IIB 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4990 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and 
Administration 
AN ACT 
To direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology 
and the National Science Foundation to carry out re-
search and other activities to promote the security and 
modernization of voting systems, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Election Technology 
Research Act of 2020’’. 
SEC. 2. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECH-
NOLOGY. 
(a) VOTING SYSTEMS RESEARCH.—The Director of 
the National Institute of Standards and Technology, in 
collaboration with the National Science Foundation as ap-
propriate, shall carry out a program of research on voting 
systems, including— 
(1) the cybersecurity of different components of 
such systems; 
(2) end-to-end verifiable systems; 
(3) internet-enabled voting; 
(4) the accessibility and usability of different 
components of such systems; 
(5) voter privacy and data protection; 
(6) methods for auditing elections; 
(7) the interoperability of system technologies; 
(8) means for providing voters with the ability 
to easily check whether a ballot sent by mail has 
been dispatched to the voter and whether the voter’s 
marked ballot has been received and accepted by the 
appropriate election official; 
(9) the reliability of various approaches to voter 
authentication; and 
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(10) such other areas of research as the Direc-
tor of the National Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology determines to be appropriate and related to 
the security and integrity of elections for Federal of-
fice. 
(b) ELECTIONS
SYSTEMS
CENTER
OF
EXCEL-
LENCE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National 
Institute of Standards and Technology shall make 
an award to an institution of higher education or an 
eligible nonprofit organization (or a consortium 
thereof) to establish a Center of Excellence in Elec-
tion Systems. 
(2) COLLABORATIONS.—The Director shall en-
sure that the Center of Excellence includes a col-
laboration of institutions of higher education, non-
profit organizations, private sector entities, and 
State and local election officials. 
(3) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Center of 
Excellence shall be to— 
(A) conduct measurement research and 
statistical analyses to inform the development 
of standards for technologies and processes that 
contribute to more secure, fair, and accessible 
elections; 
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(B) 
test 
and 
evaluate 
the 
security, 
usability, and accessibility of the technologies of 
voting systems, including the accessibility of 
poll book data by voters; 
(C) research testing methods that could be 
used for the certification of voting system tech-
nologies; 
(D) educate and train students studying in 
science, technology, engineering, and mathe-
matics fields to conduct measurement science 
and standards research relevant to such sys-
tems; and 
(E) foster collaboration among academic 
researchers, private sector vendors of election 
technology, and State and local election offi-
cials. 
(4) REQUIREMENTS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—An institution of higher 
education or an eligible nonprofit organization 
(or a consortium thereof) seeking funding under 
this subsection shall submit an application to 
the Director at such time, in such manner, and 
containing such information as the Director 
may require. 
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(B) 
APPLICATIONS.—Each 
application 
under subparagraph (A) shall include a descrip-
tion of— 
(i) how the Center will work with 
other research institutions, industry part-
ners, and State or local election officials to 
identify the measurement, testing, and 
standards needs of voting systems and to 
leverage the expertise of election practi-
tioners; and 
(ii) how the Center will promote active 
collaboration among researchers in mul-
tiple disciplines involved in ensuring the se-
curity and integrity of such systems. 
(C) SELECTION
AND
DURATION.—Each 
Center established under this section is author-
ized to carry out activities for a period of 5 
years, renewable for an additional 5 years at 
the discretion of the Director. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$12,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2021 through 
2025. 
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SEC. 3. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. 
(a) RESEARCH GRANTS.—The Director of the Na-
tional Science Foundation, in collaboration with the Na-
tional Institute of Standards and Technology and other 
relevant agencies, as appropriate, shall award basic re-
search grants to increase the understanding of cyber and 
other threats to voting systems and to inform the develop-
ment of technologies, processes, and policies that con-
tribute to more secure, fair, and accessible elections, in-
cluding research on— 
(1) the cybersecurity of different components of 
such systems; 
(2) end-to-end verifiable systems; 
(3) the risks and benefits of internet-enabled 
voting; 
(4) the human-technology interface, including 
the usability, accessibility, and comprehensibility of 
ballot design, ballot marking devices, and other com-
ponents of such systems; 
(5) voter privacy and data protection; 
(6) voter practices regarding the verification of 
ballots generated by ballot marking devices and the 
likelihood that voters, both with and without disabil-
ities, will recognize errors or omissions with respect 
to such ballots; and 
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(7) such other topics as the Director determines 
to be appropriate and related to the integrity of elec-
tions. 
(b) ELECTIONS SYSTEMS RESEARCH CENTER.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National 
Science Foundation, in consultation with the Direc-
tor of the National Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology and the Secretary of Homeland Security, as 
appropriate, shall award grants to institutions of 
higher education or eligible nonprofit organizations 
(or consortia thereof) to establish at least one multi-
disciplinary center for elections systems research and 
education. 
(2) CONSORTIA.—A consortia receiving an 
award under this subsection may include institutions 
of higher education, nonprofit organizations, private 
sector entities, and State and local election officials. 
(3) PURPOSE.—The purpose of a center estab-
lished with a grant awarded under this subsection 
shall be to— 
(A) conduct basic research to advance un-
derstanding of cyber and other threats to elec-
tion systems and the conduct of secure, fair, 
and accessible elections; 
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(B) conduct research that may inform the 
development of technologies, processes, and 
policies that contribute to more secure, fair, 
and accessible elections; 
(C) educate and train students studying in 
science, technology, engineering, and mathe-
matics fields to conduct research relevant to 
election systems; 
(D) design curricula that address the 
growing organizational management and infor-
mation technology needs of the election commu-
nity; and 
(E) foster collaboration among academic 
researchers, private sector vendors of election 
technology, and State and local election offi-
cials. 
(4) REQUIREMENTS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—An institution of higher 
education or an eligible nonprofit organization 
(or a consortium thereof) seeking funding under 
this subsection shall submit an application to 
the Director of the National Science Founda-
tion at such time, in such manner, and con-
taining such information as the Director may 
require. 
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(B) 
APPLICATIONS.—Each 
application 
under subparagraph (A) shall include a descrip-
tion of— 
(i) how the center established with a 
grant awarded under this subsection will 
work with other research institutions, in-
dustry partners, and State and local elec-
tion officials to identify research needs and 
leverage the expertise of election practi-
tioners; and 
(ii) how the center will promote active 
collaboration among researchers in mul-
tiple disciplines involved in elections sys-
tems security, including computer science, 
data science, and social and behavioral 
sciences. 
(5) SELECTION AND DURATION.—Each center 
established with a grant awarded under this section 
is authorized to carry out activities for a period of 
5 years, renewable for an additional 5 years at the 
discretion of the Director. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2021 through 
2025. 
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