I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1937 
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to improve the operations 
of the Election Assistance Commission, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 23, 2011 
Mr. GONZALEZ (for himself, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, and Ms. ZOE 
LOFGREN of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on House Administration 
A BILL 
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to improve 
the operations of the Election Assistance Commission, 
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 ‘‘EAC Improvements 
Act of 2011’’. 
SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF COMMISSION. 
(a) REAUTHORIZATION.—Section 210 of the Help 
America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15330) is amended 
by striking ‘‘for each of the fiscal years 2003 through 
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2005’’ and inserting ‘‘for each of the fiscal years 2012 
through 2016’’. 
(b) TREATMENT OF COMMISSION IN SAME MANNER 
AS FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION FOR PURPOSES OF 
PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT.—Section 3502(1) of title 
44, United States Code, is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subparagraphs (B), (C), 
and (D) as subparagraphs (C), (D), and (E); and 
(2) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol-
lowing new subparagraph: 
‘‘(B) the Election Assistance Commis-
sion;’’. 
SEC. 3. REQUIRING STATES TO PARTICIPATE IN POST-GEN-
ERAL ELECTION SURVEYS. 
(a) REQUIREMENT.—Title III of the Help America 
Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481 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. 
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‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 
with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for 
Federal office held in November 2012 and any succeeding 
election.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO EN-
FORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15511) 
is amended by striking ‘‘and 303’’ and inserting ‘‘303, and 
303A’’. 
(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. 4. DETERMINING EXTENT TO WHICH DISABLED INDI-
VIDUALS HAVE ACCESS TO POLLING PLACES. 
(a) ONGOING
SURVEYS
OF
COMPLIANCE
WITH 
ADA.—In accordance with section 241 of the Help Amer-
ica Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15381), not later than 
180 days after the date of the regularly scheduled general 
election for Federal office held in November 2012 and 
each succeeding regularly scheduled general election for 
Federal office, the Election Assistance Commission, shall, 
with the assistance of the Comptroller General, conduct 
and publish a survey of each polling place used for the 
election to determine the percentage of such polling places 
that were in compliance with the standards applicable to 
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such locations under the Americans With Disabilities Act 
of 1990. 
(b) EVALUATION
OF NEED TO CONTINUE SUR-
VEYS.—At the time the Election Assistance Commission 
publishes the results of the survey conducted under sub-
section (a) with respect to the regularly scheduled general 
election for Federal office held in November 2020, the 
Commission shall evaluate and make a recommendation 
to Congress regarding whether the percentage of polling 
places in compliance with the standards applicable to such 
locations under the Americans With Disabilities Act of 
1990 has increased to such an extent that there is no 
longer a need to conduct surveys under subsection (a) with 
respect to subsequent elections. 
SEC. 
5. 
ESTABLISHMENT 
OF 
PROCEDURES 
AND 
FEE 
SCHEDULES FOR CONDUCTING TESTING OF 
VOTING EQUIPMENT HARDWARE AND SOFT-
WARE; PAYMENT OF USER FEES FOR COM-
PENSATION OF ACCREDITED LABORATORIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 231(b) of the Help Amer-
ica Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15371(b)) is amended 
by adding at the end the following new paragraphs: 
‘‘(3) PROCEDURES FOR CONDUCTING TESTING; 
PAYMENT OF USER FEES FOR COMPENSATION OF 
ACCREDITED LABORATORIES.— 
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‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT
OF
ESCROW
AC-
COUNT.—The Commission shall establish an es-
crow account (to be known as the ‘Testing Es-
crow Account’) that will serve as the exclusive 
source for making payments to accredited lab-
oratories for the costs of the testing carried out 
in connection with the certification, decertifica-
tion, and recertification of voting system hard-
ware and software. 
‘‘(B) SCHEDULE OF FEES.—In consulta-
tion with the accredited laboratories, the Com-
mission shall establish and regularly update a 
schedule of fees for the testing carried out in 
connection with the certification, decertification, 
and recertification of voting system hardware 
and software, based on the reasonable costs ex-
pected to be incurred by the accredited labora-
tories in carrying out the testing for various 
types of hardware and software. 
‘‘(C) REQUESTS AND PAYMENTS BY MANU-
FACTURERS.—A manufacturer of voting system 
hardware and software may not have the hard-
ware or software tested by an accredited labora-
tory under this section unless— 
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‘‘(i) the manufacturer submits a de-
tailed request for the testing to the Com-
mission; 
‘‘(ii) the request provides sufficient in-
formation for the Commission to determine 
the applicable fee for the testing under the 
schedule established and in effect under 
subparagraph (B); 
‘‘(iii) the Commission approves the re-
quest; and 
‘‘(iv) the manufacturer pays to the 
Commission, for deposit into the Testing 
Escrow Account established under sub-
paragraph (A), the applicable fee for the 
testing. 
‘‘(D) SELECTION OF LABORATORY.—Upon 
approving a request for testing and receiving 
the payment from a manufacturer required 
under subparagraph (C), the Commission shall 
select at random (to the greatest extent prac-
ticable), from all laboratories which are accred-
ited under this section to carry out the specific 
testing requested by the manufacturer, an ac-
credited laboratory to carry out the testing. 
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‘‘(E) PAYMENTS
TO
LABORATORIES.— 
Upon determining that a laboratory selected to 
carry out testing pursuant to subparagraph (D) 
has completed the testing in accordance with 
the approved request, the Commission shall 
make a payment to the laboratory from the 
Testing Escrow Account established under sub-
paragraph (A) in an amount equal to the appli-
cable fee paid by the manufacturer under sub-
paragraph (C)(iv). 
‘‘(4) DISSEMINATION OF ADDITIONAL INFORMA-
TION ON ACCREDITED LABORATORIES.— 
‘‘(A) 
LIST
OF
ACCREDITED
LABORA-
TORIES.—The Commission shall maintain and 
publish an updated list of all accredited labora-
tories under this section. 
‘‘(B) INFORMATION ON STATUS OF LAB-
ORATORIES.—In addition to updating the list 
maintained and published under subparagraph 
(A), the Commission shall promptly notify Con-
gress, the chief State election official of each 
State, and the public whenever— 
‘‘(i) the Commission revokes, termi-
nates, or suspends the accreditation of a 
laboratory under this section; 
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‘‘(ii) the Commission restores the ac-
creditation of a laboratory under this sec-
tion which has been revoked, terminated, 
or suspended; or 
‘‘(iii) the Commission has credible evi-
dence of a significant security failure at an 
accredited laboratory. 
‘‘(C) INFORMATION
ON
TESTING.—Upon 
completion of the testing of a voting system 
under this section, the Commission shall 
promptly disseminate to the public the identi-
fication of the laboratory which carried out the 
testing.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 231 of 
such Act (42 U.S.C. 15371) is further amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘testing, 
certification,’’ and all that follows and inserting the 
following: ‘‘testing of voting system hardware and 
software by accredited laboratories in connection 
with the certification, decertification, and recertifi-
cation of the hardware and software for purposes of 
this Act.’’; 
(2) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘testing, 
certification,’’ and all that follows and inserting the 
following: ‘‘testing of its voting system hardware and 
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software by the laboratories accredited by the Com-
mission under this section in connection with certi-
fying, decertifying, and recertifying the hardware 
and software.’’; 
(3) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘testing, 
certification, decertification, and recertification’’ and 
inserting ‘‘testing’’; and 
(4) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘testing, cer-
tification, decertification, and recertification’’ each 
place it appears and inserting ‘‘testing’’. 
(c) DEADLINE FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF ESCROW AC-
COUNT AND SCHEDULE OF FEES.—The Election Assist-
ance Commission shall establish the Testing Escrow Ac-
count and schedule of fees described in section 231(b)(3) 
of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (as added by sub-
section (a)) not later than January 1, 2012. 
SEC. 6. STUDIES OF METHODS TO REDUCE COSTS OF AD-
MINISTERING ELECTIONS. 
(a) ANALYSIS OF FACTORS AFFECTING COSTS OF 
ADMINISTERING ELECTIONS.—The Election Assistance 
Commission shall conduct a study analyzing various fac-
tors that affect the costs to States and units of local gov-
ernment of administering elections for Federal office, in-
cluding the following specific factors: 
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(1) The durability of the equipment used in vot-
ing systems. 
(2) The extent to which States and units of 
local government must replace existing systems be-
cause such systems are not capable of using en-
hanced software or are not capable of being up-
graded in a cost-effective manner. 
(3) The lack of competition among vendors and 
manufacturers of the equipment used in voting sys-
tems because of consolidation in the voting system 
industry. 
(b) RECOMMENDATIONS
FOR STEPS TO REDUCE 
COSTS.—The Commission shall include in the study con-
ducted under this section such recommendations as the 
Commission shall consider appropriate to reduce the costs 
incurred by States and units of local government in ad-
ministering elections for Federal office, including rec-
ommendations for legislative action by Congress or the 
States. 
(c) DEADLINE.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall 
submit the study conducted under this section to Con-
gress. 
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SEC. 7. STUDY OF METHODS FOR INCREASING EFFICIENCY 
AND COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF ELECTION AS-
SISTANCE COMMISSION. 
(a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General shall conduct 
a study of the administrative operations of the Election 
Assistance Commission, and shall include in the study an 
analysis of various methods for increasing the efficiency 
and cost-effectiveness of such operations. 
(b) DEADLINE; REPORT.—Not later than 90 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comp-
troller General shall submit to Congress a report on the 
study conducted under subsection (a), and shall include 
in the report such recommendations as the Comptroller 
General considers appropriate. 
(c) PARTICIPATION OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE COM-
MISSION.—The Election Assistance Commission shall pro-
vide the Comptroller General with such assistance as the 
Comptroller General may require to carry out this section. 
Æ 
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