I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5707 
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to direct the Election Assist-
ance Commission to adopt voluntary guidelines for the use of nonvoting 
election technology, to require the Director of the National Institute 
of Standards and Technology to submit annual status reports on the 
extent to which the Director has carried out the Director’s responsibilities 
under such Act and carried out projects requested by the Election Assist-
ance Commission, to establish an Election Cyber Assistance Unit in 
the Election Assistance Commission, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 29, 2020 
Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois (for himself, Mr. LOUDERMILK, Mr. WALKER, 
Mr. RIGGLEMAN, Mr. HAGEDORN, Mr. CHABOT, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. 
KATKO, and Mr. YOUNG) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Com-
mittee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to direct 
the Election Assistance Commission to adopt voluntary 
guidelines for the use of nonvoting election technology, 
to require the Director of the National Institute of 
Standards and Technology to submit annual status re-
ports on the extent to which the Director has carried 
out the Director’s responsibilities under such Act and 
carried out projects requested by the Election Assistance 
Commission, to establish an Election Cyber Assistance 
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Unit in the Election Assistance 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 ‘‘Protect American Vot-
ers Act’’. 
SEC. 2. VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES FOR USE OF NONVOTING 
ELECTION TECHNOLOGY. 
(a) ADOPTION
OF
VOLUNTARY
GUIDELINES
BY 
ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION.—Title II of the 
Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20921 et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
title: 
‘‘Subtitle E—Voluntary Guidelines 
for Use of Nonvoting Election 
Technology 
‘‘SEC. 297. ADOPTION OF VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES BY COM-
MISSION. 
‘‘(a) ADOPTION.—The Commission shall adopt vol-
untary guidelines for election officials on the use of non-
voting election technology, taking into account the rec-
ommendations of the Emerging Election Technology Com-
mittee under section 297A. 
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‘‘(b) REVIEW.—The Commission shall review and up-
date the guidelines adopted under this subtitle not less fre-
quently than once every 2 years. 
‘‘(c) PROCESS FOR ADOPTION.—The adoption of the 
voluntary guidelines under this subtitle shall be carried 
out by the Commission in a manner that provides for each 
of the following: 
‘‘(1) Publication of notice of the proposed 
guidelines in the Federal Register. 
‘‘(2) An opportunity for public comment on the 
proposed guidelines. 
‘‘(3) An opportunity for a public hearing on the 
record. 
‘‘(4) Publication of the final recommendations 
in the Federal Register. 
‘‘(d) DEADLINE FOR INITIAL SET OF GUIDELINES.— 
The Commission shall adopt the initial set of voluntary 
guidelines under this section not later than June 1, 2021. 
‘‘SEC. 297A. EMERGING ELECTION TECHNOLOGY COM-
MITTEE. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 
Commission the Emerging Election Technology Com-
mittee (hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘Tech-
nology Committee’). 
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‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The Technology Committee shall as-
sist the Commission in the adoption of voluntary guide-
lines under section 297, including by providing the Com-
mission with recommendations on appropriate standards 
for the use of nonvoting election technology, including 
standards to ensure the security and promote the usability 
of such technology. 
‘‘(c) MEMBERSHIP.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Technology Committee 
shall be composed of members appointed by the 
Commission as follows: 
‘‘(A) Each member shall have expertise in 
the operation of nonvoting election technology. 
‘‘(B) At least three of the members shall 
be State or local election officials. 
‘‘(C) At least four of the members shall be 
individuals who are not employees of the Com-
mission. 
‘‘(2) NUMBER.—The number of members of the 
Technology Committee shall be determined by the 
Commission. 
‘‘(3) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of 
the Technology Committee shall constitute a 
quorum, except that the Technology Committee may 
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not conduct any business prior to the appointment 
of all of its members. 
‘‘(d) CHAIR.—The members of the Technology Com-
mittee shall select one of the members to serve as chair 
of the Committee. 
‘‘(e) NO COMPENSATION FOR SERVICE.—Members of 
the Technology Committee shall not receive any compensa-
tion for their service, but shall be paid travel expenses, 
including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates author-
ized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of chap-
ter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away from 
their homes or regular places of business in the perform-
ance of services for the Committee. 
‘‘SEC. 297B. NONVOTING ELECTION TECHNOLOGY DEFINED. 
‘‘In this subtitle, the term ‘nonvoting election tech-
nology’ means technology used in the administration of 
elections for Federal office which is not used directly in 
the casting, counting, tabulating, or collecting of ballots 
or votes, including each of the following: 
‘‘(1) Electronic pollbooks. 
‘‘(2) Election result reporting systems. 
‘‘(3) Electronic ballot delivery systems. 
‘‘(4) Online voter registration systems. 
‘‘(5) Polling place location search systems. 
‘‘(6) Sample ballot portals. 
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‘‘(7) Such other technology as may be rec-
ommended for treatment as nonvoting election tech-
nology as the Emerging Election Technology Com-
mittee may recommend.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
of such Act is amended by adding at the end of the items 
relating to title II the following: 
‘‘Subtitle E—Voluntary Guidelines for Use of Nonvoting Election Technology 
‘‘Sec. 297. Adoption of voluntary guidelines by Commission. 
‘‘Sec. 297A. Emerging Election Technology Committee. 
‘‘Sec. 297B. Nonvoting election technology defined.’’. 
SEC. 3. STATUS REPORTS BY NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF 
STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY. 
Section 231 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 
(52 U.S.C. 20971) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subsection: 
‘‘(e) STATUS REPORTS BY NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF 
STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY.—Not later than 60 days 
after the end of each fiscal year (beginning with 2020), 
the Director of the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology shall submit to Congress a status report de-
scribing— 
‘‘(1) the extent to which the Director carried 
out the Director’s responsibilities under this Act 
during the fiscal year, including the responsibilities 
imposed under this section and the responsibilities 
imposed with respect to the Technical Guidelines 
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Development Committee under section 222, together 
with the Director’s best estimate of when the Direc-
tor will completely carry out any responsibility which 
was not carried out completely during the fiscal 
year; and 
‘‘(2) the extent to which the Director carried 
out any projects requested by the Commission dur-
ing the fiscal year, together with the Director’s best 
estimate of when the Director will complete any such 
project which the Director did not complete during 
the fiscal year.’’. 
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF ELECTION CYBER ASSISTANCE 
UNIT IN ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMIS-
SION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title II of the Help 
America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20921 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new part: 
‘‘PART 4—ELECTION CYBER ASSISTANCE UNIT 
‘‘SEC. 225. ELECTION CYBER ASSISTANCE UNIT. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 
Commission the Election Cyber Assistance Unit (hereafter 
in this part referred to as the ‘Unit’). 
‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The Unit will provide State and local 
election officials in various geographic regions of the 
United States with access to risk-management, resiliency, 
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and technical support services provided by election admin-
istration and cybersecurity experts who will be based in 
such regions and who may provide such services in person, 
by telephone, or online.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
of such Act is amended by adding at the end of the items 
relating to subtitle A of title II the following: 
‘‘PART 4—ELECTION CYBER ASSISTANCE UNIT 
‘‘Sec. 225. Election Cyber Assistance Unit.’’. 
Æ 
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