outs verifiable by voters at the time the vote is cast 
to conduct the audit and the Director of the Na-
tional Institute of Standards and Technology or a 
panel of 3 independent statisticians appointed by the 
Election Auditor of the State, county, or equivalent 
jurisdiction determines that the alternative sampling 
mechanism will be at least as statistically effective in 
ensuring the accuracy of the election results as the 
sample size specified under paragraph (1). 
(d) PROCESS FOR ADMINISTERING AUDITS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Election Auditor of a 
State, county, or equivalent location shall oversee 
the administration of an audit conducted under this 
section in accordance with the following procedures: 
(A) The Election Auditor shall commence 
the audit within 48 hours after the State, coun-
ty, or equivalent location announces the final 
unofficial vote count (as defined by the State, 
county, or equivalent location) in each precinct 
in which votes are cast in the election which is 
the subject of the audit. 
(B) The Election Auditor shall complete 
the audit, resolve discrepancies discovered in 
the audit, and submit the audit report required 
under subsection (f)(1), prior to the certifi-
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cation by the State, county, or equivalent loca-
tion of the results of the election. 
(C) Within each precinct or alternative 
audit unit, and subject to the completeness re-
quirement set forth in subsection (b)(2), the 
audit shall include all ballots (including absen-
tee ballots in accordance with the procedure set 
forth in subsection (e)(3) or otherwise, early 
ballots, and provisional ballots) cast by all indi-
viduals who voted in or are under the jurisdic-
tion of the precinct or alternative audit unit 
with respect to which the audit takes place, 
without regard to the time, place, or manner in 
which the votes were cast. 
(2) USE OF ELECTION PERSONNEL.—In admin-
istering the audits, the Election Auditor may utilize 
the services of jurisdiction personnel, including elec-
tion administration personnel and poll workers, with-
out regard to whether or not the personnel have pro-
fessional auditing experience. 
(3) LOCATION.—The Election Auditor shall ad-
minister an audit conducted under this section at 
the location where the ballots cast in the election are 
stored and counted after the date of the election, or 
such other appropriate and secure location agreed 
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upon by the Election Auditor and the individual who 
is responsible under State law for the custody of the 
ballots, and in the presence of the personnel who 
under State law are responsible for the custody of 
the ballots. 
(4) ADDITIONAL AUDITS IF CAUSE SHOWN.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Election Auditor 
finds that any of the hand counts administered 
under this section do not match the final unof-
ficial vote count of the results of an election, 
the Election Auditor shall oversee the adminis-
tration of hand counts under this section of 
such additional precincts (or equivalent jurisdic-
tions) as the Election Auditor considers appro-
priate (in accordance with the procedures de-
scribed in subparagraph (B)) to resolve any 
concerns resulting from the audit and ensure 
the accuracy of the results. 
(B) ESTABLISHMENT
AND
PUBLICATION 
OF PROCEDURES GOVERNING ADDITIONAL AU-
DITS.—Prior to the date of the regularly sched-
uled general election for Federal office held in 
November 2008, a State, county, or equivalent 
location shall establish and publish procedures 
for carrying out the additional audits under this 
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subsection, including the means by which the 
State, county, or equivalent location shall re-
solve any concerns resulting from the audit with 
finality and ensure the accuracy of the results. 
(5) PUBLIC OBSERVATION OF AUDITS.—Each 
audit conducted under this section shall be con-
ducted in a manner that allows public observation of 
the entire process, including reasonable advance no-
tice, sufficient to confirm but not interfere with the 
proceedings. 
(e) SELECTION OF PRECINCTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (3), the selection of the precincts in the State, 
county, or equivalent location in which the Election 
Auditor of the State, county, or equivalent location 
shall oversee the administration of hand counts in 
an audit conducted under this section shall be made 
by the Election Auditor after the final unofficial vote 
count (as defined by the State, county or equivalent 
location) has been announced and on an entirely 
random basis using a uniform distribution in which 
all precincts in the State, county, or equivalent loca-
tion have an equal chance of being selected, in ac-
cordance with procedures adopted by the State, 
county, or equivalent location, except that, consistent 
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with the other requirements of this paragraph, in 
the case of an audit conducted by the State, at least 
one precinct or alternative audit unit shall be se-
lected at random in each county or equivalent juris-
diction. 
(2) PUBLIC SELECTION.—The random selection 
of precincts under paragraph (1) shall be conducted 
in public, at a time and place announced in advance. 
(3) MANDATORY SELECTION OF PRECINCTS ES-
TABLISHED
SPECIFICALLY
FOR
ABSENTEE
BAL-
LOTS.—If a State, county, or equivalent location es-
tablishes a separate precinct for purposes of count-
ing the absentee ballots cast in an election and 
treats all absentee ballots as having been cast in 
that precinct, and if the State, county, or equivalent 
location does not make absentee ballots sortable by 
precinct and include those ballots in the hand count 
administered with respect to that precinct, subject to 
the completeness requirement set forth in subsection 
(b)(2), the State, county, or equivalent location may 
divide absentee ballots into audit units approxi-
mately equal in size to the average precinct in the 
State, county, or equivalent location in terms of the 
number of ballots cast, and shall randomly select 
and include at least 3 percent of those audit units 
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in the audit carried out in accordance with this sec-
tion. 
(4) DEADLINE
FOR
ADOPTION
OF
PROCE-
DURES.—Prior to the date of the regularly scheduled 
general election for Federal office held in November 
2008, a State, county, or equivalent location shall 
adopt and publish the procedures described in para-
graph (1). 
(f) PUBLICATION OF RESULTS.—As soon as prac-
ticable after the completion of an audit conducted under 
this section, the Election Auditor of a State, county, or 
equivalent location shall submit to the Administrator the 
results of the audit, and shall include in the submission 
a comparison of the results of the election attributable to 
the precinct or alternative audit unit as determined by the 
Election Auditor under the audit and the final unofficial 
vote count attributable to the precinct or alternative audit 
unit as announced by the State, county, or equivalent loca-
tion and all undervotes, overvotes, blank ballots, and 
spoiled, voided or cancelled ballots, as well as a list of any 
discrepancies discovered between the initial, subsequent, 
and final hand counts overseen by the Election Auditor 
and such final unofficial vote count and any explanation 
for such discrepancies, broken down by the types of ballots 
which were subject to the audit. 
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(g) REPORTS BY ADMINISTRATOR.—The Adminis-
trator shall publish promptly all reports on the results of 
audits conducted under this section that are submitted 
pursuant to this section. 
(h) DEADLINE
FOR APPROVAL
OF ALTERNATIVE 
BALLOT SAMPLING METHODS BY NATIONAL INSTITUTE 
OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY.—The Director of the 
National Institute of Standards and Technology shall, not 
later than 30 days after receiving a request by a State, 
county, or equivalent location for approval of an alter-
native ballot sampling method under subsection (c)(2), re-
spond to the State, county, or equivalent location with con-
firmation as to whether or not the method is at least as 
statistically effective in ensuring the accuracy of the elec-
tion results as the procedure described in subsection 
(c)(1). 
SEC. 4. PAYMENTS FOR CONDUCTING HAND COUNTS OF 
RESULTS OF 2008 GENERAL ELECTIONS. 
(a) PAYMENTS.— 
(1) ELIGIBILITY FOR PAYMENTS.—If a State, 
county, or equivalent location tallies the results of 
any regularly scheduled general election for Federal 
office in November 2008 by conducting a hand count 
of the votes cast on the paper ballots used in the 
election (including paper ballot printouts verifiable 
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by the voter at the time the vote is cast) in accord-
ance with the requirements of this section, the Ad-
ministrator shall make a payment to the State, 
county, or equivalent location in an amount equal to 
the documented reasonable costs incurred by the 
State, county, or equivalent location in conducting 
the hand counts. 
(2) CERTIFICATION
OF
COMPLIANCE
AND 
COSTS.— 
(A) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—In order 
to receive a payment under this section, a 
State, county, or equivalent location shall sub-
mit to the Administrator (and, in the case of a 
county or equivalent jurisdiction, shall provide a 
copy to the State), in such form as the Admin-
istrator may require, a statement containing— 
(i) a certification that the State, coun-
ty, or equivalent location conducted the 
hand counts in accordance with all of the 
requirements of this section; 
(ii) a statement of the reasonable 
costs incurred by the State, county, or 
equivalent location in conducting the hand 
counts; and 
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(iii) such other information and assur-
ances as the Administrator may require. 
(B) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.—The amount 
of a payment made to a State, county, or equiv-
alent location under this section shall be equal 
to the reasonable costs incurred by the State, 
county, or equivalent location in conducting the 
hand counts. 
(C) DETERMINATION OF REASONABLENESS 
OF
COSTS.—The determinations under this 
paragraph of whether costs incurred by a State, 
county, or equivalent location are reasonable 
shall be made by the Administrator in consulta-
tion with the Election Assistance Commission. 
(3) TIMING OF PAYMENTS.—The Administrator 
shall make the payment required under this section 
to a State, county, or equivalent location not later 
than 30 days after receiving the statement sub-
mitted by the State, county, or equivalent location 
under paragraph (2). 
(4) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Ad-
ministrator $30,000,000 for payments under this 
section. Any amounts appropriated pursuant to the 
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authorization under this subsection shall remain 
available until expended. 
(b) HAND COUNTS DESCRIBED.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—A hand count conducted in 
accordance with this section is a count of all of the 
paper ballots on which votes were cast in the election 
(including paper ballot printouts verifiable by the 
voter at the time the vote is cast), including votes 
cast on an early, absentee, emergency, and provi-
sional basis, which is conducted by hand to deter-
mine the winner of the election and is conducted 
without using electronic equipment or software. 
(2) COMPLETENESS.—With respect to each ju-
risdiction in which a hand count is conducted, the 
State, county, or equivalent location shall ensure 
that a voter verified paper ballot or paper ballot 
printout verifiable by the voter at the time the vote 
is cast is available for every vote cast in the jurisdic-
tion. 
(c) PROCESS FOR CONDUCTING HAND COUNTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to meet the require-
ments of this section, a hand count of the ballots 
cast in an election shall be conducted in accordance 
with the following procedures: 
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(A) On the date of the election, the juris-
diction shall conduct an initial hand count of 
the ballots cast in the election, using the ballots 
which are eligible to be counted in the election 
as of the time the polls are closed. 
(B) Any ballot which is eligible to be 
counted in the election but which is not in-
cluded in the initial count conducted under sub-
paragraph (A), including a provisional ballot 
cast by an individual who is determined to be 
eligible to vote in the election or an absentee 
ballot received after the date of the election but 
prior to the applicable deadline under State law 
for the receipt of absentee ballots, shall be sub-
ject to a hand count in accordance with this 
section and added to the tally conducted under 
subparagraph (A) not later than 48 hours after 
the ballot is determined to be eligible to be 
counted. 
(C) The hand count shall be conducted by 
a team of not fewer than 2 individuals who 
shall be witnessed by at least one observer sit-
ting at the same table with such individuals. 
Except as provided in paragraph (2), all such 
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individuals shall be election officials of the ju-
risdiction in which the hand count is conducted. 
(2) USE OF OTHER PERSONNEL.—An individual 
who is not an election official of the jurisdiction in 
which a hand count is conducted under this section 
may serve on a team conducting the hand count or 
may serve as an observer of a team conducting the 
hand count if the jurisdiction certifies that the indi-
vidual has completed such training as the jurisdic-
tion deems appropriate to conduct or observe the 
hand count (as the case may be). 
(3) LOCATION.—The hand counts conducted 
under this section of the ballots cast in an election 
shall be conducted— 
(A) in the case of ballots cast at a polling 
place on the date of the election, at the polling 
place at which the ballots were cast; or 
(B) in the case of any other ballots, at the 
office of the chief election official of the juris-
diction conducting the hand count. 
(4) INFORMATION
INCLUDED
IN
RESULTS.— 
Each hand count conducted under this section shall 
produce the following information with respect to the 
election: 
(A) The vote tally for each candidate. 
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(B) The number of overvotes, undervotes, 
spoiled ballots, and blank ballots cast (or their 
equivalents, as defined by the State, county or 
equivalent location). 
(C) The number of write-in ballots and the 
names written in on such ballots pursuant to 
State law. 
(D) The total number of ballots cast. 
(E) A record of judgement calls made re-
garding voter intent. 
(5) PUBLIC OBSERVATION OF HAND COUNTS.— 
Each hand count conducted under this section shall 
be conducted in a manner that allows public obser-
vation of the entire process (including the opening of 
the ballot boxes or removal of machine-printed bal-
lots from their containers, the sorting, counting, and 
notation of results, and the announcement of final 
determinations) sufficient to confirm but not inter-
fere with the proceedings. 
(6) ESTABLISHMENT
AND
PUBLICATION
OF 
PROCEDURES.—Prior to the date of the regularly 
scheduled general election for Federal office held in 
November 2008, a State, county, or equivalent loca-
tion shall establish and publish procedures for car-
rying out hand counts under this subsection. 
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(d) ANNOUNCEMENT AND POSTING OF RESULTS.— 
Upon the completion of a hand count conducted under this 
section, the State, county, or equivalent location shall an-
nounce the results to the public and post them on a public 
Internet site. 
(e) USE OF HAND COUNT IN CERTIFICATION OF RE-
SULTS.—The State shall use the results of the hand count 
conducted under this section for purposes of certifying the 
results of the election involved. Nothing in this section 
may be construed to affect the application or operation 
of any State law governing the recount of the results of 
an election. 
SEC. 5. STUDY, TESTING, AND DEVELOPMENT OF PROD-
UCTS AND PRACTICES TO ENSURE ACCESSI-
BILITY OF PAPER BALLOT VERIFICATION 
AND CASTING FOR CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS. 
(a) STUDY, TESTING, AND DEVELOPMENT.—The Di-
rector of the National Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology (hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘‘Direc-
tor’’) shall study, test, and develop products and practices 
that ensure the accessibility of paper ballot verification 
and casting for individuals with disabilities, for voters 
whose primary language is not English, and for voters 
with difficulties in literacy, including the mechanisms 
themselves and the processes through which the mecha-
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nisms are used.
In carrying out this subsection, the Di-
rector shall specifically investigate existing and potential 
methods or devices, including non-electronic devices, that 
will assist such individuals and voters in creating voter- 
verified paper ballots, presenting or transmitting the infor-
mation printed or marked on such ballots back to such 
individuals and voters in an accessible form, and enabling 
the voters to cast the ballots. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than June 30, 2009, the Di-
rector shall submit a report to Congress on the results 
of the studying, testing, and development of products and 
practices under subsection (a). 
(c) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to the Director to carry 
out this section $3,000,000, to remain available until ex-
pended. 
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act— 
(1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad-
ministrator of General Services; and 
(2) the term ‘‘State’’ includes the District of 
Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 
Guam, American Samoa, and the United States Vir-
gin Islands. 
Æ 
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