S 1487 IS

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

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

3 the manner provided for absentee ballots under State law. 

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

5 shall be required to comply with the requirements of this 

6 section on and after January 1, 2008.’’. 

7 SEC. 302. THIRD-PARTY VOTER REGISTRATION. 

8 Subtitle C of title III of the Help America Vote Act 

9 of 2002, as added by this Act, is amended by adding at 

10 the end the following new section: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 322. ALLOWANCE OF VOTER REGISTRATION ASSIST12 ANCE. 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—No State shall refuse to register 

14 an individual to vote on the grounds that such individual’s 

15 voter registration application was submitted to the State 

16 by a third party. 

17 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON LIMITING VOTER REGISTRA18 TION ACTIVITY.—No State shall— 

19 ‘‘(1) prohibit any person from assisting individ20 uals in obtaining and completing, or from collecting 

21 or submitting, mail voter registration forms devel22 oped pursuant to sections 6(a)(2) and 9(a)(2) of the 

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

24 1973gg–4(a)(2); 1973gg–7(a)(2)) for the purpose of 


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1 registering those individuals to vote in elections for 

2 Federal office; or 

3 ‘‘(2) impose any burden on such assistance, or 

4 on the collection or submission of such mail voter 

5 registration forms. 

6 ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sub7 section shall prevent any State from prohibiting or penal8 izing— 

9 ‘‘(1) the intentional and knowing falsification of 

10 voter registration forms; 

11 ‘‘(2) the intentional and knowing destruction of 

12 completed voter registration forms; 

13 ‘‘(3) the failure to submit completed voter reg14 istration forms before a voter registration deadline 

15 for an election for Federal office with the specific in16 tent of disenfranchising voters; or 

17 ‘‘(4) the payment of any person to collect voter 

18 registration forms based solely on the number of 

19 forms collected.’’. 

20 SEC. 303. TRAINING OF POLL WORKERS. 

21 (a) TRAINING REQUIREMENT.—Subtitle C of title III 

22 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002, as added and 

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

24 the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 323. INSTRUCTION OF POLL WORKERS. 

2 ‘‘(a) INSTRUCTION OF POLL WORKERS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—Each 

4 State shall establish a program to ensure uniformity 

5 of, and establish minimum standards for, training 

6 poll workers. 

7 ‘‘(2) NONDISCRIMINATORY STANDARDS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The standards estab9 lished under paragraph (1) shall be nondiscrim10 inatory. 

11 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Such standards may 

12 vary based on the type of voting system used in 

13 different locations in the State. 

14 ‘‘(3) DEVELOPMENT OF CURRICULUM.—The 

15 curriculum provided under such a program shall be 

16 developed— 

17 ‘‘(A) in conjunction with election and edu18 cation experts; and 

19 ‘‘(B) taking into consideration guidelines 

20 provided by the Commission. 

21 ‘‘(4) CONTENT OF PROGRAM.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Under such a pro23 gram, each State shall require that all poll 

24 workers successfully complete a curriculum 

25 under which the individual is trained— 


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1 ‘‘(i) in the applicable laws governing 

2 election administration in the State, in3 cluding laws governing— 

4 ‘‘(I) who is eligible to vote; 

5 ‘‘(II) the rights and responsibil6 ities of voters; 

7 ‘‘(III) the casting and counting 

8 of votes; 

9 ‘‘(IV) the rights of voters with 

10 disabilities and of voters who are lan11 guage minorities described in section 

12 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965; 

13 ‘‘(V) the right of any individual 

14 under section 301(a)(1)(A) to verify 

15 the ballot and correct any error in a 

16 private and independent manner; and 

17 ‘‘(VI) the right of voters to a 

18 provisional ballot; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) on the use and maintenance of 

20 any voting systems (including optical scan 

21 voting systems and direct recording elec22 tronic voting systems) used for the conduct 

23 of Federal elections in the State. 


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1 ‘‘(B) DEVELOPMENT AND DISTRIBUTION

2 OF MANUAL FOR POLL WORKERS.—As part of 

3 such curriculum, each State shall— 

4 ‘‘(i) develop a manual for poll work5 ers; 

6 ‘‘(ii) publish such manual not less 

7 than 4 weeks before each election for Fed8 eral office; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) with respect to each election for 

10 Federal office— 

11 ‘‘(I) distribute such manual to all 

12 appropriate individuals before such 

13 election; and 

14 ‘‘(II) ensure that all poll workers 

15 sign a certification that they have re16 ceived and reviewed such manual. 

17 ‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Each State shall be re18 quired to comply with the requirements of this section on 

19 and after January 1, 2008.’’. 

20 SEC. 304. EQUITABLE ALLOCATION OF VOTING SYSTEMS, 

21 POLL WORKERS, AND ELECTION RESOURCES. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title III of the Help 

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

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

25 section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 324. EQUITABLE ALLOCATION OF VOTING SYSTEMS, 

2 POLL WORKERS, AND ELECTION RESOURCES. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall provide for an 

4 equitable number of voting systems, poll workers, and 

5 other election resources (including all other physical re6 sources) for each voting site on the day of any Federal 

7 election and on any days during which such State allows 

8 early voting for a Federal election. Such resources shall 

9 be adequate to address long lines, delays, technological 

10 failures, and other administrative circumstances. 

11 ‘‘(b) CONSIDERATION AND DEVIATION FROM COM12 MISSION BENCHMARK.— 

13 ‘‘(1) CONSIDERATION.—In providing for an eq14 uitable number of voting systems, poll workers, and 

15 other election resources in the State under sub16 section (a), each State shall consider the benchmark 

17 standards established by the Commission under sec18 tion 299. 

19 ‘‘(2) EXPLANATION OF DEVIATIONS.—If the 

20 number voting systems, poll workers, and other elec21 tion resources provided by a State under subsection 

22 (a) materially deviates from the benchmarks stand23 ards established by the Commission under section 

24 299, the State shall make publicly available a state25 ment describing such differences and explaining the 

26 reasons for such differences. 


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

2 section 299, the term ‘voting site’ means a polling loca3 tion, except that in the case of any polling location which 

4 serves more than 1 precinct, such term shall mean a pre5 cinct. 

6 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Each State shall be re7 quired to comply with the requirements of this section on 

8 and after January 1, 2010.’’. 

9 (b) STANDARDS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Help America 

11 Vote Act of 2002, as amended by this Act, is 

12 amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘Subtitle E—Guidance and 

14 Standards 

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

16 OF VOTING SYSTEMS, POLL WORKERS, AND 

17 ELECTION RESOURCES. 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

19 ‘‘(1) STUDY.—The Commission shall conduct a 

20 study on the equitable distribution of voting systems, 

21 poll workers, and election resources. 

22 ‘‘(2) STANDARDS.—Not later than January 1, 

23 2009, the Commission shall issue standards based 

24 on the results of the study conducted under para25 graph (1) that establish benchmarks for the disVerDate Aug 31 2005 18:58 May 27, 2007 Jkt 059196 PO 00000 Frm 00058 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1487.IS S1487

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1 tribution of an equitable number of voting systems, 

2 poll workers, and other election resources (including 

3 all other physical resources) for voting sites on the 

4 day of any Federal election and on any days during 

5 which early voting is allowed for a Federal election. 

6 ‘‘(b) DISTRIBUTION.— 

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

8 subsection (a) shall provide for a uniform and non9 discriminatory distribution of such systems, workers, 

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

11 shall take into account, among other factors— 

12 ‘‘(A) voting patterns and voter turnout in 

13 prior Federal elections, including the differences 

14 between presidential elections and other elec15 tions; 

16 ‘‘(B) voter registration counts; 

17 ‘‘(C) current census data and demographic 

18 changes; 

19 ‘‘(D) the abilities and training of poll 

20 workers; 

21 ‘‘(E) the accessibility of polling locations; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(F) available assistive voting technologies. 

24 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—To the extent possible, the 

25 standards shall provide for a distribution of voting 


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•S 1487 IS

1 systems, poll workers, and other election resources 

2 with the goals of — 

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

4 time for all voters in the State; and 

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

6 hour at any voting site.’’. 

7 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

8 (A) Section 202 of the Help America Vote 

9 Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15322), as amended by 

10 this Act, is amended by redesignating para11 graphs (5), (6), and (7) as paragraphs (6), (7), 

12 and (8), respectively, and by inserting after 

13 paragraph (4) the following new paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(5) carrying out the duties described in sub15 title E.’’. 

16 (B) The table of contents of the Help 

17 America Vote Act of 2002, as amended by this 

18 Act, is amended by inserting before the item re19 lating to title III the following: 

‘‘Subtitle E—Guidance and Standards 

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


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1 SEC. 305. PROHIBITION ON CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES BY 

2 CHIEF STATE ELECTION OFFICIALS. 

3 Subtitle C of title III of the Help America Vote Act 

4 of 2002, as added and amended by this Act, is amended 

5 by adding at the end the following new section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 325. PROHIBITION ON CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES BY 

7 CHIEF STATE ELECTION OFFICIALS. 

8 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—Subject to subsection (c), no 

9 chief State election official shall take an active part in po10 litical management or in a political campaign with respect 

11 to any election for Federal office over which such official 

12 has supervisory authority. 

13 ‘‘(b) ACTIVE PART IN POLITICAL MANAGEMENT OR

14 IN A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN.—The term ‘active part in po15 litical management or in a political campaign’ means— 

16 ‘‘(1) serving as a member of an authorized com17 mittee of a candidate for Federal office; 

18 ‘‘(2) making public comments in support of, or 

19 opposed to, any candidate for Federal office in an 

20 official capacity; 

21 ‘‘(3) the solicitation, acceptance, or receipt of 

22 political contributions from any person on behalf of 

23 a candidate for Federal office; and 

24 ‘‘(4) the sharing of information concerning an 

25 official count, recount, or audit with respect to any 

26 primary, special, or general election for Federal ofVerDate Aug 31 2005 18:58 May 27, 2007 Jkt 059196 PO 00000 Frm 00061 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1487.IS S1487

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1 fice with a candidate for such office or with an au2 thorized committee of such a candidate, unless the 

3 same information is provided to all other candidates 

4 for such office in such election. 

5 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) CHIEF STATE ELECTION OFFICIAL RUN7 NING AS CANDIDATE.—In the case of a chief State 

8 election official who is a candidate for Federal office, 

9 the prohibition under subsection (a) shall not apply 

10 with respect to the election for that Federal office. 

11 ‘‘(2) ATTENDANCE AT POLITICAL CAMPAIGN

12 EVENTS.—Nothing in this section shall be construed 

13 to prohibit a chief State election official from serving 

14 as a delegate to a national nominating convention of 

15 a political party or from attending any political cam16 paign event. 

17 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirements of this 

18 section shall take effect on January 1, 2008.’’. 

19 SEC. 306. STANDARDS FOR PURGING VOTERS. 

20 (a) SAFEGUARDS AGAINST ACCIDENTAL RE21 MOVAL.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (B) of section 

23 303(a)(4) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 

24 U.S.C. 15483(a)(4)) is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(B) SAFEGUARDS.—Uniform and non2 discriminatory procedures that— 

3 ‘‘(i) ensure that no voter is erro4 neously removed from or prevented from 

5 being added to the voter registration list, 

6 including for reasons related to— 

7 ‘‘(I) errors or inconsistencies in 

8 data; 

9 ‘‘(II) variations or inconsistencies 

10 in names (including maiden names, 

11 nicknames, and middle names); and 

12 ‘‘(III) any other immaterial vari13 ation or inconsistency in voter reg14 istration information; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) provide an opportunity for voters 

16 who have been erroneously removed from 

17 or prevented from being added to the voter 

18 registration list to be restored or reg19 istered.’’. 

20 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

21 by paragraph (1) shall take effect January 1, 2008. 

22 (b) NOTICE REQUIREMENTS.—Subtitle C of title III 

23 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002, as added and 

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

25 the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 326. REMOVAL FROM VOTER REGISTRATION LIST. 

2 ‘‘(a) PUBLIC NOTICE.—Not later than 90 days before 

3 any Federal election, each State shall publish in a public 

4 location and on the Internet— 

5 ‘‘(1) the full name, including middle name and 

6 suffix where available, of all voters who have been 

7 removed from the voter registration list of such 

8 State since the earlier of the most recent election for 

9 Federal office or the day of the most recent previous 

10 public notice provided under this section; and 

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

12 used to determine which names were removed, in13 cluding— 

14 ‘‘(A) the procedures implemented by the 

15 State for safeguarding incorrect removals under 

16 section 303(a)(4)(B); and 

17 ‘‘(B) the processes under which the State 

18 compares names on the voter registration list 

19 with the list of names proposed to be removed. 

20 ‘‘(b) NOTICE TO VOTERS BEFORE REMOVAL BY REA21 SON OTHER THAN A CHANGE IN RESIDENCE.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No individual shall be re23 moved from the voter registration list of a State on 

24 any ground other than that the individual has 

25 changed residence unless such individual is first proVerDate Aug 31 2005 18:58 May 27, 2007 Jkt 059196 PO 00000 Frm 00064 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1487.IS S1487

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1 vided with a written notice to the voter’s address on 

2 file which meets the requirements of paragraph (2). 

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

4 required under paragraph (1) shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) be provided to each voter in a uni6 form and nondiscriminatory manner; 

7 ‘‘(B) be consistent with the requirements 

8 of section 8(d) of the National Voter Registra9 tion Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–6(d)); 

10 ‘‘(C) be in the form and manner prescribed 

11 by the Election Assistance Commission; and 

12 ‘‘(D) include a clear notice of the reason 

13 for which the voter will be removed, an oppor14 tunity to cure such removal, and the contact in15 formation for the office sending the notice. 

16 ‘‘(c) FINAL NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY TO CURE

17 REMOVALS BY REASON OF CHANGE IN RESIDENCE.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

19 8(d) of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 

20 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–6(d)), no individual shall be re21 moved from the voter registration list of a State on 

22 the ground that the individual has changed residence 

23 unless such individual is first provided with a writ24 ten notice which meets the requirements of para25 graph (3) and an opportunity to cure the removal. 


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1 ‘‘(2) TIME FOR SENDING NOTICE.—The notice 

2 described in paragraph (1) shall not be sent until 

3 after such individual— 

4 ‘‘(A) has failed to respond to a notice de5 scribed in section 8(d)(2) of the National Voter 

6 Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg– 

7 6(d)(2)); and 

8 ‘‘(B) has not voted or appeared to vote in 

9 an election during the period beginning on the 

10 date of the notice described in subparagraph 

11 (A) and ending on the day after the date of the 

12 second general election for Federal office that 

13 occurs after the date of such notice. 

14 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS OF NOTICE.—The notice 

15 required under paragraph (1) shall be in the form 

16 and manner prescribed by the Election Assistance 

17 Commission and shall include a clear notice of the 

18 reason for which the voter will be removed, an op19 portunity to cure such removal, and the contact in20 formation for the office sending the notice. 

21 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Each State shall be re22 quired to comply with the requirements of this section on 

23 and after January 1, 2008.’’. 


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1 SEC. 307. ELECTION OBSERVERS. 

2 (a) REQUIRED ACCESS BY ACCREDITED ELECTION

3 OBSERVERS.—Subtitle C of title III of the Help America 

4 Vote Act of 2002, as added and amended by this Act, is 

5 amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 327. ACCESS BY ACCREDITED ELECTION OBSERVERS. 

7 ‘‘(a) ACCESS REQUIRED.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall promul9 gate uniform and nondiscriminatory procedures to 

10 allow access to polling places for purposes of observ11 ing a Federal election to international and domestic 

12 election observers who— 

13 ‘‘(A) meet the accreditation standards de14 veloped by the Commission under section 299A; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(B) agree to— 

17 ‘‘(i) accept election rules; 

18 ‘‘(ii) not interfere with the election 

19 process; and 

20 ‘‘(iii) accept the secrecy of the ballot. 

21 ‘‘(2) OBSERVATION OF A FEDERAL ELEC22 TION.—The procedures promulgated under para23 graph (1) shall include access to any polling place 

24 for the purpose of observing the following: 

25 ‘‘(A) Processing of any absentee or provi26 sional ballots in an election for Federal office. 


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•S 1487 IS

1 ‘‘(B) Counting of votes cast in an election 

2 for Federal office. 

3 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC NOTICE OF ANY DENIAL.—The 

4 State shall make publicly available a notice of any 

5 denial of a request to observe a Federal election 

6 under this section. Such notice shall include an ex7 planation of the reasons for the denial and an oppor8 tunity to appeal such denial. 

9 ‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Each State and jurisdiction 

10 shall be required to comply with the requirements of this 

11 section on and after the date of the enactment of this sec12 tion.’’. 

13 (b) STANDARDS.— 

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

15 Act, as added by this Act, is amended by adding at 

16 the end the following new section: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 299A. ACCREDITATION OF ELECTION OBSERVERS. 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall develop 

19 nondiscriminatory and uniform standards for the accredi20 tation of election observers. 

21 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—Such standards shall provide 

22 for the accreditation of a wide range of domestic and inter23 national observers under this section.’’. 

24 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con25 tents of such Act, as amended by this Act, is amendVerDate Aug 31 2005 18:58 May 27, 2007 Jkt 059196 PO 00000 Frm 00068 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1487.IS S1487

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1 ed by inserting after the item relating to section 299 

2 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 299A. Accreditation of election observers.’’. 

3 SEC. 308. EARLY VOTING. 

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

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

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

7 section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 328. EARLY VOTING. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall allow individ10 uals to vote in an election for Federal office not less than 

11 15 days prior to the day scheduled for such election in 

12 the same manner as voting is allowed on such day. 

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

14 Each polling place which allows voting prior to the day 

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

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

17 on each day (other than Sunday); and 

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

19 such voting occurs. 

20 ‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirements of this 

21 section shall apply with respect to the regularly scheduled 

22 general election for Federal office held in November 2008 

23 and each succeeding election for Federal office.’’. 

24 (b) GUIDANCE FOR EARLY VOTING.— 


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•S 1487 IS

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

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

3 by adding at the end the following new section: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 299B. GUIDANCE FOR EARLY VOTING. 

5 ‘‘The Commission shall issue guidance for the admin6 istration of voting prior to the day scheduled for a Federal 

7 election. Such guidance shall include the nondiscrim8 inatory geographic placement of polling places at which 

9 such voting occurs.’’. 

10 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con11 tents of such Act, as amended by this Act, is amend12 ed by inserting after the item relating to section 

13 299A the following new item: 

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

14 SEC. 309. REQUIREMENTS FOR COUNTING PROVISIONAL 

15 BALLOTS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 302 of the Help America 

17 Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15482) is amended by redes18 ignating subsection (d) as subsection (e) and by inserting 

19 after subsection (c) the following new subsection: 

20 ‘‘(d) STATEWIDE COUNTING OF PROVISIONAL BAL21 LOTS.—For purposes of subsection (a)(4), notwith22 standing at which polling place a provisional ballot is cast 

23 within the State, the State shall count such ballot with 

24 respect to a vote for an election for a Federal office if 

25 the individual who cast such ballot is otherwise eligible to 


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•S 1487 IS

1 vote for such office and has not voted in that Federal elec2 tion.’’. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (e) of section 

5 302 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 

6 U.S.C. 15482(e)), as redesignated under subsection 

7 (a), is amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(2) EFFECTIVE DATE FOR STATEWIDE COUNT9 ING OF PROVISIONAL BALLOTS.—Each State shall be 

10 required to comply with the requirements of sub11 section (d) on and after the date of the enactment 

12 of this section.’’. 

13 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subsection (e) 

14 of section 302 of the Help America Vote Act of 

15 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15482(e)), as redesignated under 

16 subsection (a), is amended by striking ‘‘Each’’ and 

17 inserting the following: 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para19 graph (2), each’’. 

20 SEC. 310. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

21 (a) VOLUNTARY GUIDANCE.—Section 311 of the 

22 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15501) is 

23 amended by striking ‘‘subtitle A’’ and inserting ‘‘subtitles 

24 A and C’’. 


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•S 1487 IS

1 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 401 of the Help Amer2 ica Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15511), as amended by 

3 this Act, is amended by striking ‘‘and 304’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘304, and subtitle C’’. 

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

6 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 is amended by add7 ing after the item relating to section 312 the following: 

‘‘Subtitle C—Additional Requirements 

‘‘Sec. 321. Absentee voting. 

‘‘Sec. 322. Allowance of voter registration assistance. 

‘‘Sec. 323. Instruction of poll workers. 

‘‘Sec. 324. Equitable allocation of voting systems, poll workers, and election resources. 

‘‘Sec. 325. Prohibition on campaign activities by chief State election officials. 

‘‘Sec. 326. Removal from voter registration list. 

‘‘Sec. 327. Access by accredited election observers. 

‘‘Sec. 328. Early voting.’’. 

8 Subtitle B—Military and Overseas 

9 Voting 

10 SEC. 311. PROHIBITING REFUSAL TO ACCEPT VOTER REG11 ISTRATION AND ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICA12 TIONS AND FEDERAL WRITE-IN ABSENTEE 

13 BALLOT FOR FAILURE TO MEET NON14 ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS. 

15 (a) VOTER REGISTRATION AND ABSENTEE BALLOT

16 APPLICATIONS.—Section 102 of the Uniformed and Over17 seas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff–1) 

18 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub19 section: 


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1 ‘‘(e) PROHIBITING REFUSAL TO ACCEPT APPLICA2 TIONS FOR FAILURE TO MEET NONESSENTIAL REQUIRE3 MENTS.—A State shall accept and process any otherwise 

4 valid voter registration application or absentee ballot ap5 plication (including the official post card form prescribed 

6 under section 101) submitted in any manner by an absent 

7 uniformed services voter or overseas voter that contains 

8 the information required on the official post card form 

9 prescribed under section 101 (other than information 

10 which the Presidential designee, in consultation with the 

11 Election Assistance Commission, determines, under regu12 lations promulgated by the Presidential designee, is not 

13 clearly necessary to prevent fraud in the conduct of elec14 tions).’’. 

15 (b) FEDERAL WRITE-IN ABSENTEE BALLOT.—Sec16 tion 103 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff–2) is amended— 

17 (1) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub18 section (g); and 

19 (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol20 lowing new subsection: 

21 ‘‘(f) PROHIBITING REFUSAL TO ACCEPT BALLOT

22 FOR FAILURE TO MEET NONESSENTIAL REQUIRE23 MENTS.—A State shall accept and process any otherwise 

24 valid Federal write-in absentee ballot submitted in any 

25 manner by an absent uniformed services voter or overseas 


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1 voter that contains the information required to be sub2 mitted with such ballot by the Presidential designee (other 

3 than information which the Presidential designee, in con4 sultation with the Election Assistance Commission, deter5 mines, under regulations promulgated by the Presidential 

6 designee, is not clearly necessary to prevent fraud in the 

7 conduct of elections).’’. 

8 SEC. 312. FEDERAL WRITE-IN ABSENTEE BALLOTS CAST BY 

9 OVERSEAS VOTERS LOCATED IN THE UNITED 

10 STATES. 

11 Section 103(c) of the Uniformed and Overseas Citi12 zens Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff–2(c)) is amended— 

13 (1) by striking paragraph (1), and 

14 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as 

15 paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively. 

Æ 


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