I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 253 
To direct the Election Assistance Commission to make grants to States 
to carry out election administration improvement plans. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 7, 2009 
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida (for himself, Ms. MATSUI, and Ms. CORRINE 
BROWN of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on House Administration 
A BILL 
To direct the Election Assistance Commission to make grants 
to States to carry out election administration improve-
ment plans. 
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 ‘‘Critical Election Infra-
structure Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Roughly 130 million votes were cast in the 
United States in the November 2008 general elec-
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tion, representing over 61 percent of the Nation’s 
population. 
(2) Hundreds of thousands of individuals were 
forced to wait in lines for 5 hours or longer in order 
to cast their votes, both during early voting periods 
and on Election Day. 
(3) Hundreds of jurisdictions lacked the nec-
essary equipment and personnel to speedily and effi-
ciently meet the needs of such large turnout. 
SEC. 3. GRANTS TO STATES FOR ELECTION ADMINISTRA-
TION IMPROVEMENTS. 
(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Election Assistance 
Commission (hereafter referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’) 
shall make grants to eligible States to carry out election 
administration improvement plans. 
(b) PLANS DESCRIBED.—For purposes of this Act, 
an election administration improvement plan is a plan es-
tablished by a State to promote efficiency and fairness in 
the operation of polling places at which individuals cast 
ballots in elections for Federal office held in the State (in-
cluding early voting sites), which may include the acquisi-
tion of additional voting systems and equipment, improved 
training of election administration officials, and the alloca-
tion of additional election administration officials to poll-
ing places serving greater numbers of voters. 
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(c) ELIGIBILITY.—A State is eligible to receive a 
grant under this Act if it submits to the Commission (at 
such time and in such form as the Commission may re-
quire) an application containing— 
(1) the State’s election administration improve-
ment plan; 
(2) a description of how the State will use the 
funds provided under the grant to carry out the 
plan; and 
(3) such other information and certifications as 
the Commission may require. 
(d) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of the grant 
made to an eligible State under this Act shall be deter-
mined by the Commission, taking into account the con-
tents of application submitted by the State under sub-
section (c), the amount of funds available for grants to 
all States, and such other factors as the Commission con-
siders appropriate. 
(e) 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. 
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SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro-
priated for grants under this Act $250,000,000 for each 
of the fiscal years 2009 through 2012. 
(b) CONTINUING AVAILABILITY
OF FUNDS.—Any 
amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization under 
this section shall remain available until expended. 
Æ 
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