II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1869 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require new voting systems 

to provide a voter-verified permanent record, to develop better accessible 

voting machines for individuals with disabilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 25, 2007 

Mr. ENSIGN 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 

new voting systems to provide a voter-verified permanent 

record, to develop better accessible voting machines for 

individuals with disabilities, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 Verification Act of 2007’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROMOTING ACCURACY, INTEGRITY, AND SECU2 RITY THROUGH PRESERVATION OF A VOTER3 VERIFIED PERMANENT PAPER RECORD. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 301 of the Help America 

5 Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481) is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating subsections (b), (c), and 

7 (d) as subsections (c), (d), and (e), respectively; and 

8 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR VOTING SYS11 TEMS PURCHASED AFTER 2012.—In addition to the re12 quirements of subsection (a), each voting system pur13 chased after December 31, 2012, and used in an election 

14 for Federal office shall meet the following requirements: 

15 ‘‘(1) INDIVIDUAL PERMANENT PAPER

16 RECORD.—The voting system shall produce an indi17 vidual permanent paper record for each ballot that 

18 is cast. 

19 ‘‘(2) VERIFICATION.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In lieu of the require21 ments of subsection (a)(1), the voting system 

22 shall— 

23 ‘‘(i) permit the voter to verify the ac24 curacy of the voter’s ballot (in a private 

25 and independent manner), by allowing the 

26 voter to review an individual paper version 


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1 of the voter’s ballot before the voter’s bal2 lot is cast and counted; 

3 ‘‘(ii) provide the voter with the oppor4 tunity (in a private and independent man5 ner) to change the ballot and correct any 

6 error discovered on the individual paper 

7 version of the voter’s ballot before the bal8 lot is cast and counted (including the op9 portunity to correct the error through the 

10 issuance of a replacement ballot if the 

11 voter was otherwise unable to change the 

12 ballot or correct any error); and 

13 ‘‘(iii)(I) preserve the individual paper 

14 version of the voter’s ballot, after the voter 

15 has certified that the same accurately re16 flects the voter’s intent, as the individual 

17 permanent paper record; and 

18 ‘‘(II) preserve such individual perma19 nent paper record in accordance with the 

20 provisions of paragraph (3)(B); and 

21 ‘‘(iv) meet the requirement of sub22 paragraphs (A)(iii) and (C) of subsection 

23 (a)(1). 

24 ‘‘(B) READABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR

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1 LOTS.—All voter verified paper ballots marked 

2 or printed through the use of a marking or 

3 printing device shall be clearly readable by the 

4 naked eye and by a scanner or other device 

5 equipped for voters with disabilities so that a 

6 voter is able to verify the accuracy of such bal7 lots via both visual and non-visual means. 

8 ‘‘(3) MANUAL AUDIT CAPACITY.—In lieu of the 

9 requirements of subsection (a)(2)(B): 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each individual paper 

11 record produced under paragraph (1) shall be 

12 suitable for a manual audit equivalent or supe13 rior to that of a paper ballot voting system. 

14 ‘‘(B) PRESERVATION.—The voting system 

15 shall preserve each individual permanent paper 

16 record— 

17 ‘‘(i) within the polling place in the 

18 manner in which all other paper ballots are 

19 preserved within such polling place; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) in the absence of such manner or 

21 method, in a manner which is consistent 

22 with the manner employed by the jurisdic23 tion for preserving paper ballots in general. 

24 ‘‘(C) CONSISTENCY WITH OTHER

25 RECORDS.—All electronic records produced by 


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1 any voting system shall be consistent with the 

2 individual permanent paper records produced by 

3 such voting system. In the event of any incon4 sistencies or irregularities between any elec5 tronic records and the individual permanent 

6 paper records, the individual permanent paper 

7 records shall be the true and correct record of 

8 the votes cast. 

9 ‘‘(D) USE AS OFFICIAL RECORDS.—The in10 dividual permanent paper records shall be used 

11 as the official records for purposes of any re12 count or audit conducted with respect to any 

13 election for Federal office in which the voting 

14 system is used. 

15 ‘‘(4) ACCESSIBILITY FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH

16 DISABILITIES.—The voting system shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) meet the requirement of subsection 

18 (a)(3)(A) through the use of at least one voting 

19 system that is fully accessible for individuals 

20 with disabilities at each polling place; and 

21 ‘‘(B) meet the requirements of subsection 

22 (a)(3)(A) and paragraph (2)(A) by using a sys23 tem that— 

24 ‘‘(i) allows the voter to privately and 

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1 manent paper ballot through the conver2 sion of the human readable content of the 

3 vote selections into accessible form; 

4 ‘‘(ii) ensures that the entire process of 

5 ballot verification and vote casting is 

6 equipped for individuals with disabilities; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(iii) does not preclude the supple9 mentary use of Braille or tactile ballots.’’. 

10 SEC. 3. AWARD PROGRAM FOR DEVELOPMENT OF ACCES11 SIBLE VOTING SYSTEMS. 

12 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 (1) INSTITUTE.—The term ‘‘Institute’’ means 

14 the National Institute of Standards and Technology. 

15 (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

16 the Director of the Institute. 

17 (3) VOTING SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘voting sys18 tem’’ has the meaning given such term by section 

19 301(b) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 

20 U.S.C. 15481(b)). 

21 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall establish 

23 a program to competitively award cash prizes to eli24 gible persons that advance the research, develop25 ment, demonstration, and application of voting sysVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:28 Jul 26, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1869.IS S1869

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1 tems which are specifically designed to enhance ac2 cessibility and provide independence for persons with 

3 disabilities during the voting process. 

4 (2) ADVERTISING AND SOLICITATION OF COM5 PETITORS.— 

6 (A) ADVERTISING.—The Director shall 

7 widely advertise prize competitions to encourage 

8 broad participation, including participation by 

9 individuals, universities, and large and small 

10 businesses. 

11 (B) ANNOUNCEMENT THROUGH FEDERAL

12 REGISTER NOTICE.—The Director shall an13 nounce each prize competition by publishing a 

14 notice in the Federal Register. This notice shall 

15 include the subject of the competition, the dura16 tion of the competition, the eligibility require17 ments for participation in the competition, the 

18 process for participants to register for the com19 petition, the amount of the prize, and the cri20 teria for awarding the prize. 

21 (3) ADMINISTRATION OF COMPETITIONS.—The 

22 Director shall enter into an agreement with a pri23 vate, nonprofit entity for the administration of the 

24 prize competitions. 

25 (c) PRIZE COMPETITIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The program established 

2 under paragraph (1) shall consist of competitions for 

3 the development of technology designed for persons 

4 with the following classifications of disabilities: 

5 (A) Hearing. 

6 (B) Visual. 

7 (C) Manual, tactile, and mobility. 

8 (D) A combination of the disabilities de9 scribed in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C). 

10 (2) CASH PRIZES.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—Prizes shall be awarded 

12 by the judges appointed under paragraph (4) 

13 based on the criteria under paragraph (3). 

14 (B) AUTHORITY TO NOT AWARD PRIZE.— 

15 If the judges determine that no registered par16 ticipants meets the objective performance cri17 teria established pursuant to paragraph (3), no 

18 prize shall be awarded. 

19 (C) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT AND NUMBER

20 OF PRIZES.—No more than 2 prizes may be 

21 awarded for any competition and the amount of 

22 any prize shall not exceed $1,000,000. 

23 (3) CRITERIA.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall de25 velop criteria for awarding prizes under this 


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1 section such that prizes are based on the 

2 functionality and usability of a prototype acces3 sible voting machine. 

4 (B) REQUIREMENTS.—The criteria devel5 oped under subparagraph (A) shall— 

6 (i) take into account the challenges 

7 voters with disabilities face during the vot8 ing process, including— 

9 (I) the need of voters with man10 ual disabilities to be able to use pros11 thetics and personal assistive devices 

12 during the voting process without 

13 electromagnetic interference; 

14 (II) the challenges facing voters 

15 with visual impairments and the best 

16 means to accommodate those voters, 

17 including, the need for voters to 

18 manually adjust font size (to account 

19 for persons with poor vision and tun20 nel vision), color content, and contrast 

21 for electronic voting machines; 

22 (III) the need of voters to use 

23 various voter system interfaces such 

24 as synchronized audio output that al25 lows the voter to adjust the rate of 


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1 speech, the audiofrequency, and vol2 ume of the audio interface and which 

3 provides that such setting shall reset 

4 to a standard default for each voter; 

5 (IV) the need of voters to simul6 taneously use a tactile interface that 

7 permits the voter to rewind, repeat, 

8 pause, and skip any audio cues, pres9 entations, and ballot measures; 

10 (V) the need of voters who rely 

11 on mobility aids, such as wheelchairs, 

12 to adjust the height of a voting sys13 tem and to be able to see any visual 

14 cues or prompts from a seated posi15 tion; and 

16 (VI) the need of voters with cog17 nitive disabilities including using vis18 ual and audio cues simultaneously; 

19 (ii) require that any prototype acces20 sible voting machine entered into the prize 

21 competition allows voters with disabilities 

22 to independently verify the accuracy of the 

23 ballot cast on the voting system; and 

24 (iii) be designed to— 


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1 (I) stimulate innovation in the 

2 development and design of accessible 

3 voting systems in a way that Federal 

4 procurement standards cannot; 

5 (II) help overcome traditional ob6 stacles in the design of accessible vot7 ing systems; 

8 (III) educate, inspire, and moti9 vate the public to participate in the 

10 process of developing and designing 

11 accessible voting systems; and 

12 (IV) enhance the accessibility 

13 and independence of the voting proc14 ess. 

15 (C) CONSULTATION WITH OTHER ENTI16 TIES.—In establishing the criteria under sub17 paragraph (A), the Director shall consult— 

18 (i) with various disability rights 

19 groups with special knowledge concerning 

20 the challenges facing persons with disabil21 ities in each of the classifications in sub22 paragraphs (A), (B), and (C) of paragraph 

23 (1); 

24 (ii) with other Federal agencies, in25 cluding— 


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1 (I) the Election Assistance Com2 mission; and 

3 (II) the National Science and 

4 Technology Council; and 

5 (iii) with private organizations, includ6 ing professional societies and industry as7 sociations. 

8 (4) JUDGES.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—For each prize competi10 tion the Director shall appoint a panel of quali11 fied judges. Such panel shall include individuals 

12 from outside the Institute and from the private 

13 sector. 

14 (B) DISQUALIFICATION.—A judge may 

15 not— 

16 (i) have personal or financial interests 

17 in, or be an employee, officer, director, or 

18 agent of, any entity that is participating in 

19 the prize competition; or 

20 (ii) have a familial or financial rela21 tionship with an individual who is partici22 pating in the prize competition. 

23 (d) ELIGIBILITY.—An person is eligible to win a prize 

24 under this section if— 


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1 (1)(A) in the case of a corporation, such person 

2 is incorporated and maintains a primary place of 

3 business the United States; and 

4 (B) in the case of an individual or partnership, 

5 such individual, or each such individual in the part6 nership, is a citizen of the United States or an alien 

7 lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the 

8 United States; 

9 (2) such person is not an employee or entity of 

10 the United States or an laboratory accredited under 

11 section 231 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

12 (42 U.S.C. 15371); and 

13 (3) such person registers for the competition by 

14 submitting an application containing such informa15 tion as the Director may require. 

16 (e) TRADE SECRETS.—The Director shall, to the ex17 tent possible, protect any trade secrets or proprietary in18 formation related to any submission for a competition 

19 under this section. 

20 (f) TERMINATION.—No prizes shall be awarded under 

21 this section for competitions announced after September 

22 30, 2010. 

23 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 (A) AWARDS.—There are authorized to be 

2 appropriated to the Director $2,000,000 for 

3 each of the fiscal years 2008, 2009, and 2010 

4 for the purpose of awarding prizes in competi5 tions pursuant to this section. 

6 (B) ADMINISTRATION.—In addition to the 

7 amounts authorized in subparagraph (A), there 

8 are authorized to be appropriated to the Direc9 tor $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008, 

10 2009, and 2010 for the administrative costs of 

11 carrying out this section. 

12 (2) CARRYOVER OF FUNDS.—Funds appro13 priated for prize awards under this section shall re14 main available until expended, and may be trans15 ferred, reprogrammed, or expended for other pur16 poses only after the expiration of 10 fiscal years 

17 after the fiscal year for which the funds were origi18 nally appropriated. 

Æ 


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