I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6073 
To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to conduct research and devel-
opment to mitigate the consequences of threats to voting systems, to 
amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require the voting systems 
used in elections for Federal office to comply with national standards 
developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology for 
operational security and ballot verification, to establish programs to pro-
mote research in innovative voting system technologies, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 20, 2016 
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia (for himself, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. 
HONDA, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. RUSH, and Mr. BISHOP of Geor-
gia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on House Administration, and in addition to the Committees on Science, 
Space, and Technology, and Homeland Security, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to conduct 
research and development to mitigate the consequences 
of threats to voting systems, to amend the Help America 
Vote Act of 2002 to require the voting systems used 
in elections for Federal office to comply with national 
standards developed by the National Institute of Stand-
ards and Technology for operational security and ballot 
verification, to establish programs to promote research 
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in innovative voting system technologies, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Election Infrastructure and Security Promotion Act of 
2016’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
TITLE I—ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE AND SECURITY 
Sec. 101. Definition of critical infrastructure. 
Sec. 102. Designation of voting systems as critical infrastructure. 
Sec. 103. Voting system threat and research and development. 
TITLE II—NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR VOTING SYSTEM 
SECURITY 
Sec. 201. Development of standards. 
Sec. 202. Requiring States to comply with standards in administration of elec-
tions for Federal office. 
Sec. 203. Incorporation of standards into certification and testing of voting sys-
tems. 
TITLE III—NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR TRANSPARENCY AND 
VERIFICATION OF BALLOT COUNTING 
Sec. 301. Development of standards. 
Sec. 302. Requiring States to comply with standards in administration of elec-
tions for Federal office. 
TITLE IV—RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 
Sec. 401. Innovative election technology research and development. 
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TITLE 
I—ELECTION 
INFRA-
STRUCTURE AND SECURITY 
SEC. 101. DEFINITION OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE. 
In this title, the term ‘‘critical infrastructure’’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 1016 of the Critical 
Infrastructure Protection Act of 2001 (42 U.S.C. 
5195c(e)). 
SEC. 102. DESIGNATION OF VOTING SYSTEMS AS CRITICAL 
INFRASTRUCTURE. 
The Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through 
the Assistant Secretary of the National Protection and 
Programs Directorate, shall— 
(1) designate voting systems used in the United 
States as critical infrastructure; 
(2) include threats of compromise, disruption, 
or destruction of voting systems in national planning 
scenarios; and 
(3) conduct a campaign to proactively educate 
local election officials about the designation of voting 
systems as critical infrastructure and election offi-
cials at all levels of government of voting system 
threats. 
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SEC. 103. VOTING SYSTEM THREAT AND RESEARCH AND 
DEVELOPMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—In furtherance of local election of-
ficial preparedness and response, the Secretary of Home-
land Security, acting through the Under Secretary for 
Science and Technology, and in consultation with other 
relevant agencies and departments of the Federal Govern-
ment and relevant State and local election official opera-
tors of election infrastructure, shall conduct research and 
development to mitigate the consequences of voting sys-
tems threats. 
(b) SCOPE.—The scope of the research and develop-
ment under subsection (a) shall include the following: 
(1) An objective scientific analysis of the risks 
to critical election infrastructures from a range of 
threats. 
(2) Determination of the voting system assets 
and infrastructures that are at risk from intrusion, 
compromise, disruption or destruction. 
(3) An evaluation of emergency planning and 
response technologies that would address the find-
ings and recommendations of experts, including 
those of a Commission to Assess the Threat to the 
United States from election administration or voting 
system attack. 
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(4) An analysis of technology options that are 
available to improve the resiliency of critical infra-
structure to voting system threats. 
(5) The restoration and recovery capabilities of 
critical infrastructure under differing levels of dam-
age and disruption. 
(c) COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 
Security shall prepare and submit to the Committee 
on Homeland Security of the House of Representa-
tives and the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs of the Senate a comprehensive 
plan to protect and prepare the critical infrastruc-
ture of the voting systems used in the United States 
against threats, including from acts of terrorism. 
(2) PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—The comprehensive 
plan shall— 
(A) be based on findings of the research 
and development conducted under subsection 
(a); 
(B) be developed in consultation with the 
relevant Federal sector-specific agencies (as de-
fined under Homeland Security Presidential Di-
rective for critical infrastructures); and 
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(C) be developed in consultation with State 
and local election officials. 
(3) UPDATES.—The Secretary shall update the 
plan required under this subsection biennially. 
TITLE 
II—NATIONAL 
STAND-
ARDS FOR VOTING SYSTEM 
SECURITY 
SEC. 201. DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARDS. 
(a) DEVELOPMENT.—The Director of the National 
Institute of Standards and Technology shall develop 
standards for ensuring the operational security of the vot-
ing systems used in elections for Federal office, including 
the physical and cybersecurity of such systems and secu-
rity requirements for the personnel who operate such sys-
tems. 
(b) CONTENTS
OF
STANDARDS.—In developing 
standards under this title, the Director shall ensure the 
following: 
(1) The standards shall set forth specific, evi-
dence-based security requirements for the operation 
of each individual component of voting systems, in-
cluding components for marking ballots, scanning 
ballots, aggregating vote tallies from vote counters, 
and electronic poll books. 
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(2) The standards shall set forth specific, evi-
dence-based requirements for the interoperability of 
the components, based on data standards established 
by the National Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology. 
(3) No system or device upon which ballots or 
votes are cast or tabulated shall be connected to the 
Internet at any time through any publicly accessible 
network. 
(4) No system or device upon which ballots or 
votes are cast or tabulated shall contain, use, or be 
accessible by any wireless, power-line, or concealed 
communication device. 
(c) DEADLINE; UPDATES.— 
(1) DEADLINE FOR INITIAL STANDARDS.—The 
Director shall develop the standards under this title 
not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 
of this Act. 
(2) UPDATES.—The Director may update the 
standards under this title at such times as the Di-
rector considers appropriate. 
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SEC. 202. REQUIRING STATES TO COMPLY WITH STAND-
ARDS IN ADMINISTRATION OF ELECTIONS 
FOR FEDERAL OFFICE. 
Section 301(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 
(52 U.S.C. 21081(a)) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(7) COMPLIANCE
WITH
SECURITY
STAND-
ARDS.—In operating the voting system, the State 
shall comply with the applicable standards developed 
by the Director of the National Institute of Stand-
ards and Technology under title II of the Election 
Infrastructure and Security Promotion Act of 2016 
for ensuring the operational security of voting sys-
tems.’’. 
SEC. 203. INCORPORATION OF STANDARDS INTO CERTIFI-
CATION AND TESTING OF VOTING SYSTEMS. 
Section 231(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 
(52 U.S.C. 20971(a)) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(3) ENSURING
COMPLIANCE
WITH
OPER-
ATIONAL SECURITY STANDARDS.—The testing and 
certification of voting system hardware and software 
carried out under this subtitle shall test whether vot-
ing systems are in compliance with the applicable 
standards developed by the Director of the National 
Institute of Standards and Technology under title II 
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of the Election Infrastructure and Security Pro-
motion Act of 2016 for ensuring the operational se-
curity of voting systems, including testing whether 
the components of voting systems meet the compo-
nent-specific security requirements and the system 
interoperability requirements under such stand-
ards.’’. 
TITLE 
III—NATIONAL 
STAND-
ARDS 
FOR 
TRANSPARENCY 
AND VERIFICATION OF BAL-
LOT COUNTING 
SEC. 301. DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARDS. 
(a) DEVELOPMENT.—The Director of the National 
Institute of Standards and Technology shall develop 
standards for ensuring that the process by which ballots 
are counted in elections for Federal office is transparent 
and permits voters to verify that votes in such elections 
are counted correctly. 
(b) CONTENTS
OF
STANDARDS.—In developing 
standards under this title, the Director shall ensure the 
following: 
(1) Election officials will provide the public with 
sufficient evidence to verify the results of an election 
for Federal office, including through the establish-
ment of tracking procedures that permit members of 
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the public to track the ballots counted in the elec-
tion, so long as such procedures ensure the anonym-
ity of the individuals who cast the ballots. 
(2) All of the data used or produced by the rel-
evant components of a voting system used in an elec-
tion for Federal office. 
(3) Election officials shall make all of the rel-
evant components of a voting system used in an elec-
tion for Federal office available to other parties 
(such as other officials of the State, research organi-
zations, and institutions of higher education) to du-
plicate the testing procedures used to certify the use 
of the system for use in such elections. 
(c) DEADLINE; UPDATES.— 
(1) DEADLINE FOR INITIAL STANDARDS.—The 
Director shall develop the standards under this title 
not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 
of this Act. 
(2) UPDATES.—The Director may update the 
standards under this title at such times as the Di-
rector considers appropriate. 
(d) RELEVANT COMPONENTS DEFINED.—In this sec-
tion, the term ‘‘relevant components’’ means, with respect 
to a voting system, each component of the system which 
is involved with counting ballots and producing a tally of 
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the ballots cast, including the source code, build tools, 
build procedure documentation, test plans, test fixtures, 
and software and hardware specifications. 
SEC. 302. REQUIRING STATES TO COMPLY WITH STAND-
ARDS IN ADMINISTRATION OF ELECTIONS 
FOR FEDERAL OFFICE. 
Section 301(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 
(52 U.S.C. 21081(a)), as amended by section 202, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new para-
graph: 
‘‘(8) COMPLIANCE
WITH
TRANSPARENCY
AND 
BALLOT
VERIFICATION
STANDARDS.—In operating 
the voting system, the State shall comply with the 
applicable standards developed by the Director of 
the National Institute of Standards and Technology 
under title III of the Election Infrastructure and Se-
curity Promotion Act of 2016 for ensuring that the 
process by which ballots are counted in elections for 
Federal office is transparent and permits voters to 
verify that votes in such elections are counted cor-
rectly.’’. 
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TITLE IV—RESEARCH AND 
DEVELOPMENT 
SEC. 401. INNOVATIVE ELECTION TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH 
AND DEVELOPMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The National Science Founda-
tion, in cooperation with the Defense Advanced Research 
Projects Agency, shall establish an election technology in-
novation research and development program. Such pro-
gram— 
(1) shall support the development of hardware 
and software technologies and systems for marking 
ballots, scanning ballots, aggregating tallies from 
counters, and electronic poll books; and 
(2) may also support research and development 
on other elements of technology for voting, election 
administration, auditing, and other election-critical 
operations. 
(b) REQUIREMENTS.—The National Science Founda-
tion shall, to the extent practicable and in consultation 
with the Election Assistance Commission and the National 
Institute of Standards and Technology, ensure that tech-
nologies developed through assistance provided under this 
section— 
(1) conform to any applicable standards and 
guidelines for design and for data interoperability 
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established by the National Institute of Standards 
and Technology; and 
(2) are made available for use by Federal, 
State, and local governments at no cost. 
Æ 
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