I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4479 
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to improve the administration 
and operation of the Election Assistance Commission, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 6, 2023 
Mr. D’ESPOSITO 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 administration and operation of the Election Assist-
ance 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 ‘‘Positioning the Elec-
tion Assistance Commission for the Future Act of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS RELATING TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF 
THE ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Election Assistance Commission best 
serves the American people when operating within 
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its core statutory functions, including serving as a 
clearinghouse for information on election administra-
tion, providing grants, and testing and certifying 
election equipment. 
(2) The American people are best served when 
Federal agency election assistance is offered by a 
single agency with expertise in this space. The Elec-
tion Assistance Commission, composed of four elec-
tion experts from different political parties, is best 
situated among the Federal government agencies to 
offer assistance services to citizens and to guide 
other Federal agencies that have responsibilities in 
the elections space. The Commission is also best 
suited to determine the timing of the issuance of any 
advisories and to disburse all appropriated election 
grant funding. 
(3) To this end, Congress finds that the Elec-
tion Assistance Commission should be viewed as the 
lead Federal government agency on all election ad-
ministration matters, and other Federal agencies op-
erating in this space should look to the Commission 
for guidance, direction, and support on election ad-
ministration-related issues. 
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SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS WITH RESPECT TO STAFF AND 
FUNDING OF THE ELECTION ASSISTANCE 
COMMISSION. 
(a) STAFF.—Section 204(a)(5) of the Help America 
Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20924(a)(5)) is amended by 
striking ‘‘of such additional personnel’’ and inserting ‘‘of 
not more than 55 full-time equivalent employees to carry 
out the duties and responsibilities under this Act’’. 
(b) FUNDING.—Section 210 of the Help America 
Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20930) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘for each of the fiscal years 
2003 through 2005’’ and inserting ‘‘for each of the 
fiscal years 2024 through 2026’’; and 
(2) by striking ‘‘(but not to exceed $10,000,000 
for each such year)’’ and inserting ‘‘(but not to ex-
ceed $25,000,000 for each such year)’’. 
(c) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN USE OF FUNDS.— 
(1) PROHIBITION.—None of the funds author-
ized to be appropriated or otherwise made available 
under subsection (b) may be obligated or expended 
for the operation of an advisory committee estab-
lished by the Election Assistance Commission pursu-
ant to and in accordance with the provisions of the 
Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App. 2), 
except with respect to the operation of the Local 
Leadership Council. 
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(2) NO EFFECT ON ENTITIES ESTABLISHED BY 
HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2002.—Paragraph (1) 
does not apply with respect to the operation of any 
entity established by the Help America Vote Act of 
2002, including the Election Assistance Commission 
Standards Board, the Election Assistance Commis-
sion Board of Advisors, and the Technical Guide-
lines Development Committee. 
(d) REQUIREMENTS WITH RESPECT TO COMPENSA-
TION
OF
MEMBERS
OF
THE
COMMISSION.—Section 
203(d) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 
20923(d)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘at the annual 
rate of basic pay prescribed for level IV of the Exec-
utive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United 
States Code’’ and inserting ‘‘at an annual rate of 
basic pay equal to the amount of $186,300, as ad-
justed under section 5318 of title 5, United States 
Code, in the same manner as the annual rate of pay 
for positions at each level of the Executive Sched-
ule’’; 
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘No member 
appointed’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in 
paragraph (3), no member appointed’’; and 
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(3) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(3) SUPPLEMENTAL EMPLOYMENT AND COM-
PENSATION.—An individual serving a term of service 
on the Commission shall be permitted to hold a posi-
tion at an institution of higher education (as such 
term is defined in section 101 of the Higher Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) if— 
‘‘(A) the General Counsel of the Election 
Assistance Commission determines that such 
position does not create a conflict of interest 
with the individual’s position as a sitting mem-
ber of the Commission and grants the indi-
vidual approval to hold the position; and 
‘‘(B) the annual rate of compensation re-
ceived by the individual from such institution is 
not greater than the amount equal to 49.9 per-
cent of the annual rate of basic pay paid to the 
individual under paragraph (1).’’. 
(e) OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL.—Section 204 
of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20924) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(f) OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL.—The Inspec-
tor General of the Election Assistance Commission may 
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appoint not more than 7 full-time equivalent employees 
to assist the Inspector General to carry out the duties and 
responsibilities under section 4 of the Inspector General 
Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. 4), of whom 2 shall have pri-
marily administrative duties and responsibilities.’’. 
(f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend-
ments made by this section shall take effect on October 
1, 2023. 
SEC. 4. EXCLUSIVE AUTHORITY OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE 
COMMISSION TO MAKE ELECTION ADMINIS-
TRATION PAYMENTS TO STATES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—No entity of the Federal Govern-
ment other than the Election Assistance Commission may 
make any payment to a State for purposes of admin-
istering elections for Federal office, including obtaining 
election and voting equipment and infrastructure, enhanc-
ing election and voting technology, and making election 
and voting security improvements, including with respect 
to cybersecurity and infrastructure. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (a) shall apply 
with respect to payments made on or after the date of 
the enactment of this Act. 
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SEC. 5. EXECUTIVE BOARD OF THE STANDARDS BOARD AU-
THORITY TO ENTER INTO CONTRACTS. 
Section 213(c) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 
(52 U.S.C. 20943(c)) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(5) 
AUTHORITY
TO
ENTER
INTO
CON-
TRACTS.—The Executive Board of the Standards 
Board may, using amounts already made available 
to the Commission, enter into contracts to employ 
and retain no more than 2 individuals to enable the 
Standards Board to discharge its duties with respect 
to the examination and release of voluntary consider-
ations with respect to the administration of elections 
for Federal offices by the States under section 247, 
except that— 
‘‘(A) no more than 1 individual from the 
same political party may be employed under 
such contracts at the same time; 
‘‘(B) the authority to enter into such con-
tracts shall end on the earlier of the date of the 
release of the considerations or December 31, 
2024; and 
‘‘(C) no additional funds may be appro-
priated to the Commission for the purposes of 
carrying out this paragraph.’’. 
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SEC. 6. ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION PRIMARY 
ROLE IN ELECTION ADMINISTRATION. 
Except as provided in any other provision of law, the 
Election Assistance Commission shall, with respect to any 
other entity of the Federal Government, have primary ju-
risdiction to address issues with respect to the administra-
tion of elections for Federal office. 
SEC. 7. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR PAYMENTS MADE 
BY ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION. 
(a) PROHIBITING USE OF PAYMENTS FOR GET-OUT- 
THE-VOTE-ACTIVITY.—Subtitle D of title II of the Help 
America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21001 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new part: 
‘‘PART 7—GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR 
PAYMENTS 
‘‘SEC. 297. PROHIBITING USE OF PAYMENTS FOR GET-OUT- 
THE-VOTE-ACTIVITY. 
‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—No payment made to a State or 
unit of local government by the Commission may be used 
for get-out-the-vote activity. 
‘‘(b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘get-out- 
the-vote activity’ means, with respect to a payment made 
to a State or unit of local government, any activity which, 
at the time the payment is made, is treated as get-out- 
the-vote-activity under the Federal Election Campaign Act 
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of 1971 and the regulations promulgated by the Federal 
Election Commission to carry out such Act.’’. 
(b) REQUIRING DISCLAIMER IN COMMUNICATIONS.— 
Part 7 of subtitle D of title II of such Act, as added by 
subsection (b), is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new section: 
‘‘SEC. 297A. REQUIRING COMMUNICATIONS FUNDED BY 
PAYMENTS TO INCLUDE DISCLAIMER. 
‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—If a State or unit of local gov-
ernment disseminates a public communication which was 
developed or disseminated in whole or in part with a pay-
ment made to the State or local government by the Com-
mission under this Act or any other Act, the State or unit 
of local government shall ensure that the communication 
includes, in a clear and conspicuous manner, the following 
statement: ‘Paid for using Federal taxpayer funds pursu-
ant to the Help America Vote Act’. 
‘‘(b) CLEAR
AND
CONSPICUOUS
MANNER
DE-
SCRIBED.—A statement required under subsection (a) 
shall be considered to be in a clear and conspicuous man-
ner if the statement meets the following requirements: 
‘‘(1) TEXT OR GRAPHIC COMMUNICATIONS.—In 
the case of a text or graphic communication, the 
statement— 
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‘‘(A) appears in letters at least as large as 
the majority of the text in the communication 
‘‘(B) is contained in a printed box set 
apart from the other contents of the commu-
nication; and 
‘‘(C) is printed with a reasonable degree of 
color contrast between the background and the 
printed statement. 
‘‘(2) AUDIO COMMUNICATIONS.—In the case of 
an audio communication, the statement is spoken in 
a clearly audible and intelligible manner at the be-
ginning or end of the communication and lasts at 
least 3 seconds. 
‘‘(3) VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS.—In the case of 
a video communication which also includes audio, 
the statement— 
‘‘(A) is included at either the beginning or 
the end of the communication; and 
‘‘(B) is made both in— 
‘‘(i) a written format that meets the 
requirements of subparagraph (A) and ap-
pears for at least 4 seconds; and 
‘‘(ii) an audible format that meets the 
requirements of subparagraph (B). 
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‘‘(4) OTHER COMMUNICATIONS.—In the case of 
any other type of communication, the statement is 
at least as clear and conspicuous as the statement 
specified in paragraph (1), (2), or (3). 
‘‘(c) PUBLIC COMMUNICATION.—In this section, the 
term ‘public communication’ means a communication re-
lating to the administration of an election for Federal of-
fice by means of any broadcast, cable, or satellite commu-
nication, newspaper, magazine, outdoor advertising facil-
ity, mass mailing, or telephone bank to the general public, 
or any other form of general public advertising.’’. 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
of such Act is amended by inserting at the end of the items 
relating to subtitle D of title II the following: 
‘‘PART 7—GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR PAYMENTS 
‘‘Sec. 297. Prohibiting use of payments for get-out-the-vote-activity. 
‘‘Sec. 297A. Requiring communications funded by payments to include dis-
claimer.’’. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend-
ments made by this section shall apply with respect to pay-
ments made on or after the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
Æ 
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