1020 
‘‘(B) by which the individual with a dis-
ability can designate whether the individual pre-
fers that such blank absentee ballot be trans-
mitted by mail or electronically. 
‘‘(2) TRANSMISSION IF NO PREFERENCE INDI-
CATED.—In the case where an individual with a dis-
ability does not designate a preference under para-
graph (1)(B), the State shall transmit the ballot by 
any delivery method allowable in accordance with ap-
plicable State law, or if there is no applicable State 
law, by mail. 
‘‘(e) HARDSHIP EXEMPTION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the chief State election 
official determines that the State is unable to meet 
the requirement under subsection (a)(5)(A) with re-
spect to an election for Federal office due to an 
undue hardship described in paragraph (2)(B), the 
chief State election official shall request that the At-
torney General grant a waiver to the State of the 
application of such subsection. Such request shall in-
clude— 
‘‘(A) a recognition that the purpose of 
such subsection is to individuals with disabil-
ities enough time to vote in an election for Fed-
eral office; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01020
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1021 
‘‘(B) an explanation of the hardship that 
indicates why the State is unable to transmit 
such individuals an absentee ballot in accord-
ance with such subsection; 
‘‘(C) the number of days prior to the elec-
tion for Federal office that the State requires 
absentee ballots be transmitted to such individ-
uals; and 
‘‘(D) a comprehensive plan to ensure that 
such individuals are able to receive absentee 
ballots which they have requested and submit 
marked absentee ballots to the appropriate 
State election official in time to have that ballot 
counted in the election for Federal office, which 
includes— 
‘‘(i) the steps the State will undertake 
to ensure that such individuals have time 
to receive, mark, and submit their ballots 
in time to have those ballots counted in the 
election; 
‘‘(ii) why the plan provides such indi-
viduals sufficient time to vote as a sub-
stitute for the requirements under such 
subsection; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01021
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1022 
‘‘(iii) the underlying factual informa-
tion which explains how the plan provides 
such sufficient time to vote as a substitute 
for such requirements. 
‘‘(2) APPROVAL
OF
WAIVER
REQUEST.—The 
Attorney General shall approve a waiver request 
under paragraph (1) if the Attorney General deter-
mines each of the following requirements are met: 
‘‘(A) The comprehensive plan under sub-
paragraph (D) of such paragraph provides indi-
viduals with disabilities sufficient time to re-
ceive absentee ballots they have requested and 
submit marked absentee ballots to the appro-
priate State election official in time to have that 
ballot counted in the election for Federal office. 
‘‘(B) One or more of the following issues 
creates an undue hardship for the State: 
‘‘(i) The State’s primary election date 
prohibits the State from complying with 
subsection (a)(5)(A). 
‘‘(ii) The State has suffered a delay in 
generating ballots due to a legal contest. 
‘‘(iii) The State Constitution prohibits 
the State from complying with such sub-
section. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01022
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1023 
‘‘(3) TIMING OF WAIVER.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Except as provided 
under subparagraph (B), a State that requests 
a waiver under paragraph (1) shall submit to 
the Attorney General the written waiver request 
not later than 90 days before the election for 
Federal office with respect to which the request 
is submitted. The Attorney General shall ap-
prove or deny the waiver request not later than 
65 days before such election. 
‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—If a State requests a 
waiver under paragraph (1) as the result of an 
undue 
hardship 
described 
in 
paragraph 
(2)(B)(ii), the State shall submit to the Attor-
ney General the written waiver request as soon 
as practicable. The Attorney General shall ap-
prove or deny the waiver request not later than 
5 business days after the date on which the re-
quest is received. 
‘‘(4) APPLICATION OF WAIVER.—A waiver ap-
proved under paragraph (2) shall only apply with re-
spect to the election for Federal office for which the 
request was submitted. For each subsequent election 
for Federal office, the Attorney General shall only 
approve a waiver if the State has submitted a re-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01023
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1024 
quest under paragraph (1) with respect to such elec-
tion. 
‘‘(f) INDIVIDUAL WITH A DISABILITY DEFINED.—In 
this section, an ‘individual with a disability’ means an in-
dividual with an impairment that substantially limits any 
major life activities and who is otherwise qualified to vote 
in elections for Federal office. 
‘‘(g) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 
with respect to elections for Federal office held on or after 
January 1, 2020.’’. 
(b) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT
RELATING
TO 
ISSUANCE OF VOLUNTARY GUIDANCE BY ELECTION AS-
SISTANCE COMMISSION.—Section 311(b) of such Act (52 
U.S.C. 21101(b)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 
(2); 
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (3) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(4) in the case of the recommendations with 
respect to section 305, January 1, 2020.’’. 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
of such Act, as amended by section 8121(c), is amended— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01024
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1025 
(1) by redesignating the items relating to sec-
tions 305 and 306 as relating to sections 306 and 
307; and 
(2) by inserting after the item relating to sec-
tion 304 the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 305. Access to voter registration and voting for individuals with disabil-
ities.’’. 
SEC. 8202. PILOT PROGRAMS FOR ENABLING INDIVIDUALS 
WITH DISABILITIES TO REGISTER TO VOTE 
AND VOTE PRIVATELY AND INDEPENDENTLY 
AT RESIDENCES. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT
OF PILOT PROGRAMS.—The 
Election Assistance Commission (hereafter referred to as 
the ‘‘Commission’’) shall make grants to eligible States to 
conduct pilot programs under which— 
(1) individuals with disabilities may use elec-
tronic means (including the Internet and telephones 
utilizing assistive devices) to register to vote and to 
request and receive absentee ballots, in a manner 
which permits such individuals to do so privately 
and independently at their own residences; and 
(2) individuals with disabilities may use the 
telephone to cast ballots electronically from their 
own residences, but only if the telephone used is not 
connected to the Internet. 
(b) REPORTS.— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01025
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1026 
(1) IN GENERAL.—A State receiving a grant for 
a year under this section shall submit a report to the 
Commission on the pilot programs the State carried 
out with the grant with respect to elections for pub-
lic office held in the State during the year. 
(2) DEADLINE.—A State shall submit a report 
under paragraph (1) not later than 90 days after 
the last election for public office held in the State 
during the year. 
(c) ELIGIBILITY.—A State is eligible to receive a 
grant under this section if the State submits to the Com-
mission, at such time and in such form as the Commission 
may require, an application containing such information 
and assurances as the Commission may require. 
(d) TIMING.—The Commission shall make the first 
grants under this section for pilot programs which will be 
in effect with respect to elections for Federal office held 
in 2020, or, at the option of a State, with respect to other 
elections for public office held in the State in 2020. 
(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated for grants for pilot pro-
grams under this section $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2018 
and each succeeding fiscal year. 
(f) STATE DEFINED.—In this section, the term 
‘‘State’’ includes the District of Columbia, the Common-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01026
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1027 
wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the 
United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of 
the Northern Mariana Islands. 
SEC. 8203. EXPANSION AND REAUTHORIZATION OF GRANT 
PROGRAM TO ASSURE VOTING ACCESS FOR 
INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. 
(a) PURPOSES OF PAYMENTS.—Section 261(b) of the 
Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21021(b)) is 
amended by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) and inserting 
the following: 
‘‘(1) making absentee voting and voting at 
home accessible to individuals with the full range of 
disabilities (including impairments involving vision, 
hearing, mobility, or dexterity) through the imple-
mentation of accessible absentee voting systems that 
work in conjunction with assistive technologies for 
which individuals have access at their homes, inde-
pendent living centers, or other facilities; 
‘‘(2) making polling places, including the path 
of travel, entrances, exits, and voting areas of each 
polling facility, accessible to individuals with disabil-
ities, including the blind and visually impaired, in a 
manner that provides the same opportunity for ac-
cess and participation (including privacy and inde-
pendence) as for other voters; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01027
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1028 
‘‘(3) providing solutions to problems of access 
to voting and elections for individuals with disabil-
ities that are universally designed and provide the 
same opportunities for individuals with and without 
disabilities.’’. 
(b) REAUTHORIZATION.—Section 264(a) of such Act 
(52 U.S.C. 21024(a)) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(4) For fiscal year 2020 and each succeeding 
fiscal year, such sums as may be necessary to carry 
out this part.’’. 
(c) PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Section 
264 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21024) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘Any 
amounts’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in sub-
section (b), any amounts’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(c) RETURN AND TRANSFER OF CERTAIN FUNDS.— 
‘‘(1) DEADLINE FOR OBLIGATION AND EXPEND-
ITURE.—In the case of any amounts appropriated 
pursuant to the authority of subsection (a) for a 
payment to a State or unit of local government for 
fiscal year 2020 or any succeeding fiscal year, any 
portion of such amounts which have not been obli-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01028
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1029 
gated or expended by the State or unit of local gov-
ernment prior to the expiration of the 4-year period 
which begins on the date the State or unit of local 
government first received the amounts shall be 
transferred to the Commission. 
‘‘(2) 
REALLOCATION
OF
TRANSFERRED 
AMOUNTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 
use the amounts transferred under paragraph 
(1) to make payments on a pro rata basis to 
each covered payment recipient described in 
subparagraph (B), which may obligate and ex-
pend such payment for the purposes described 
in section 261(b) during the 1-year period 
which begins on the date of receipt. 
‘‘(B) COVERED PAYMENT RECIPIENTS DE-
SCRIBED.—In subparagraph (A), a ‘covered 
payment recipient’ is a State or unit of local 
government with respect to which— 
‘‘(i) amounts were appropriated pur-
suant to the authority of subsection (a); 
and 
‘‘(ii) no amounts were transferred to 
the Commission under paragraph (1).’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01029
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1030 
Subtitle D—Prohibiting Voter 
Caging 
SEC. 8301. VOTER CAGING AND OTHER QUESTIONABLE 
CHALLENGES PROHIBITED. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 29 of title 18, United 
States Code, as amended by section 8141(a), is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘§ 613. Voter caging and other questionable chal-
lenges 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘voter caging document’ means— 
‘‘(A) a nonforwardable document that is 
returned to the sender or a third party as unde-
livered or undeliverable despite an attempt to 
deliver such document to the address of a reg-
istered voter or applicant; or 
‘‘(B) any document with instructions to an 
addressee that the document be returned to the 
sender or a third party but is not so returned, 
despite an attempt to deliver such document to 
the address of a registered voter or applicant, 
unless at least two Federal election cycles have 
passed since the date of the attempted delivery; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01030
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1031 
‘‘(2) the term ‘voter caging list’ means a list of 
individuals compiled from voter caging documents; 
and 
‘‘(3) the term ‘unverified match list’ means a 
list produced by matching the information of reg-
istered voters or applicants for voter registration to 
a list of individuals who are ineligible to vote in the 
registrar’s jurisdiction, by virtue of death, convic-
tion, change of address, or otherwise; unless one of 
the pieces of information matched includes a signa-
ture, photograph, or unique identifying number en-
suring that the information from each source refers 
to the same individual. 
‘‘(b) PROHIBITION AGAINST VOTER CAGING.—No 
State or local election official shall prevent an individual 
from registering or voting in any election for Federal of-
fice, or permit in connection with any election for Federal 
office a formal challenge under State law to an individual’s 
registration status or eligibility to vote, if the basis for 
such decision is evidence consisting of— 
‘‘(1) a voter caging document or voter caging 
list; 
‘‘(2) an unverified match list; 
‘‘(3) an error or omission on any record or 
paper relating to any application, registration, or 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01031
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1032 
other act requisite to voting, if such error or omis-
sion is not material to an individual’s eligibility to 
vote under section 2004 of the Revised Statutes, as 
amended (52 U.S.C. 10101(a)(2)(B)); or 
‘‘(4) any other evidence so designated for pur-
poses of this section by the Election Assistance Com-
mission, 
except that the election official may use such evidence if 
it is corroborated by independent evidence of the individ-
ual’s ineligibility to register or vote. 
‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR CHALLENGES BY PERSONS 
OTHER THAN ELECTION OFFICIALS.—No person, other 
than a State or local election official, shall submit a formal 
challenge to an individual’s eligibility to register to vote 
in an election for Federal office or to vote in an election 
for Federal office unless that challenge is supported by 
personal knowledge regarding the grounds for ineligibility 
which is— 
‘‘(1) documented in writing; and 
‘‘(2) subject to an oath or attestation under 
penalty of perjury that the challenger has a good 
faith factual basis to believe that the individual who 
is the subject of the challenge is ineligible to register 
to vote or vote in that election, except a challenge 
which is based on the race or national origin of the 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01032
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1033 
individual who is the subject of the challenge may 
not be considered to have a good faith factual basis 
for purposes of this paragraph. 
‘‘(d) PENALTIES
FOR KNOWING MISCONDUCT.— 
Whoever knowingly challenges the eligibility of one or 
more individuals to register or vote or knowingly causes 
the eligibility of such individuals to be challenged in viola-
tion of this section with the intent that one or more eligi-
ble voters be disqualified, shall be fined under this title 
or imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both, for each such 
violation. Each violation shall be a separate offense. 
‘‘(e) NO EFFECT ON RELATED LAWS.—Nothing in 
this section is intended to override the protections of the 
National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 
20501 et seq.) or to affect the Voting Rights Act of 1965 
(52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.).’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
for chapter 29 of title 18, United States Code, as amended 
by section 8141(b), is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘613. Voter caging and other questionable challenges.’’. 
SEC. 8302. DEVELOPMENT AND ADOPTION OF BEST PRAC-
TICES FOR PREVENTING VOTER CAGING. 
(a) BEST PRACTICES.—Not later than 180 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Election Assist-
ance Commission shall develop and publish for the use of 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01033
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1034 
States recommendations for best practices to deter and 
prevent violations of section 613 of title 18, United States 
Code, as added by section 8301(a), including practices to 
provide for the posting of relevant information at polling 
places and voter registration agencies, the training of poll 
workers and election officials, and relevant educational 
measures. For purposes of this subsection, the term 
‘‘State’’ includes the District of Columbia, the Common-
wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the 
United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of 
the Northern Mariana Islands. 
(b) INCLUSION IN VOTING INFORMATION REQUIRE-
MENTS.—Section 302(b)(2) of the Help America Vote Act 
of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21082(b)(2)), as amended by section 
8142(b), is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara-
graph (F); 
(2) by striking the period at the end of sub-
paragraph (G) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph: 
‘‘(H) information relating to the prohibi-
tion against voter caging and other questionable 
challenges (as set forth in section 613 of title 
18, United States Code), including information 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01034
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1035 
on how individuals may report allegations of 
violations of such prohibition.’’. 
SEC. 8303. SEVERABILITY. 
If any provision of this subtitle or any amendment 
made by this subtitle, or the application of a provision to 
any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, 
the remainder of this subtitle and the amendments made 
by this subtitle, and the application of the provisions to 
any person or circumstance, shall not be affected by the 
holding. 
Subtitle E—Prohibiting Deceptive 
Practices 
SEC. 8401. PROHIBITION ON DECEPTIVE PRACTICES IN 
FEDERAL ELECTIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 29 of title 18, United 
States Code, as amended by section 8141(a) and section 
8301(a), is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘§ 614. False election-related information in Federal 
elections 
‘‘(a) A person, including an election official, who in 
any election for Federal office knowingly and willfully de-
prives, defrauds, or attempts to deprive or defraud the 
residents of a State of their free and fair exercise of the 
right to vote by the communication of election-related in-
formation that is known by the person to be materially 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01035
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1036 
false, fictitious, or fraudulent shall be fined under this title 
or imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both. 
‘‘(b) As used in this section— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘election for Federal office’ means 
any general, primary, runoff, or special election for 
the office of President, Vice President, presidential 
elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House 
of Representatives, or Delegate or Resident Commis-
sioner to the Congress; and 
‘‘(2) the term ‘election-related information’ 
means any oral or written communication regard-
ing— 
‘‘(A) the time or place of an election for 
Federal office; 
‘‘(B) criminal penalties associated with 
voting in such an election; 
‘‘(C) an individual’s voter registration sta-
tus or eligibility to vote in such an election; or 
‘‘(D) the explicit endorsement by any per-
son or organization of a candidate in such an 
election.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
for chapter 29 of title 18, United States Code, as amended 
by section 8141(b) and section 8301(b), is amended by 
adding at the end the following new item: 
‘‘614. False election-related information in Federal elections.’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01036
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6211
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1037 
SEC. 8402. MODIFICATION OF PENALTY FOR VOTER INTIMI-
DATION. 
Section 594 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by striking ‘‘one year’’ and inserting ‘‘5 years’’. 
SEC. 8403. SENTENCING GUIDELINES. 
(a) REVIEW AND AMENDMENT.—Not later than 90 
days after the date of enactment of this Act, the United 
States Sentencing Commission, pursuant to its authority 
under section 994 of title 28, United States Code, and 
in accordance with this section, shall review and, if appro-
priate, amend the Federal sentencing guidelines and policy 
statements applicable to persons convicted of any offense 
under any sections of title 18, United States Code, that 
are added or modified by this Act. 
(b) AUTHORIZATION.—The United States Sentencing 
Commission may, for the purposes of the amendments 
made pursuant to this subtitle, amend the Federal sen-
tencing guidelines in accordance with the procedures set 
forth in section 21(a) of the Sentencing Act of 1987 (28 
U.S.C. 994 note) as though the authority under that sec-
tion had not expired. 
SEC. 8404. REPORTING VIOLATIONS; CORRECTIVE ACTION. 
(a) REPORTING.—Any person may submit a report 
to the Attorney General regarding any violation or possible 
violation of section 594 or section 614 of title 18, United 
States Code (as added by section 8401(a)). 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01037
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1038 
(b) CORRECTIVE ACTION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Immediately after receiving 
a report under subsection (a), the Attorney General 
shall consider and review the report, and if the At-
torney General determines that there is a reasonable 
basis to find that a violation included in the report 
has occurred, the Attorney General shall— 
(A) undertake all effective measures nec-
essary to provide correct information to voters 
affected by the false information; and 
(B) refer the matter to the appropriate 
Federal and State authorities for criminal pros-
ecution or civil action after the election in-
volved. 
(2) REGULATIONS.—The Attorney General shall 
promulgate regulations regarding the methods and 
means of corrective actions to be taken under para-
graph (1). Such regulations shall be developed in 
consultation with the Election Assistance Commis-
sion, civil rights organizations, voting rights groups, 
State and local election officials, voter protection 
groups, and other interested community organiza-
tions. 
(3) STUDY AND REPORT ON METHODS OF DIS-
SEMINATING CORRECTIVE INFORMATION.— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01038
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1039 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, 
in consultation with the Federal Communica-
tions Commission and the Election Assistance 
Commission, shall conduct a study on the feasi-
bility of providing the corrective information 
under paragraph (1) through public service an-
nouncements, the emergency alert system, or 
other forms of public broadcast. 
(B) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Attorney General shall submit to Congress a re-
port detailing the results of the study conducted 
under subparagraph (A). 
(4) 
PUBLICIZING
AVAILABILITY
OF
REM-
EDIES.—The Attorney General shall make public 
through the Internet, radio, television, and news-
paper advertisements information on the responsibil-
ities, contact information, and complaint procedures 
applicable under this section. 
(c) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 
any election with respect to which a report has been 
submitted under subsection (a), the Attorney Gen-
eral shall submit to Congress a report compiling all 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01039
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1040 
such reports submitted under subsection (a) with re-
spect to that election. 
(2) CONTENTS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Each report submitted 
under paragraph (1) shall include— 
(i) detailed information on specific al-
legations; 
(ii) statistical compilations of how 
many allegations were made and of what 
type; 
(iii) the geographic locations of and 
the populations affected by the alleged vio-
lations; 
(iv) the status of the investigations of 
such allegations; 
(v) any corrective actions taken in re-
sponse to such allegations; 
(vi) the rationale used for any correc-
tive actions or for any refusal to pursue an 
allegation; 
(vii) the effectiveness of any such cor-
rective actions; 
(viii) whether a Voting Integrity Task 
Force was established with respect to such 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01040
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1041 
election, and, if so, how such task force 
was staffed and funded; 
(ix) any referrals of information to 
other Federal, State, or local agencies; and 
(x) any criminal prosecution instituted 
under title 18, United States Code, in con-
nection with such allegations. 
(3) REPORT MADE PUBLIC.—On the date that 
the Attorney General submits the report under para-
graph (1), the Attorney General shall also make the 
report publicly available through the Internet and 
other appropriate means. 
(d) DELEGATION OF DUTIES.— 
(1) USE OF VOTING INTEGRITY TASK FORCE.— 
The Attorney General shall delegate the responsibil-
ities under this section with respect to a particular 
election to a Voting Integrity Task Force established 
by the Attorney General for such purpose. 
(2) COMPOSITION.—A Voting Integrity Task 
Force established under paragraph (1) shall be 
under the direction of the Assistant Attorney Gen-
eral for the Civil Rights Division and the Assistant 
Attorney General for the Criminal Division, acting 
jointly. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01041
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1042 
Subtitle F—Democracy Restoration 
SEC. 8501. RIGHTS OF CITIZENS. 
The right of an individual who is a citizen of the 
United States to vote in any election for Federal office 
shall not be denied or abridged because that individual has 
been convicted of a criminal offense unless such individual 
is serving a felony sentence in a correctional institution 
or facility at the time of the election. 
SEC. 8502. ENFORCEMENT. 
(a) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney General 
may, in a civil action, obtain such declaratory or injunctive 
relief as is necessary to remedy a violation of this subtitle. 
(b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 
(1) A person who is aggrieved by a violation of 
this subtitle may provide written notice of the viola-
tion to the chief election official of the State in-
volved. 
(2) Except as provided in paragraph (3), if the 
violation is not corrected within 90 days after receipt 
of a notice under paragraph (1), or within 20 days 
after receipt of the notice if the violation occurred 
within 120 days before the date of an election for 
Federal office, the aggrieved person may, in a civil 
action, obtain declaratory or injunctive relief with re-
spect to the violation. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01042
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1043 
(3) If the violation occurred within 30 days be-
fore the date of an election for Federal office, the 
aggrieved person need not provide notice to the chief 
election official of the State under paragraph (1) be-
fore bringing a civil action to obtain declaratory or 
injunctive relief with respect to the violation. 
SEC. 8503. NOTIFICATION OF RESTORATION OF VOTING 
RIGHTS. 
(a) STATE NOTIFICATION.— 
(1) NOTIFICATION.—On the date determined 
under paragraph (2), each State shall notify in writ-
ing any individual who has been convicted of a 
criminal offense under the law of that State that 
such individual has the right to vote in an election 
for Federal office pursuant to this subtitle and may 
register to vote in any such election. 
(2) DATE OF NOTIFICATION.— 
(A) FELONY CONVICTION.—In the case of 
such an individual who has been convicted of a 
felony, the notification required under para-
graph (1) shall be given on the date on which 
the individual— 
(i) is sentenced to serve only a term 
of probation; or 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01043
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1044 
(ii) is released from the custody of 
that State (other than to the custody of 
another State or the Federal Government 
to serve a term of imprisonment for a fel-
ony conviction). 
(B) MISDEMEANOR
CONVICTION.—In the 
case of such an individual who has been con-
victed of a misdemeanor, the notification re-
quired under paragraph (1) shall be given on 
the date on which such individual is sentenced 
by a State court. 
(b) FEDERAL NOTIFICATION.— 
(1) NOTIFICATION.—On the date determined 
under paragraph (2), the Director of the Bureau of 
Prisons shall notify in writing any individual who 
has been convicted of a criminal offense under Fed-
eral law that such individual has the right to vote 
in an election for Federal office pursuant to this 
subtitle and may register to vote in any such elec-
tion. 
(2) DATE OF NOTIFICATION.— 
(A) FELONY CONVICTION.—In the case of 
such an individual who has been convicted of a 
felony, the notification required under para-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01044
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1045 
graph (1) shall be given on the date on which 
the individual— 
(i) is sentenced to serve only a term 
of probation by a court established by an 
Act of Congress; or 
(ii) is released from the custody of the 
Bureau of Prisons (other than to the cus-
tody of a State to serve a term of impris-
onment for a felony conviction). 
(B) MISDEMEANOR
CONVICTION.—In the 
case of such an individual who has been con-
victed of a misdemeanor, the notification re-
quired under paragraph (1) shall be given on 
the date on which such individual is sentenced 
by a State court. 
SEC. 8504. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this subtitle: 
(1) CORRECTIONAL
INSTITUTION
OR
FACIL-
ITY.—The term ‘‘correctional institution or facility’’ 
means any prison, penitentiary, jail, or other institu-
tion or facility for the confinement of individuals 
convicted of criminal offenses, whether publicly or 
privately operated, except that such term does not 
include any residential community treatment center 
(or similar public or private facility). 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01045
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1046 
(2) ELECTION.—The term ‘‘election’’ means— 
(A) a general, special, primary, or runoff 
election; 
(B) a convention or caucus of a political 
party held to nominate a candidate; 
(C) a primary election held for the selec-
tion of delegates to a national nominating con-
vention of a political party; or 
(D) a primary election held for the expres-
sion of a preference for the nomination of per-
sons for election to the office of President. 
(3) FEDERAL OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Federal of-
fice’’ means the office of President or Vice President 
of the United States, or of Senator or Representa-
tive in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, 
the Congress of the United States. 
(4) PROBATION.—The term ‘‘probation’’ means 
probation, imposed by a Federal, State, or local 
court, with or without a condition on the individual 
involved concerning— 
(A) the individual’s freedom of movement; 
(B) the payment of damages by the indi-
vidual; 
(C) periodic reporting by the individual to 
an officer of the court; or 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01046
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1047 
(D) supervision of the individual by an of-
ficer of the court. 
SEC. 8505. RELATION TO OTHER LAWS. 
(a) STATE LAWS RELATING TO VOTING RIGHTS.— 
Nothing in this subtitle shall be construed to prohibit the 
States from enacting any State law which affords the right 
to vote in any election for Federal office on terms less 
restrictive than those established by this subtitle. 
(b) CERTAIN FEDERAL ACTS.—The rights and rem-
edies established by this subtitle are in addition to all 
other rights and remedies provided by law, and neither 
rights and remedies established by this subtitle shall su-
persede, restrict, or limit the application of the Voting 
Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.) or the Na-
tional Voter Registration Act (52 U.S.C. 20501). 
SEC. 8506. FEDERAL PRISON FUNDS. 
No State, unit of local government, or other person 
may receive or use, to construct or otherwise improve a 
prison, jail, or other place of incarceration, any Federal 
grant amounts unless that person has in effect a program 
under which each individual incarcerated in that person’s 
jurisdiction who is a citizen of the United States is noti-
fied, upon release from such incarceration, of that individ-
ual’s rights under section 8501. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01047
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1048 
SEC. 8507. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
This subtitle shall apply to citizens of the United 
States voting in any election for Federal office held after 
the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Subtitle G—Accuracy, Integrity, 
and Security of Elections 
SEC. 8600. SHORT TITLE. 
This subtitle may be cited as the ‘‘Voter Confidence 
and Increased Accessibility Act of 2018’’. 
PART 1—PROMOTING ACCURACY, INTEGRITY, 
AND SECURITY THROUGH VOTER-VERIFIED 
PERMANENT PAPER BALLOT 
SEC. 8601. MORATORIUM ON ACQUISITION OF CERTAIN DI-
RECT RECORDING ELECTRONIC VOTING SYS-
TEMS AND CERTAIN OTHER VOTING SYS-
TEMS. 
Section 301 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 
(52 U.S.C. 21081) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 
subsections (d) and (e); and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(c) MORATORIUM ON ACQUISITION OF CERTAIN DI-
RECT RECORDING ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEMS AND 
CERTAIN OTHER VOTING SYSTEMS.—Beginning on the 
date of the enactment of the Voter Confidence and In-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01048
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1049 
creased Accessibility Act of 2018, no State or jurisdiction 
may purchase or otherwise acquire for use in an election 
for Federal office a direct recording electronic voting sys-
tem or other electronic voting system that does not 
produce a voter-verified paper record as required by sec-
tion 301(a)(2) (as amended by such Act).’’. 
SEC. 8602. PAPER BALLOT AND MANUAL COUNTING RE-
QUIREMENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 301(a)(2) of the Help 
America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)(2)) is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(2) PAPER BALLOT REQUIREMENT.— 
‘‘(A) VOTER-VERIFIED PAPER BALLOTS.— 
‘‘(i) PAPER BALLOT REQUIREMENT.— 
(I) The voting system shall require the use 
of an individual, durable, voter-verified, 
paper ballot of the voter’s vote that shall 
be marked and made available for inspec-
tion and verification by the voter before 
the voter’s vote is cast and counted, and 
which shall be counted by hand or read by 
an optical character recognition device or 
other counting device. For purposes of this 
subclause, the term ‘individual, durable, 
voter-verified, paper ballot’ means a paper 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01049
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1050 
ballot marked by the voter by hand or a 
paper ballot marked through the use of a 
nontabulating ballot marking device or sys-
tem, so long as the voter shall have the op-
tion to mark his or her ballot by hand. 
‘‘(II) The voting system shall provide 
the voter with an opportunity to correct 
any error on the paper ballot before the 
permanent voter-verified paper ballot is 
preserved in accordance with clause (ii). 
‘‘(III) The voting system shall not 
preserve the voter-verified paper ballots in 
any manner that makes it possible, at any 
time after the ballot has been cast, to asso-
ciate a voter with the record of the voter’s 
vote without the voter’s consent. 
‘‘(ii) PRESERVATION
AS
OFFICIAL 
RECORD.—The individual, durable, voter- 
verified, paper ballot used in accordance 
with clause (i) shall constitute the official 
ballot and shall be preserved and used as 
the official ballot for purposes of any re-
count or audit conducted with respect to 
any election for Federal office in which the 
voting system is used. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01050
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1051 
‘‘(iii) MANUAL
COUNTING
REQUIRE-
MENTS FOR RECOUNTS AND AUDITS.—(I) 
Each paper ballot used pursuant to clause 
(i) shall be suitable for a manual audit, 
and shall be counted by hand in any re-
count or audit conducted with respect to 
any election for Federal office. 
‘‘(II) In the event of any inconsist-
encies or irregularities between any elec-
tronic vote tallies and the vote tallies de-
termined by counting by hand the indi-
vidual, durable, voter-verified, paper ballots 
used pursuant to clause (i), and subject to 
subparagraph (B), the individual, durable, 
voter-verified, paper ballots shall be the 
true and correct record of the votes cast. 
‘‘(iv) APPLICATION
TO
ALL
BAL-
LOTS.—The requirements of this subpara-
graph shall apply to all ballots cast in elec-
tions for Federal office, including ballots 
cast by absent uniformed services voters 
and overseas voters under the Uniformed 
and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act 
and other absentee voters. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01051
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1052 
‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR TREATMENT OF 
DISPUTES WHEN PAPER BALLOTS HAVE BEEN 
SHOWN TO BE COMPROMISED.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—In the event 
that— 
‘‘(I) there is any inconsistency 
between any electronic vote tallies and 
the vote tallies determined by count-
ing by hand the individual, durable, 
voter-verified, paper ballots used pur-
suant to subparagraph (A)(i) with re-
spect to any election for Federal of-
fice; and 
‘‘(II) it is demonstrated by clear 
and convincing evidence (as deter-
mined in accordance with the applica-
ble standards in the jurisdiction in-
volved) in any recount, audit, or con-
test of the result of the election that 
the paper ballots have been com-
promised (by damage or mischief or 
otherwise) and that a sufficient num-
ber of the ballots have been so com-
promised that the result of the elec-
tion could be changed, 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01052
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1053 
the determination of the appropriate rem-
edy with respect to the election shall be 
made in accordance with applicable State 
law, except that the electronic tally shall 
not be used as the exclusive basis for de-
termining the official certified result. 
‘‘(ii) RULE FOR CONSIDERATION OF 
BALLOTS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH VOTING 
MACHINE.—For purposes of clause (i), 
only the paper ballots deemed com-
promised, if any, shall be considered in the 
calculation of whether or not the result of 
the election could be changed due to the 
compromised paper ballots.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT CLARIFYING APPLI-
CABILITY OF ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGE ACCESSIBILITY.— 
Section 301(a)(4) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)(4)) 
is amended by inserting ‘‘(including the paper ballots re-
quired to be used under paragraph (2))’’ after ‘‘voting sys-
tem’’. 
(c) OTHER CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 
301(a)(1) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)(1)) is amend-
ed— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01053
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1054 
(1) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking ‘‘count-
ed’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in accordance with 
paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; 
(2) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking ‘‘count-
ed’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in accordance with 
paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; 
(3) in subparagraph (A)(iii), by striking ‘‘count-
ed’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘counted, in 
accordance with paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; and 
(4) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ‘‘count-
ed’’ and inserting ‘‘counted, in accordance with 
paragraphs (2) and (3)’’. 
SEC. 8603. ACCESSIBILITY AND BALLOT VERIFICATION FOR 
INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 301(a)(3)(B) of the Help 
America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081(a)(3)(B)) is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(B)(i) satisfy the requirement of subpara-
graph (A) through the use of at least one voting 
system equipped for individuals with disabil-
ities, including nonvisual and enhanced visual 
accessibility for the blind and visually impaired, 
and nonmanual and enhanced manual accessi-
bility for the mobility and dexterity impaired, at 
each polling place; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01054
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1055 
‘‘(ii) meet the requirements of subpara-
graph (A) and paragraph (2)(A) by using a sys-
tem that— 
‘‘(I) allows the voter to privately and 
independently verify the permanent paper 
ballot through the presentation, in acces-
sible form, of the printed or marked vote 
selections from the same printed or 
marked information that would be used for 
any vote counting or auditing; and 
‘‘(II) allows the voter to privately and 
independently verify and cast the perma-
nent paper ballot without requiring the 
voter to manually handle the paper ballot; 
and’’. 
(b) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT OF STUDY, TESTING, 
AND DEVELOPMENT
OF ACCESSIBLE PAPER BALLOT 
VERIFICATION MECHANISMS.— 
(1) STUDY
AND
REPORTING.—Subtitle C of 
title II of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is 
amended— 
(A) by redesignating section 247 as section 
248; and 
(B) by inserting after section 246 the fol-
lowing new section: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01055
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1056 
‘‘SEC. 247. STUDY AND REPORT ON ACCESSIBLE PAPER 
BALLOT VERIFICATION MECHANISMS. 
‘‘(a) STUDY AND REPORT.—The Director of the Na-
tional Science Foundation shall make grants to not fewer 
than 3 eligible entities to study, test, and develop acces-
sible paper ballot voting, verification, and casting mecha-
nisms and devices and best practices to enhance the acces-
sibility of paper ballot voting and verification mechanisms 
for individuals with disabilities, for voters whose primary 
language is not English, and for voters with difficulties 
in literacy, including best practices for the mechanisms 
themselves and the processes through which the mecha-
nisms are used. 
‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—An entity is eligible to receive a 
grant under this part if it submits to the Director (at such 
time and in such form as the Director may require) an 
application containing— 
‘‘(1) certifications that the entity shall specifi-
cally investigate enhanced methods or devices, in-
cluding non-electronic devices, that will assist such 
individuals and voters in marking voter-verified 
paper ballots and presenting or transmitting the in-
formation printed or marked on such ballots back to 
such individuals and voters, and casting such ballots; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01056
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1057 
‘‘(2) a certification that the entity shall com-
plete the activities carried out with the grant not 
later than December 31, 2018; and 
‘‘(3) such other information and certifications 
as the Director may require. 
‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY
OF TECHNOLOGY.—Any tech-
nology developed with the grants made under this section 
shall be treated as non-proprietary and shall be made 
available to the public, including to manufacturers of vot-
ing systems. 
‘‘(d) COORDINATION WITH GRANTS
FOR TECH-
NOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS.—The Director shall carry out 
this section so that the activities carried out with the 
grants made under subsection (a) are coordinated with the 
research conducted under the grant program carried out 
by the Commission under section 271, to the extent that 
the Director and Commission determine necessary to pro-
vide for the advancement of accessible voting technology. 
‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
is authorized to be appropriated to carry out subsection 
(a) $5,000,000, to remain available until expended.’’. 
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con-
tents of such Act is amended— 
(A) by redesignating the item relating to 
section 247 as relating to section 248; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01057
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1058 
(B) by inserting after the item relating to 
section 246 the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 247. Study and report on accessible paper ballot verification mecha-
nisms.’’. 
(c) CLARIFICATION OF ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS 
UNDER VOLUNTARY VOTING SYSTEM GUIDANCE.—In 
adopting any voluntary guidance under subtitle B of title 
III of the Help America Vote Act with respect to the ac-
cessibility of the paper ballot verification requirements for 
individuals with disabilities, the Election Assistance Com-
mission shall include and apply the same accessibility 
standards applicable under the voluntary guidance adopt-
ed for accessible voting systems under such subtitle. 
(d) PERMITTING USE OF FUNDS FOR PROTECTION 
AND ADVOCACY SYSTEMS TO SUPPORT ACTIONS TO EN-
FORCE ELECTION-RELATED DISABILITY ACCESS.—Sec-
tion 292(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 
U.S.C. 21062(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘; except that’’ 
and all that follows and inserting a period. 
SEC. 8604. ADDITIONAL VOTING SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) REQUIREMENTS DESCRIBED.—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 para-
graphs: 
‘‘(7) REQUIRING AVAILABILITY OF PAPER BAL-
LOTS IN CASE OF EMERGENCY.— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01058
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1059 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the event of a fail-
ure of voting equipment or other circumstance 
at a polling place in an election for Federal of-
fice that causes an unreasonable delay, the ap-
propriate election official at the polling place 
shall— 
‘‘(i) immediately advise any individual 
who is waiting at the polling place to cast 
a ballot in the election at the time of the 
failure that the individual has the right to 
use an emergency paper ballot; and 
‘‘(ii) upon the individual’s request, 
provide the individual with an emergency 
paper ballot for the election and the sup-
plies necessary to mark the ballot. 
‘‘(B) 
TREATMENT
OF
BALLOTS.—Any 
paper ballot which is cast by an individual 
under this clause shall be counted and other-
wise treated as a regular ballot for all purposes 
(including by incorporating it into the final un-
official vote count (as defined by the State) for 
the precinct) and not as a provisional ballot, 
unless the individual casting the ballot would 
have otherwise been required to cast a provi-
sional ballot. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01059
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1060 
‘‘(8) PROHIBITING USE OF UNCERTIFIED ELEC-
TION-DEDICATED
VOTING
SYSTEM
TECHNOLOGIES; 
DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A voting system used 
in an election for Federal office in a State may 
not at any time during the election contain or 
use any election-dedicated voting system tech-
nology— 
‘‘(i) which has not been certified by 
the State for use in the election; and 
‘‘(ii) which has not been deposited 
with an accredited laboratory described in 
section 231 to be held in escrow and dis-
closed in accordance with this section. 
‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT FOR DISCLOSURE AND 
LIMITATION
ON
RESTRICTING
DISCLOSURE.— 
An accredited laboratory under section 231 
with whom an election-dedicated voting system 
technology has been deposited shall— 
‘‘(i) hold the technology in escrow; 
and 
‘‘(ii) disclose technology and informa-
tion regarding the technology to another 
person if— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01060
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1061 
‘‘(I) the person is a qualified per-
son described in subparagraph (C) 
who has entered into a nondisclosure 
agreement with respect to the tech-
nology which meets the requirements 
of subparagraph (D); or 
‘‘(II) the laboratory is permitted 
or required to disclose the technology 
to the person under State law, in ac-
cordance with the terms and condi-
tions applicable under such law. 
‘‘(C) QUALIFIED PERSONS DESCRIBED.— 
With respect to the disclosure of election-dedi-
cated voting system technology by a laboratory 
under subparagraph (B)(ii)(I), a ‘qualified per-
son’ is any of the following: 
‘‘(i) A governmental entity with re-
sponsibility for the administration of vot-
ing and election-related matters for pur-
poses of reviewing, analyzing, or reporting 
on the technology. 
‘‘(ii) A party to pre- or postelection 
litigation challenging the result of an elec-
tion or the administration or use of the 
technology used in an election, including 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01061
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1062 
but not limited to election contests or chal-
lenges to the certification of the tech-
nology, or an expert for a party to such 
litigation, for purposes of reviewing or ana-
lyzing the technology to support or oppose 
the litigation, and all parties to the litiga-
tion shall have access to the technology for 
such purposes. 
‘‘(iii) A person not described in clause 
(i) or (ii) who reviews, analyzes, or reports 
on the technology solely for an academic, 
scientific, technological, or other investiga-
tion or inquiry concerning the accuracy or 
integrity of the technology. 
‘‘(D) REQUIREMENTS
FOR
NONDISCLO-
SURE
AGREEMENTS.—A nondisclosure agree-
ment entered into with respect to an election- 
dedicated voting system technology meets the 
requirements of this subparagraph if the agree-
ment— 
‘‘(i) is limited in scope to coverage of 
the technology disclosed under subpara-
graph (B) and any trade secrets and intel-
lectual property rights related thereto; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01062
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1063 
‘‘(ii) does not prohibit a signatory 
from entering into other nondisclosure 
agreements to review other technologies 
under this paragraph; 
‘‘(iii) exempts from coverage any in-
formation the signatory lawfully obtained 
from another source or any information in 
the public domain; 
‘‘(iv) remains in effect for not longer 
than the life of any trade secret or other 
intellectual property right related thereto; 
‘‘(v) prohibits the use of injunctions 
barring a signatory from carrying out any 
activity authorized under subparagraph 
(C), including injunctions limited to the 
period prior to a trial involving the tech-
nology; 
‘‘(vi) is silent as to damages awarded 
for breach of the agreement, other than a 
reference to damages available under appli-
cable law; 
‘‘(vii) allows disclosure of evidence of 
crime, including in response to a subpoena 
or warrant; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01063
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1064 
‘‘(viii) allows the signatory to perform 
analyses on the technology (including by 
executing the technology), disclose reports 
and analyses that describe operational 
issues pertaining to the technology (includ-
ing vulnerabilities to tampering, errors, 
risks associated with use, failures as a re-
sult of use, and other problems), and de-
scribe or explain why or how a voting sys-
tem failed or otherwise did not perform as 
intended; and 
‘‘(ix) provides that the agreement 
shall be governed by the trade secret laws 
of the applicable State. 
‘‘(E) ELECTION-DEDICATED VOTING SYS-
TEM TECHNOLOGY DEFINED.—For purposes of 
this paragraph: 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘elec-
tion-dedicated voting system technology’ 
means the following: 
‘‘(I) The source code used for the 
trusted build and its file signatures. 
‘‘(II) A complete disk image of 
the prebuild, build environment, and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01064
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1065 
any file signatures to validate that it 
is unmodified. 
‘‘(III) A complete disk image of 
the postbuild, build environment, and 
any file signatures to validate that it 
is unmodified. 
‘‘(IV) All executable code pro-
duced by the trusted build and any 
file signatures to validate that it is 
unmodified. 
‘‘(V) Installation devices and 
software file signatures. 
‘‘(ii) EXCLUSION.—Such term does 
not include ‘commercial-off-the-shelf’ soft-
ware and hardware defined under the 2015 
voluntary voting system guidelines adopted 
by the Commission under section 222. 
‘‘(9) PROHIBITION OF USE OF WIRELESS COM-
MUNICATIONS DEVICES IN SYSTEMS OR DEVICES.— 
No system or device upon which ballots are marked 
or votes are cast or tabulated shall contain, use, or 
be accessible by any wireless, powerline, or concealed 
communication device, except that enclosed infrared 
communications devices which are certified for use 
in such device by the State and which cannot be 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01065
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1066 
used for any remote or wide area communications or 
used without the knowledge of poll workers shall be 
permitted. 
‘‘(10) PROHIBITING
CONNECTION
OF
SYSTEM 
TO THE INTERNET.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No system or device 
upon which ballots are programmed or votes are 
cast or tabulated shall be connected to the 
Internet at any time. 
‘‘(B) PROHIBITING ACCEPTANCE OF BAL-
LOTS TRANSMITTED ONLINE.—The voting sys-
tem may not accept any voted ballot which is 
transmitted to an election official online. 
‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 
contained in this paragraph shall be deemed to 
prohibit the Commission from conducting the 
studies under section 242 or to conduct other 
similar studies under any other provision of law 
in a manner consistent with this paragraph. 
‘‘(11) SECURITY STANDARDS FOR VOTING SYS-
TEMS USED IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—No voting system may 
be used in an election for Federal office unless 
the manufacturer of such system and the elec-
tion officials using such system meet the appli-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01066
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1067 
cable requirements described in subparagraph 
(B). 
‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS
DESCRIBED.—The 
requirements described in this subparagraph 
are as follows: 
‘‘(i) The manufacturer and the elec-
tion officials shall document the secure 
chain of custody for the handling of all 
software, hardware, vote storage media, 
blank ballots, and completed ballots used 
in connection with voting systems, and 
shall make the information available upon 
request to the Commission. 
‘‘(ii) The manufacturer shall disclose 
to an accredited laboratory under section 
231 and to the appropriate election official 
any information required to be disclosed 
under paragraph (8). 
‘‘(iii) After the appropriate election 
official has certified the election-dedicated 
and other voting system software for use in 
an election, the manufacturer may not— 
‘‘(I) alter such software; or 
‘‘(II) insert or use in the voting 
system any software, software patch, 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01067
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1068 
or other software modification not cer-
tified by the State for use in the elec-
tion. 
‘‘(iv) At the request of the Commis-
sion— 
‘‘(I) the appropriate election offi-
cial shall submit information to the 
Commission regarding the State’s 
compliance with this subparagraph; 
and 
‘‘(II) the manufacturer shall sub-
mit information to the Commission re-
garding the manufacturer’s compli-
ance with this subparagraph. 
‘‘(C) DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLICATION OF 
BEST PRACTICES OF SECURE CHAIN OF CUS-
TODY.—Not later than August 1, 2019, the 
Commission shall develop and make publicly 
available best practices regarding the require-
ment of subparagraphs (B)(i) and (B)(iii), and 
in the case of subparagraph (B)(iii), shall in-
clude best practices for certifying software 
patches and minor software modifications under 
short deadlines. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01068
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1069 
‘‘(D) DISCLOSURE OF SECURE CHAIN OF 
CUSTODY.—The Commission shall make infor-
mation provided to the Commission under sub-
paragraph (B)(i) available to any person upon 
request. 
‘‘(12) DURABILITY AND READABILITY REQUIRE-
MENTS FOR BALLOTS.— 
‘‘(A) DURABILITY
REQUIREMENTS
FOR 
PAPER BALLOTS.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—All voter-verified 
paper ballots required to be used under 
this Act shall be marked or printed on du-
rable paper. 
‘‘(ii) DEFINITION.—For purposes of 
this Act, paper is ‘durable’ if it is capable 
of withstanding multiple counts and re-
counts by hand without compromising the 
fundamental integrity of the ballots, and 
capable 
of 
retaining 
the 
information 
marked or printed on them for the full du-
ration of a retention and preservation pe-
riod of 22 months. 
‘‘(B) READABILITY
REQUIREMENTS
FOR 
PAPER BALLOTS MARKED BY BALLOT MARKING 
DEVICE.—All voter-verified paper ballots com-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01069
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1070 
pleted by the voter through the use of a ballot 
marking device shall be clearly readable by the 
voter without assistance (other than eyeglasses 
or other personal vision-enhancing devices) and 
by an optical character recognition device or 
other device equipped for individuals with dis-
abilities. 
‘‘(13) REQUIREMENTS
FOR
PUBLICATION
OF 
POLL TAPES.— 
‘‘(A) REQUIREMENTS.—Each State shall 
meet the following requirements: 
‘‘(i) Upon the closing of the polls at 
each polling place, the appropriate election 
official, under the observation of the cer-
tified tabulation observers admitted to the 
polling place under subparagraph (E) (if 
any), shall announce the vote orally, post a 
copy of the poll tape reflecting the totals 
from each voting machine upon which 
votes were cast in the election at the poll-
ing place, and prepare and post a state-
ment of the total number of individuals 
who appeared at the polling place to cast 
ballots, determined by reference to the 
number of signatures in a sign-in book or 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01070
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1071 
other similar independent count. Such offi-
cials shall ensure that each of the certified 
tabulation observers admitted to the poll-
ing place has full access to observe the 
process by which the poll tapes and state-
ment are produced and a reasonable period 
of time to review the poll tapes and state-
ment before the polling place is closed, and 
(if feasible) shall provide such observers 
with identical duplicate copies of the poll 
tapes and statement. 
‘‘(ii) As soon as practicable, but in no 
event later than noon of the day following 
the date of the election, the appropriate 
election official shall display (at a promi-
nent location accessible to the public dur-
ing regular business hours and in or within 
reasonable proximity to the polling place) a 
copy of each poll tape and statement pre-
pared under clause (i), and the information 
shall be displayed on the official public 
Web sites of the applicable local election 
official and chief State election official, to-
gether with the name of the designated 
voting official who entered the information 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01071
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1072 
and the date and time the information was 
entered. 
‘‘(iii) Each Web site on which infor-
mation is posted under clause (ii) shall in-
clude information on the procedures by 
which discrepancies shall be reported to 
election officials. If any discrepancy exists 
between the posted information and the 
relevant poll tape or statement, the appro-
priate election official shall display infor-
mation on the discrepancy on the Web site 
on which the information is posted under 
clause (ii) not later than 24 hours after 
the official is made aware of the discrep-
ancy, and shall maintain the information 
on the discrepancy and its resolution (if 
applicable) on such website during the en-
tire period for which results of the election 
are typically maintained on such Web site. 
‘‘(iv) The appropriate election official 
shall preserve archived copies of the poll 
tapes and statements prepared under 
clause (i) and reports of discrepancies filed 
by certified tabulation observers for the pe-
riod of time during which records and pa-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01072
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1073 
pers are required to be retained and pre-
served pursuant to title III of the Civil 
Rights Act of 1960 (42 U.S.C. 1974 et 
seq.) or for the same duration for which 
archived copies of other records of the elec-
tion are required to be preserved under ap-
plicable State law, whichever is longer. 
‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF BALLOTS CAST AT 
EARLY VOTING SITES.— 
‘‘(i) APPLICATION.—The requirements 
of this subparagraph shall apply with re-
spect to poll tapes and statements of the 
number of voters who voted in person at 
designated sites prior to the date of the 
election. 
‘‘(ii) DAILY COUNT OF VOTERS.—At 
the close of business on each day on which 
ballots described in clause (i) may be cast 
prior to the date of the election, the appro-
priate election official at each such site 
shall— 
‘‘(I) under the observation of cer-
tified tabulation observers admitted to 
the site under subparagraph (E) (if 
any), prepare and post a statement of 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01073
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1074 
the total number of individuals who 
appeared at the site to cast ballots, 
determined by reference to the num-
ber of signatures in a sign-in book or 
other similar independent count, and 
the total number of ballots cast (ex-
cluding information on the votes re-
ceived by individual candidates), and 
shall ensure that each of the certified 
tabulation observers admitted to the 
site has full access to observe the 
process by which the statement is pro-
duced and a reasonable period of time 
to review the statement before the site 
is closed; and 
‘‘(II) display at the site during 
regular business hours for the dura-
tion of the early voting period a paper 
copy of the statement prepared under 
subclause (I). 
‘‘(iii) APPLICATION OF GENERAL RE-
QUIREMENTS
FOR
POLL
TAPES
AND 
STATEMENTS.—Upon the closing of the 
polls on the date of the election, the appro-
priate election official at each designated 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01074
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1075 
site described in this subparagraph shall 
meet the requirements of subparagraph 
(A) (including requirements relating to the 
role of certified tabulation observers) in 
the same manner as an election official at 
a polling place. 
‘‘(C) TREATMENT
OF
ABSENTEE
BAL-
LOTS.— 
‘‘(i) 
DAILY
COUNT
OF
BALLOTS 
MAILED AND RECEIVED.—At the close of 
each business day on which a State mails 
or accepts absentee ballots cast in an elec-
tion for Federal office prior to the date of 
the election, the appropriate election offi-
cial shall— 
‘‘(I) under the observation of cer-
tified tabulation observers admitted 
under subparagraph (E) to the site at 
which the ballots are mailed and re-
ceived (if any), prepare and post a 
statement of the total number of ab-
sentee ballots mailed and received by 
the official during that day and a sep-
arate count of the number of absentee 
ballots received but rejected (sepa-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01075
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1076 
rated into categories of the reasons 
for rejection), and ensure that each of 
the certified tabulation observers ad-
mitted to the site has full access to 
observe the process by which the 
statement is produced and a reason-
able period of time to review the 
statement before the site is closed; 
and 
‘‘(II) display at the site during 
regular business hours for the dura-
tion of the period during which absen-
tee ballots are processed a paper copy 
of the statement prepared under sub-
clause (I). 
‘‘(ii) APPLICATION OF GENERAL RE-
QUIREMENTS
FOR
POLL
TAPES
AND 
STATEMENTS.—At the close of business on 
the last day on which absentee ballots are 
counted prior to the certification of the 
election, the appropriate election official at 
the site at which absentee ballots are re-
ceived and counted shall meet the require-
ments of subparagraph (A) (including re-
quirements relating to the role of certified 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01076
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1077 
tabulation observers) in the same manner 
as an election official at a polling place. 
‘‘(D) DAILY COUNT OF PROVISIONAL BAL-
LOTS.—At the close of business on the day on 
which the appropriate election official deter-
mines whether or not provisional ballots cast in 
an election for Federal office will be counted as 
votes in the election (as described in section 
302(a)(4)), the official shall— 
‘‘(i) under the observation of certified 
tabulation observers admitted under sub-
paragraph (E) to the site at which the de-
termination is made (if any), prepare and 
post a statement of the number of such 
ballots for which a determination was 
made, the number of ballots counted, and 
the number of ballots rejected (separated 
into categories of the reason for the rejec-
tion), and ensure that each of the certified 
tabulation observers admitted to the site 
has full access to observe the process by 
which the statement is produced and a rea-
sonable period of time to review the state-
ment before the site is closed; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01077
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1078 
‘‘(ii) display at the site during regular 
business hours for the duration of the pe-
riod during which provisional ballots are 
processed a paper copy of the statement 
prepared under clause (i). 
‘‘(E) ADMISSION OF CERTIFIED TABULA-
TION OBSERVERS.— 
‘‘(i) 
CERTIFIED
TABULATION
OB-
SERVER DEFINED.—In this paragraph, a 
‘certified tabulation observer’ is an indi-
vidual who is certified by an appropriate 
election official as authorized to carry out 
the responsibilities of a certified tabulation 
observer under this paragraph. 
‘‘(ii) 
SELECTION.—In 
determining 
which individuals to certify as tabulation 
observers and admit to a polling place or 
other location to serve as certified tabula-
tion observers with respect to an election 
for Federal office, the election official shall 
give preference to individuals who are af-
filiated with a candidate in the election, ex-
cept that— 
‘‘(I) the number of individuals 
admitted who are affiliated with the 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01078
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1079 
same candidate for Federal office may 
not exceed one; and 
‘‘(II) the maximum number of in-
dividuals who may be admitted shall 
equal the number of candidates in the 
election plus 3, or such greater num-
ber as may be authorized under State 
law. 
‘‘(iii) NO EFFECT ON ADMISSION OF 
OTHER OBSERVERS.—Nothing in this sub-
paragraph may be construed to limit or 
otherwise affect the authority of other indi-
viduals to enter and observe polling place 
operations under any other law, including 
international observers authorized under 
any treaty or observers of the Federal Gov-
ernment authorized under the Voting 
Rights Act of 1965. 
‘‘(F) NO EFFECT ON OTHER TABULATION 
REQUIREMENTS.—Nothing in this Act may be 
construed to supersede any requirement that an 
election official at a polling place report vote to-
tals to a central tabulation facility and address 
discrepancies the official finds in the aggrega-
tion of those totals with other vote totals.’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01079
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1080 
(b) REQUIRING LABORATORIES TO MEET STAND-
ARDS PROHIBITING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AS CONDI-
TION OF ACCREDITATION FOR TESTING OF VOTING SYS-
TEM HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 231(b) of such Act 
(52 U.S.C. 20971(b)) is amended by adding at the 
end the following new paragraphs: 
‘‘(3) PROHIBITING
CONFLICTS
OF
INTEREST; 
ENSURING AVAILABILITY OF RESULTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A laboratory may not 
be accredited by the Commission for purposes 
of this section unless— 
‘‘(i) the laboratory certifies that the 
only compensation it receives for the test-
ing carried out in connection with the cer-
tification, decertification, and recertifi-
cation of the manufacturer’s voting system 
hardware and software is the payment 
made from the Testing Escrow Account 
under paragraph (4); 
‘‘(ii) the laboratory meets such stand-
ards as the Commission shall establish 
(after notice and opportunity for public 
comment) to prevent the existence or ap-
pearance of any conflict of interest in the 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01080
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1081 
testing carried out by the laboratory under 
this section, including standards to ensure 
that the laboratory does not have a finan-
cial interest in the manufacture, sale, and 
distribution of voting system hardware and 
software, and is sufficiently independent 
from other persons with such an interest; 
‘‘(iii) the laboratory certifies that it 
will permit an expert designated by the 
Commission or by the State requiring cer-
tification of the system being tested to ob-
serve any testing the laboratory carries out 
under this section; and 
‘‘(iv) the laboratory, upon completion 
of any testing carried out under this sec-
tion, discloses the test protocols, results, 
and all communication between the labora-
tory and the manufacturer to the Commis-
sion. 
‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY
OF
RESULTS.—Upon 
receipt of information under subparagraph (A), 
the Commission shall make the information 
available promptly to election officials and the 
public. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01081
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1082 
‘‘(4) PROCEDURES FOR CONDUCTING TESTING; 
PAYMENT OF USER FEES FOR COMPENSATION OF 
ACCREDITED LABORATORIES.— 
‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT
OF
ESCROW
AC-
COUNT.—The Commission shall establish an es-
crow account (to be known as the Testing Es-
crow Account) for making payments to accred-
ited laboratories for the costs of the testing car-
ried out in connection with the certification, de-
certification, and recertification of voting sys-
tem hardware and software. 
‘‘(B) SCHEDULE OF FEES.—In consulta-
tion with the accredited laboratories, the Com-
mission shall establish and regularly update a 
schedule of fees for the testing carried out in 
connection with the certification, decertification, 
and recertification of voting system hardware 
and software, based on the reasonable costs ex-
pected to be incurred by the accredited labora-
tories in carrying out the testing for various 
types of hardware and software. 
‘‘(C) REQUESTS AND PAYMENTS BY MANU-
FACTURERS.—A manufacturer of voting system 
hardware and software may not have the hard-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01082
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1083 
ware or software tested by an accredited labora-
tory under this section unless— 
‘‘(i) the manufacturer submits a de-
tailed request for the testing to the Com-
mission; and 
‘‘(ii) the manufacturer pays to the 
Commission, for deposit into the Testing 
Escrow Account established under sub-
paragraph (A), the applicable fee under the 
schedule established and in effect under 
subparagraph (B). 
‘‘(D) SELECTION OF LABORATORY.—Upon 
receiving a request for testing and the payment 
from a manufacturer required under subpara-
graph (C), the Commission shall select, from all 
laboratories which are accredited under this 
section to carry out the specific testing re-
quested by the manufacturer, an accredited lab-
oratory to carry out the testing. 
‘‘(E) PAYMENTS
TO
LABORATORIES.— 
Upon receiving a certification from a laboratory 
selected to carry out testing pursuant to sub-
paragraph (D) that the testing is completed, 
along with a copy of the results of the test as 
required under paragraph (3)(A)(iv), the Com-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01083
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1084 
mission shall make a payment to the laboratory 
from the Testing Escrow Account established 
under subparagraph (A) in an amount equal to 
the applicable fee paid by the manufacturer 
under subparagraph (C)(ii). 
‘‘(5) DISSEMINATION OF ADDITIONAL INFORMA-
TION ON ACCREDITED LABORATORIES.— 
‘‘(A) INFORMATION
ON
TESTING.—Upon 
completion of the testing of a voting system 
under this section, the Commission shall 
promptly disseminate to the public the identi-
fication of the laboratory which carried out the 
testing. 
‘‘(B) INFORMATION ON STATUS OF LAB-
ORATORIES.—The Commission shall promptly 
notify Congress, the chief State election official 
of each State, and the public whenever— 
‘‘(i) the Commission revokes, termi-
nates, or suspends the accreditation of a 
laboratory under this section; 
‘‘(ii) the Commission restores the ac-
creditation of a laboratory under this sec-
tion which has been revoked, terminated, 
or suspended; or 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01084
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1085 
‘‘(iii) the Commission has credible evi-
dence of significant security failure at an 
accredited laboratory.’’. 
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 231 
of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20971) is further amended— 
(A) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘test-
ing, certification,’’ and all that follows and in-
serting the following: ‘‘testing of voting system 
hardware and software by accredited labora-
tories in connection with the certification, de-
certification, and recertification of the hardware 
and software for purposes of this Act.’’; 
(B) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘test-
ing, certification,’’ and all that follows and in-
serting the following: ‘‘testing of its voting sys-
tem hardware and software by the laboratories 
accredited by the Commission under this section 
in connection with certifying, decertifying, and 
recertifying the hardware and software.’’; 
(C) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘test-
ing, certification, decertification, and recertifi-
cation’’ and inserting ‘‘testing’’; and 
(D) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘testing, 
certification, decertification, and recertification’’ 
each place it appears and inserting ‘‘testing’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01085
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1086 
(3) 
DEADLINE
FOR
ESTABLISHMENT
OF 
STANDARDS, ESCROW ACCOUNT, AND SCHEDULE OF 
FEES.—The Election Assistance Commission shall 
establish 
the 
standards 
described 
in 
section 
231(b)(3) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 
and the Testing Escrow Account and schedule of 
fees described in section 231(b)(4) of such Act (as 
added by paragraph (1)) not later than January 1, 
2019. 
(4) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Elec-
tion Assistance Commission such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out the Commission’s duties 
under paragraphs (3) and (4) of section 231 of the 
Help America Vote Act of 2002 (as added by para-
graph (1)). 
(c) GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON DEVELOPMENT OF 
ELECTION-DEDICATED VOTING SYSTEM SOFTWARE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—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 fol-
lowing new part: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01086
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1087 
‘‘PART 7—GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON DEVELOP-
MENT 
OF 
ELECTION-DEDICATED 
VOTING 
SYSTEM SOFTWARE 
‘‘SEC. 297. GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON DEVELOPMENT OF 
ELECTION-DEDICATED 
VOTING 
SYSTEM 
SOFTWARE. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National 
Science Foundation (hereafter in this part referred to as 
the ‘Director’) shall make grants to not fewer than 3 eligi-
ble entities to conduct research on the development of elec-
tion-dedicated voting system software. 
‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—An entity is eligible to receive a 
grant under this part if it submits to the Director (at such 
time and in such form as the Director may require) an 
application containing— 
‘‘(1) certifications regarding the benefits of op-
erating voting systems on election-dedicated software 
which is easily understandable and which is written 
exclusively for the purpose of conducting elections; 
‘‘(2) certifications that the entity will use the 
funds provided under the grant to carry out research 
on how to develop voting systems that run on elec-
tion-dedicated software and that will meet the appli-
cable requirements for voting systems under title III; 
and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01087
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1088 
‘‘(3) such other information and certifications 
as the Director may require. 
‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY
OF TECHNOLOGY.—Any tech-
nology developed with the grants made under this section 
shall be treated as nonproprietary and shall be made avail-
able to the public, including to manufacturers of voting 
systems. 
‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
is authorized to be appropriated for grants under this sec-
tion $1,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2018 and 2019, 
to remain available until expended.’’. 
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con-
tents of such Act is amended by adding at the end 
of the items relating to subtitle D of title II the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘PART 7—GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTION- 
DEDICATED VOTING SYSTEM SOFTWARE 
‘‘Sec. 297. Grants for research on development of election-dedicated voting sys-
tem software.’’. 
SEC. 8604. EFFECTIVE DATE FOR NEW REQUIREMENTS. 
Section 301(d) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 
(52 U.S.C. 21081(d)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), each State and jurisdiction shall be re-
quired to comply with the requirements of this sec-
tion on and after January 1, 2006. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01088
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1089 
‘‘(2) SPECIAL
RULE
FOR
CERTAIN
REQUIRE-
MENTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraphs (B) and (C), the requirements of 
this section which are first imposed on a State 
and jurisdiction pursuant to the amendments 
made by title I of the Voter Confidence and In-
creased Accessibility Act of 2018 shall apply 
with respect to voting systems used for any 
election for Federal office held in 2024 or any 
succeeding year. 
‘‘(B) DELAY
FOR
JURISDICTIONS
USING 
CERTAIN PAPER RECORD PRINTERS OR CERTAIN 
SYSTEMS
USING
OR
PRODUCING
VOTER- 
VERIFIABLE PAPER RECORDS IN 2022.— 
‘‘(i) DELAY.—In the case of a juris-
diction described in clause (ii), subpara-
graph (A) shall apply to a voting system in 
the jurisdiction as if the reference in such 
subparagraph to ‘2024’ were a reference to 
‘2026’, but only with respect to the fol-
lowing requirements of this section: 
‘‘(I) Paragraph (2)(A)(i)(I) of 
subsection (a) (relating to the use of 
voter-marked paper ballots). 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01089
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1090 
‘‘(II) Paragraph (3)(B)(ii)(I) and 
(II) of subsection (a) (relating to ac-
cess to verification from and casting 
of the durable paper ballot). 
‘‘(III) Paragraph (7) of sub-
section (a) (relating to durability and 
readability requirements for ballots). 
‘‘(ii) JURISDICTIONS
DESCRIBED.—A 
jurisdiction described in this clause is a ju-
risdiction— 
‘‘(I) which used voter verifiable 
paper record printers attached to di-
rect recording electronic voting ma-
chines, or which used other voting 
systems that used or produced paper 
records of the vote verifiable by voters 
but that are not in compliance with 
paragraphs (2)(A)(i)(I), (3)(B)(ii)(I) 
and (II), and (7) of subsection (a) (as 
amended or added by the Voter Con-
fidence and Increased Accessibility 
Act of 2018), for the administration 
of the regularly scheduled general 
election for Federal office held in No-
vember 2022; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01090
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1091 
‘‘(II) which will continue to use 
such printers or systems for the ad-
ministration of elections for Federal 
office held in years before 2024. 
‘‘(iii) MANDATORY
AVAILABILITY
OF 
PAPER
BALLOTS
AT
POLLING
PLACES 
USING
GRANDFATHERED
PRINTERS
AND 
SYSTEMS.— 
‘‘(I) REQUIRING BALLOTS TO BE 
OFFERED
AND
PROVIDED.—The ap-
propriate election official at each poll-
ing place that uses a printer or sys-
tem described in clause (ii)(I) for the 
administration of elections for Federal 
office shall offer each individual who 
is eligible to cast a vote in the election 
at the polling place the opportunity to 
cast the vote using a blank pre-print-
ed paper ballot which the individual 
may mark by hand and which is not 
produced by the direct recording elec-
tronic voting machine or other such 
system. The official shall provide the 
individual with the ballot and the sup-
plies necessary to mark the ballot, and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01091
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1092 
shall ensure (to the greatest extent 
practicable) that the waiting period 
for the individual to cast a vote is the 
lesser of 30 minutes or the average 
waiting period for an individual who 
does not agree to cast the vote using 
such a paper ballot under this clause. 
‘‘(II) TREATMENT OF BALLOT.— 
Any paper ballot which is cast by an 
individual under this clause shall be 
counted and otherwise treated as a 
regular ballot for all purposes (includ-
ing by incorporating it into the final 
unofficial vote count (as defined by 
the State) for the precinct) and not as 
a provisional ballot, unless the indi-
vidual casting the ballot would have 
otherwise been required to cast a pro-
visional ballot. 
‘‘(III) POSTING
OF
NOTICE.— 
The appropriate election official shall 
ensure there is prominently displayed 
at each polling place a notice that de-
scribes the obligation of the official to 
offer individuals the opportunity to 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01092
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1093 
cast votes using a pre-printed blank 
paper ballot. 
‘‘(IV) TRAINING
OF
ELECTION 
OFFICIALS.—The chief State election 
official shall ensure that election offi-
cials at polling places in the State are 
aware of the requirements of this 
clause, including the requirement to 
display a notice under subclause (III), 
and are aware that it is a violation of 
the requirements of this title for an 
election official to fail to offer an indi-
vidual the opportunity to cast a vote 
using a blank pre-printed paper ballot. 
‘‘(V) 
PERIOD
OF
APPLICA-
BILITY.—The requirements of this 
clause apply only during the period in 
which the delay is in effect under 
clause (i). 
‘‘(C) SPECIAL
RULE
FOR
JURISDICTIONS 
USING
CERTAIN
NONTABULATING
BALLOT 
MARKING DEVICES.—In the case of a jurisdic-
tion which uses a nontabulating ballot marking 
device which automatically deposits the ballot 
into a privacy sleeve, subparagraph (A) shall 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01093
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1094 
apply to a voting system in the jurisdiction as 
if the reference in such subparagraph to ‘any 
election for Federal office held in 2024 or any 
succeeding year’ were a reference to ‘elections 
for Federal office occurring held in 2026 or 
each succeeding year’, but only with respect to 
paragraph (3)(B)(ii)(II) of subsection (a) (re-
lating to nonmanual casting of the durable 
paper ballot).’’. 
PART 2—REQUIREMENT FOR MANDATORY 
MANUAL AUDITS BY HAND COUNT 
SEC. 8611. MANDATORY MANUAL AUDITS. 
Title III of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 
U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new subtitle: 
‘‘Subtitle C—Mandatory Manual 
Audits 
‘‘SEC. 321. REQUIRING AUDITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS. 
‘‘(a) REQUIRING AUDITS.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—In accordance with this 
subtitle, each State shall administer, without ad-
vance notice to the precincts or alternative audit 
units selected, audits of the results of all elections 
for Federal office held in the State (and, at the op-
tion of the State or jurisdiction involved, of elections 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01094
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1095 
for State and local office held at the same time as 
such election) consisting of random hand counts of 
the voter-verified paper ballots required to be used 
and preserved pursuant to section 301(a)(2). 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN ELECTIONS.—A 
State shall not be required to administer an audit of 
the results of an election for Federal office under 
this subtitle if the winning candidate in the elec-
tion— 
‘‘(A) had no opposition on the ballot; or 
‘‘(B) received 80 percent or more of the 
total number of votes cast in the election, as de-
termined on the basis of the final unofficial vote 
count. 
‘‘(b) DETERMINATION OF ENTITY CONDUCTING AU-
DITS; APPLICATION
OF GAO INDEPENDENCE STAND-
ARDS.—The State shall administer audits under this sub-
title through an entity selected for such purpose by the 
State in accordance with such criteria as the State con-
siders appropriate consistent with the requirements of this 
subtitle, except that the entity must meet the general 
standards established by the Comptroller General and as 
set forth in the Comptroller General’s Government Audit-
ing Standards to ensure the independence (including, ex-
cept as provided under section 323(b), the organizational 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01095
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1096 
independence) of entities performing financial audits, at-
testation engagements, and performance audits. 
‘‘(c) REFERENCES TO ELECTION AUDITOR.—In this 
subtitle, the term ‘Election Auditor’ means, with respect 
to a State, the entity selected by the State under sub-
section (b). 
‘‘SEC. 322. NUMBER OF BALLOTS COUNTED UNDER AUDIT. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 
(b), the number of voter-verified paper ballots which will 
be subject to a hand count administered by the Election 
Auditor of a State under this subtitle with respect to an 
election shall be determined as follows: 
‘‘(1) In the event that the unofficial count as 
described in section 323(a)(1) reveals that the mar-
gin of victory between the two candidates receiving 
the largest number of votes in the election is less 
than 1 percent of the total votes cast in that elec-
tion, the hand counts of the voter-verified paper bal-
lots shall occur in at least 10 percent of all precincts 
or equivalent locations (or alternative audit units 
used in accordance with the method provided for 
under subsection (b)) in the Congressional district 
involved (in the case of an election for the House of 
Representatives) or the State (in the case of any 
other election for Federal office). 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01096
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1097 
‘‘(2) In the event that the unofficial count as 
described in section 323(a)(1) reveals that the mar-
gin of victory between the two candidates receiving 
the largest number of votes in the election is greater 
than or equal to 1 percent but less than 2 percent 
of the total votes cast in that election, the hand 
counts of the voter-verified paper ballots shall occur 
in at least 5 percent of all precincts or equivalent lo-
cations (or alternative audit units used in accord-
ance with the method provided for under subsection 
(b)) in the Congressional district involved (in the 
case of an election for the House of Representatives) 
or the State (in the case of any other election for 
Federal office). 
‘‘(3) In the event that the unofficial count as 
described in section 323(a)(1) reveals that the mar-
gin of victory between the two candidates receiving 
the largest number of votes in the election is equal 
to or greater than 2 percent of the total votes cast 
in that election, the hand counts of the voter-verified 
paper ballots shall occur in at least 3 percent of all 
precincts or equivalent locations (or alternative audit 
units used in accordance with the method provided 
for under subsection (b)) in the Congressional dis-
trict involved (in the case of an election for the 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01097
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1098 
House of Representatives) or the State (in the case 
of any other election for Federal office). 
‘‘(b) USE OF ALTERNATIVE MECHANISM.— 
‘‘(1) PERMITTING USE OF ALTERNATIVE MECH-
ANISM.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), a State 
may adopt and apply an alternative mechanism to 
determine the number of voter-verified paper ballots 
which will be subject to the hand counts required 
under this subtitle with respect to an election, so 
long as the alternative mechanism uses the voter- 
verified paper ballots to conduct the audit and the 
National Institute of Standards and Technology de-
termines that the alternative mechanism is in ac-
cordance with the principles set forth in paragraph 
(2). 
‘‘(2) PRINCIPLES FOR APPROVAL.—In approv-
ing an alternative mechanism under paragraph (1), 
the National Institute of Standards and Technology 
shall ensure that the audit procedure will have the 
property that for each election— 
‘‘(A) the alternative mechanism will be at 
least as statistically effective in ensuring the ac-
curacy of the election results as the procedures 
under this subtitle; or 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01098
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1099 
‘‘(B) 
the 
alternative 
mechanism 
will 
achieve at least a 95% confidence interval (as 
determined in accordance with criteria set forth 
by the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology) with respect to the outcome of the 
election. 
‘‘(3) DEADLINE FOR RESPONSE.—The Director 
of the National Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology shall make a determination regarding a 
State’s request to approve an alternative mechanism 
under paragraph (1) not later than 30 days after re-
ceiving the State’s request. 
‘‘SEC. 323. PROCESS FOR ADMINISTERING AUDITS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Election Auditor of a State 
shall administer an audit under this section of the results 
of an election in accordance with the following procedures: 
‘‘(1) Within 24 hours after the State announces 
the final unofficial vote count (as defined by the 
State) in each precinct in the State, the Election 
Auditor shall— 
‘‘(A) determine and then announce the 
precincts or equivalent locations (or alternative 
audit units used in accordance with the method 
provided under section 322(b)) in the State in 
which it will administer the audits; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01099
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1100 
‘‘(B) with respect to votes cast at the pre-
cinct or equivalent location on or before the 
date of the election (other than provisional bal-
lots described in paragraph (2)), begin to ad-
minister the hand count of the votes on the 
voter-verified paper ballots required to be used 
and preserved under section 301(a)(2)(A) and 
the comparison of the count of the votes on 
those ballots with the final unofficial count of 
such votes as announced by the State. 
‘‘(2) With respect to votes cast other than at 
the precinct on the date of the election (other than 
votes cast before the date of the election described 
in paragraph (2)) or votes cast by provisional ballot 
on the date of the election which are certified and 
counted by the State on or after the date of the elec-
tion, including votes cast by absent uniformed serv-
ices voters and overseas voters under the Uniformed 
and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, the 
Election Auditor shall administer the hand count of 
the votes on the applicable voter-verified paper bal-
lots required to be produced and preserved under 
section 301(a)(2)(A) and the comparison of the 
count of the votes on those ballots with the final un-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01100
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1101 
official count of such votes as announced by the 
State. 
‘‘(b) USE OF PERSONNEL.—In administering the au-
dits, the Election Auditor may utilize the services of the 
personnel of the State or jurisdiction, including election 
administration personnel and poll workers, without regard 
to whether or not the personnel have professional auditing 
experience. 
‘‘(c) LOCATION.—The Election Auditor shall admin-
ister an audit of an election— 
‘‘(1) at the location where the ballots cast in 
the election are stored and counted after the date of 
the election or such other appropriate and secure lo-
cation agreed upon by the Election Auditor and the 
individual that is responsible under State law for the 
custody of the ballots; and 
‘‘(2) in the presence of the personnel who under 
State law are responsible for the custody of the bal-
lots. 
‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULE IN CASE OF DELAY IN REPORT-
ING ABSENTEE VOTE COUNT.—In the case of a State in 
which the final count of absentee and provisional votes is 
not announced until after the date of the election, the 
Election Auditor shall initiate the process described in 
subsection (a) for administering the audit not later than 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01101
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1102 
24 hours after the State announces the final unofficial 
vote count for the votes cast at the precinct or equivalent 
location on or before the date of the election, and shall 
initiate the administration of the audit of the absentee and 
provisional votes pursuant to subsection (a)(2) not later 
than 24 hours after the State announces the final unoffi-
cial count of such votes. 
‘‘(e) ADDITIONAL AUDITS IF CAUSE SHOWN.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—If the Election Auditor 
finds that any of the hand counts administered 
under this section do not match the final unofficial 
tally of the results of an election, the Election Audi-
tor shall administer hand counts under this section 
of such additional precincts (or alternative audit 
units) as the Election Auditor considers appropriate 
to resolve any concerns resulting from the audit and 
ensure the accuracy of the election results. 
‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT
AND
PUBLICATION
OF 
PROCEDURES
GOVERNING
ADDITIONAL
AUDITS.— 
Not later than August 1, 2023, each State shall es-
tablish and publish procedures for carrying out the 
additional audits under this subsection, including the 
means by which the State shall resolve any concerns 
resulting from the audit with finality and ensure the 
accuracy of the election results. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01102
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1103 
‘‘(f) PUBLIC OBSERVATION OF AUDITS.—Each audit 
conducted under this section shall be conducted in a man-
ner that allows public observation of the entire process. 
‘‘SEC. 324. SELECTION OF PRECINCTS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 
(c), the selection of the precincts or alternative audit units 
in the State in which the Election Auditor of the State 
shall administer the hand counts under this subtitle shall 
be made by the Election Auditor on a random basis, in 
accordance with procedures adopted by the National Insti-
tute of Standards and Technology, except that at least one 
precinct shall be selected at random in each county, with 
additional precincts selected by the Election Auditor at the 
Auditor’s discretion. 
‘‘(b) PUBLIC SELECTION.—The random selection of 
precincts under subsection (a) shall be conducted in pub-
lic, at a time and place announced in advance. 
‘‘(c) MANDATORY SELECTION OF PRECINCTS ESTAB-
LISHED SPECIFICALLY FOR ABSENTEE BALLOTS.—If a 
State does not sort absentee ballots by precinct and in-
clude those ballots in the hand count with respect to that 
precinct, the State shall create absentee ballot precincts 
or audit units which are of similar size to the average pre-
cinct or audit unit in the jurisdiction being audited, and 
shall include those absentee precincts or audit units 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01103
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1104 
among the precincts in the State in which the Election 
Auditor shall administer the hand counts under this sub-
title. 
‘‘(d) DEADLINE FOR ADOPTION OF PROCEDURES BY 
NIST.—The National Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology shall adopt the procedures described in subsection 
(a) not later than March 31, 2023, and shall publish them 
in the Federal Register upon adoption. 
‘‘SEC. 325. PUBLICATION OF RESULTS. 
‘‘(a) SUBMISSION TO COMMISSION.—As soon as prac-
ticable after the completion of an audit under this subtitle, 
the Election Auditor of a State shall submit to the Com-
mission the results of the audit, and shall include in the 
submission a comparison of the results of the election in 
the precinct as determined by the Election Auditor under 
the audit and the final unofficial vote count in the precinct 
as announced by the State and all undervotes, overvotes, 
blank ballots, and spoiled, voided, or cancelled ballots, as 
well as a list of any discrepancies discovered between the 
initial, subsequent, and final hand counts administered by 
the Election Auditor and such final unofficial vote count 
and any explanation for such discrepancies, broken down 
by the categories of votes described in paragraphs (1)(B) 
and (2) of section 323(a). 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01104
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1105 
‘‘(b) PUBLICATION
BY COMMISSION.—Immediately 
after receiving the submission of the results of an audit 
from the Election Auditor of a State under subsection (a), 
the Commission shall publicly announce and publish the 
information contained in the submission. 
‘‘(c) DELAY
IN CERTIFICATION
OF RESULTS
BY 
STATE.— 
‘‘(1) PROHIBITING CERTIFICATION UNTIL COM-
PLETION OF AUDITS.—No State may certify the re-
sults of any election which is subject to an audit 
under this subtitle prior to— 
‘‘(A) to the completion of the audit (and, 
if required, any additional audit conducted 
under section 323(e)(1)) and the announcement 
and submission of the results of each such audit 
to the Commission for publication of the infor-
mation required under this section; and 
‘‘(B) the completion of any procedure es-
tablished by the State pursuant to section 
323(e)(2) to resolve discrepancies and ensure 
the accuracy of results. 
‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR COMPLETION OF AUDITS 
OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.—In the case of an 
election for electors for President and Vice President 
which is subject to an audit under this subtitle, the 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01105
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1106 
State shall complete the audits and announce and 
submit the results to the Commission for publication 
of the information required under this section in 
time for the State to certify the results of the elec-
tion and provide for the final determination of any 
controversy or contest concerning the appointment 
of such electors prior to the deadline described in 
section 6 of title 3, United States Code. 
‘‘SEC. 326. PAYMENTS TO STATES. 
‘‘(a) PAYMENTS FOR COSTS OF CONDUCTING AU-
DITS.—In accordance with the requirements and proce-
dures of this section, the Commission shall make a pay-
ment to a State to cover the costs incurred by the State 
in carrying out this subtitle with respect to the elections 
that are the subject of the audits conducted under this 
subtitle. 
‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE AND ANTICI-
PATED COSTS.— 
‘‘(1) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—In order to 
receive a payment under this section, a State shall 
submit to the Commission, in such form as the Com-
mission may require, a statement containing— 
‘‘(A) a certification that the State will con-
duct the audits required under this subtitle in 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01106
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1107 
accordance with all of the requirements of this 
subtitle; 
‘‘(B) a notice of the reasonable costs in-
curred or the reasonable costs anticipated to be 
incurred by the State in carrying out this sub-
title with respect to the elections involved; and 
‘‘(C) such other information and assur-
ances as the Commission may require. 
‘‘(2) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.—The amount of a 
payment made to a State under this section shall be 
equal to the reasonable costs incurred or the reason-
able costs anticipated to be incurred by the State in 
carrying out this subtitle with respect to the elec-
tions involved, as set forth in the statement sub-
mitted under paragraph (1). 
‘‘(3) TIMING OF NOTICE.—The State may not 
submit a notice under paragraph (1) until can-
didates have been selected to appear on the ballot 
for all of the elections for Federal office which will 
be the subject of the audits involved. 
‘‘(c) TIMING OF PAYMENTS.—The Commission shall 
make the payment required under this section to a State 
not later than 30 days after receiving the notice submitted 
by the State under subsection (b). 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01107
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1108 
‘‘(d) RECOUPMENT OF OVERPAYMENTS.—No pay-
ment may be made to a State under this section unless 
the State agrees to repay to the Commission the excess 
(if any) of— 
‘‘(1) the amount of the payment received by the 
State under this section with respect to the elections 
involved; over 
‘‘(2) the actual costs incurred by the State in 
carrying out this subtitle with respect to the elec-
tions involved. 
‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
is authorized to be appropriated to the Commission for 
fiscal year 2022 and each succeeding fiscal year 
$100,000,000 for payments under this section. 
‘‘SEC. 327. EXCEPTION FOR ELECTIONS SUBJECT TO RE-
COUNT UNDER STATE LAW PRIOR TO CER-
TIFICATION. 
‘‘(a) EXCEPTION.—This subtitle does not apply to 
any election for which a recount under State law will com-
mence prior to the certification of the results of the elec-
tion, including but not limited to a recount required auto-
matically because of the margin of victory between the 2 
candidates receiving the largest number of votes in the 
election, but only if each of the following applies to the 
recount: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01108
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1109 
‘‘(1) The recount commences prior to the deter-
mination and announcement by the Election Auditor 
under section 323(a)(1) of the precincts in the State 
in which it will administer the audits under this sub-
title. 
‘‘(2) If the recount would apply to fewer than 
100 percent of the ballots cast in the election— 
‘‘(A) the number of ballots counted will be 
at least as many as would be counted if an 
audit were conducted with respect to the elec-
tion in accordance with this subtitle; and 
‘‘(B) the selection of the precincts in which 
the recount will be conducted will be made in 
accordance with the random selection proce-
dures applicable under section 324. 
‘‘(3) The recount for the election meets the re-
quirements of section 323(f) (relating to public ob-
servation). 
‘‘(4) The State meets the requirements of sec-
tion 325 (relating to the publication of results and 
the delay in the certification of results) with respect 
to the recount. 
‘‘(b) CLARIFICATION OF EFFECT ON OTHER RE-
QUIREMENTS.—Nothing in this section may be construed 
to waive the application of any other provision of this Act 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01109
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1110 
to any election (including the requirement set forth in sec-
tion 301(a)(2) that the voter verified paper ballots serve 
as the vote of record and shall be counted by hand in all 
audits and recounts, including audits and recounts de-
scribed in this subtitle). 
‘‘SEC. 328. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
‘‘This subtitle shall apply with respect to elections for 
Federal office held in 2022 or any succeeding year.’’. 
SEC. 8612. AVAILABILITY OF ENFORCEMENT UNDER HELP 
AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2002. 
Section 401 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 
(52 U.S.C. 21111) is amended by striking the period at 
the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, or the requirements 
of subtitle C of title III.’’. 
SEC. 8613. GUIDANCE ON BEST PRACTICES FOR ALTER-
NATIVE AUDIT MECHANISMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than May 1, 2023, the 
Director of the National Institute for Standards and Tech-
nology shall establish guidance for States that wish to es-
tablish alternative audit mechanisms under section 322(b) 
of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (as added by section 
611). Such guidance shall be based upon scientifically and 
statistically reasonable assumptions for the purpose of cre-
ating an alternative audit mechanism that will be con-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01110
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1111 
sistent with the principles for approval described in section 
322(b)(2) of such Act (as so added). 
(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to carry out subsection (a) 
$100,000, to remain available until expended. 
SEC. 8614. CLERICAL AMENDMENT. 
The table of contents of the Help America Vote Act 
of 2002 is amended by adding at the end of the items 
relating to title III the following: 
‘‘Subtitle C—Mandatory Manual Audits 
‘‘Sec. 321. Requiring audits of results of elections. 
‘‘Sec. 322. Number of ballots counted under audit. 
‘‘Sec. 323. Process for administering audits. 
‘‘Sec. 324. Selection of precincts. 
‘‘Sec. 325. Publication of results. 
‘‘Sec. 326. Payments to States. 
‘‘Sec. 327. Exception for elections subject to recount under State law prior to 
certification. 
‘‘Sec. 328. Effective date.’’. 
Subtitle H—Provisional Ballots 
SEC. 8701. REQUIREMENTS FOR COUNTING PROVISIONAL 
BALLOTS; ESTABLISHMENT OF UNIFORM AND 
NONDISCRIMINATORY STANDARDS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 302 of the Help America 
Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21082) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub-
section (f); and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol-
lowing new subsections: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01111
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1112 
‘‘(d) STATEWIDE COUNTING OF PROVISIONAL BAL-
LOTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of subsection 
(a)(4), notwithstanding the precinct or polling place 
at which a provisional ballot is cast within the State, 
the appropriate election official shall count each vote 
on such ballot for each election in which the indi-
vidual who cast such ballot is eligible to vote. 
‘‘(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall 
apply with respect to elections held on or after Janu-
ary 1, 2020. 
‘‘(e) UNIFORM
AND NONDISCRIMINATORY STAND-
ARDS.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Consistent with the re-
quirements of this section, each State shall establish 
uniform and nondiscriminatory standards for the 
issuance, handling, and counting of provisional bal-
lots. 
‘‘(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall 
apply with respect to elections held on or after Janu-
ary 1, 2020.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 302(f) of 
such Act (52 U.S.C. 21082(f)), as redesignated by sub-
section (a), is amended by striking ‘‘Each State’’ and in-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01112
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1113 
serting ‘‘Except as provided in subsections (d)(2) and 
(e)(2), each State’’. 
Subtitle I—Early Voting and Voting 
by Mail 
SEC. 8801. EARLY VOTING AND VOTING BY MAIL. 
(a) REQUIREMENTS.—Subtitle A of title III of the 
Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.), 
as amended by section 8121(a) and section 8201(a), is 
amended— 
(1) by redesignating sections 306 and 307 as 
sections 308 and 309; and 
(2) by inserting after section 305 the following 
new sections: 
‘‘SEC. 306. EARLY VOTING. 
‘‘(a) REQUIRING VOTING PRIOR TO DATE OF ELEC-
TION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall allow indi-
viduals to vote in an election for Federal office dur-
ing an early voting period which occurs prior to the 
date of the election, in the same manner as voting 
is allowed on such date. 
‘‘(2) LENGTH
OF
PERIOD.—The early voting 
period required under this subsection with respect to 
an election shall consist of a period of consecutive 
days (including weekends) which begins on the 15th 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01113
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1114 
day before the date of the election (or, at the option 
of the State, on a day prior to the 15th day before 
the date of the election) and ends on the date of the 
election. 
‘‘(b) MINIMUM EARLY VOTING REQUIREMENTS.— 
Each polling place which allows voting during an early vot-
ing period under subsection (a) shall— 
‘‘(1) allow such voting for no less than 4 hours 
on each day, except that the polling place may allow 
such voting for fewer than 4 hours on Sundays; and 
‘‘(2) have uniform hours each day for which 
such voting occurs. 
‘‘(c) LOCATION OF POLLING PLACES NEAR PUBLIC 
TRANSPORTATION.—To the greatest extent practicable, a 
State shall ensure that each polling place which allows vot-
ing during an early voting period under subsection (a) is 
located within walking distance of a stop on a public trans-
portation route. 
‘‘(d) STANDARDS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall issue 
standards for the administration of voting prior to 
the day scheduled for a Federal election. Such 
standards shall include the nondiscriminatory geo-
graphic placement of polling places at which such 
voting occurs. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01114
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1115 
‘‘(2) DEVIATION.—The standards described in 
paragraph (1) shall permit States, upon providing 
adequate public notice, to deviate from any require-
ment in the case of unforeseen circumstances such 
as a natural disaster, terrorist attack, or a change 
in voter turnout. 
‘‘(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 
with respect to elections held on or after January 1, 2020. 
‘‘SEC. 307. PROMOTING ABILITY OF VOTERS TO VOTE BY 
MAIL. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If an individual in a State is eli-
gible to cast a vote in an election for Federal office, the 
State may not impose any additional conditions or require-
ments on the eligibility of the individual to cast the vote 
in such election by mail, except as required under sub-
section (b) and except to the extent that the State imposes 
a deadline for requesting the ballot and related voting ma-
terials from the appropriate State or local election official 
and for returning the ballot to the appropriate State or 
local election official. 
‘‘(b) REQUIRING
SIGNATURE
VERIFICATION.—A 
State may not accept and process an absentee ballot sub-
mitted by any individual with respect to an election for 
Federal office unless the State verifies the identification 
of the individual by comparing the individual’s signature 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01115
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1116 
on the absentee ballot with the individual’s signature on 
the official list of registered voters in the State, in accord-
ance with such procedures as the State may adopt. 
‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 
with respect to elections held on or after January 1, 
2020.’’. 
(b) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT
RELATING
TO 
ISSUANCE OF VOLUNTARY GUIDANCE BY ELECTION AS-
SISTANCE COMMISSION.—Section 311(b) of such Act (52 
U.S.C. 21101(b)), as amended by section 8201(b), is 
amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 
(3); 
(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (4) and inserting a semicolon; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraphs: 
‘‘(5) in the case of the recommendations with 
respect to section 306, June 30, 2020; and 
‘‘(6) in the case of the recommendations with 
respect to section 307, June 30, 2020.’’. 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
of such Act is amended— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01116
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1117 
(1) by redesignating the items relating to sec-
tions 306 and 307 as relating to sections 308 and 
309; and 
(2) by inserting after the item relating to sec-
tion 305 the following new items: 
‘‘Sec. 306. Early voting. 
‘‘Sec. 307. Promoting ability of voters to vote by mail.’’. 
Subtitle 
J—Absent 
Uniformed 
Services Voters and Overseas 
Voters 
SEC. 8901. EXTENDING GUARANTEE OF RESIDENCY FOR 
VOTING PURPOSES TO FAMILY MEMBERS OF 
ABSENT MILITARY PERSONNEL. 
Section 705 of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act 
(50 U.S.C. App. 595) is amended— 
(1) in the heading, by striking ‘‘SPOUSES’’ and 
inserting ‘‘FAMILY MEMBERS’’; and 
(2) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(b) FAMILY MEMBERS.—For the purposes of voting 
for in any election for any Federal office (as defined in 
section 301 of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 
(52 U.S.C. 30101)) or any State or local office, a spouse, 
domestic partner, or dependent of a person who is absent 
from a State in compliance with military or naval orders 
shall not, solely by reason of that person’s absence and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01117
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1118 
without regard to whether or not such family member is 
accompanying that person— 
‘‘(1) be deemed to have lost a residence or 
domicile in that State, without regard to whether or 
not the person intends to return to that State; 
‘‘(2) be deemed to have acquired a residence or 
domicile in any other State; or 
‘‘(3) be deemed to have become a resident in or 
a resident of any other State.’’. 
SEC. 8902. PRE-ELECTION REPORTS ON AVAILABILITY AND 
TRANSMISSION OF ABSENTEE BALLOTS. 
Section 102(c) of the Uniformed and Overseas Citi-
zens Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20302(c)) is amend-
ed to read as follows: 
‘‘(c) REPORTS
ON AVAILABILITY, TRANSMISSION, 
AND RECEIPT OF ABSENTEE BALLOTS.— 
‘‘(1) PRE-ELECTION
REPORT
ON
ABSENTEE 
BALLOT AVAILABILITY.—Not later than 55 days be-
fore any regularly scheduled general election for 
Federal office, each State shall submit a report to 
the Attorney General, the Election Assistance Com-
mission (hereafter in this subsection referred to as 
the ‘Commission’), and the Presidential Designee, 
and make that report publicly available that same 
day, certifying that absentee ballots for the election 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01118
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1119 
are or will be available for transmission to absent 
uniformed services voters and overseas voters by not 
later than 45 days before the election. The report 
shall be in a form prescribed jointly by the Attorney 
General and the Commission and shall require the 
State to certify specific information about ballot 
availability from each unit of local government which 
will administer the election. 
‘‘(2) PRE-ELECTION
REPORT
ON
ABSENTEE 
BALLOT TRANSMISSION.—Not later than 43 days be-
fore any regularly scheduled general election for 
Federal office, each State shall submit a report to 
the Attorney General, the Commission, and the 
Presidential Designee, and make that report publicly 
available that same day, certifying whether all ab-
sentee ballots have been transmitted by not later 
than 45 days before the election to all qualified ab-
sent uniformed services and overseas voters whose 
requests were received at least 45 days before the 
election. The report shall be in a form prescribed 
jointly by the Attorney General and the Commission, 
and shall require the State to certify specific infor-
mation about ballot transmission, including the total 
numbers of ballot requests received and ballots 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01119
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1120 
transmitted, from each unit of local government 
which will administer the election. 
‘‘(3) POST-ELECTION REPORT ON NUMBER OF 
ABSENTEE
BALLOTS
TRANSMITTED
AND
RE-
CEIVED.—Not later than 90 days after the date of 
each regularly scheduled general election for Federal 
office, each State and unit of local government 
which administered the election shall (through the 
State, in the case of a unit of local government) sub-
mit a report to the Attorney General, the Commis-
sion, and the Presidential Designee on the combined 
number of absentee ballots transmitted to absent 
uniformed services voters and overseas voters for the 
election and the combined number of such ballots 
which were returned by such voters and cast in the 
election, and shall make such report available to the 
general public that same day.’’. 
SEC. 8903. ENFORCEMENT. 
(a) AVAILABILITY OF CIVIL PENALTIES AND PRI-
VATE RIGHTS OF ACTION.—Section 105 of the Uniformed 
and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 
20307) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 105. ENFORCEMENT. 
‘‘(a) ACTION BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01120
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1121 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may 
bring civil action in an appropriate district court for 
such declaratory or injunctive relief as may be nec-
essary to carry out this title. 
‘‘(2) PENALTY.—In a civil action brought under 
paragraph (1), if the court finds that the State vio-
lated any provision of this title, it may, to vindicate 
the public interest, assess a civil penalty against the 
State— 
‘‘(A) in an amount not to exceed $110,000 
for each such violation, in the case of a first 
violation; or 
‘‘(B) in an amount not to exceed $220,000 
for each such violation, for any subsequent vio-
lation. 
‘‘(3) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 
December 31 of each year, the Attorney General 
shall submit to Congress an annual report on any 
civil action brought under paragraph (1) during the 
preceding year. 
‘‘(b) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—A person who is 
aggrieved by a State’s violation of this title may bring a 
civil action in an appropriate district court for such declar-
atory or injunctive relief as may be necessary to carry out 
this title. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01121
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1122 
‘‘(c) STATE AS ONLY NECESSARY DEFENDANT.—In 
any action brought under this section, the only necessary 
party defendant is the State, and it shall not be a defense 
to any such action that a local election official or a unit 
of local government is not named as a defendant, notwith-
standing that a State has exercised the authority described 
in section 576 of the Military and Overseas Voter Em-
powerment Act to delegate to another jurisdiction in the 
State any duty or responsibility which is the subject of 
an action brought under this section.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to violations alleged 
to have occurred on or after the date of the enactment 
of this Act. 
SEC. 8904. REVISIONS TO 45-DAY ABSENTEE BALLOT 
TRANSMISSION RULE. 
(a) REPEAL OF WAIVER AUTHORITY.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Section 102 of the Uni-
formed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act 
(52 U.S.C. 20302) is amended by striking sub-
section (g). 
(2) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 
102(a)(8)(A) 
of 
such 
Act 
(52 
U.S.C. 
20302(a)(8)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘except as 
provided in subsection (g),’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01122
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1123 
(b) REQUIRING USE OF EXPRESS DELIVERY IN CASE 
OF FAILURE TO MEET REQUIREMENT.—Section 102 of 
such Act (52 U.S.C. 20302), as amended by subsection 
(a), is amended by inserting after subsection (f) the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(g) REQUIRING USE OF EXPRESS DELIVERY IN 
CASE
OF FAILURE TO TRANSMIT BALLOTS WITHIN 
DEADLINES.— 
‘‘(1) TRANSMISSION OF BALLOT BY EXPRESS 
DELIVERY.—If a State fails to meet the requirement 
of subsection (a)(8)(A) to transmit a validly re-
quested absentee ballot to an absent uniformed serv-
ices voter or overseas voter not later than 45 days 
before the election (in the case in which the request 
is received at least 45 days before the election)— 
‘‘(A) the State shall transmit the ballot to 
the voter by express delivery; or 
‘‘(B) in the case of a voter who has des-
ignated that absentee ballots be transmitted 
electronically in accordance with subsection 
(f)(1), the State shall transmit the ballot to the 
voter electronically. 
‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR TRANSMISSION FEWER 
THAN 40 DAYS BEFORE THE ELECTION.—If, in car-
rying out paragraph (1), a State transmits an ab-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01123
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1124 
sentee ballot to an absent uniformed services voter 
or overseas voter fewer than 40 days before the elec-
tion, the State shall enable the ballot to be returned 
by the voter by express delivery, except that in the 
case of an absentee ballot of an absent uniformed 
services voter for a regularly scheduled general elec-
tion for Federal office, the State may satisfy the re-
quirement of this paragraph by notifying the voter 
of the procedures for the collection and delivery of 
such ballots under section 103A.’’. 
(c) CLARIFICATION
OF
TREATMENT
OF
WEEK-
ENDS.—Section 102(a)(8)(A) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 
20302(a)(8)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘the election;’’ 
and inserting the following: ‘‘the election (or, if the 45th 
day preceding the election is a weekend or legal public hol-
iday, not later than the most recent weekday which pre-
cedes such 45th day and which is not a legal public holi-
day, but only if the request is received by at least such 
most recent weekday);’’. 
SEC. 8905. USE OF SINGLE ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICA-
TION FOR SUBSEQUENT ELECTIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 104 of the Uniformed and 
Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20306) 
is amended to read as follows: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01124
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1125 
‘‘SEC. 104. USE OF SINGLE APPLICATION FOR SUBSEQUENT 
ELECTIONS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If a State accepts and processes 
an official post card form (prescribed under section 101) 
submitted by an absent uniformed services voter or over-
seas voter for simultaneous voter registration and absen-
tee ballot application (in accordance with section 
102(a)(4)) and the voter requests that the application be 
considered an application for an absentee ballot for each 
subsequent election for Federal office held in the State 
through the next regularly scheduled general election for 
Federal office (including any runoff elections which may 
occur as a result of the outcome of such general election), 
the State shall provide an absentee ballot to the voter for 
each such subsequent election. 
‘‘(b) EXCEPTION FOR VOTERS CHANGING REGISTRA-
TION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply with respect to a 
voter registered to vote in a State for any election held 
after the voter notifies the State that the voter no longer 
wishes to be registered to vote in the State or after the 
State determines that the voter has registered to vote in 
another State or is otherwise no longer eligible to vote in 
the State. 
‘‘(c) PROHIBITION OF REFUSAL OF APPLICATION ON 
GROUNDS
OF EARLY SUBMISSION.—A State may not 
refuse to accept or to process, with respect to any election 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01125
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1126 
for Federal office, any otherwise valid voter registration 
application or absentee ballot application (including the 
postcard form prescribed under section 101) submitted by 
an absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter on 
the grounds that the voter submitted the application be-
fore the first date on which the State otherwise accepts 
or processes such applications for that election which are 
submitted by absentee voters who are not members of the 
uniformed services or overseas citizens.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall apply with respect to voter registration 
and absentee ballot applications which are submitted to 
a State or local election official on or after the date of 
the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 8906. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
The amendments made by this subtitle shall apply 
with respect to elections occurring on or after January 1, 
2020. 
Subtitle K—Poll Worker 
Recruitment and Training 
SEC. 8911. LEAVE TO SERVE AS A POLL WORKER FOR FED-
ERAL EMPLOYEES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 63 of 
title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01126
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1127 
‘‘§ 6329. Absence in connection with serving as a poll 
worker 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An employee in or under an Ex-
ecutive agency is entitled to leave, without loss of or reduc-
tion in pay, leave to which otherwise entitled, credit for 
time or service, or performance or efficiency rating, not 
to exceed 6 days in a leave year, in order— 
‘‘(1) to provide election administration assist-
ance to a State or unit of local government at a poll-
ing place on the date of any election for public of-
fice; or 
‘‘(2) to receive any training without which such 
employee would be ineligible to provide such assist-
ance. 
‘‘(b) REGULATIONS.—The Director of the Office of 
Personnel Management may prescribe regulations for the 
administration of this section, including regulations set-
ting forth the terms and conditions of the election admin-
istration assistance an employee may provide for purposes 
of subsection (a).’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
for chapter 63 of title 5, United States Code, is amended 
by inserting after the item relating to section 6328 the 
following: 
‘‘6329. Absence in connection with serving as a poll worker.’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01127
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6211
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1128 
SEC. 8912. GRANTS TO STATES FOR POLL WORKER RE-
CRUITMENT AND TRAINING. 
(a) GRANTS
BY ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMIS-
SION.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Election Assistance 
Commission (hereafter referred to as the ‘‘Commis-
sion’’) shall make a grant to each eligible State for 
recruiting and training individuals to serve as non-
partisan poll workers on dates of elections for public 
office. 
(2) USE OF COMMISSION MATERIALS.—In car-
rying out activities with a grant provided under this 
section, the recipient of the grant shall use the man-
ual prepared by the Commission on successful prac-
tices for poll worker recruiting, training and reten-
tion as an interactive training tool, and shall develop 
training programs with the participation and input 
of experts in adult learning. 
(b) REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBILITY.— 
(1) APPLICATION.—Each State that desires to 
receive a payment under this section shall submit an 
application for the payment to the Commission at 
such time and in such manner and containing such 
information as the Commission shall require. 
(2) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—Each appli-
cation submitted under paragraph (1) shall— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01128
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1129 
(A) describe the activities for which assist-
ance under this section is sought; 
(B) provide assurances that the funds pro-
vided under this section will be used to supple-
ment and not supplant other funds used to 
carry out the activities; 
(C) provide assurances that the State will 
furnish the Commission with information on the 
number of individuals who served as non-
partisan poll workers after recruitment and 
training with the funds provided under this sec-
tion; and 
(D) provide such additional information 
and certifications as the Commission deter-
mines to be essential to ensure compliance with 
the requirements of this section. 
(c) AMOUNT OF GRANT.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The amount of a grant 
made to a State under this section shall be equal to 
the product of— 
(A) the aggregate amount made available 
for grants to States under this section; and 
(B) the voting age population percentage 
for the State. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01129
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1130 
(2) VOTING AGE POPULATION PERCENTAGE DE-
FINED.—In paragraph (1), the ‘‘voting age popu-
lation percentage’’ for a State is the quotient of— 
(A) the voting age population of the State 
(as determined on the basis of the most recent 
information available from the Bureau of the 
Census); and 
(B) the total voting age population of all 
States (as determined on the basis of the most 
recent information available from the Bureau of 
the Census). 
(d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 
(1) REPORTS BY RECIPIENTS OF GRANTS.—Not 
later than 6 months after the date on which the 
final grant is made under this section, each recipient 
of a grant shall submit a report to the Commission 
on the activities conducted with the funds provided 
by the grant. 
(2) REPORTS BY COMMISSION.—Not later than 
1 year after the date on which the final grant is 
made under this section, the Commission shall sub-
mit a report to Congress on the grants made under 
this section and the activities carried out by recipi-
ents with the grants, and shall include in the report 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01130
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1131 
such recommendations as the Commission considers 
appropriate. 
(e) FUNDING.— 
(1) CONTINUING AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNT AP-
PROPRIATED.—Any amount appropriated to carry 
out this section shall remain available without fiscal 
year limitation until expended. 
(2) 
ADMINISTRATIVE
EXPENSES.—Of 
the 
amount appropriated for any fiscal year to carry out 
this section, not more than 3 percent shall be avail-
able for administrative expenses of the Commission. 
SEC. 8913. MODEL POLL WORKER TRAINING PROGRAM. 
(a) DEVELOPMENT OF PROGRAM BY ELECTION AS-
SISTANCE COMMISSION.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Election Assistance 
Commission shall develop and provide to each State mate-
rials for a model poll worker training program which the 
State may use to train individuals to serve as poll workers 
in elections for Federal office. 
(b) CONTENTS OF MATERIALS.—The materials for 
the model poll worker training program developed under 
this section shall include materials to provide training with 
respect to the following: 
(1) The relevant provisions of the Federal laws 
which apply to the administration of elections for 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01131
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1132 
Federal office in the State, including the Voting 
Rights Act of 1965 and the Help America Vote Act 
of 2002. 
(2) The provision of access to voting to individ-
uals with disabilities in a manner which preserves 
the dignity and privacy of such individuals. 
(3) The provision of access to voting to individ-
uals with limited English language proficiency, and 
to individuals who are members or racial or ethnic 
minorities, consistent with the protections provided 
for such individuals under relevant law, in a manner 
which preserves the dignity of such individuals. 
(4) Practical experience in the use of the voting 
machines which will be used in the election involved, 
including the accessibility features of such machines. 
(5) Such other election administration subjects 
as the Commission considers appropriate to ensure 
that poll workers are able to effectively assist with 
the administration of elections for Federal office. 
SEC. 8914. STATE DEFINED. 
In this subtitle, the term ‘‘State’’ includes the Dis-
trict of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 
Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Is-
lands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 
Islands. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01132
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1133 
Subtitle L—Enhancement of 
Enforcement 
SEC. 8921. ENHANCEMENT OF ENFORCEMENT OF HELP 
AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2002. 
(a) COMPLAINTS; AVAILABILITY OF PRIVATE RIGHT 
OF ACTION.—Section 401 of the Help America Vote Act 
of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21111) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘The Attorney General’’ and in-
serting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General’’; 
and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
sections: 
‘‘(b) FILING OF COMPLAINTS BY AGGRIEVED PER-
SONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A person who is aggrieved 
by a violation of subtitle A or subtitle C of title III 
which has occurred, is occurring, or is about to 
occur may file a written, signed, notarized complaint 
with the Attorney General describing the violation 
and requesting the Attorney General to take appro-
priate action under this section. The Attorney Gen-
eral shall immediately provide a copy of a complaint 
filed under the previous sentence to the entity re-
sponsible for administering the State-based adminis-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01133
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1134 
trative complaint procedures described in section 
402(a) for the State involved. 
‘‘(2) RESPONSE BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The 
Attorney General shall respond to each complaint 
filed under paragraph (1), in accordance with proce-
dures established by the Attorney General that re-
quire responses and determinations to be made with-
in the same (or shorter) deadlines which apply to a 
State under the State-based administrative com-
plaint procedures described in section 402(a)(2). 
The Attorney General shall immediately provide a 
copy of the response made under the previous sen-
tence to the entity responsible for administering the 
State-based administrative complaint procedures de-
scribed in section 402(a) for the State involved. 
‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY
OF PRIVATE RIGHT
OF AC-
TION.—Any person who is authorized to file a complaint 
under subsection (b)(1) (including any individual who 
seeks to enforce the individual’s right to a voter-verified 
paper ballot, the right to have the voter-verified paper bal-
lot counted in accordance with this Act, or any other right 
under subtitles A or C of title III) may file an action under 
section 1979 of the Revised Statutes of the United States 
(42 U.S.C. 1983) to enforce the uniform and nondiscrim-
inatory election technology and administration require-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01134
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1135 
ments under subtitle A of title III, or the requirements 
of subtitle C of title III. 
‘‘(d) NO EFFECT ON STATE PROCEDURES.—Nothing 
in this section may be construed to affect the availability 
of the State-based administrative complaint procedures re-
quired under section 402 to any person filing a complaint 
under this subsection.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to violations occurring 
with respect to elections for Federal office held in 2020 
or any succeeding year. 
Subtitle M—Federal Election 
Integrity 
SEC. 8931. PROHIBITION ON CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES BY 
CHIEF STATE ELECTION ADMINISTRATION 
OFFICIALS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Federal Election 
Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.) is 
amended by inserting after section 319 the following new 
section: 
‘‘CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES BY CHIEF STATE ELECTION 
ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS 
‘‘SEC. 319A. (a) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful 
for a chief State election administration official to take 
an active part in political management or in a political 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01135
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1136 
campaign with respect to any election for Federal office 
over which such official has supervisory authority. 
‘‘(b) CHIEF STATE ELECTION ADMINISTRATION OF-
FICIAL.—The term ‘chief State election administration of-
ficial’ means the highest State official with responsibility 
for the administration of Federal elections under State 
law. 
‘‘(c) ACTIVE PART IN POLITICAL MANAGEMENT OR 
IN A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN.—The term ‘active part in po-
litical management or in a political campaign’ means— 
‘‘(1) serving as a member of an authorized com-
mittee of a candidate for Federal office; 
‘‘(2) the use of official authority or influence 
for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the 
result of an election for Federal office; 
‘‘(3) the solicitation, acceptance, or receipt of a 
contribution from any person on behalf of a can-
didate for Federal office; and 
‘‘(4) any other act which would be prohibited 
under paragraph (2) or (3) of section 7323(b) of 
title 5, United States Code, if taken by an individual 
to whom such paragraph applies (other than any 
prohibition on running for public office). 
‘‘(d) EXCEPTION FOR CAMPAIGNS OF OFFICIAL OR 
IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBERS.— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01136
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1137 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—This section does not apply 
to a chief State election administration official with 
respect to an election for Federal office in which the 
official or an immediate family member of the offi-
cial is a candidate. 
‘‘(2) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER DEFINED.— 
In paragraph (1), the term ‘immediate family mem-
ber’ means, with respect to a candidate, a father, 
mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, husband, 
wife, father-in-law, or mother-in-law.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
subsection (a) shall apply with respect to elections for 
Federal office held after December 2019. 
SEC. 8932. DUE PROCESS REQUIREMENTS FOR INDIVID-
UALS PROPOSED TO BE REMOVED FROM LIST 
OF ELIGIBLE VOTERS. 
(a) INTERNET POSTING OF LIST OF INDIVIDUALS 
PROPOSED TO BE REMOVED FROM LIST.—Section 8 of 
the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 
20507) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (j) as sub-
section (k); and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (i) the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01137
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1138 
‘‘(j) ADDITIONAL DUE PROCESS REQUIREMENTS 
FOR INDIVIDUALS PROPOSED TO BE REMOVED FROM 
LIST OF ELIGIBLE VOTERS.— 
‘‘(1) INTERNET POSTING OF NAMES.—On an 
ongoing basis, the chief State election official shall 
post on the Internet a list showing the name and ad-
dress of each individual whom the State intends to 
remove from the official list of eligible voters in elec-
tions for Federal office in the State, together with 
instructions on how an individual may challenge the 
proposed removal of the individual’s name from the 
list. 
‘‘(2) REQUIRING
OPPORTUNITY
TO
CORRECT 
RECORD.—The State may not remove any individual 
from the official list of eligible voters in elections for 
Federal office in the State until the expiration of the 
60-day period which begins on the date the chief 
State election official posts the individual’s name 
and address on the Internet under paragraph (1). 
‘‘(3) PUBLICIZING INFORMATION ON DUE PROC-
ESS REQUIREMENTS.—The chief State election offi-
cial shall disseminate information to the general 
public regarding the Internet posting of names and 
addresses under paragraph (1) and the opportunity 
for individuals to correct records under paragraph 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01138
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1139 
(2), including by sending information to media out-
lets in the State and by preparing information for 
distribution and display by offices of the State motor 
vehicle authority.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall apply with respect to elections for 
Federal office held during 2020 or any succeeding year. 
SEC. 8933. MANDATORY RESPONSE BY ATTORNEY GENERAL 
TO ALLEGATIONS OF VOTER INTIMIDATION 
OR SUPPRESSION BY LAW ENFORCEMENT OF-
FICERS AND OTHER GOVERNMENT OFFI-
CIALS. 
(a) MANDATORY RESPONSE TO ALLEGATIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 
receiving an allegation described in subsection (b) 
from any person, the Attorney General shall— 
(A) initiate an investigation of the allega-
tion; or 
(B) provide the person with a written 
statement that the Attorney General will not in-
vestigate the allegation, and include in the 
statement the Attorney General’s reasons for 
not investigating the allegation. 
(2) SPECIAL
RULE
FOR
ALLEGATIONS
RE-
CEIVED WITHIN 30 DAYS OF ELECTION.—If the At-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01139
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1140 
torney General receives an allegation described in 
subsection (b) during the 30-day period which ends 
on the date of an election for Federal office, the At-
torney General shall meet the requirements of para-
graph (1) not later than 48 hours after receiving the 
allegation. 
(b) ALLEGATIONS DESCRIBED.—An allegation de-
scribed in this subsection is— 
(1) an allegation that a law enforcement officer 
or other official of a State or local government has 
intimidated, threatened, or coerced, or attempted to 
intimidate, threaten, or coerce, any individual for 
voting, or for attempting to vote, in an election for 
Federal office; or 
(2) an allegation that an election official of a 
State or local government has engaged or has at-
tempted to engage in voter suppression activity. 
Subtitle N—Election Day as Legal 
Public Holiday 
SEC. 8941. TREATMENT OF ELECTION DAY IN SAME MAN-
NER AS LEGAL PUBLIC HOLIDAY FOR PUR-
POSES OF FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of any law relating 
to Federal employment, the Tuesday next after the first 
Monday in November in 2020 and each even-numbered 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01140
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1141 
year thereafter shall be treated in the same manner as 
a legal public holiday described in section 6103 of title 
5, United States Code. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING TREATMENT 
OF DAY BY PRIVATE EMPLOYERS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that private employers in the United States should 
give their employees a day off on the Tuesday next after 
the first Monday in November in 2020 and each even- 
numbered year thereafter to enable the employees to cast 
votes in the elections held on that day. 
(c) NO EFFECT ON EARLY OR ABSENTEE VOTING.— 
Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the 
authority of States to permit individuals to cast ballots 
in elections for Federal office prior to the date of the elec-
tion (including the casting of ballots by mail) or to cast 
absentee ballots in the election. 
Subtitle O—Other Election 
Administration Improvements 
SEC. 8951. REQUIREMENTS FOR AVAILABILITY OF SUFFI-
CIENT POLLING PLACES, EQUIPMENT, AND 
RESOURCES. 
(a) REQUIRING
STATES
TO
MEET
REQUIRE-
MENTS.—Subtitle A of title III of the Help America Vote 
Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.), as amended by 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01141
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1142 
section 8121(a), section 8201(a), and section 8801(a), is 
amended— 
(1) by redesignating sections 308 and 309 as 
sections 309 and 310; and 
(2) by inserting after section 307 the following 
new section: 
‘‘SEC. 308. AVAILABILITY OF SUFFICIENT POLLING PLACES, 
EQUIPMENT, AND RESOURCES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with the stand-
ards established under subsection (b), each State shall 
provide for— 
‘‘(1) an appropriate number and geographic 
distribution of voting sites on the day of any election 
for Federal office and on any days during which 
such State allows early voting in such elections; and 
‘‘(2) the minimum required number of voting 
systems and other election resources (including all 
other voting equipment and supplies) for each such 
voting site. 
‘‘(b) STANDARDS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than June 30, 
2019, the Commission shall conduct a study and, on 
the basis of the findings of the study, issue stand-
ards for States to follow in establishing an appro-
priate number and geographic distribution of voting 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01142
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1143 
sites in elections for Federal office on the day of any 
Federal election and on any days during which the 
State allows early voting in such elections, and in 
providing for the minimum number of voting sys-
tems and other election resources (including all 
other voting equipment and supplies) for each such 
voting site. 
‘‘(2) DISTRIBUTION.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The standards de-
scribed in paragraph (1) shall provide for a uni-
form and nondiscriminatory distribution of such 
sites, systems, and other resources, and, to the 
extent possible, shall take into account, among 
other factors, the following: 
‘‘(i) The voting age population. 
‘‘(ii) Voter turnout in past elections. 
‘‘(iii) The number of voters registered. 
‘‘(iv) The number of voters who have 
registered since the most recent Federal 
election. 
‘‘(v) Census data for the population 
served by each voting site. 
‘‘(vi) The educational levels and socio-
economic factors of the population served 
by each voting site. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01143
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1144 
‘‘(vii) The needs and numbers of vot-
ers with disabilities and voters with limited 
English proficiency. 
‘‘(viii) The type of voting systems 
used. 
‘‘(B) 
NO
FACTOR
DISPOSITIVE.—The 
standards shall provide that the distribution of 
voting sites, systems, and resources should take 
into account the totality of all relevant factors, 
and no single factor shall be dispositive under 
the standards. 
‘‘(C) PURPOSE.—To the extent possible, 
the standards shall provide for a distribution of 
voting sites, systems, and resources with the 
goals of— 
‘‘(i) ensuring a fair and equitable 
waiting time for all voters in the State; 
and 
‘‘(ii) preventing a waiting time of over 
1 hour at any voting site. 
‘‘(3) DEVIATION.—The standards described in 
paragraph (1) shall permit States, upon giving rea-
sonable public notice, to deviate from any allocation 
requirements in the case of unforeseen cir-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01144
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1145 
cumstances such as a natural disaster or terrorist 
attack. 
‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply 
with respect to elections held on or after January 1, 
2020.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
of such Act is amended— 
(1) by redesignating the items relating to sec-
tions 308 and 309 as relating to sections 309 and 
310; and 
(2) by inserting after the item relating to sec-
tion 307 the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 308. Availability of sufficient polling places, equipment, and resources.’’. 
SEC. 8952. TREATMENT OF UNIVERSITIES AS VOTER REG-
ISTRATION AGENCIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7(a) of the National Voter 
Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20506(a)) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub-
paragraph (A); 
(B) by striking the period at the end of 
subparagraph (B) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01145
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1146 
‘‘(C) each institution of higher education 
(as defined in section 101 of the Higher Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) in the 
State that receives Federal funds.’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (6)(A), by inserting ‘‘or, in 
the case of an institution of higher education, with 
each registration of a student for enrollment in a 
course of study’’ after ‘‘assistance,’’. 
(b) AMENDMENT TO HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 
1965.—Section 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)) is amended by striking para-
graph (23). 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to elections held on 
or after January 1, 2020. 
SEC. 8953. REQUIRING STATES TO ACCEPT STUDENT IDEN-
TIFICATIONS FOR PURPOSES OF MEETING 
VOTER IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) ACCEPTANCE OF STUDENT IDENTIFICATIONS.— 
Title III of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 
15481 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 303 
the following new section: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01146
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1147 
‘‘SEC. 303A. REQUIRING ACCEPTANCE OF STUDENT PHOTO 
IDENTIFICATION AS CURRENT AND VALID 
PHOTO IDENTIFICATION. 
‘‘(a) ACCEPTANCE OF STUDENT IDENTIFICATIONS.— 
A State or local election official shall accept a current and 
valid student photo identification issued by an institution 
of higher education to a student attending such institution 
of higher education as a current and valid photo identifica-
tion for purposes of section 303(b)(2) or of any State or 
local law which requires an individual to produce a current 
and valid photo identification to obtain a ballot or vote 
in an election for Federal office. 
‘‘(b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘institu-
tion of higher education’ has the meaning given such term 
in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1001), except that such term includes a propri-
etary institution of higher education described in section 
102(b) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1002(b)).’’. 
(b) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 401 of such Act (42 
U.S.C. 15511) is amended by striking ‘‘and 303’’ and in-
serting ‘‘303, and 303A’’. 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
of such Act is amended by inserting after the item relating 
to section 303 the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 303A. Requiring acceptance of student photo identification as current 
and valid photo identification.’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01147
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6211
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1148 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply with respect to elections occurring 
on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 8954. MINIMUM NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR 
VOTERS 
AFFECTED 
BY 
POLLING 
PLACE 
CHANGES. 
(a) REQUIREMENTS.—Section 302 of the Help Amer-
ica Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21082), as amended by 
section 8701(a), is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub-
section (g); and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(f) MINIMUM NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR 
VOTERS AFFECTED BY POLLING PLACE CHANGES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a State assigns an indi-
vidual who is a registered voter in a State to a poll-
ing place with respect to an election for Federal of-
fice which is not the same polling place to which the 
individual was previously assigned with respect to 
the most recent election for Federal office in the 
State in which the individual was eligible to vote— 
‘‘(A) the State shall notify the individual of 
the location of the polling place not later than 
7 days before the date of the election; or 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01148
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1149 
‘‘(B) if the State makes such an assign-
ment fewer than 7 days before the date of the 
election and the individual appears on the date 
of the election at the polling place to which the 
individual was previously assigned, the State 
shall make every reasonable effort to enable the 
individual to vote on the date of the election. 
‘‘(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This subsection shall 
apply with respect to elections held on or after Janu-
ary 1, 2020.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 302(f) of 
such Act (52 U.S.C. 21082(f)), as redesignated by sub-
section (a) and as amended by section 8701(b), is amend-
ed by striking ‘‘(d)(2) and (e)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘(d)(2), 
(e)(2), and (f)(2)’’. 
SEC. 8955. VOTER INFORMATION RESPONSE SYSTEMS AND 
HOTLINE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF SYSTEMS 
AND SERVICES.— 
(1) STATE-BASED
RESPONSE
SYSTEMS.—The 
Attorney General shall coordinate the establishment 
of a State-based response system for responding to 
questions and complaints from individuals voting or 
seeking to vote, or registering to vote or seeking to 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01149
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1150 
register to vote, in elections for Federal office. Such 
system shall provide— 
(A) State-specific, same-day, and imme-
diate assistance to such individuals, including 
information on how to register to vote, the loca-
tion and hours of operation of polling places, 
and how to obtain absentee ballots; and 
(B) State-specific, same-day, and imme-
diate assistance to individuals encountering 
problems with registering to vote or voting, in-
cluding individuals encountering intimidation or 
deceptive practices. 
(2) HOTLINE.—The Attorney General, in con-
sultation with State election officials, shall establish 
and operate a toll-free telephone service, using a 
telephone number that is accessible throughout the 
United States and that uses easily identifiable nu-
merals, through which individuals throughout the 
United States— 
(A) may connect directly to the State- 
based response system described in paragraph 
(1) with respect to the State involved; 
(B) may obtain information on voting in 
elections for Federal office, including informa-
tion on how to register to vote in such elections, 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01150
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1151 
the locations and hours of operation of polling 
places, and how to obtain absentee ballots; and 
(C) may report information to the Attor-
ney General on problems encountered in reg-
istering to vote or voting, including incidences 
of voter intimidation or suppression. 
(3) COLLABORATION WITH STATE AND LOCAL 
ELECTION OFFICIALS.— 
(A) COLLECTION OF INFORMATION FROM 
STATES.—The Attorney General shall coordi-
nate the collection of information on State and 
local election laws and policies, including infor-
mation on the Statewide computerized voter 
registration lists maintained under title III of 
the Help America Vote Act of 2002, so that in-
dividuals who contact the free telephone service 
established under paragraph (2) on the date of 
an election for Federal office may receive an 
immediate response on that day. 
(B) FORWARDING
QUESTIONS
AND
COM-
PLAINTS TO STATES.—If an individual contacts 
the free telephone service established under 
paragraph (2) on the date of an election for 
Federal office with a question or complaint with 
respect to a particular State or jurisdiction 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01151
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1152 
within a State, the Attorney General shall for-
ward the question or complaint immediately to 
the appropriate election official of the State or 
jurisdiction so that the official may answer the 
question or remedy the complaint on that date. 
(4) CONSULTATION
REQUIREMENTS
FOR
DE-
VELOPMENT OF SYSTEMS AND SERVICES.—The At-
torney General shall ensure that the State-based re-
sponse system under paragraph (1) and the free 
telephone service under paragraph (2) are each de-
veloped in consultation with civil rights organiza-
tions, voting rights groups, State and local election 
officials, voter protection groups, and other inter-
ested community organizations, especially those that 
have experience in the operation of similar systems 
and services. 
(b) USE OF SERVICE BY INDIVIDUALS WITH DIS-
ABILITIES AND INDIVIDUALS WITH LIMITED ENGLISH 
LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY.—The Attorney General shall 
design and operate the telephone service established under 
this section in a manner that ensures that individuals with 
disabilities and individuals with limited proficiency in the 
English language are fully able to use the service. 
(c) VOTER HOTLINE TASK FORCE.— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01152
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1153 
(1) APPOINTMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 
The Attorney General shall appoint individuals (in 
such number as the Attorney General considers ap-
propriate but in no event fewer than 3) to serve on 
a Voter Hotline Task Force to provide ongoing anal-
ysis and assessment of the operation of the tele-
phone service established under this section, and 
shall give special consideration in making appoint-
ments to the Task Force to individuals who rep-
resent civil rights organizations. At least one mem-
ber of the Task Force shall be a representative of 
an organization promoting voting rights or civil 
rights which has experience in the operation of simi-
lar telephone services or in protecting the rights of 
individuals to vote, especially individuals who are 
members or racial minorities or of communities who 
have been adversely affected by efforts to suppress 
voting rights. 
(2) ELIGIBILITY.—An individual shall be eligi-
ble to serve on the Task Force under this subsection 
if the individual meets such criteria as the Attorney 
General may establish, except that an individual may 
not serve on the task force if the individual has been 
convicted of any criminal offense relating to voter in-
timidation or voter suppression. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01153
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1154 
(3) TERM
OF
SERVICE.—An individual ap-
pointed to the Task Force shall serve a single term 
of 2 years, except that the initial terms of the mem-
bers first appointed to the Task Force shall be stag-
gered so that there are at least 3 individuals serving 
on the Task Force during each year. A vacancy in 
the membership of the Task Force shall be filled in 
the same manner as the original appointment. 
(4) NO COMPENSATION FOR SERVICE.—Mem-
bers of the Task Force shall serve without pay, but 
shall receive travel expenses, including per diem in 
lieu of subsistence, in accordance with applicable 
provisions under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 
5, United States Code. 
(d) BI-ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later 
than March 1 of each odd-numbered year, the Attorney 
General shall submit a report to Congress on the operation 
of the telephone service established under this section dur-
ing the previous 2 years, and shall include in the report— 
(1) an enumeration of the number and type of 
calls that were received by the service; 
(2) a compilation and description of the reports 
made to the service by individuals citing instances of 
voter intimidation or suppression; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01154
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1155 
(3) an assessment of the effectiveness of the 
service in making information available to all house-
holds in the United States with telephone service; 
(4) any recommendations developed by the 
Task Force established under subsection (c) with re-
spect to how voting systems may be maintained or 
upgraded to better accommodate voters and better 
ensure the integrity of elections, including but not 
limited to identifying how to eliminate coordinated 
voter suppression efforts and how to establish effec-
tive mechanisms for distributing updates on changes 
to voting requirements; and 
(5) any recommendations on best practices for 
the State-based response systems established under 
subsection (a)(1). 
(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
(1) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to 
be appropriated to the Attorney General for fiscal 
year 2019 and each succeeding fiscal year such sums 
as may be necessary to carry out this section. 
(2) 
SET-ASIDE
FOR
OUTREACH.—Of 
the 
amounts appropriated to carry out this Act for a fis-
cal year pursuant to the authorization under para-
graph (1), not less than 15 percent shall be used for 
outreach activities to make the public aware of the 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01155
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1156 
availability of the telephone service established under 
this section, with an emphasis on outreach to indi-
viduals with disabilities and individuals with limited 
proficiency in the English language. 
SEC. 8956. REAUTHORIZATION OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE 
COMMISSION. 
Section 210 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 
(52 U.S.C. 20930) is amended by striking ‘‘for each of 
the fiscal years 2003 through 2005’’ and inserting ‘‘for 
each of the fiscal years 2019 through 2024’’. 
SEC. 8957. APPLICATION OF LAWS TO COMMONWEALTH OF 
NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS. 
(a) NATIONAL
VOTER
REGISTRATION
ACT
OF 
1993.—Section 3(4) of the National Voter Registration 
Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20502(4)) is amended by striking 
‘‘States and the District of Columbia’’ and inserting 
‘‘States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth 
of the Northern Mariana Islands’’. 
(b) HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2002.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Section 901 of the Help 
America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21141) is 
amended by striking ‘‘and the United States Virgin 
Islands’’ and inserting ‘‘the United States Virgin Is-
lands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar-
iana Islands’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01156
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1157 
(2) CONFORMING
AMENDMENT
RELATING
TO 
MINIMUM AMOUNT OF REQUIREMENTS PAYMENT TO 
TERRITORIES.—Section 252(c)(2) of such Act (52 
U.S.C. 21002(c)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘or the 
United States Virgin Islands’’ and inserting ‘‘the 
United States Virgin Islands, or the Commonwealth 
of the Northern Mariana Islands’’. 
SEC. 8958. REPEAL OF EXEMPTION OF ELECTION ASSIST-
ANCE COMMISSION FROM CERTAIN GOVERN-
MENT CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 205 of the Help America 
Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20925) is amended by strik-
ing subsection (e). 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall apply with respect to contracts entered 
into by the Election Assistance Commission on or after 
the date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 8959. PERMITTING ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMIS-
SION TO EXERCISE RULEMAKING AUTHOR-
ITY. 
(a) RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.—The Help America 
Vote Act of 2002 is amended by striking section 209 (52 
U.S.C. 20929). 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01157
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1158 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
of such Act is amended by striking the item relating to 
section 209. 
SEC. 8960. NO EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as specifically provided, 
nothing in this subtitle may be construed to authorize or 
require conduct prohibited under any of the following laws, 
or to supersede, restrict, or limit the application of such 
laws: 
(1) The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 
10301 et seq.). 
(2) The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and 
Handicapped Act (52 U.S.C. 20101 et seq.). 
(3) The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Ab-
sentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. 20301 et seq.). 
(4) The National Voter Registration Act of 
1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et seq.). 
(5) The Americans with Disabilities Act of 
1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). 
(6) The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 
701 et seq.). 
(b) NO EFFECT ON PRECLEARANCE OR OTHER RE-
QUIREMENTS UNDER VOTING RIGHTS ACT.—The ap-
proval by any person of a payment or grant application 
under this subtitle, or any other action taken by any per-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01158
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1159 
son under this subtitle, shall not be considered to have 
any effect on requirements for preclearance under section 
5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10304) 
or any other requirements of such Act. 
TITLE IX—PRISON REFORM 
SEC. 9001. ELIMINATION OF FEDERAL CONTRACTS FOR 
PRIVATELY RUN PRISONS WITHIN 3 YEARS. 
(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘facility 
housing adult prisoners or detainees in the custody of the 
Federal Government’’ does not include a community cor-
rectional facility or the residence of an individual on home 
confinement, as described in section 3624(c) of title 18, 
United States Code. 
(b) OPERATIONAL CONTROL.—Except as provided in 
subsection (c), not later than 2 years after the date of 
enactment of this Act— 
(1) each facility housing adult prisoners or de-
tainees in the custody of the Federal Government 
shall be under the direct, operational control of the 
Federal Government; and 
(2) core correctional services at each such facil-
ity shall be performed by employees of the Federal 
Government. 
(c) WAIVER AUTHORIZED.—If the Attorney General 
determines that the Federal Government is unable to com-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01159
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1160 
ply with subsection (b) by the date that is 2 years after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 
may waive the application of subsection (b) for not more 
than 1 year. 
SEC. 9002. PROHIBITION ON PRIVATE ENTITIES RUNNING 
PRISONS HOUSING STATE AND LOCAL PRIS-
ONERS AFTER 3 YEARS. 
(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘facility 
housing adult prisoners or detainees in the custody of a 
State or local government’’ does not include a community 
treatment center, halfway house, restitution center, men-
tal health facility, alcohol or drug rehabilitation center, or 
other community facility that is not within the confines 
of a jail or prison. 
(b) OPERATIONAL CONTROL.—Except as provided in 
subsection (c), on and after the date that is 2 years after 
the date of enactment of this Act— 
(1) no private entity engaged in or affecting 
interstate commerce shall own or have direct, oper-
ational control over a facility housing adult prisoners 
or detainees in the custody of the State or local gov-
ernment; and 
(2) no private entity engaged in or affecting 
interstate commerce shall perform core correctional 
services at such a facility. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01160
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1161 
(c) WAIVER AUTHORIZED.—If the Attorney General 
determines that a State or local government requires serv-
ices from a private entity that are described in subsection 
(b) after the date that is 2 years after the date of enact-
ment of this Act, the Attorney General may waive the ap-
plication of subsection (b) as to that private entity for not 
more than 1 year. 
(d) ENFORCEMENT.—The Attorney General may 
bring a civil action in an appropriate district court of the 
United States for such declaratory or injunctive relief as 
is necessary to carry out this section. 
SEC. 9003. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT APPLICABLE 
FOR CONTRACT PRISONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Records relating to the operation 
of a Contract Facility, and to prisoners held in Contract 
Facilities, that are in the possession of an applicable entity 
shall be subject to section 552 of title 5, United States 
Code (popularly known as the Freedom of Information 
Act), in the same manner as records maintained by a Fed-
eral agency operating a Federal prison or other Federal 
detention facility would be subject to such section of title 
5, including— 
(1) the duty to release information about the 
operation of the non-Federal prison or detention fa-
cility; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01161
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1162 
(2) the applicability of the exceptions and ex-
emptions available under such section. 
(b) REGULATIONS.—A Federal agency that contracts 
with, or provides funds to, an applicable entity to incar-
cerate or detain Federal prisoners in a non-Federal prison 
or detention facility shall promulgate regulations or guid-
ance to ensure compliance by the applicable entity with 
subsection (a). 
(c) NO FEDERAL FUNDS
FOR COMPLIANCE.—No 
Federal funds may be used to assist applicable entities 
with compliance with this section or section 552 of title 
5, United States Code. 
(d) CIVIL ACTION.—Any party aggrieved by a viola-
tion of section 552 of title 5, United States Code, by an 
applicable entity, as such section is applicable to such an 
entity in accordance with subsection (a), may, in a civil 
action, obtain appropriate relief, including an award under 
subsection (a)(4)(E) of section 552 of such title 5, against 
the applicable entity for the violation. 
(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) APPLICABLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘applica-
ble entity’’ means— 
(A) a nongovernmental entity that directly 
or indirectly contracts with or receives funds 
from the Federal Government to incarcerate or 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01162
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1163 
detain Federal prisoners in a Contract Facility; 
or 
(B) a State or local governmental entity 
with a contract or intergovernmental service 
agreement with the Federal Government to in-
carcerate or detain Federal prisoners in a Con-
tract Facility. 
(2) CONTRACT FACILITY.—The term ‘‘Contract 
Facility’’ means a prison or other correctional or de-
tention facility that is— 
(A) owned or operated by a nongovern-
mental entity, a State, or a local government; 
and 
(B) incarcerates or detains Federal pris-
oners pursuant to a contract or intergovern-
mental agreement to which any Federal agency 
is a party. 
(3) FEDERAL PRISONER.—The term ‘‘Federal 
prisoner’’ means any person incarcerated, detained, 
or otherwise held under the custody, authority, or 
jurisdiction of any Federal agency or department. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01163
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1164 
SEC. 9004. RESTRICTIONS ON THE PROVISION OF INMATE 
TELEPHONE AND VIDEO SERVICE. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 226(a) of the Commu-
nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 226(a)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(10) The term ‘ancillary fee’ includes any 
charge or fee that is imposed on a user of inmate 
telephone and video service in addition to the per- 
minute rate and connection charge. 
‘‘(11) The term ‘collect’ or ‘collect call’ means 
a telephone call or video call from a person incarcer-
ated in a correctional institution that is billed to the 
subscriber receiving the call. 
‘‘(12) The term ‘commission’ means a fee or 
other payment by a provider of inmate telephone 
and video service to an administrator of a correc-
tional institution, department of correction, or simi-
lar entity, based upon, or partly upon, inmate tele-
phone and video service revenue. 
‘‘(13) The term ‘debit account’ means the pay-
ment of inmate telephone and video service through 
a prepaid card or other account of a prisoner, which 
can be accessed only through an access code, per-
sonal identification number, or similar identifier. 
‘‘(14) The term ‘inmate telephone and video 
service’ includes the provision of telephone and video 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01164
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1165 
service enabling persons incarcerated in correctional 
institutions to originate calls at payphones, tele-
phones, or video kiosks that are designated for the 
personal use of prisoners, regardless of whether the 
calls are collect, paid through a debit account, or 
paid through any other means. 
‘‘(15) The term ‘provider of inmate telephone 
and video service’ means any common carrier that 
provides inmate telephone and video service or any 
other person determined by the Commission to be 
providing inmate telephone and video service.’’. 
(b) REGULATIONS.—Section 226 of the Communica-
tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 226) is further amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (i) as subsection 
(k); and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (h) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(i) REGULATION
OF INMATE TELEPHONE
AND 
VIDEO SERVICE.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—In order to ensure that 
charges for inmate telephone and video service are 
just, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory, not later 
than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Jus-
tice is Not For Sale Act of 2017, the Commission 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01165
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1166 
shall adopt regulations on the use of inmate tele-
phone and video service that— 
‘‘(A) prescribe a maximum uniform per- 
minute compensation rate; 
‘‘(B) prescribe a maximum uniform service 
connection or other per-call compensation rate; 
‘‘(C) prescribe variable maximum com-
pensation rates depending on such factors as 
carrier costs, the size of the correctional facility 
served, and other relevant factors identified by 
the Commission; 
‘‘(D) require providers of inmate telephone 
and video service to offer both collect calling 
and debit account services; 
‘‘(E) address the payment of commissions 
by providers of inmate telephone and video 
service to administrators of correctional institu-
tions, departments of correction, and similar 
entities by— 
‘‘(i) prohibiting such payments; or 
‘‘(ii) limiting commission payments; 
‘‘(F) require administrators of correctional 
institutions, departments of correction, and 
similar entities to allow more than 1 provider of 
inmate telephone and video service to provide 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01166
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1167 
inmate telephone and video service at a correc-
tional institution so that prisoners have a choice 
of such providers; and 
‘‘(G) prohibit or substantially limit any an-
cillary fees imposed by a provider of inmate 
telephone and video service on a user of the 
service. 
‘‘(2) SCOPE.— 
‘‘(A) 
IN
GENERAL.—The 
regulations 
adopted by the Commission under this sub-
section— 
‘‘(i) shall be technologically neutral; 
and 
‘‘(ii) shall not jeopardize legitimate se-
curity and penological interests. 
‘‘(B) IMPACT ON REVENUE.—To the extent 
the regulations adopted by the Commission 
under this subsection reduce or eliminate the 
revenue derived by administrators of correc-
tional institutions, departments of correction, 
and similar entities from the receipt of commis-
sions, such effects of the regulations shall not 
be considered to be jeopardizing or otherwise 
affecting legitimate security or penological in-
terests. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01167
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1168 
‘‘(3) PERIODIC REVIEW.—The Commission shall 
review, on a biennial basis, the regulations adopted 
under this subsection, including to determine wheth-
er any compensation rates established by the Com-
mission should be modified. 
‘‘(4) STATE PREEMPTION.—To the extent that 
any State, local government, or private correctional 
facility requirements are inconsistent with the regu-
lations of the Commission affecting or pertaining to 
inmate telephone and video service, including restric-
tions on the payment of commissions based upon in-
mate telephone and video service revenues or earn-
ings, the regulations of the Commission on such 
matters shall preempt the State, local government, 
or private correctional facility requirements. 
‘‘(j) INMATE
TELEPHONE
AND
VIDEO
SERVICE 
FULLY SUBJECT TO SECTIONS 201, 205, 251, 252, AND 
276.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Inmate telephone and video 
service shall be fully subject to the requirements of 
sections 201, 205, 251, 252, and 276. 
‘‘(2) RESTRICTION.—A provider of inmate tele-
phone and video service may not block or otherwise 
refuse to carry a call placed by an incarcerated per-
son on the grounds that the provider has no contrac-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01168
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1169 
tual or other arrangement with the local exchange 
carrier serving the intended recipient of the call or 
other common carrier involved in any portion of the 
transmission of the call.’’. 
SEC. 9005. FEDERAL PRISONER REENTRY INITIATIVE REAU-
THORIZATION; MODIFICATION OF IMPOSED 
TERM OF IMPRISONMENT. 
(a) FEDERAL PRISONER REENTRY INITIATIVE.— 
Section 231 of the Second Chance Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 
17541) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (g)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)(B) by inserting after 
‘‘the Attorney General may’’ the following: ‘‘, 
upon written request from the Director of the 
Bureau of Prisons or an eligible elderly of-
fender,’’; 
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘carried 
out during fiscal years 2009 and 2010’’ and in-
serting ‘‘carried out during fiscal years 2018 
through 2022’’; and 
(C) in paragraph (5)(A)— 
(i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘65 
years’’ and inserting ‘‘60 years’’; and 
(ii) by amending clause (ii) to read as 
follows: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01169
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1170 
‘‘(ii) who is serving a term of impris-
onment that is not based on a conviction 
for 
an 
offense 
described 
in 
section 
102(e)(2)(C) of the Prison Reform and Re-
demption Act, and has served not less than 
2⁄3 of the term of imprisonment to which 
the offender was sentenced;’’; 
(2) by striking subsection (h); 
(3) by redesignating subsection (i) as subsection 
(h); and 
(4) in subsection (h), as so redesignated, by 
striking ‘‘2009 and 2010’’ and inserting ‘‘2018 
through 2022’’. 
(b) MODIFICATION OF IMPOSED TERM OF IMPRISON-
MENT.—Section 3582(c)(1)(A) of title 18, United States 
Code, is amended— 
(1) in the matter preceding clause (i), by insert-
ing after ‘‘Director of the Bureau of Prisons’’ the 
following: ‘‘or, if the Director does not make such a 
motion 30 days after receiving a request to make 
such a motion from the defendant, of the defend-
ant’’; and 
(2) in clause (ii), by inserting after ‘‘the Direc-
tor of the Bureau of Prisons’’ the following: ‘‘, or 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01170
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1171 
the court in the case that the court is considering 
a motion of the defendant’’. 
SEC. 9006. REINSTATEMENT OF PAROLE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 229 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘SUBCHAPTER D—PAROLE 
‘‘Sec. 
‘‘3631. Definitions. 
‘‘3632. Powers and duties of the Commission. 
‘‘3633. Powers and duties of the Chairperson. 
‘‘3634. Time of eligibility for release on parole. 
‘‘3635. Parole determination criteria. 
‘‘3636. Information considered. 
‘‘3637. Parole determination proceeding; time. 
‘‘3638. Conditions of parole. 
‘‘3639. Jurisdiction of Commission. 
‘‘3640. Early termination of parole. 
‘‘3641. Aliens. 
‘‘3642. Summons to appear or warrant for retaking of parolee. 
‘‘3643. Revocation of parole. 
‘‘3644. Reconsideration and appeal. 
‘‘3645. Young adult offenders. 
‘‘3646. Applicability of Administrative Procedure Act. 
‘‘Subchapter D—Parole 
‘‘§ 3631. Definitions 
‘‘In this subchapter— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘Chairperson’ means the Chair-
person of the Commission; 
‘‘(2) the term ‘Commission’ means the United 
States Parole Commission; 
‘‘(3) the term ‘Commissioner’ means any mem-
ber of the Commission; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01171
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1172 
‘‘(4) the term ‘Director’ means the Director of 
the Bureau of Prisons; 
‘‘(5) the term ‘eligible prisoner’ means any Fed-
eral prisoner who is eligible for parole under this 
title or any other law, including any Federal pris-
oner whose parole has been revoked and who is not 
otherwise ineligible for parole; 
‘‘(6) the term ‘parolee’ means any eligible pris-
oner who has been released on parole or deemed as 
if released on parole under section 3626(b)(5) or 
section 3634(a)(2); and 
‘‘(7) the term ‘rules and regulations’ means 
rules and regulations promulgated by the Commis-
sion under section 3632 and section 553 of title 5. 
‘‘§ 3632. Powers and duties of the Commission 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall meet at 
least quarterly, and by majority vote shall— 
‘‘(1) promulgate rules and regulations estab-
lishing guidelines for the powers enumerated in sub-
section (b) and such other rules and regulations as 
are necessary to carry out a national parole policy 
and the purposes of this subchapter; 
‘‘(2) create such regions as are necessary to 
carry out this subchapter, but in no event less than 
5; and 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01172
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1173 
‘‘(3) ratify, revise, or deny any request for reg-
ular, supplemental, or deficiency appropriations, be-
fore the submission of the requests to the Office of 
Management and Budget by the Chairperson, which 
requests shall be separate from those of any other 
agency in the Department of Justice. 
‘‘(b) POWERS RELATING TO PAROLE.—The Commis-
sion, by majority vote, and in accordance with the proce-
dures set out in this subchapter, shall have the power to— 
‘‘(1) grant or deny an application or rec-
ommendation to parole any eligible prisoner; 
‘‘(2) impose reasonable conditions on an order 
granting parole; 
‘‘(3) modify or revoke an order paroling any eli-
gible prisoner; and 
‘‘(4) request probation officers and other indi-
viduals, organizations, and public or private agencies 
to perform such duties with respect to any parolee 
as the Commission determines necessary— 
‘‘(A) for maintaining proper supervision of 
and assistance to such parolees; and 
‘‘(B) so as to assure that no probation offi-
cers, individuals, organizations, or agencies 
shall bear excessive caseloads. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01173
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1174 
‘‘(c) DELEGATION.—The Commission, by majority 
vote, and in accordance with rules and regulations— 
‘‘(1) may delegate to one or more Commis-
sioners powers enumerated in subsection (b); 
‘‘(2) may delegate to hearing examiners any 
powers necessary to conduct hearings and pro-
ceedings, take sworn testimony, obtain and make a 
record of pertinent information, make findings of 
probable cause and issue subpoenas for witnesses or 
evidence in parole revocation proceedings, and rec-
ommend disposition of any matters enumerated in 
subsection (b), except that any such findings or rec-
ommendations shall be based upon the concurrence 
of not less than 2 hearing examiners; 
‘‘(3) may delegate authority to conduct hear-
ings held under section 3643 to any officer or em-
ployee of the executive or judicial branch of Federal 
or State government; 
‘‘(4) may review, or may delegate to the Na-
tional Appeals Board the power to review, any deci-
sion made under paragraph (1), which shall be re-
affirmed, modified, or reversed not later than 30 
days after the date the decision is rendered; and 
‘‘(5) shall provide written notice to the indi-
vidual to whom a decision described in paragraph 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01174
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1175 
(4) applies of the Commission’s actions with respect 
thereto and the reasons for such actions. 
‘‘(d) POLICYMAKING.—Except as otherwise provided 
by law, any action taken by the Commission under sub-
section (a) shall be taken by a majority vote of all individ-
uals currently holding office as members of the Commis-
sion which shall maintain and make available for public 
inspection a record of the final vote of each member on 
statements of policy and interpretations adopted by it. In 
so acting, each Commissioner shall have equal responsi-
bility and authority, shall have full access to all informa-
tion relating to the performance of such duties and respon-
sibilities, and shall have 1 vote. 
‘‘§ 3633. Powers and duties of the Chairperson 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Chairperson shall— 
‘‘(1) convene and preside at meetings of the 
Commission under section 3632 and such additional 
meetings of the Commission as the Chairperson may 
call or as may be requested in writing by at least 3 
Commissioners; 
‘‘(2) appoint, fix the compensation of, assign, 
and supervise all personnel employed by the Com-
mission except that— 
‘‘(A) the appointment of any hearing ex-
aminer shall be subject to approval of the Com-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01175
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1176 
mission within the first year of such hearing ex-
aminer’s employment; and 
‘‘(B) regional Commissioners shall appoint 
and supervise such personnel employed regu-
larly and full time in their respective regions as 
are compensated at a rate up to and including 
level GS–9 of the General Schedule; 
‘‘(3) assign duties among officers and employ-
ees of the Commission, including Commissioners, so 
as to balance the workload and provide for orderly 
administration; 
‘‘(4) direct the preparation of requests for ap-
propriations for the Commission, and the use of 
funds made available to the Commission; 
‘‘(5) designate 3 Commissioners to serve on the 
National Appeals Board, 1 whom shall be designated 
to serve as Vice Chairperson of the Commission 
(who shall act as Chairperson of the Commission in 
the absence or disability of the Chairperson or in the 
event of a vacancy in the position of Chairperson); 
‘‘(6) designate, for each region established 
under section 3632(a)(2), 1 Commissioner to serve 
as regional Commissioner in each such region, ex-
cept that— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01176
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1177 
‘‘(A) in each such designation the Chair-
person shall consider years of service, personal 
preference, and fitness; and 
‘‘(B) no such designation shall take effect 
unless concurred in by the President; 
‘‘(7) serve as spokesperson for the Commission 
and report annually to each House of Congress on 
the activities of the Commission; and 
‘‘(8) exercise such other powers and duties and 
perform such other functions as may be necessary to 
carry out the purposes of this subchapter or as may 
be provided under any other provision of law. 
‘‘(b) OTHER AUTHORITIES.—The Chairperson shall 
have the power to— 
‘‘(1) without regard to subsections (a) and (b) 
of section 3324 of title 31, enter into and perform 
such contracts, leases, cooperative agreements, and 
other transactions as may be necessary in the con-
duct of the functions of the Commission with any 
public agency or with any person, firm, association, 
corporation, educational institution, or nonprofit or-
ganization; 
‘‘(2) accept voluntary and uncompensated serv-
ices, notwithstanding section 1342 of title 31; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01177
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1178 
‘‘(3) procure for the Commission temporary and 
intermittent services to the same extent as is author-
ized by section 3109(b) of title 5; 
‘‘(4) collect systematically the data obtained 
from studies, research, and the empirical experience 
of public and private agencies concerning the parole 
process; 
‘‘(5) carry out programs of research concerning 
the parole process to develop classification systems 
which describe types of offenders, and to develop 
theories and practices which can be applied to the 
different types of offenders; 
‘‘(6) publish data concerning the parole process; 
‘‘(7) devise and conduct, in various geographical 
locations, seminars, workshops, and training pro-
grams providing continuing studies and instruction 
for personnel of Federal, State, and local agencies 
and private and public organizations working with 
parolees and connected with the parole process; and 
‘‘(8) use the services, equipment, personnel, in-
formation, facilities, and instrumentalities with or 
without reimbursement therefor of other Federal, 
State, local, and private agencies with their consent. 
‘‘(c) CONSISTENCY WITH NATIONAL PAROLE POLI-
CIES.—In carrying out the functions under this section, 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01178
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1179 
the Chairperson shall be governed by the national parole 
policies promulgated by the Commission. 
‘‘§ 3634. Time of eligibility for release on parole 
‘‘(a) ELIGIBILITY.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except to the extent other-
wise provided by law— 
‘‘(A) a prisoner confined and serving a 
definite term or terms of imprisonment of more 
than 1 year shall be eligible for release on pa-
role after serving 33.3 percent of such term or 
terms; and 
‘‘(B) a prisoner confined and serving a life 
sentence shall be eligible for release on parole 
after serving 10 years. 
‘‘(2) TERMS OF LESS THAN 1 YEAR.—Any pris-
oner sentenced to imprisonment for a term or terms 
of not less than 6 months, and not more than 1 
year, shall be released at the expiration of such sen-
tence, unless the court which imposed sentence shall, 
at the time of sentencing, provide for the prisoner’s 
release after service of 33.3 percent of such term or 
terms, which shall be deemed to be as if released on 
parole. This paragraph shall not prevent delivery of 
any person released on parole to the authorities of 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01179
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
1180 
any State otherwise entitled to custody of the per-
son. 
‘‘(b) DETERMINATIONS BY COURT.—Upon entering 
a judgment of conviction, the court having jurisdiction to 
impose sentence, when in its opinion the ends of justice 
and best interest of the public require that the defendant 
be sentenced to imprisonment for a term exceeding 1 year, 
may— 
‘‘(1) designate in the sentence of imprisonment 
imposed a minimum term at the expiration of which 
the defendant shall become eligible for parole, which 
term may not be more than 33.3 percent of the max-
imum sentence imposed by the court; or 
‘‘(2) fix the maximum sentence of imprisonment 
to be served by the defendant, in which event the 
court may specify that the defendant may be re-
leased on parole at such time as the Commission 
may determine. 
‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the court desires more 
detailed information as a basis for determining the 
sentence to be imposed, the court may commit the 
defendant to the custody of the Attorney General, 
which commitment shall be deemed to be for the 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:18 Jun 18, 2018
Jkt 079200
PO 00000
Frm 01180
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5785.IH
H5785
pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS