Prevent Election Hacking Act of 2018

To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a program to improve election system cybersecurity by facilitating and encouraging assessments by independent technical experts to identify and report election cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Prevent Election Hacking Act of 2018 2. Hack the Election Program (a) Establishment Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a program to be known as the Hack the Election Program (b) Voluntary participation by election officials and election service providers (1) No requirement to participate in program Participation in the Hack the Election Program shall be entirely voluntary for State and local election officials and election service providers. (2) Encouraging participation and input from election officials In developing the Hack the Election program under this section, the Secretary shall solicit input from, and encourage participation by, State and local election officials. (c) Activities funded In establishing the Hack the Election Program under this section, the Secretary shall— (1) establish a recurring competition for independent technical experts to assess election systems for the purpose of identifying and reporting election cybersecurity vulnerabilities; (2) establish an expeditious process by which independent technical experts can qualify to participate in the competition; (3) establish a schedule of awards (monetary or non-monetary) for reports of previously unidentified election cybersecurity vulnerabilities discovered by independent technical experts during the competition; (4) establish a process for State and local election officials and election service providers to voluntarily participate in the program by designating specific election systems, periods of time, and circumstances for assessment by independent technical experts; and (5) promptly notify State and local election officials and election service providers about relevant election cybersecurity vulnerabilities discovered through the competition, and provide technical assistance in remedying the vulnerabilities. (d) Use of service providers The Secretary may award competitive contracts as necessary to manage the Hack the Election Program under this section. (e) Consultation with Secretary of Defense In developing the Hack the Election Program under this section, the Secretary shall consult with the relevant offices at the Department of Defense that were responsible for launching the 2016 Hack the Pentagon 3. Safe harbor for participants in Program (a) In general Notwithstanding section 1030 of title 18, United States Code, and except as provided in subsection (b), it shall not be unlawful for a person acting in compliance with the Hack the Election Program under section 2 to take actions necessary to discover and report an election cybersecurity vulnerability if the person reports the cybersecurity vulnerability to the Secretary. (b) Limitation Subsection (a) shall not apply to any person that— (1) acts outside the scope of the Hack the Election Program; (2) exploits an election cybersecurity vulnerability; or (3) publicly exposes an election cybersecurity vulnerability before reporting the vulnerability to the Secretary. 4. Definitions In this Act, the following definitions apply: (1) The terms election Federal office 52 U.S.C. 30101 (2) The term election cybersecurity vulnerability 6 U.S.C. 1501 (3) The term election service provider (4) The term election system (5) The term Secretary (6) The term State (7) The term voting system 52 U.S.C. 21081(b)

Summary: Prevent Election Hacking Act of 2018 This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security to establish the Hack the Election Program to improve the cybersecurity of the systems used to administer federal elections by facilitating and encouraging assessments by independent technical experts, in cooperation with state and local election officials and election service providers, to identify and report election cybersecurity vulnerabilities.