I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 794 
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to reauthorize and improve 
the operation of the Election Assistance Commission, to provide funds 
to States to make security upgrades to voter registration lists and proc-
esses, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 1, 2017 
Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. HOYER, Ms. LOFGREN, and Mr. 
RASKIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on 
Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined 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 reauthorize 
and improve the operation of the Election Assistance 
Commission, to provide funds to States to make security 
upgrades to voter registration lists and processes, 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; FINDINGS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘EAC Reauthorization Act of 2017’’. 
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(b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) The elections for Federal office which were 
held in November 2016 were plagued with a number 
of problems, including— 
(A) foreign interference, as confirmed by 
the United States intelligence community; 
(B) a worsening voting machine infrastruc-
ture that will continue to deteriorate without 
congressional action; and 
(C) a lack of resources at the State and 
local level that will make election administration 
more challenging. 
(2) The Election Assistance Commission is the 
only Federal agency charged with making elections 
more fair, accurate, accessible, and efficient by pro-
viding best practices, information, and voting ma-
chine certifications to States. 
(3) The Election Assistance Commission should 
be equipped with the tools necessary to undertake its 
nonpartisan mission of helping State and local elec-
tion officials administer their elections and ensuring 
the accuracy, integrity, and security of our elections. 
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SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE 
COMMISSION. 
Section 210 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 
(52 U.S.C. 20930) is amended by striking ‘‘for each of 
the fiscal years 2003 through 2005’’ and inserting ‘‘for 
each of the fiscal years 2017 through 2022’’. 
SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE TO STATES FOR SECURITY UPGRADES 
TO VOTER REGISTRATION LISTS AND PROC-
ESSES. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION OF FUNDING.—Section 257(a) 
of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 
21007(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following 
new paragraph: 
‘‘(5) For fiscal year 2018, such sums as may be 
necessary for such payments, except that a State 
may use a requirement payment made with funds 
authorized under this paragraph solely to upgrade 
the security of the State’s voter registration lists and 
voter registration processes and to carry out other 
activities necessary to meet the requirements of sec-
tion 303(a)(3) (relating to the technological security 
of the State’s computerized voter registration list).’’. 
(b) WAIVER
OF
5-PERCENT
MATCH
REQUIRE-
MENT.—Section 253(b)(5) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 
21003(b)(5)) is amended— 
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(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘subpara-
graph (B)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (B) and 
(C)’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph: 
‘‘(C) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply for pur-
poses of determining the eligibility of a State to re-
ceive a requirements payment appropriated pursuant 
to 
the 
authorization 
provided 
under 
section 
257(a)(5) of this title for fiscal year 2018.’’. 
SEC. 4. ASSESSMENT OF ADEQUACY OF VOTING SYSTEMS 
AND MACHINES. 
(a) ASSESSMENT.—In consultation with the election 
officials of each State, the Election Assistance Commission 
shall carry out an assessment of whether the voting sys-
tems, including the voting machines, available for use in 
the elections for Federal office to be held in 2018 are ade-
quate to meet the demands of such elections. 
(b) PLAN FOR REPLACEMENT OF OUTDATED AND 
INADEQUATE MACHINES.—Not later than December 31, 
2017, the Commission shall submit to Congress and the 
States a report on the assessment carried out under sub-
section (a), and shall include in the report a plan for re-
placing voting machines which the Commission deter-
mines, on the basis of such assessment, are outdated or 
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otherwise not capable of meeting the demands of the elec-
tions for Federal office to be held in 2018. 
(c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘State’’ 
has the meaning given such term in section 901 of the 
Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21141). 
SEC. 5. REQUIRING STATES TO PARTICIPATE IN POST-GEN-
ERAL ELECTION SURVEYS. 
(a) REQUIREMENT.—Title III of the Help America 
Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended 
by inserting after section 303 the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 303A. REQUIRING PARTICIPATION IN POST-GENERAL 
ELECTION SURVEYS. 
‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—Each State shall furnish to the 
Commission such information as the Commission may re-
quest for purposes of conducting any post-election survey 
of the States with respect to the administration of a regu-
larly scheduled general election for Federal office. 
‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 
with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 
Federal office held in November 2018 and any succeeding 
election.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN-
FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) 
is amended by striking ‘‘and 303’’ and inserting ‘‘303, and 
303A’’. 
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(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
of such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating 
to section 303 the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 303A. Requiring participation in post-general election surveys.’’. 
SEC. 6. REPORTS BY NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS 
AND TECHNOLOGY ON USE OF FUNDS TRANS-
FERRED FROM ELECTION ASSISTANCE COM-
MISSION. 
(a) REQUIRING REPORTS ON USE FUNDS AS CONDI-
TION OF RECEIPT.—Section 231 of the Help America 
Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20971) is amended by adding 
at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(e) REPORT
ON USE
OF FUNDS TRANSFERRED 
FROM COMMISSION.—To the extent that funds are trans-
ferred from the Commission to the Director of the Na-
tional Institute of Standards and Technology for purposes 
of carrying out this section during any fiscal year, the Di-
rector may not use such funds unless the Director certifies 
at the time of transfer that the Director will submit a re-
port to the Commission not later than 90 days after the 
end of the fiscal year detailing how the Director used such 
funds during the year.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall apply with respect to fiscal year 2018 
and each succeeding fiscal year. 
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SEC. 7. RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE OPERATIONS OF 
ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION. 
(a) ASSESSMENT
OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 
AND CYBERSECURITY.—Not later than December 31, 
2017, the Election Assistance Commission shall carry out 
an assessment of the security and effectiveness of the 
Commission’s information technology systems, including 
the cybersecurity of such systems. 
(b) IMPROVEMENTS TO ADMINISTRATIVE COMPLAINT 
PROCEDURES.— 
(1) REVIEW
OF
PROCEDURES.—The Election 
Assistance Commission shall carry out a review of 
the effectiveness and efficiency of the State-based 
administrative complaint procedures established and 
maintained under section 402 of the Help America 
Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21112) for the inves-
tigation and resolution of allegations of violations of 
title III of such Act. 
(2) RECOMMENDATIONS TO STREAMLINE PRO-
CEDURES.—Not later than December 31, 2017, the 
Commission shall submit to Congress a report on 
the review carried out under paragraph (1), and 
shall include in the report such recommendations as 
the Commission considers appropriate to streamline 
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and improve the procedures which are the subject of 
the review. 
Æ 
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