or some other emergency situation, and for other pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. GRANTS TO STATES AND UNITS OF LOCAL GOV-
ERNMENT FOR MAKING BACKUP PAPER BAL-
LOTS AVAILABLE IN CASE OF VOTING SYS-
TEM OR EQUIPMENT FAILURE OR OTHER 
EMERGENCY SITUATION. 
(a) GRANTS
BY ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMIS-
SION.—The Election Assistance Commission (hereafter re-
ferred to as the ‘‘Commission’’) shall establish a program 
under which the Commission shall make a grant to each 
participating State and each participating unit of local 
government for carrying out a program to make backup 
paper ballots available in the case of the failure of a voting 
system or voting equipment or some other emergency situ-
ation in the administration of the regularly scheduled gen-
eral election for Federal office held in November 2008. 
(b) REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBILITY.— 
(1) APPLICATION.—A State or unit of local gov-
ernment is eligible to participate in the program es-
tablished by the Commission under this Act if the 
State or unit of local government submits an appli-
cation to the Commission at such time and in such 
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manner as the Commission shall require, and in-
cludes in the application— 
(A) a certification that the State or unit of 
local government has established a program 
that meets the requirements of paragraph (2) 
to make backup paper ballots available in the 
case of the failure of a voting system or voting 
equipment or some other emergency situation; 
(B) a statement of the reasonable costs the 
State or unit of local government expects to 
incur in carrying out its program; 
(C) a certification that, not later than 60 
days after the date of the election, the State or 
unit of local government will provide the Com-
mission with a statement of the actual costs in-
curred in carrying out its program; 
(D) a certification that the State or unit of 
local government will repay the Commission any 
amount by which the payment made under this 
Act exceeds the actual costs incurred in car-
rying out its program; and 
(E) such other information and certifi-
cations as the Commission may require. 
(2) PROGRAM
REQUIREMENTS.—The require-
ments of this paragraph for a program to make 
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backup paper ballots available in the case of the fail-
ure of a voting system or voting equipment or some 
other emergency situation are as follows: 
(A) In the event that the voting equipment 
at a polling place malfunctions and cannot be 
used to cast ballots on the date of the election 
or some other emergency situation exists which 
prevents the use of such equipment to cast bal-
lots on that date, any individual who is waiting 
at the polling place on that date to cast a ballot 
in the election and who would be delayed due 
to such malfunction or other emergency situa-
tion shall be notified by the appropriate election 
official of the individual’s right to use a backup 
paper ballot, and shall be provided with a 
backup paper ballot for the election, the sup-
plies necessary to mark the ballot, and instruc-
tions on how to mark the ballot to prevent over-
votes. 
(B) Any backup paper ballot which is cast 
by an individual pursuant to the program of a 
State or unit of local government shall be 
counted as a regular ballot cast in the election 
and tabulated on the date of the election, and 
shall not be treated (for eligibility purposes) as 
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a provisional ballot under section 302(a) of the 
Help America Vote Act of 2002, unless the in-
dividual casting the ballot would have otherwise 
been required to cast a provisional ballot if the 
voting equipment at the polling place had not 
malfunctioned or an emergency situation had 
not existed which prevented the use of such 
equipment to cast ballots. 
(C) The program of a State or unit of local 
government is carried out in accordance with 
standards established by the State or unit of 
local government which include protocols for de-
livering and supplying backup paper ballots to 
polling places and for notifying individuals of 
the right to use the backup paper ballots. 
(c) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of a grant 
made to a State or unit of local government under the 
program established by the Commission under this Act 
shall be equal to the amount of the reasonable costs the 
State or unit of local government expects to incur in car-
rying out its program, as provided in the application under 
subsection (b)(1)(B). 
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SEC. 2. STATE DEFINED. 
In this Act, the term ‘‘State’’ includes the District 
of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, 
American Samoa, and the United States Virgin Islands. 
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There are authorized to be appropriated for grants 
under the program established by the Commission under 
this Act $75,000,000. Any amount appropriated pursuant 
to the authority of this section shall remain available with-
out fiscal year limitation until expended. 
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Union Calendar No. 398 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5803 
[Report No. 110–637] 
A BILL 
To direct the Election Assistance Commission to es-
tablish a program to make grants to partici-
pating States and units of local government 
which will administer the regularly scheduled 
general election for Federal office held in Novem-
ber 2008 for carrying out a program to make 
backup paper ballots available in the case of the 
failure of a voting system or voting equipment in 
the election or some other emergency situation, 
and for other purposes. 
MAY 15, 2008 
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
State of the Union and ordered to be printed 
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