I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2894 

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

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 16, 2009 

Mr. HOLT (for himself, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. 

CAPUANO, Mr. OBEY, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. 

LEE of California, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. GEORGE

MILLER of California, Mr. NADLER of New York, Mr. HINCHEY, Ms. 

KAPTUR, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Ms. 

PINGREE of Maine, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. 

BLUMENAUER, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. 

ISRAEL, Mrs. MALONEY, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. JOHNSON of 

Georgia, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. COHEN, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. ROTHMAN of New 

Jersey, Mr. CARNEY, Mr. STARK, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. 

WALZ, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. 

CLAY, Mr. SESTAK, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Mr. KLEIN of Florida, Ms. 

EDWARDS of Maryland, Mr. FARR, Mr. OLVER, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ

of California, Mr. PERRIELLO, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. FILNER, Mr. SIRES, 

Mr. HONDA, Mr. WU, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. 

DEFAZIO, Mr. BARROW, Mr. HIMES, Mr. CROWLEY, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, 

Mr. INSLEE, Mr. MASSA, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. MCDERMOTT, 

Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. ALTMIRE, Mr. POLIS of Colorado, Mr. 

LANCE, Mr. LOBIONDO, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, and Mrs. LOWEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the 

Committee on Science and Technology, for a period to be subsequently 

determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
2 

•HR 2894 IH

a voter-verified permanent paper ballot under title III 

of such Act, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 

6 2009’’. 

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

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—PROMOTING ACCURACY, INTEGRITY, AND SECURITY 

THROUGH VOTER-VERIFIED PERMANENT PAPER BALLOT 

Sec. 101. Paper ballot and manual counting requirements. 

Sec. 102. Accessibility and ballot verification for individuals with disabilities. 

Sec. 103. Additional voting system requirements. 

Sec. 104. Availability of additional funding to enable States to meet costs of 

revised requirements. 

Sec. 105. Effective date for new requirements. 

TITLE II—ENHANCEMENT OF ENFORCEMENT 

Sec. 201. Enhancement of enforcement of Help America Vote Act of 2002. 

TITLE III—REQUIREMENT FOR MANDATORY MANUAL AUDITS BY 

HAND COUNT 

Sec. 301. Mandatory manual audits. 

‘‘Sec. 321. Requiring audits of results of elections. 

‘‘Sec. 322. Number of ballots counted under audit. 

‘‘Sec. 323. Process for administering audits. 

‘‘Sec. 324. Selection of precincts. 

‘‘Sec. 325. Publication of results. 

‘‘Sec. 326. Payments to States. 

‘‘Sec. 327. Exception for elections subject to recount under State law prior 

to certification. 

‘‘Sec. 328. Effective date. 

Sec. 302. Availability of enforcement under Help America Vote Act of 2002. 

Sec. 303. Guidance on best practices for alternative audit mechanisms. 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
3 

•HR 2894 IH

Sec. 304. Clerical amendment. 

TITLE IV—REPEAL OF EXEMPTION OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE 

COMMISSION FROM CERTAIN GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS 

Sec. 401. Repeal of exemption of Election Assistance Commission from certain 

government contracting requirements. 

TITLE V—EFFECTIVE DATE 

Sec. 501. Effective date. 

1 TITLE I—PROMOTING ACCU2 RACY, INTEGRITY, AND SECU3 RITY THROUGH VOTER4 VERIFIED PERMANENT 

5 PAPER BALLOT 

6 SEC. 101. PAPER BALLOT AND MANUAL COUNTING RE7 QUIREMENTS. 

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

9 America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481(a)(2)) is 

10 amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘(2) PAPER BALLOT REQUIREMENT.— 

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

13 ‘‘(i) PAPER BALLOT REQUIREMENT.— 

14 (I) The voting system shall require the use 

15 of an individual, durable, voter-verified, 

16 paper ballot of the voter’s vote that shall 

17 be marked and made available for inspec18 tion and verification by the voter before 

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

20 which shall be counted by hand or read by 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
4 

•HR 2894 IH

1 an optical scanner or other counting de2 vice. For purposes of this subclause, the 

3 term ‘individual, durable, voter-verified, 

4 paper ballot’ means a paper ballot marked 

5 by the voter by hand or a paper ballot 

6 marked through the use of a nontabulating 

7 ballot marking device or system, so long as 

8 the voter shall have the option to mark his 

9 or her ballot by hand. 

10 ‘‘(II) The voting system shall provide 

11 the voter with an opportunity to correct 

12 any error on the paper ballot before the 

13 permanent voter-verified paper ballot is 

14 preserved in accordance with clause (ii). 

15 ‘‘(III) The voting system shall not 

16 preserve the voter-verified paper ballots in 

17 any manner that makes it possible, at any 

18 time after the ballot has been cast, to asso19 ciate a voter with the record of the voter’s 

20 vote without the voter’s consent. 

21 ‘‘(ii) PRESERVATION AS OFFICIAL

22 RECORD.—The individual, durable, voter23 verified, paper ballot used in accordance 

24 with clause (i) shall constitute the official 

25 ballot and shall be preserved and used as 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
5 

•HR 2894 IH

1 the official ballot for purposes of any re2 count or audit conducted with respect to 

3 any election for Federal office in which the 

4 voting system is used. 

5 ‘‘(iii) MANUAL COUNTING REQUIRE6 MENTS FOR RECOUNTS AND AUDITS.—(I) 

7 Each paper ballot used pursuant to clause 

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

9 and shall be counted by hand in any re10 count or audit conducted with respect to 

11 any election for Federal office. 

12 ‘‘(II) In the event of any inconsist13 encies or irregularities between any elec14 tronic vote tallies and the vote tallies de15 termined by counting by hand the indi16 vidual, durable, voter-verified, paper ballots 

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

18 subparagraph (B), the individual, durable, 

19 voter-verified, paper ballots shall be the 

20 true and correct record of the votes cast. 

21 ‘‘(iv) APPLICATION TO ALL BAL22 LOTS.—The requirements of this subpara23 graph shall apply to all ballots cast in elec24 tions for Federal office, including ballots 

25 cast by absent uniformed services voters 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
6 

•HR 2894 IH

1 and overseas voters under the Uniformed 

2 and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act 

3 and other absentee voters. 

4 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR TREATMENT OF

5 DISPUTES WHEN PAPER BALLOTS HAVE BEEN

6 SHOWN TO BE COMPROMISED.— 

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the event 

8 that— 

9 ‘‘(I) there is any inconsistency 

10 between any electronic vote tallies and 

11 the vote tallies determined by count12 ing by hand the individual, durable, 

13 voter-verified, paper ballots used pur14 suant to subparagraph (A)(i) with re15 spect to any election for Federal of16 fice; and 

17 ‘‘(II) it is demonstrated by clear 

18 and convincing evidence (as deter19 mined in accordance with the applica20 ble standards in the jurisdiction in21 volved) in any recount, audit, or con22 test of the result of the election that 

23 the paper ballots have been com24 promised (by damage or mischief or 

25 otherwise) and that a sufficient numVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:04 Jun 18, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2894.IH H2894

smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
7 

•HR 2894 IH

1 ber of the ballots have been so com2 promised that the result of the elec3 tion could be changed, 

4 the determination of the appropriate rem5 edy with respect to the election shall be 

6 made in accordance with applicable State 

7 law, except that the electronic tally shall 

8 not be used as the exclusive basis for de9 termining the official certified result. 

10 ‘‘(ii) RULE FOR CONSIDERATION OF

11 BALLOTS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH VOTING

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

13 only the paper ballots deemed com14 promised, if any, shall be considered in the 

15 calculation of whether or not the result of 

16 the election could be changed due to the 

17 compromised paper ballots.’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT CLARIFYING APPLI19 CABILITY OF ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGE ACCESSIBILITY.— 

20 Section 301(a)(4) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15481(a)(4)) 

21 is amended by inserting ‘‘(including the paper ballots re22 quired to be used under paragraph (2))’’ after ‘‘voting sys23 tem’’. 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
8 

•HR 2894 IH

1 (c) OTHER CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

2 301(a)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15481(a)(1)) is amend3 ed— 

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

6 paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; 

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

9 paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; 

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

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

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

15 paragraphs (2) and (3)’’. 

16 SEC. 102. ACCESSIBILITY AND BALLOT VERIFICATION FOR 

17 INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. 

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

19 America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481(a)(3)(B)) is 

20 amended to read as follows: 

21 ‘‘(B)(i) satisfy the requirement of subpara22 graph (A) through the use of at least one voting 

23 system equipped for individuals with disabil24 ities, including nonvisual and enhanced visual 

25 accessibility for the blind and visually impaired, 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
9 

•HR 2894 IH

1 and nonmanual and enhanced manual accessi2 bility for the mobility and dexterity impaired, at 

3 each polling place; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) meet the requirements of subpara5 graph (A) and paragraph (2)(A) by using a sys6 tem that— 

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

8 independently verify the permanent paper 

9 ballot through the presentation, in acces10 sible form, of the printed or marked vote 

11 selections from the same printed or 

12 marked information that would be used for 

13 any vote counting or auditing; and 

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

15 independently verify and cast the perma16 nent paper ballot without requiring the 

17 voter to manually handle the paper ballot; 

18 and’’. 

19 (b) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT OF STUDY, TESTING, 

20 AND DEVELOPMENT OF ACCESSIBLE PAPER BALLOT

21 VERIFICATION MECHANISMS.— 

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

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

24 amended— 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
10 

•HR 2894 IH

1 (A) by redesignating section 247 as section 

2 248; and 

3 (B) by inserting after section 246 the fol4 lowing new section: 

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

6 BALLOT VERIFICATION MECHANISMS. 

7 ‘‘(a) STUDY AND REPORT.—The Director of the Na8 tional Science Foundation shall make grants to not fewer 

9 than 3 eligible entities to study, test, and develop acces10 sible paper ballot voting, verification, and casting mecha11 nisms and devices and best practices to enhance the acces12 sibility of paper ballot voting and verification mechanisms 

13 for individuals with disabilities, for voters whose primary 

14 language is not English, and for voters with difficulties 

15 in literacy, including best practices for the mechanisms 

16 themselves and the processes through which the mecha17 nisms are used. 

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

19 grant under this part if it submits to the Director (at such 

20 time and in such form as the Director may require) an 

21 application containing— 

22 ‘‘(1) certifications that the entity shall specifi23 cally investigate enhanced methods or devices, in24 cluding non-electronic devices, that will assist such 

25 individuals and voters in marking voter-verified 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
11 

•HR 2894 IH

1 paper ballots and presenting or transmitting the in2 formation printed or marked on such ballots back to 

3 such individuals and voters, and casting such ballots; 

4 ‘‘(2) a certification that the entity shall com5 plete the activities carried out with the grant not 

6 later than December 31, 2011; and 

7 ‘‘(3) such other information and certifications 

8 as the Director may require. 

9 ‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY OF TECHNOLOGY.—Any tech10 nology developed with the grants made under this section 

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

12 available to the public, including to manufacturers of vot13 ing systems. 

14 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION WITH GRANTS FOR TECH15 NOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS.—The Director shall carry out 

16 this section so that the activities carried out with the 

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

18 research conducted under the grant program carried out 

19 by the Commission under section 271, to the extent that 

20 the Director and Commission determine necessary to pro21 vide for the advancement of accessible voting technology. 

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

23 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out subsection 

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


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
12 

•HR 2894 IH

1 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con2 tents of such Act is amended— 

3 (A) by redesignating the item relating to 

4 section 247 as relating to section 248; and 

5 (B) by inserting after the item relating to 

6 section 246 the following new item: 

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

7 (c) CLARIFICATION OF ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS

8 UNDER VOLUNTARY VOTING SYSTEM GUIDANCE.—In 

9 adopting any voluntary guidance under subtitle B of title 

10 III of the Help America Vote Act with respect to the ac11 cessibility of the paper ballot verification requirements for 

12 individuals with disabilities, the Election Assistance Com13 mission shall include and apply the same accessibility 

14 standards applicable under the voluntary guidance adopt15 ed for accessible voting systems under such subtitle. 

16 (d) PERMITTING USE OF FUNDS FOR PROTECTION

17 AND ADVOCACY SYSTEMS TO SUPPORT ACTIONS TO EN18 FORCE ELECTION-RELATED DISABILITY ACCESS.—Sec19 tion 292(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 

20 U.S.C. 15462(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘; except that’’ 

21 and all that follows and inserting a period. 

22 SEC. 103. ADDITIONAL VOTING SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS. 

23 (a) REQUIREMENTS DESCRIBED.—Section 301(a) of 

24 the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481(a)) 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
13 

•HR 2894 IH

1 is amended by adding at the end the following new para2 graphs: 

3 ‘‘(7) PROHIBITING USE OF UNCERTIFIED ELEC4 TION-DEDICATED VOTING SYSTEM TECHNOLOGIES; 

5 DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A voting system used 

7 in an election for Federal office in a State may 

8 not at any time during the election contain or 

9 use any election-dedicated voting system tech10 nology— 

11 ‘‘(i) which has not been certified by 

12 the State for use in the election; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) which has not been deposited 

14 with an accredited laboratory described in 

15 section 231 to be held in escrow and dis16 closed in accordance with this section. 

17 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT FOR DISCLOSURE AND

18 LIMITATION ON RESTRICTING DISCLOSURE.— 

19 An accredited laboratory under section 231 

20 with whom an election-dedicated voting system 

21 technology has been deposited shall— 

22 ‘‘(i) hold the technology in escrow; 

23 and 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
14 

•HR 2894 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) disclose technology and informa2 tion regarding the technology to another 

3 person if— 

4 ‘‘(I) the person is a qualified per5 son described in subparagraph (C) 

6 who has entered into a nondisclosure 

7 agreement with respect to the tech8 nology which meets the requirements 

9 of subparagraph (D); or 

10 ‘‘(II) the laboratory is permitted 

11 or required to disclose the technology 

12 to the person under State law, in ac13 cordance with the terms and condi14 tions applicable under such law. 

15 ‘‘(C) QUALIFIED PERSONS DESCRIBED.— 

16 With respect to the disclosure of election-dedi17 cated voting system technology by a laboratory 

18 under subparagraph (B)(ii)(I), a ‘qualified per19 son’ is any of the following: 

20 ‘‘(i) A governmental entity with re21 sponsibility for the administration of vot22 ing and election-related matters for pur23 poses of reviewing, analyzing, or reporting 

24 on the technology. 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
15 

•HR 2894 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) A party to pre- or post-election 

2 litigation challenging the result of an elec3 tion or the administration or use of the 

4 technology used in an election, including 

5 but not limited to election contests or chal6 lenges to the certification of the tech7 nology, or an expert for a party to such 

8 litigation, for purposes of reviewing or ana9 lyzing the technology to support or oppose 

10 the litigation, and all parties to the litiga11 tion shall have access to the technology for 

12 such purposes. 

13 ‘‘(iii) A person not described in clause 

14 (i) or (ii) who reviews, analyzes, or reports 

15 on the technology solely for an academic, 

16 scientific, technological, or other investiga17 tion or inquiry concerning the accuracy or 

18 integrity of the technology. 

19 ‘‘(D) REQUIREMENTS FOR NONDISCLO20 SURE AGREEMENTS.—A nondisclosure agree21 ment entered into with respect to an election22 dedicated voting system technology meets the 

23 requirements of this subparagraph if the agree24 ment— 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
16 

•HR 2894 IH

1 ‘‘(i) is limited in scope to coverage of 

2 the technology disclosed under subpara3 graph (B) and any trade secrets and intel4 lectual property rights related thereto; 

5 ‘‘(ii) does not prohibit a signatory 

6 from entering into other nondisclosure 

7 agreements to review other technologies 

8 under this paragraph; 

9 ‘‘(iii) exempts from coverage any in10 formation the signatory lawfully obtained 

11 from another source or any information in 

12 the public domain; 

13 ‘‘(iv) remains in effect for not longer 

14 than the life of any trade secret or other 

15 intellectual property right related thereto; 

16 ‘‘(v) prohibits the use of injunctions 

17 barring a signatory from carrying out any 

18 activity authorized under subparagraph 

19 (C), including injunctions limited to the 

20 period prior to a trial involving the tech21 nology; 

22 ‘‘(vi) is silent as to damages awarded 

23 for breach of the agreement, other than a 

24 reference to damages available under appli25 cable law; 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
17 

•HR 2894 IH

1 ‘‘(vii) allows disclosure of evidence of 

2 crime, including in response to a subpoena 

3 or warrant; 

4 ‘‘(viii) allows the signatory to perform 

5 analyses on the technology (including by 

6 executing the technology), disclose reports 

7 and analyses that describe operational 

8 issues pertaining to the technology (includ9 ing vulnerabilities to tampering, errors, 

10 risks associated with use, failures as a re11 sult of use, and other problems), and de12 scribe or explain why or how a voting sys13 tem failed or otherwise did not perform as 

14 intended; and 

15 ‘‘(ix) provides that the agreement 

16 shall be governed by the trade secret laws 

17 of the applicable State. 

18 ‘‘(E) ELECTION-DEDICATED VOTING SYS19 TEM TECHNOLOGY DEFINED.—For purposes of 

20 this paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘elec22 tion-dedicated voting system technology’ 

23 means the following: 

24 ‘‘(I) The source code used for the 

25 trusted build and its file signatures. 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
18 

•HR 2894 IH

1 ‘‘(II) A complete disk image of 

2 the pre-build, build environment, and 

3 any file signatures to validate that it 

4 is unmodified. 

5 ‘‘(III) A complete disk image of 

6 the post-build, build environment, and 

7 any file signatures to validate that it 

8 is unmodified. 

9 ‘‘(IV) All executable code pro10 duced by the trusted build and any 

11 file signatures to validate that it is 

12 unmodified. 

13 ‘‘(V) Installation devices and 

14 software file signatures. 

15 ‘‘(ii) EXCLUSION.—Such term does 

16 not include ‘commercial-off-the-shelf’ soft17 ware and hardware defined under the 2005 

18 voluntary voting system guidelines adopted 

19 by the Commission under section 222. 

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

22 No system or device upon which ballots are pro23 grammed or votes are cast or tabulated shall con24 tain, use, or be accessible by any wireless, power25 line, or concealed communication device, except that 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
19 

•HR 2894 IH

1 enclosed infrared communications devices which are 

2 certified for use in such device by the State and 

3 which cannot be used for any remote or wide area 

4 communications or used without the knowledge of 

5 poll workers shall be permitted. 

6 ‘‘(9) PROHIBITING CONNECTION OF SYSTEM TO

7 THE INTERNET.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No system or device 

9 upon which ballots are programmed or votes are 

10 cast or tabulated shall be connected to the 

11 Internet at any time. 

12 ‘‘(B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

13 contained in this paragraph shall be deemed to 

14 prohibit the Commission from conducting the 

15 studies under section 242 or to conduct other 

16 similar studies under any other provision of law 

17 in a manner consistent with this paragraph. 

18 ‘‘(10) SECURITY STANDARDS FOR VOTING SYS19 TEMS USED IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.— 

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

21 be used in an election for Federal office unless 

22 the manufacturer of such system and the elec23 tion officials using such system meet the appli24 cable requirements described in subparagraph 

25 (B). 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
20 

•HR 2894 IH

1 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS DESCRIBED.—The 

2 requirements described in this subparagraph 

3 are as follows: 

4 ‘‘(i) The manufacturer and the elec5 tion officials shall document the secure 

6 chain of custody for the handling of all 

7 software, hardware, vote storage media, 

8 blank ballots, and completed ballots used 

9 in connection with voting systems, and 

10 shall make the information available upon 

11 request to the Commission. 

12 ‘‘(ii) The manufacturer shall disclose 

13 to an accredited laboratory under section 

14 231 and to the appropriate election official 

15 any information required to be disclosed 

16 under paragraph (7). 

17 ‘‘(iii) After the appropriate election 

18 official has certified the election-dedicated 

19 and other voting system software for use in 

20 an election, the manufacturer may not— 

21 ‘‘(I) alter such software; or 

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

23 system any software, software patch, 

24 or other software modification not cerVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:04 Jun 18, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2894.IH H2894

smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
21 

•HR 2894 IH

1 tified by the State for use in the elec2 tion. 

3 ‘‘(iv) At the request of the Commis4 sion— 

5 ‘‘(I) the appropriate election offi6 cial shall submit information to the 

7 Commission regarding the State’s 

8 compliance with this subparagraph; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(II) the manufacturer shall sub11 mit information to the Commission re12 garding the manufacturer’s compli13 ance with this subparagraph. 

14 ‘‘(C) DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLICATION OF

15 BEST PRACTICES OF SECURE CHAIN OF CUS16 TODY.—Not later than August 1, 2010, the 

17 Commission shall develop and make publicly 

18 available best practices regarding the require19 ment of subparagraph (B)(i) and (B)(iii), and 

20 in the case of subparagraph (B)(iii), shall in21 clude best practices for certifying software 

22 patches and minor software modifications under 

23 short deadlines. 

24 ‘‘(D) DISCLOSURE OF SECURE CHAIN OF

25 CUSTODY.—The Commission shall make inforVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:04 Jun 18, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2894.IH H2894

smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
22 

•HR 2894 IH

1 mation provided to the Commission under sub2 paragraph (B)(i) available to any person upon 

3 request. 

4 ‘‘(11) DURABILITY AND READABILITY REQUIRE5 MENTS FOR BALLOTS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) DURABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR

7 PAPER BALLOTS.— 

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

9 paper ballots required to be used under 

10 this Act shall be marked or printed on du11 rable paper. 

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

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

14 of withstanding multiple counts and re15 counts by hand without compromising the 

16 fundamental integrity of the ballots, and 

17 capable of retaining the information 

18 marked or printed on them for the full du19 ration of a retention and preservation pe20 riod of 22 months. 

21 ‘‘(B) READABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR

22 PAPER BALLOTS MARKED BY BALLOT MARKING

23 DEVICE.—All voter-verified paper ballots com24 pleted by the voter through the use of a ballot 

25 marking device shall be clearly readable by the 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
23 

•HR 2894 IH

1 voter without assistance (other than eyeglasses 

2 or other personal vision enhancing devices) and 

3 by a scanner or other device equipped for indi4 viduals with disabilities.’’. 

5 (b) REQUIRING LABORATORIES TO MEET STAND6 ARDS PROHIBITING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AS CONDI7 TION OF ACCREDITATION FOR TESTING OF VOTING SYS8 TEM HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE.— 

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

10 (42 U.S.C. 15371(b)) is amended by adding at the 

11 end the following new paragraphs: 

12 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST; 

13 ENSURING AVAILABILITY OF RESULTS.— 

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

15 be accredited by the Commission for purposes 

16 of this section unless— 

17 ‘‘(i) the laboratory certifies that the 

18 only compensation it receives for the test19 ing carried out in connection with the cer20 tification, decertification, and recertifi21 cation of the manufacturer’s voting system 

22 hardware and software is the payment 

23 made from the Testing Escrow Account 

24 under paragraph (4); 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
24 

•HR 2894 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) the laboratory meets such stand2 ards as the Commission shall establish 

3 (after notice and opportunity for public 

4 comment) to prevent the existence or ap5 pearance of any conflict of interest in the 

6 testing carried out by the laboratory under 

7 this section, including standards to ensure 

8 that the laboratory does not have a finan9 cial interest in the manufacture, sale, and 

10 distribution of voting system hardware and 

11 software, and is sufficiently independent 

12 from other persons with such an interest; 

13 ‘‘(iii) the laboratory certifies that it 

14 will permit an expert designated by the 

15 Commission or by the State requiring cer16 tification of the system being tested to ob17 serve any testing the laboratory carries out 

18 under this section; and 

19 ‘‘(iv) the laboratory, upon completion 

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

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


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
25 

•HR 2894 IH

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

2 receipt of information under subparagraph (A), 

3 the Commission shall make the information 

4 available promptly to election officials and the 

5 public. 

6 ‘‘(4) PROCEDURES FOR CONDUCTING TESTING; 

7 PAYMENT OF USER FEES FOR COMPENSATION OF

8 ACCREDITED LABORATORIES.— 

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

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

20 schedule of fees for the testing carried out in 

21 connection with the certification, decertification, 

22 and recertification of voting system hardware 

23 and software, based on the reasonable costs ex24 pected to be incurred by the accredited laboraVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:04 Jun 18, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2894.IH H2894

smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
26 

•HR 2894 IH

1 tories in carrying out the testing for various 

2 types of hardware and software. 

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

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

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

11 ‘‘(ii) the manufacturer pays to the 

12 Commission, for deposit into the Testing 

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

15 schedule established and in effect under 

16 subparagraph (B). 

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

18 receiving a request for testing and the payment 

19 from a manufacturer required under subpara20 graph (C), the Commission shall select, from all 

21 laboratories which are accredited under this 

22 section to carry out the specific testing re23 quested by the manufacturer, an accredited lab24 oratory to carry out the testing. 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
27 

•HR 2894 IH

1 ‘‘(E) PAYMENTS TO LABORATORIES.— 

2 Upon receiving a certification from a laboratory 

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

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

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

8 from the Testing Escrow Account established 

9 under subparagraph (A) in an amount equal to 

10 the applicable fee paid by the manufacturer 

11 under subparagraph (C)(ii). 

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

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

15 completion of the testing of a voting system 

16 under this section, the Commission shall 

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

19 testing. 

20 ‘‘(B) INFORMATION ON STATUS OF LAB21 ORATORIES.—The Commission shall promptly 

22 notify Congress, the chief State election official 

23 of each State, and the public whenever— 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
28 

•HR 2894 IH

1 ‘‘(i) the Commission revokes, termi2 nates, or suspends the accreditation of a 

3 laboratory under this section; 

4 ‘‘(ii) the Commission restores the ac5 creditation of a laboratory under this sec6 tion which has been revoked, terminated, 

7 or suspended; or 

8 ‘‘(iii) the Commission has credible evi9 dence of significant security failure at an 

10 accredited laboratory.’’. 

11 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 231 

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

13 (A) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘test14 ing, certification,’’ and all that follows and in15 serting the following: ‘‘testing of voting system 

16 hardware and software by accredited labora17 tories in connection with the certification, de18 certification, and recertification of the hardware 

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

20 (B) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘test21 ing, certification,’’ and all that follows and in22 serting the following: ‘‘testing of its voting sys23 tem hardware and software by the laboratories 

24 accredited by the Commission under this section 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
29 

•HR 2894 IH

1 in connection with certifying, decertifying, and 

2 recertifying the hardware and software.’’; 

3 (C) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘test4 ing, certification, decertification, and recertifi5 cation’’ and inserting ‘‘testing’’; and 

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

7 certification, decertification, and recertification’’ 

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

9 (3) DEADLINE FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF

10 STANDARDS, ESCROW ACCOUNT, AND SCHEDULE OF

11 FEES.—The Election Assistance Commission shall 

12 establish the standards described in section 

13 231(b)(3) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

14 and the Testing Escrow Account and schedule of 

15 fees described in section 231(b)(4) of such Act (as 

16 added by paragraph (1)) not later than January 1, 

17 2010. 

18 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

19 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Elec20 tion Assistance Commission such sums as may be 

21 necessary to carry out the Commission’s duties 

22 under paragraphs (3) and (4) of section 231 of the 

23 Help America Vote Act of 2002 (as added by para24 graph (1)). 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
30 

•HR 2894 IH

1 (c) GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON DEVELOPMENT OF

2 ELECTION-DEDICATED VOTING SYSTEM SOFTWARE.— 

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

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

5 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing new part: 

7 ‘‘PART 7—GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON DEVELOP8 MENT OF ELECTION-DEDICATED VOTING 

9 SYSTEM SOFTWARE 

10 ‘‘SEC. 297. GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON DEVELOPMENT OF 

11 ELECTION-DEDICATED VOTING SYSTEM 

12 SOFTWARE. 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National 

14 Science Foundation (hereafter in this part referred to as 

15 the ‘Director’) shall make grants to not fewer than 3 eligi16 ble entities to conduct research on the development of elec17 tion-dedicated voting system software. 

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

19 grant under this part if it submits to the Director (at such 

20 time and in such form as the Director may require) an 

21 application containing— 

22 ‘‘(1) certifications regarding the benefits of op23 erating voting systems on election-dedicated software 

24 which is easily understandable and which is written 

25 exclusively for the purpose of conducting elections; 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
31 

•HR 2894 IH

1 ‘‘(2) certifications that the entity will use the 

2 funds provided under the grant to carry out research 

3 on how to develop voting systems that run on elec4 tion-dedicated software and that will meet the appli5 cable requirements for voting systems under title III; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(3) such other information and certifications 

8 as the Director may require. 

9 ‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY OF TECHNOLOGY.—Any tech10 nology developed with the grants made under this section 

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

12 available to the public, including to manufacturers of vot13 ing systems. 

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

15 are authorized to be appropriated for grants under this 

16 section $1,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 and 2011, 

17 to remain available until expended.’’. 

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

20 of the items relating to subtitle D of title II the fol21 lowing: 

‘‘PART 7—GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTIONDEDICATED VOTING SYSTEM SOFTWARE

‘‘Sec. 297. Grants for research on development of election-dedicated voting system software.’’. 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
32 

•HR 2894 IH

1 SEC. 104. AVAILABILITY OF ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO EN2 ABLE STATES TO MEET COSTS OF REVISED 

3 REQUIREMENTS. 

4 (a) EXTENSION OF REQUIREMENTS PAYMENTS FOR

5 MEETING REVISED REQUIREMENTS.—Section 257(a) of 

6 the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15407(a)) 

7 is amended by adding at the end the following new para8 graph: 

9 ‘‘(4) For fiscal year 2010, the sum of— 

10 ‘‘(A) $1,000,000,000, except that any 

11 funds provided under the authorization made by 

12 this subparagraph shall be used by a State only 

13 to meet the requirements of title III which are 

14 first imposed on the State pursuant to the 

15 amendments made by title I of the Voter Con16 fidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2009, 

17 or to otherwise modify or replace its voting sys18 tems in response to such amendments; plus 

19 ‘‘(B) such sums as may be necessary to en20 able States to carry out the activities described 

21 in subparagraph (A) with respect to require22 ments which first apply to the regularly sched23 uled general election for Federal office held in 

24 November 2014, except that any funds provided 

25 under the authorization made by this subparaVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:04 Jun 18, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2894.IH H2894

smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
33 

•HR 2894 IH

1 graph shall be used by a State only for carrying 

2 out these activities.’’. 

3 (b) USE OF REVISED FORMULA FOR ALLOCATION OF

4 FUNDS.—Section 252(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 15402(b)) is amended to read as follows: 

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

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para8 graph (2), the ‘State allocation percentage’ for a 

9 State is the amount (expressed as a percentage) 

10 equal to the quotient of— 

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

12 (as reported in the most recent decennial cen13 sus); and 

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

15 States (as reported in the most recent decennial 

16 census). 

17 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR PAYMENTS USED TO

18 MEET REQUIREMENTS IMPOSED UNDER VOTER CON19 FIDENCE AND INCREASED ACCESSIBILITY ACT OF

20 2009.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of the re22 quirements payment made to a State under the 

23 authorization made by section 257(a)(4) for fis24 cal year 2010 or any fiscal year thereafter, the 

25 ‘State allocation percentage’ for a State is the 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
34 

•HR 2894 IH

1 amount (expressed as a percentage) equal to 

2 the quotient of— 

3 ‘‘(i) the sum of the number of non4 compliant precincts in the State and 50 

5 percent of the number of partially non6 compliant precincts in the State; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) the sum of the number of non8 compliant precincts in all States and 50 

9 percent of the number of partially non10 compliant precincts in all States. 

11 ‘‘(B) NONCOMPLIANT PRECINCT DE12 FINED.—In this paragraph, a ‘noncompliant 

13 precinct’ means any precinct (or equivalent lo14 cation) within a State for which the voting sys15 tem used to administer the regularly scheduled 

16 general election for Federal office held in No17 vember 2008 did not meet either of the require18 ments described in subparagraph (D). 

19 ‘‘(C) PARTIALLY NONCOMPLIANT PRE20 CINCT DEFINED.—In this paragraph, a ‘par21 tially noncompliant precinct’ means any pre22 cinct (or equivalent location) within a State for 

23 which the voting system used to administer the 

24 regularly scheduled general election for Federal 

25 office held in November 2008 met only one of 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
35 

•HR 2894 IH

1 the requirements described in subparagraph 

2 (D). 

3 ‘‘(D) REQUIREMENTS DESCRIBED.—The 

4 requirements described in this subparagraph 

5 with respect to a voting system are as follows: 

6 ‘‘(i) The primary voting system re7 quired the use of durable paper ballots (as 

8 described in section 301(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) and 

9 301(a)(11)(A), as amended or added by 

10 the Voter Confidence and Increased Acces11 sibility Act of 2009) for every vote cast. 

12 ‘‘(ii) The voting system allowed the 

13 voter to privately and independently verify 

14 the permanent paper ballot through the 

15 presentation of the same printed or 

16 marked information used for vote counting 

17 and auditing and to privately and inde18 pendently cast the permanent paper ballot 

19 without handling the ballot manually.’’. 

20 (c) REVISED CONDITIONS FOR RECEIPT OF

21 FUNDS.—Section 253 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15403) is 

22 amended— 

23 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘A State is el24 igible’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in sub25 section (f), a State is eligible’’; and 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
36 

•HR 2894 IH

1 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub2 section: 

3 ‘‘(f) SPECIAL RULE FOR PAYMENTS USED TO MEET

4 REQUIREMENTS IMPOSED UNDER VOTER CONFIDENCE

5 AND INCREASED ACCESSIBILITY ACT OF 2009.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

7 provision of this part, a State is eligible to receive 

8 a requirements payment under the authorization 

9 made by section 257(a)(4) for fiscal year 2010 or 

10 any fiscal year thereafter if, not later than 90 days 

11 after the date of the enactment of the Voter Con12 fidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2009, the 

13 chief executive officer of the State, or designee, in 

14 consultation and coordination with the chief State 

15 election official— 

16 ‘‘(A) certifies to the Commission the num17 ber of noncompliant and partially noncompliant 

18 precincts in the State (as defined in section 

19 252(b)(2)); 

20 ‘‘(B) certifies to the Commission that the 

21 State will reimburse each unit of local govern22 ment in the State for any costs the unit incurs 

23 in carrying out the activities for which the pay24 ment may be used; and 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
37 

•HR 2894 IH

1 ‘‘(C) files a statement with the Commis2 sion describing the State’s need for the pay3 ment and how the State will use the payment 

4 to meet the requirements of title III (in accord5 ance with the limitations applicable to the use 

6 of the payment under section 257(a)(4)). 

7 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATIONS BY STATES THAT RE8 QUIRE CHANGES TO STATE LAW.—In the case of a 

9 State that requires State legislation to carry out any 

10 activity covered by any certification submitted under 

11 this subsection, the State shall be permitted to make 

12 the certification notwithstanding that the legislation 

13 has not been enacted at the time the certification is 

14 submitted and such State shall submit an additional 

15 certification once such legislation is enacted.’’. 

16 (d) PERMITTING USE OF FUNDS FOR REIMBURSE17 MENT FOR COSTS PREVIOUSLY INCURRED.—Section 

18 251(c)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15401(c)(1)) is amended 

19 by striking the period at the end and inserting the fol20 lowing: ‘‘, or as a reimbursement for any costs incurred 

21 after November 2004 in meeting the requirements of title 

22 III which are imposed pursuant to the amendments made 

23 by title I of the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessi24 bility Act of 2009 or in otherwise upgrading or replacing 

25 voting systems in a manner consistent with such amendVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:04 Jun 18, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00037 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2894.IH H2894

smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
38 

•HR 2894 IH

1 ments (so long as the voting systems meet any of the re2 quirements that apply with respect to elections for Federal 

3 office held in 2014 and each succeeding year).’’. 

4 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING STATES

5 RECEIVING OTHER FUNDS FOR REPLACING PUNCH

6 CARD, LEVER, OR OTHER VOTING MACHINES.—Nothing 

7 in the amendments made by this section or in any other 

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

9 construed to prohibit a State which received or was au10 thorized to receive a payment under title I or II of such 

11 Act for replacing punch card, lever, or other voting ma12 chines from receiving or using any funds which are made 

13 available under the amendments made by this section. 

14 (f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING USE OF

15 FUNDS RECEIVED IN PRIOR YEARS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing contained in this 

17 Act or the Help America Vote Act of 2002 may be 

18 construed to prohibit a State from using funds re19 ceived under title I or II of the Help America Vote 

20 Act of 2002 to purchase or acquire by other means 

21 a voting system that meets the requirements of 

22 paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 301 of the Help 

23 America Vote Act of 2002 (as amended by this Act) 

24 in order to replace voting systems purchased with 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
39 

•HR 2894 IH

1 funds received under the Help America Vote Act of 

2 2002 that do not meet such requirements. 

3 (2) WAIVER OF NOTICE AND COMMENT RE4 QUIREMENTS.—The requirements of subparagraphs 

5 (A), (B), and (C) of section 254(a)(11) of the Help 

6 America Vote Act of 2002 shall not apply to any 

7 State using funds received under such Act for the 

8 purposes described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of 

9 paragraph (1). 

10 (g) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

11 this section shall apply with respect to fiscal years begin12 ning with fiscal year 2010. 

13 SEC. 105. EFFECTIVE DATE FOR NEW REQUIREMENTS. 

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

15 (42 U.S.C. 15481(d)) is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para18 graph (2), each State and jurisdiction shall be re19 quired to comply with the requirements of this sec20 tion on and after January 1, 2006. 

21 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN REQUIRE22 MENTS.— 

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

24 subparagraphs (B) and (C), the requirements of 

25 this section which are first imposed on a State 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
40 

•HR 2894 IH

1 and jurisdiction pursuant to the amendments 

2 made by title I of the Voter Confidence and In3 creased Accessibility Act of 2009 shall apply 

4 with respect to voting systems used for the reg5 ularly scheduled general election for Federal of6 fice held in November 2010 and each suc7 ceeding election for Federal office. 

8 ‘‘(B) DELAY FOR JURISDICTIONS USING

9 CERTAIN PAPER RECORD PRINTERS OR CERTAIN

10 SYSTEMS USING OR PRODUCING VOTER11 VERIFIABLE PAPER RECORDS IN 2008.— 

12 ‘‘(i) DELAY.—In the case of a juris13 diction described in clause (ii), subpara14 graph (A) shall apply to a voting system in 

15 the jurisdiction as if the reference in such 

16 subparagraph to ‘the regularly scheduled 

17 general election for Federal office held in 

18 November 2010 and each succeeding elec19 tion for Federal office’ were a reference to 

20 ‘elections for Federal office occurring dur21 ing 2014 and each succeeding year’, but 

22 only with respect to the following require23 ments of this section: 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
41 

•HR 2894 IH

1 ‘‘(I) Paragraph (2)(A)(i)(I) of 

2 subsection (a) (relating to the use of 

3 voter-marked paper ballots). 

4 ‘‘(II) Paragraph (3)(B)(ii) (I) 

5 and (II) of subsection (a) (relating to 

6 access to verification from and casting 

7 of the durable paper ballot). 

8 ‘‘(III) Paragraph (11) of sub9 section (a) (relating to durability and 

10 readability requirements for ballots). 

11 ‘‘(ii) JURISDICTIONS DESCRIBED.—A 

12 jurisdiction described in this clause is a ju13 risdiction— 

14 ‘‘(I) which used voter verifiable 

15 paper record printers attached to di16 rect recording electronic voting ma17 chines, or which used other voting 

18 systems that used or produced paper 

19 records of the vote verifiable by voters 

20 but that are not in compliance with 

21 paragraphs (2)(A)(i)(I), (3)(B)(ii) (I) 

22 and (II), and (11) of subsection (a) 

23 (as amended or added by the Voter 

24 Confidence and Increased Accessibility 

25 Act of 2009), for the administration 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
42 

•HR 2894 IH

1 of the regularly scheduled general 

2 election for Federal office held in No3 vember 2008; and 

4 ‘‘(II) which will continue to use 

5 such printers or systems for the ad6 ministration of elections for Federal 

7 office held in years before 2014. 

8 ‘‘(iii) MANDATORY AVAILABILITY OF

9 PAPER BALLOTS AT POLLING PLACES

10 USING GRANDFATHERED PRINTERS AND

11 SYSTEMS.— 

12 ‘‘(I) REQUIRING BALLOTS TO BE

13 OFFERED AND PROVIDED.—The ap14 propriate election official at each poll15 ing place that uses a printer or sys16 tem described in clause (ii)(I) for the 

17 administration of elections for Federal 

18 office shall offer each individual who 

19 is eligible to cast a vote in the election 

20 at the polling place the opportunity to 

21 cast the vote using a blank pre-print22 ed paper ballot which the individual 

23 may mark by hand and which is not 

24 produced by the direct recording elec25 tronic voting machine or other such 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
43 

•HR 2894 IH

1 system. The official shall provide the 

2 individual with the ballot and the sup3 plies necessary to mark the ballot, and 

4 shall ensure (to the greatest extent 

5 practicable) that the waiting period 

6 for the individual to cast a vote is the 

7 lesser of 30 minutes or the average 

8 waiting period for an individual who 

9 does not agree to cast the vote using 

10 such a paper ballot under this clause. 

11 ‘‘(II) TREATMENT OF BALLOT.— 

12 Any paper ballot which is cast by an 

13 individual under this clause shall be 

14 counted and otherwise treated as a 

15 regular ballot for all purposes (includ16 ing by incorporating it into the final 

17 unofficial vote count (as defined by 

18 the State) for the precinct) and not as 

19 a provisional ballot, unless the indi20 vidual casting the ballot would have 

21 otherwise been required to cast a pro22 visional ballot. 

23 ‘‘(III) POSTING OF NOTICE.— 

24 The appropriate election official shall 

25 ensure there is prominently displayed 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
44 

•HR 2894 IH

1 at each polling place a notice that de2 scribes the obligation of the official to 

3 offer individuals the opportunity to 

4 cast votes using a pre-printed blank 

5 paper ballot. 

6 ‘‘(IV) TRAINING OF ELECTION

7 OFFICIALS.—The chief State election 

8 official shall ensure that election offi9 cials at polling places in the State are 

10 aware of the requirements of this 

11 clause, including the requirement to 

12 display a notice under subclause (III), 

13 and are aware that it is a violation of 

14 the requirements of this title for an 

15 election official to fail to offer an indi16 vidual the opportunity to cast a vote 

17 using a blank pre-printed paper ballot. 

18 ‘‘(V) PERIOD OF APPLICA19 BILITY.—The requirements of this 

20 clause apply only during the period in 

21 which the delay is in effect under 

22 clause (i). 

23 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULE FOR JURISDICTIONS

24 USING CERTAIN NONTABULATING BALLOT

25 MARKING DEVICES.—In the case of a jurisdicVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:04 Jun 18, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00044 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2894.IH H2894

smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
45 

•HR 2894 IH

1 tion which uses a nontabulating ballot marking 

2 device which automatically deposits the ballot 

3 into a privacy sleeve, subparagraph (A) shall 

4 apply to a voting system in the jurisdiction as 

5 if the reference in such subparagraph to ‘the 

6 regularly scheduled general election for Federal 

7 office held in November 2010 and each suc8 ceeding election for Federal office’ were a ref9 erence to ‘elections for Federal office occurring 

10 during 2014 and each succeeding year’, but 

11 only with respect to paragraph (3)(B)(ii)(II) of 

12 subsection (a) (relating to nonmanual casting of 

13 the durable paper ballot).’’. 

14 TITLE II—ENHANCEMENT OF 

15 ENFORCEMENT 

16 SEC. 201. ENHANCEMENT OF ENFORCEMENT OF HELP 

17 AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2002. 

18 Section 401 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 

19 (42 U.S.C. 15511) is amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘The Attorney General’’ and in21 serting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General’’; 

22 and 

23 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub24 sections: 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
46 

•HR 2894 IH

1 ‘‘(b) FILING OF COMPLAINTS BY AGGRIEVED PER2 SONS.— 

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

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

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

6 a written, signed, notarized complaint with the At7 torney General describing the violation and request8 ing the Attorney General to take appropriate action 

9 under this section. The Attorney General shall im10 mediately provide a copy of a complaint filed under 

11 the previous sentence to the entity responsible for 

12 administering the State-based administrative com13 plaint procedures described in section 402(a) for the 

14 State involved. 

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

16 Attorney General shall respond to each complaint 

17 filed under paragraph (1), in accordance with proce18 dures established by the Attorney General that re19 quire responses and determinations to be made with20 in the same (or shorter) deadlines which apply to a 

21 State under the State-based administrative com22 plaint procedures described in section 402(a)(2). 

23 The Attorney General shall immediately provide a 

24 copy of the response made under the previous sen25 tence to the entity responsible for administering the 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
47 

•HR 2894 IH

1 State-based administrative complaint procedures de2 scribed in section 402(a) for the State involved. 

3 ‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY OF PRIVATE RIGHT OF AC4 TION.—Any person who is authorized to file a complaint 

5 under subsection (b)(1) (including any individual who 

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

7 paper ballot, the right to have the voter-verified paper bal8 lot counted in accordance with this Act, or any other right 

9 under subtitle A of title III) may file an action under sec10 tion 1979 of the Revised Statutes of the United States 

11 (42 U.S.C. 1983) to enforce the uniform and nondiscrim12 inatory election technology and administration require13 ments under sections 301, 302, and 303. 

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

15 in this section may be construed to affect the availability 

16 of the State-based administrative complaint procedures re17 quired under section 402 to any person filing a complaint 

18 under this subsection.’’. 

19 TITLE III—REQUIREMENT FOR 

20 MANDATORY MANUAL AUDITS 

21 BY HAND COUNT 

22 SEC. 301. MANDATORY MANUAL AUDITS. 

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

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

25 the following new subtitle: 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
48 

•HR 2894 IH

1 ‘‘Subtitle C—Mandatory Manual 

2 Audits 

3 ‘‘SEC. 321. REQUIRING AUDITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS. 

4 ‘‘(a) REQUIRING AUDITS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with this 

6 subtitle, each State shall administer, without ad7 vance notice to the precincts or alternative audit 

8 units selected, audits of the results of all elections 

9 for Federal office held in the State (and, at the op10 tion of the State or jurisdiction involved, of elections 

11 for State and local office held at the same time as 

12 such election) consisting of random hand counts of 

13 the voter-verified paper ballots required to be used 

14 and preserved pursuant to section 301(a)(2). 

15 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN ELECTIONS.—A 

16 State shall not be required to administer an audit of 

17 the results of an election for Federal office under 

18 this subtitle if the winning candidate in the elec19 tion— 

20 ‘‘(A) had no opposition on the ballot; or 

21 ‘‘(B) received 80 percent or more of the 

22 total number of votes cast in the election, as de23 termined on the basis of the final unofficial vote 

24 count. 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
49 

•HR 2894 IH

1 ‘‘(b) DETERMINATION OF ENTITY CONDUCTING AU2 DITS; APPLICATION OF GAO INDEPENDENCE STAND3 ARDS.—The State shall administer audits under this sub4 title through an entity selected for such purpose by the 

5 State in accordance with such criteria as the State con6 siders appropriate consistent with the requirements of this 

7 subtitle, except that the entity must meet the general 

8 standards established by the Comptroller General and as 

9 set forth in the Comptroller General’s Government Audit10 ing Standards to ensure the independence (including, ex11 cept as provided under section 323(b), the organizational 

12 independence) of entities performing financial audits, at13 testation engagements, and performance audits. 

14 ‘‘(c) REFERENCES TO ELECTION AUDITOR.—In this 

15 subtitle, the term ‘Election Auditor’ means, with respect 

16 to a State, the entity selected by the State under sub17 section (b). 

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

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

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

21 be subject to a hand count administered by the Election 

22 Auditor of a State under this subtitle with respect to an 

23 election shall be determined as follows: 

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

25 described in section 323(a)(1) reveals that the marVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:04 Jun 18, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00049 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2894.IH H2894

smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
50 

•HR 2894 IH

1 gin of victory between the two candidates receiving 

2 the largest number of votes in the election is less 

3 than 1 percent of the total votes cast in that elec4 tion, the hand counts of the voter-verified paper bal5 lots shall occur in at least 10 percent of all precincts 

6 or equivalent locations (or alternative audit units 

7 used in accordance with the method provided for 

8 under subsection (b)) in the Congressional district 

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

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

11 other election for Federal office). 

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

13 described in section 323(a)(1) reveals that the mar14 gin of victory between the two candidates receiving 

15 the largest number of votes in the election is greater 

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

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

18 counts of the voter-verified paper ballots shall occur 

19 in at least 5 percent of all precincts or equivalent lo20 cations (or alternative audit units used in accord21 ance with the method provided for under subsection 

22 (b)) in the Congressional district involved (in the 

23 case of an election for the House of Representatives) 

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

25 Federal office). 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
51 

•HR 2894 IH

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

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

4 the largest number of votes in the election is equal 

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

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

7 paper ballots shall occur in at least 3 percent of all 

8 precincts or equivalent locations (or alternative audit 

9 units used in accordance with the method provided 

10 for under subsection (b)) in the Congressional dis11 trict involved (in the case of an election for the 

12 House of Representatives) or the State (in the case 

13 of any other election for Federal office). 

14 ‘‘(b) USE OF ALTERNATIVE MECHANISM.— 

15 ‘‘(1) PERMITTING USE OF ALTERNATIVE MECH16 ANISM.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), a State 

17 may adopt and apply an alternative mechanism to 

18 determine the number of voter-verified paper ballots 

19 which will be subject to the hand counts required 

20 under this subtitle with respect to an election, so 

21 long as the alternative mechanism uses the voter22 verified paper ballots to conduct the audit and the 

23 National Institute of Standards and Technology de24 termines that the alternative mechanism is in acVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:04 Jun 18, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00051 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2894.IH H2894

smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
52 

•HR 2894 IH

1 cordance with the principles set forth in paragraph 

2 (2). 

3 ‘‘(2) PRINCIPLES FOR APPROVAL.—In approv4 ing an alternative mechanism under paragraph (1), 

5 the National Institute of Standards and Technology 

6 shall ensure that the audit procedure will have the 

7 property that for each election— 

8 ‘‘(A) the alternative mechanism will be at 

9 least as statistically effective in ensuring the ac10 curacy of the election results as the procedures 

11 under this subtitle; or 

12 ‘‘(B) the reported election outcome will 

13 have at least a 95 percent chance of being con14 sistent with the election outcome that would be 

15 obtained by a full recount. 

16 ‘‘(3) DEADLINE FOR RESPONSE.—The Director 

17 of the National Institute of Standards and Tech18 nology shall make a determination regarding a 

19 State’s request to approve an alternative mechanism 

20 under paragraph (1) not later than 30 days after re21 ceiving the State’s request. 

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

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Election Auditor of a State 

24 shall administer an audit under this section of the results 

25 of an election in accordance with the following procedures: 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
53 

•HR 2894 IH

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

2 the final unofficial vote count (as defined by the 

3 State) in each precinct in the State, the Election 

4 Auditor shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) determine and then announce the 

6 precincts or equivalent locations (or alternative 

7 audit units used in accordance with the method 

8 provided under section 322(b)) in the State in 

9 which it will administer the audits; and 

10 ‘‘(B) with respect to votes cast at the pre11 cinct or equivalent location on or before the 

12 date of the election (other than provisional bal13 lots described in paragraph (2)), begin to ad14 minister the hand count of the votes on the 

15 voter-verified paper ballots required to be used 

16 and preserved under section 301(a)(2)(A) and 

17 the comparison of the count of the votes on 

18 those ballots with the final unofficial count of 

19 such votes as announced by the State. 

20 ‘‘(2) With respect to votes cast other than at 

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

22 votes cast before the date of the election described 

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

24 on the date of the election which are certified and 

25 counted by the State on or after the date of the elecVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:04 Jun 18, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00053 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2894.IH H2894

smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
54 

•HR 2894 IH

1 tion, including votes cast by absent uniformed serv2 ices voters and overseas voters under the Uniformed 

3 and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, the 

4 Election Auditor shall administer the hand count of 

5 the votes on the applicable voter-verified paper bal6 lots required to be produced and preserved under 

7 section 301(a)(2)(A) and the comparison of the 

8 count of the votes on those ballots with the final un9 official count of such votes as announced by the 

10 State. 

11 ‘‘(b) USE OF PERSONNEL.—In administering the au12 dits, the Election Auditor may utilize the services of the 

13 personnel of the State or jurisdiction, including election 

14 administration personnel and poll workers, without regard 

15 to whether or not the personnel have professional auditing 

16 experience. 

17 ‘‘(c) LOCATION.—The Election Auditor shall admin18 ister an audit of an election— 

19 ‘‘(1) at the location where the ballots cast in 

20 the election are stored and counted after the date of 

21 the election or such other appropriate and secure lo22 cation agreed upon by the Election Auditor and the 

23 individual that is responsible under State law for the 

24 custody of the ballots; and 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
55 

•HR 2894 IH

1 ‘‘(2) in the presence of the personnel who under 

2 State law are responsible for the custody of the bal3 lots. 

4 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULE IN CASE OF DELAY IN REPORT5 ING ABSENTEE VOTE COUNT.—In the case of a State in 

6 which the final count of absentee and provisional votes is 

7 not announced until after the date of the election, the 

8 Election Auditor shall initiate the process described in 

9 subsection (a) for administering the audit not later than 

10 24 hours after the State announces the final unofficial 

11 vote count for the votes cast at the precinct or equivalent 

12 location on or before the date of the election, and shall 

13 initiate the administration of the audit of the absentee and 

14 provisional votes pursuant to subsection (a)(2) not later 

15 than 24 hours after the State announces the final unoffi16 cial count of such votes. 

17 ‘‘(e) ADDITIONAL AUDITS IF CAUSE SHOWN.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Election Auditor 

19 finds that any of the hand counts administered 

20 under this section do not match the final unofficial 

21 tally of the results of an election, the Election Audi22 tor shall administer hand counts under this section 

23 of such additional precincts (or alternative audit 

24 units) as the Election Auditor considers appropriate 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
56 

•HR 2894 IH

1 to resolve any concerns resulting from the audit and 

2 ensure the accuracy of the election results. 

3 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT AND PUBLICATION OF

4 PROCEDURES GOVERNING ADDITIONAL AUDITS.— 

5 Not later than August 1, 2010, each State shall es6 tablish and publish procedures for carrying out the 

7 additional audits under this subsection, including the 

8 means by which the State shall resolve any concerns 

9 resulting from the audit with finality and ensure the 

10 accuracy of the election results. 

11 ‘‘(f) PUBLIC OBSERVATION OF AUDITS.—Each audit 

12 conducted under this section shall be conducted in a man13 ner that allows public observation of the entire process. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 324. SELECTION OF PRECINCTS. 

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

16 (c), the selection of the precincts or alternative audit units 

17 in the State in which the Election Auditor of the State 

18 shall administer the hand counts under this subtitle shall 

19 be made by the Election Auditor on a random basis, in 

20 accordance with procedures adopted by the National Insti21 tute of Standards and Technology, except that at least one 

22 precinct shall be selected at random in each county, with 

23 additional precincts selected by the Election Auditor at the 

24 Auditor’s discretion. 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
57 

•HR 2894 IH

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

2 precincts under subsection (a) shall be conducted in pub3 lic, at a time and place announced in advance. 

4 ‘‘(c) MANDATORY SELECTION OF PRECINCTS ESTAB5 LISHED SPECIFICALLY FOR ABSENTEE BALLOTS.—If a 

6 State does not sort absentee ballots by precinct and in7 clude those ballots in the hand count with respect to that 

8 precinct, the State shall create absentee ballot precincts 

9 or audit units which are of similar size to the average pre10 cinct or audit unit in the jurisdiction being audited, and 

11 shall include those absentee precincts or audit units 

12 among the precincts in the State in which the Election 

13 Auditor shall administer the hand counts under this sub14 title. 

15 ‘‘(d) DEADLINE FOR ADOPTION OF PROCEDURES BY

16 COMMISSION.—The National Institute of Standards and 

17 Technology shall adopt the procedures described in sub18 section (a) not later than March 31, 2010, and shall pub19 lish them in the Federal Register upon adoption. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 325. PUBLICATION OF RESULTS. 

21 ‘‘(a) SUBMISSION TO COMMISSION.—As soon as prac22 ticable after the completion of an audit under this subtitle, 

23 the Election Auditor of a State shall submit to the Com24 mission the results of the audit, and shall include in the 

25 submission a comparison of the results of the election in 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
58 

•HR 2894 IH

1 the precinct as determined by the Election Auditor under 

2 the audit and the final unofficial vote count in the precinct 

3 as announced by the State and all undervotes, overvotes, 

4 blank ballots, and spoiled, voided, or cancelled ballots, as 

5 well as a list of any discrepancies discovered between the 

6 initial, subsequent, and final hand counts administered by 

7 the Election Auditor and such final unofficial vote count 

8 and any explanation for such discrepancies, broken down 

9 by the categories of votes described in paragraphs (1)(B) 

10 and (2) of section 323(a). 

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

12 after receiving the submission of the results of an audit 

13 from the Election Auditor of a State under subsection (a), 

14 the Commission shall publicly announce and publish the 

15 information contained in the submission. 

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

17 STATE.— 

18 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITING CERTIFICATION UNTIL COM19 PLETION OF AUDITS.—No State may certify the re20 sults of any election which is subject to an audit 

21 under this subtitle prior to— 

22 ‘‘(A) to the completion of the audit (and, 

23 if required, any additional audit conducted 

24 under section 323(e)(1)) and the announcement 

25 and submission of the results of each such audit 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
59 

•HR 2894 IH

1 to the Commission for publication of the infor2 mation required under this section; and 

3 ‘‘(B) the completion of any procedure es4 tablished by the State pursuant to section 

5 323(e)(2) to resolve discrepancies and ensure 

6 the accuracy of results. 

7 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR COMPLETION OF AUDITS

8 OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.—In the case of an 

9 election for electors for President and Vice President 

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

11 State shall complete the audits and announce and 

12 submit the results to the Commission for publication 

13 of the information required under this section in 

14 time for the State to certify the results of the elec15 tion and provide for the final determination of any 

16 controversy or contest concerning the appointment 

17 of such electors prior to the deadline described in 

18 section 6 of title 3, United States Code. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 326. PAYMENTS TO STATES. 

20 ‘‘(a) PAYMENTS FOR COSTS OF CONDUCTING AU21 DITS.—In accordance with the requirements and proce22 dures of this section, the Commission shall make a pay23 ment to a State to cover the costs incurred by the State 

24 in carrying out this subtitle with respect to the elections 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
60 

•HR 2894 IH

1 that are the subject of the audits conducted under this 

2 subtitle. 

3 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE AND ANTICI4 PATED COSTS.— 

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

6 receive a payment under this section, a State shall 

7 submit to the Commission, in such form as the Com8 mission may require, a statement containing— 

9 ‘‘(A) a certification that the State will con10 duct the audits required under this subtitle in 

11 accordance with all of the requirements of this 

12 subtitle; 

13 ‘‘(B) a notice of the reasonable costs in14 curred or the reasonable costs anticipated to be 

15 incurred by the State in carrying out this sub16 title with respect to the elections involved; and 

17 ‘‘(C) such other information and assur18 ances as the Commission may require. 

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

20 payment made to a State under this section shall be 

21 equal to the reasonable costs incurred or the reason22 able costs anticipated to be incurred by the State in 

23 carrying out this subtitle with respect to the elec24 tions involved, as set forth in the statement sub25 mitted under paragraph (1). 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
61 

•HR 2894 IH

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

2 submit a notice under paragraph (1) until can3 didates have been selected to appear on the ballot 

4 for all of the elections for Federal office which will 

5 be the subject of the audits involved. 

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

7 make the payment required under this section to a State 

8 not later than 30 days after receiving the notice submitted 

9 by the State under subsection (b). 

10 ‘‘(d) RECOUPMENT OF OVERPAYMENTS.—No pay11 ment may be made to a State under this section unless 

12 the State agrees to repay to the Commission the excess 

13 (if any) of— 

14 ‘‘(1) the amount of the payment received by the 

15 State under this section with respect to the elections 

16 involved; over 

17 ‘‘(2) the actual costs incurred by the State in 

18 carrying out this subtitle with respect to the elec19 tions involved. 

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

21 are authorized to be appropriated to the Commission for 

22 fiscal year 2010 and each succeeding fiscal year 

23 $100,000,000 for payments under this section. 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
62 

•HR 2894 IH

1 ‘‘SEC. 327. EXCEPTION FOR ELECTIONS SUBJECT TO RE2 COUNT UNDER STATE LAW PRIOR TO CER3 TIFICATION. 

4 ‘‘(a) EXCEPTION.—This subtitle does not apply to 

5 any election for which a recount under State law will com6 mence prior to the certification of the results of the elec7 tion, including but not limited to a recount required auto8 matically because of the margin of victory between the 2 

9 candidates receiving the largest number of votes in the 

10 election, but only if each of the following applies to the 

11 recount: 

12 ‘‘(1) The recount commences prior to the deter13 mination and announcement by the Election Auditor 

14 under section 323(a)(1) of the precincts in the State 

15 in which it will administer the audits under this sub16 title. 

17 ‘‘(2) If the recount would apply to fewer than 

18 100 percent of the ballots cast in the election— 

19 ‘‘(A) the number of ballots counted will be 

20 at least as many as would be counted if an 

21 audit were conducted with respect to the elec22 tion in accordance with this subtitle; and 

23 ‘‘(B) the selection of the precincts in which 

24 the recount will be conducted will be made in 

25 accordance with the random selection proce26 dures applicable under section 324. 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
63 

•HR 2894 IH

1 ‘‘(3) The recount for the election meets the re2 quirements of section 323(f) (relating to public ob3 servation). 

4 ‘‘(4) The State meets the requirements of sec5 tion 325 (relating to the publication of results and 

6 the delay in the certification of results) with respect 

7 to the recount. 

8 ‘‘(b) CLARIFICATION OF EFFECT ON OTHER RE9 QUIREMENTS.—Nothing in this section may be construed 

10 to waive the application of any other provision of this Act 

11 to any election (including the requirement set forth in sec12 tion 301(a)(2) that the voter verified paper ballots serve 

13 as the vote of record and shall be counted by hand in all 

14 audits and recounts, including audits and recounts de15 scribed in this subtitle). 

16 ‘‘SEC. 328. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

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

18 Federal office beginning with the regularly scheduled gen19 eral elections held in November 2010.’’. 

20 SEC. 302. AVAILABILITY OF ENFORCEMENT UNDER HELP 

21 AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2002. 

22 Section 401 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15511), as 

23 amended by section 201, is amended— 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
64 

•HR 2894 IH

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

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

4 (2) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘303’’ and 

5 inserting ‘‘303, or subtitle C of title III,’’; and 

6 (3) in subsection (c)— 

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

8 ‘‘subtitles A or C’’, and 

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

10 inserting the following: ‘‘, or the requirements 

11 of subtitle C of title III.’’. 

12 SEC. 303. GUIDANCE ON BEST PRACTICES FOR ALTER13 NATIVE AUDIT MECHANISMS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than May 1, 2010, the 

15 Director of the National Institute for Standards and Tech16 nology shall establish guidance for States that wish to es17 tablish alternative audit mechanisms under section 322(b) 

18 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (as added by section 

19 301). Such guidance shall be based upon scientifically and 

20 statistically reasonable assumptions for the purpose of cre21 ating an alternative audit mechanism that will be con22 sistent with the principles for approval described in section 

23 322(b)(2) of such Act (as so added). 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
65 

•HR 2894 IH

1 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out subsection 

3 (a) $100,000, to remain available until expended. 

4 SEC. 304. CLERICAL AMENDMENT. 

5 The table of contents of such Act is amended by add6 ing at the end of the items relating to title III the fol7 lowing: 

‘‘Subtitle C—Mandatory Manual Audits 

‘‘Sec. 321. Requiring audits of results of elections. 

‘‘Sec. 322. Number of ballots counted under audit. 

‘‘Sec. 323. Process for administering audits. 

‘‘Sec. 324. Selection of precincts. 

‘‘Sec. 325. Publication of results. 

‘‘Sec. 326. Payments to States. 

‘‘Sec. 327. Exception for elections subject to recount under State law prior to 

certification. 

‘‘Sec. 328. Effective date.’’. 

8 TITLE IV—REPEAL OF EXEMP9 TION OF ELECTION ASSIST10 ANCE COMMISSION FROM 

11 CERTAIN GOVERNMENT CON12 TRACTING REQUIREMENTS 

13 SEC. 401. REPEAL OF EXEMPTION OF ELECTION ASSIST14 ANCE COMMISSION FROM CERTAIN GOVERN15 MENT CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS. 

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

17 Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15325) is amended by strik18 ing subsection (e). 

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

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


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
66 

•HR 2894 IH

1 into by the Election Assistance Commission on or after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

3 TITLE V—EFFECTIVE DATE 

4 SEC. 501. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

5 Except as otherwise provided, this Act and the 

6 amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to 

7 the regularly scheduled general election for Federal office 

8 in November 2010 and each succeeding election for Fed9 eral office. 

Æ 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS