I 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6794 
To direct the Election Assistance Commission to reimburse jurisdictions for 
the costs incurred in conducting manual audits of the results of the 
general elections for Federal office to be held in November 2008. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 1, 2008 
Mr. HOLT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on House Administration 
A BILL 
To direct the Election Assistance Commission to reimburse 
jurisdictions for the costs incurred in conducting manual 
audits of the results of the general elections for Federal 
office to be held in November 2008. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Emergency Election 
Audit Act of 2008’’. 
SEC. 2. PAYMENTS FOR CONDUCTING MANUAL AUDITS OF 
RESULTS OF 2008 GENERAL ELECTIONS. 
(a) PAYMENTS.— 
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(1) ELIGIBILITY FOR PAYMENTS.—If a State 
conducts manual audits of the results of any of the 
regularly scheduled general elections for Federal of-
fice in November 2008 (and, at the option of the 
State, conducts audits of elections for State and 
local office held at the same time as such election) 
in accordance with the requirements of this section, 
the Election Assistance Commission (hereafter in 
this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’) shall 
make a payment to the State in an amount equal to 
the documented reasonable costs incurred by the 
State in conducting the audits. 
(2) CERTIFICATION
OF
COMPLIANCE
AND 
COSTS.— 
(A) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—In order 
to receive a payment under this section, a State 
shall submit to the Commission, in such form 
as the Commission may require, a statement 
containing— 
(i) a certification that the State con-
ducted the audits in accordance with all of 
the requirements of this section; 
(ii) a statement of the reasonable 
costs incurred in conducting the audits; 
and 
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(iii) such other information and assur-
ances as the Commission may require. 
(B) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.—The amount 
of a payment made to a State under this sec-
tion shall be equal to the reasonable costs in-
curred in conducting the audits. 
(C) DETERMINATION OF REASONABLENESS 
OF
COSTS.—The determinations under this 
paragraph of whether costs incurred by a State 
are reasonable shall be made by the Commis-
sion. 
(3) TIMING OF PAYMENTS.—The Commission 
shall make the payment required under this section 
to a State not later than 30 days after receiving the 
statement submitted by the State under paragraph 
(2). 
(4) MANDATORY IMMEDIATE REIMBURSEMENT 
OF
COUNTIES
AND
OTHER
JURISDICTIONS.—If a 
county or other jurisdiction responsible for the ad-
ministration of an election in a State incurs costs as 
the result of the State conducting an audit of the 
election in accordance with this section, the State 
shall reimburse the county or jurisdiction for such 
costs immediately upon receiving the payment from 
the Commission under paragraph (3). 
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(5) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Com-
mission such sums as may be necessary for pay-
ments under this section. Any amounts appropriated 
pursuant to the authorization under this subsection 
shall remain available until expended. 
(b) AUDIT REQUIREMENTS.—In order to receive a 
payment under this section for conducting an audit, the 
State shall meet the following minimum requirements: 
(1) Not later than 30 days before the date of 
the regularly scheduled general election for Federal 
office in November 2008, the State shall establish 
and publish guidelines, standards, and procedures to 
be used in conducting audits in accordance with this 
section. 
(2) The State shall select an appropriate entity 
to oversee the administration of the audit, in accord-
ance with such criteria as the State considers appro-
priate consistent with the requirements of this sec-
tion, except that the entity must meet a general 
standard of independence as defined by the State. 
(3) The State shall determine whether the units 
in which the audit will be conducted will be precincts 
or some alternative auditing unit, and shall apply 
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that determination in a uniform manner for all au-
dits conducted in accordance with this section. 
(4) The State shall select the precincts or alter-
native auditing units in which audits are conducted 
in accordance with this section in a random manner 
following the election after the final unofficial vote 
count (as defined by the State) has been announced, 
such that each precinct or alternative auditing unit 
in which the election was held has an equal chance 
of being selected, subject to paragraph (9), except 
that the State shall ensure that at least one precinct 
or alternative auditing unit is selected in each coun-
ty in which the election is held. 
(5) The audit shall be conducted in not less 
than 2 percent of the precincts or alternative audit-
ing units in the State (in the case of a general elec-
tion for the office of Senator) or the Congressional 
district involved (in the case of an election for the 
office of Representative in, or Delegate or Resident 
Commissioner to, the Congress). 
(6) The State shall determine the stage of the 
tabulation process at which the audit will be con-
ducted, and shall apply that determination in a uni-
form manner for all audits conducted in accordance 
with this section, except that the audit shall com-
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(9) If a State establishes a separate precinct for 
purposes of counting the absentee ballots cast in the 
election and treats all absentee ballots as having 
been cast in that precinct, and if the state does not 
make absentee ballots sortable by precinct and in-
clude those ballots in the hand count, the State may 
divide absentee ballots into audit units approxi-
mately equal in size to the average precinct in the 
State in terms of the number of ballots cast, and 
shall randomly select and include at least 2 percent 
of those audit units in the audit. Any audit carried 
out with respect to such an audit unit shall meet the 
completeness requirement and the other standards 
set forth under paragraph (7) and applicable to au-
dits carried out with respect to other precincts and 
alternative audit units, including the requirement 
that all paper ballots be counted by hand. 
(10) The audit shall be conducted in a public 
and transparent manner, such that members of the 
public are able to observe the entire process. 
(c) COLLECTION AND SUBMISSION OF AUDIT RE-
SULTS; PUBLICATION.— 
(1) STATE SUBMISSION OF REPORT.—In order 
to receive a payment under this section, a State 
shall submit to the Commission a report, in such 
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form as the Commission may require, on the results 
of each audit conducted under this section. 
(2) COMMISSION
ACTION.—The Commission 
may request additional information from a State 
based on the report submitted under paragraph (1). 
(3) PUBLICATION.—The Commission shall pub-
lish each report submitted under paragraph (1) upon 
receipt. 
(d) DELAY
IN CERTIFICATION
OF RESULTS
BY 
STATE.—No State may certify the results of any election 
which is subject to an audit under this section prior to 
completing the audit, resolving discrepancies discovered in 
the audit, and submitting the report required under sub-
section (c). 
(e) STATE DEFINED.—In this Act, the term ‘‘State’’ 
includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 
Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the United 
States Virgin Islands. 
Æ 
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