‘‘(E) RULEMAKING
AUTHORITY
OF
COM-
MISSION.—Section 209 shall not apply with re-
spect to any regulations promulgated by the 
Commission pursuant to the authority of this 
paragraph. 
‘‘(d) INDEPENDENT BOARD OF ADVISORS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is hereby established 
an independent Board of Advisors (in this section 
referred to as the ‘Board’) that the Commission 
shall consult in developing and refining the Amer-
ican Democracy Index and the data to be collected 
under subsection (c). 
‘‘(2) INDEPENDENT BOARD OF ADVISORS.— 
‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Board— 
‘‘(i) shall be composed of 8 members 
from individuals from the academic, non-
profit, and election administration commu-
nities, of whom— 
‘‘(I) 4 shall be selected by the 
Committee on Rules and Administra-
tion of the Senate, in consultation 
with the majority and minority leader 
of the Senate; and 
‘‘(II) 4 shall be selected by the 
Committee on House Administration 
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of the House of Representatives, in 
consultation with the Speaker and mi-
nority leader of the House of Rep-
resentatives; and 
‘‘(ii) shall be headed by a President 
elected by the members of the Board. 
‘‘(B) DUTIES.—The Board shall— 
‘‘(i) meet at least twice a year, and at 
such other times as are specified by the 
President of the Board; and 
‘‘(ii) consult with the Commission as 
provided by this section, including making 
periodic recommendations to the Commis-
sion on the type of election data to be col-
lected from States, the method of data col-
lection, the enforcement mechanism for the 
collection of election data, the administra-
tion of elections in general, and other rel-
evant issues as the Board sees appropriate. 
‘‘(e) ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF INDEX 
AND DATA COLLECTION SYSTEM.— 
‘‘(1) PILOT PROGRAM.—The Commission shall 
conduct a pilot program for elections for Federal of-
fice occurring in 2010 under which the Commission 
shall make a grant to 1 or more eligible entities to— 
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‘‘(A) to collect election data described in 
subsection (c) in not more than 5 States se-
lected by the Board; and 
‘‘(B) to develop, refine, and publish data 
collection results for each of the States selected 
under subparagraph (A), including a compari-
son of localities in each State based on the data 
collected. 
‘‘(2) INITIAL
INDEX
FOR
2012
ELECTIONS.— 
Based on the pilot project conducted under para-
graph (1), the Commission shall make a grant to 1 
or more eligible entities to— 
‘‘(A) collect election data described in sub-
section (c) in all States with respect to elections 
for Federal office occurring in 2012; and 
‘‘(B) prepare and publish the first Amer-
ican Democracy Index. 
‘‘(3) FUTURE
ELECTIONS.—The Commission 
shall collect data, and prepare and publish an Amer-
ican Democracy Index, for each Presidential election 
cycle beginning on or after January 1, 2012, with 
respect to elections for Federal office occurring dur-
ing the Presidential election cycle. In carrying out 
such duties, the Commission shall— 
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‘‘(A) modify the data to be collected and 
the index in accordance with the provisions of 
this section; and 
‘‘(B) contract with 1 or more eligible enti-
ties to carry out all or a portion of such duties. 
‘‘(f) REPORTS.—Not later than 9 months after the 
end of the election cycle for the election for Federal office 
occurring in 2012 and the end of each Presidential elec-
tion cycle beginning on or after January 1, 2012, the 
Commission shall submit a report to Congress and to the 
chief State elections officials of each State that includes 
the election data collected under this section, together with 
any recommendations for— 
‘‘(1) improving the types of election data that 
are collected and included in the American Democ-
racy Index published under this section; and 
‘‘(2) legislation or administrative action to im-
prove State performance in the administration of 
elections for Federal office (as determined based on 
a State-by-State comparison of such election data). 
‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) ELECTIONS FOR FEDERAL OFFICE.—The 
term ‘elections for Federal office’ means general 
elections only for Federal office. 
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‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en-
tity’ means any nonprofit organization or other or-
ganization deemed appropriate by the Commission. 
‘‘(3) PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTION
CYCLE.—The 
term ‘Presidential election cycle’ means the 4-year 
period beginning with January of the year following 
an election for the office of President of the United 
States. 
‘‘(4) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of 
the 50 States and the District of Columbia. 
‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Commission such sums as may 
be necessary to carry out the provisions of this sec-
tion. 
‘‘(2) DATA SUBMISSION.—There is authorized 
to be appropriated $18,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2011 through 2016 to assist the States in 
complying with the data submission requirements of 
subsection (c)(2)(A).’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con-
tents of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 is amended 
by inserting after the item relating to section 247 the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘Sec 248. Establishment of American Democracy Index and related election 
data collection.’’. 
Æ 
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