SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Election Vendor Secu-
rity Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PROHIBITING AGREEMENTS WITH VENDORS FOR 
OPERATION OF ELECTION SYSTEMS WHO 
ARE FOREIGN NATIONALS OR WHO FAIL TO 
MEET CYBERSECURITY BEST PRACTICES. 
(a) PROHIBITION.—Title III of the Help America 
Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21083 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating sections 304 and 305 as 
sections 305 and 306; and 
(2) by inserting after section 303 the following 
new section: 
‘‘SEC. 304. REQUIREMENTS FOR VENDORS OF ELECTION 
SYSTEMS. 
‘‘(a) PROHIBITING AGREEMENTS WITH VENDORS 
FAILING TO MEET REQUIREMENTS.—A State, unit of 
local government, or any component of a State or unit of 
local government which is responsible for the administra-
tion of an election for Federal office may not enter into 
an agreement with a vendor to provide, support, or main-
tain any component of the election system unless the ven-
dor meets the criteria described in subsection (b). 
‘‘(b) CRITERIA
FOR VENDORS.—The criteria de-
scribed in this subsection with respect to a vendor are as 
follows, as established and published by the Chair of the 
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Commission in coordination with the Secretary of Home-
land Security: 
‘‘(1) The vendor shall certify that it is owned 
and controlled by a citizen, national, or permanent 
resident of the United States, and that none of its 
activities are directed, supervised, controlled, sub-
sidized, or financed, and none of its policies are de-
termined by, any foreign principal (as defined in sec-
tion 1(b) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 
1938 (22 U.S.C. 611(b)), or by any agent of a for-
eign principal required to register under such Act. 
‘‘(2) The vendor shall disclose to the Chair and 
the Secretary, and to the chief State election official 
of any State in which the vendor provides, supports, 
or maintains any component of an election system, 
any sourcing outside the United States for parts of 
the system. 
‘‘(3) The vendor shall ensure that the election 
system will be developed and maintained in a man-
ner that is consistent with the cybersecurity best 
practices established under subsection (c). 
‘‘(4) The vendor shall maintain its information 
technology infrastructure in a manner that is con-
sistent with the cybersecurity best practices estab-
lished under subsection (c). 
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‘‘(5) The vendor shall report any known or sus-
pected security incidents involving election systems 
to the chief State election official of the State in-
volved or the official’s designee, the Chair, and the 
Secretary not later than 10 days after the vendor 
first knows or suspects that the incident occurred. 
‘‘(c) CYBERSECURITY BEST PRACTICES.—Not later 
than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this sec-
tion, the Chair and the Secretary of Homeland Security 
shall establish and publish cybersecurity best practices for 
vendors who provide, support, or maintain election sys-
tems, and shall establish and publish updates to such best 
practices at such times as the Chair and the Secretary 
consider appropriate. 
‘‘(d) AVAILABILITY OF LIST OF PARTICIPATING VEN-
DORS.— 
‘‘(1) SUBMISSION OF LIST TO COMMISSION.— 
Not later than 90 days before the date of each regu-
larly scheduled general election for Federal office 
(beginning with the election held in November 
2018), each State shall submit to the Commission a 
list of all vendors who will be providing, supporting, 
or maintaining any component of any election sys-
tem which will be used to carry out such election in 
the State. 
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‘‘(2) POSTING BY COMMISSION.—Upon receiv-
ing a list from a State under paragraph (1), the 
Commission shall post the list on the official public 
website of the Commission. 
‘‘(e) ELECTION SYSTEM DEFINED.—In this section, 
the term ‘election system’ means any system used in the 
administration of elections for Federal office, as well as 
related information and communications technology, in-
cluding voter registration databases, voting machines, 
electronic mail and other communications systems (includ-
ing electronic mail and other systems of vendors who have 
entered into contracts with election agencies to support 
the administration of elections, manage the election proc-
ess, and report and display election results), and other sys-
tems used to manage the election process and to report 
and display election results on behalf of a State or unit 
of local government.’’. 
(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 
304’’. 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of contents 
of such Act is amended— 
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(1) by redesignating the items relating to sec-
tions 304 and 305 as relating to sections 305 and 
306; and 
(2) by inserting after the item relating to sec-
tion 303 the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 304. Requirements for vendors of election systems.’’. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to the regularly sched-
uled general election for Federal office held in November 
2018 and each succeeding election for Federal office. 
Æ 
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