I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2694 
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to establish deadlines for 
States to count the ballots cast in elections for Federal office and 
to certify the results of elections for Federal office, and for other pur-
poses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 7, 2025 
Mr. OBERNOLTE (for himself, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. KILEY of California, Mr. 
FONG, Mr. VALADAO, Mr. ISSA, and Mr. MCCLINTOCK) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administra-
tion 
A BILL 
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to establish 
deadlines for States to count the ballots cast in elections 
for Federal office and to certify the results of elections 
for Federal office, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Election Results Ac-
countability Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF DEADLINES FOR COUNTING 
BALLOTS AND CERTIFYING RESULTS OF FED-
ERAL ELECTIONS. 
(a) DEADLINES.—Title III of the Help America Vote 
Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20181 et seq.), as amended by 
section 2(a) of the COCOA Act of 2024, is amended— 
(1) by redesignating sections 305 and 306 as 
sections 306 and 307; and 
(2) by inserting after section 304 the following 
new section: 
‘‘SEC. 305. DEADLINES FOR COUNTING BALLOTS AND CER-
TIFYING RESULTS. 
‘‘(a) DEADLINES.— 
‘‘(1) COUNTING BALLOTS.—Not later than 72 
hours after the closing of the polls for an election for 
Federal office held in a State, the State shall count 
not less than 90 percent of the ballots cast in the 
election and make the result of the count publicly 
available. 
‘‘(2) CERTIFYING RESULTS.—Not later than 2 
weeks after the closing of the polls for an election 
for Federal office held in a State, the State shall— 
‘‘(A) complete the counting of all of the 
ballots cast in the election; and 
‘‘(B) officially certify the result of the elec-
tion and make the result publicly available. 
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‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—A State shall not be considered 
to be out of compliance with the requirements of sub-
section (a) if the Commission and the Attorney General 
certify that the State’s failure to meet such requirements 
is due to any of the following: 
‘‘(1) A bona fide emergency, including— 
‘‘(A) a major disaster (as defined in sec-
tion 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re-
lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
5122)); 
‘‘(B) a significant public health emergency, 
such as a pandemic or widespread outbreak; or 
‘‘(C) a cyberattack, data breach, or other 
significant security threat to the election infra-
structure. 
‘‘(2) Technical difficulties, including— 
‘‘(A) malfunctioning election equipment or 
software; or 
‘‘(B) errors in the tabulation of ballots or 
the transmission of results that could not have 
been reasonably anticipated or mitigated in ad-
vance. 
‘‘(3) The implementation of new election proce-
dures or reforms and the State certifies that it is in 
the process of complying with all such requirements, 
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except that this paragraph applies only with respect 
to the first election held after the implementation of 
the new procedures or reforms. 
‘‘(4) The conducting of a recount of the results 
of the election. 
‘‘(c) WITHHOLDING OF ELECTION ADMINISTRATION 
FUNDS FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH DEADLINES.— 
If the Commission and the Attorney General each certify 
that a State is not in compliance with the requirements 
of subsection (a) with respect to an election, the State may 
not receive any funds from the Commission to support the 
administration of subsequent elections unless— 
‘‘(1) the State submits to the Commission and 
the Attorney General a plan to ensure that the State 
will comply with such requirements with respect to 
such subsequent elections; and 
‘‘(2) the Commission and the Attorney General 
each certify that the State has taken actions to com-
ply with such plan.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EXIST-
ING ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS.—Section 401 of such 
Act (52 U.S.C. 21111), as amended by section 2(b) of the 
COCOA Act of 2024, is amended by striking ‘‘and 304’’ 
and inserting ‘‘304, and 305’’. 
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(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
of such Act, as amended by section 2(c) of the COCOA 
Act of 2024, is amended— 
(1) by redesignating the items relating to sec-
tions 305 and 306 as relating to section 306 and 
307; and 
(2) by inserting after the item relating to sec-
tion 304 the following: 
‘‘Sec. 305. Deadlines for counting ballots and certifying results.’’. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act and the amend-
ments made by this Act shall apply with respect to elec-
tions held after the expiration of the 90-day period which 
begins on the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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