Title: Voting Innovation Prize Act of 2018
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Voting Innovation Prize Act of 2018
This bill directs the Election Assistance Commission to (1) identify elements in voting systems most in need of innovation, and (2) conduct an annual prize competition to encourage the development of technologies to address such elements.



[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6564 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6564

  To promote innovation in voting, including in voting technology and 
 voter registration technology, election security, and increased voter 
          participation through a challenge prize competition.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 26, 2018

   Mr. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico (for himself, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. 
 DeSaulnier, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Hastings, Ms. Shea-Porter, 
  Mr. Kilmer, Mr. McNerney, and Ms. Sewell of Alabama) introduced the 
     following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House 
                             Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To promote innovation in voting, including in voting technology and 
 voter registration technology, election security, and increased voter 
          participation through a challenge prize competition.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Voting Innovation Prize Act of 
2018''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) In May 2018, the Pew Research Center found that the 
        United States trails most developed countries in voter turnout. 
        Nearly 56 percent of the United States voting-age population 
        cast ballots in the 2016 Presidential election. The Census 
        Bureau estimated that there were 245.5 million Americans ages 
        18 and older in November 2016, about 157.6 million of whom 
        reported being registered to vote. Turnout calculations usually 
        are based on the estimated voting-age population (VAP). The 
        55.7 percent VAP turnout in 2016 puts the United States behind 
        most of its peers in the Organization for Economic Cooperation 
        and Development (OECD), most of whose members are highly 
        developed, democratic states. Looking at the most recent 
        nationwide election in each OECD nation, the United States 
        placed 26th out of 32.
            (2) Also in May 2018, the Pew Research Center found that 
        registered voters represent a much smaller share of potential 
        voters in the United States than in most other OECD countries. 
        Only about 64 percent of the voting-age population (and 70 
        percent of voting-age citizens) was registered in 2016, 
        according to the Census Bureau report, compared with 91 percent 
        in Canada (2015) and the UK (2017), 96 percent in Sweden 
        (2014), and 99 percent in Slovakia (2016).
            (3) Historians and election experts have catalogued a long 
        history in the United States of racially suppressive voting 
        measures such as poll taxes and literacy tests, put in place 
        under the guise of stopping voter fraud that was not actually 
        occurring in the first place. The effects persist today. People 
        of color residing in States with a history of voting 
        discrimination had fewer places to vote in 2016, and, on 
        average, minorities, including Hispanics and African Americans, 
        experience longer wait times at the polls than white voters. 
        Strict voter ID laws disproportionately burden voters of color, 
        and purging voter rolls unduly targets people of color.
            (4) In 2013, President Obama established the Presidential 
        Commission on Election Administration (PCEA) to identify best 
        practices in election administration. The PCEA's mission was to 
        identify best practices in election administration and to make 
        recommendations to improve the voting experience. Since then, 
        election officials and voters across the United States have 
        used PCEA's research, recommendations, and tools to improve 
        elections. Upon the submission of its final report in 2014, the 
        PCEA disbanded, per President Obama's Executive Order.
            (5) On January 22, 2014, President Obama called on Congress 
        and local jurisdictions to help put the PCEA's recommendations 
        in place, saying, ``No American should have to wait more than 
        half an hour to vote. And they should know, they should be 
        confident that their vote is being properly counted and is 
        secure.''.
            (6) In 2016, President Obama spoke at South by Southwest, 
        addressing the role of technology in government and civic 
        engagement. President Obama cited low voter turnout as an area 
        in which technology could improve citizens' participation in 
        government. He said it was ``easier to order a pizza than to 
        vote'' and said we need to think about how to ``redesign our 
        systems so that we don't have 50 percent or 55 percent voter 
        participation in presidential elections'', noting that he was 
        interested in ``how can we create safe, secure, smart systems 
        for people to be able to vote much easier online''.
            (7) The Brennan Center has documented at least two known 
        cyberattacks on non-American voting systems in recent decades. 
        In 2014, Ukraine's presidential vote was targeted by cyber 
        attackers, who deleted enough files to make the country's 
        voting system inoperable days before the election. Officials 
        were able to restore the system from backups and the election 
        went forward. Shortly before the results were to be announced, 
        however, experts examining computers at the Ukrainian Central 
        Election Commission discovered a virus designed to falsely 
        declare an ultra-nationalist party as the victor with 37 
        percent of the vote. Russia was implicated in a hack against 
        Bulgaria's Central Election Commission during a referendum and 
        local elections in 2015. While that attack did not impact the 
        systems used to total votes, it did hit the commission's 
        website, ``which provided updates on voter turnout''.
            (8) According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), 
        hackers targeted the election infrastructure of 21 States 
        during the 2016 elections. The failing security and 
        vulnerabilities in national election infrastructure were later 
        confirmed and highlighted by the hacking community in a report 
        issued in September 2017, after the DEFCON 25 conference in Las 
        Vegas, Nevada.
            (9) In a January 2017 assessment, the Central Intelligence 
        Agency, the National Security Agency, the Federal Bureau of 
        Investigation, and the Office of the Director of National 
        Intelligence concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 
        Presidential election. Officials across the United States 
        Intelligence Community (IC) have affirmed the report's 
        findings.
            (10) In January 2017, DHS designated election systems as 
        part of our Nation's critical infrastructure, meaning that our 
        election systems must be secured to safeguard our Nation's 
        democratic process.
            (11) The Congressional Task Force on Election Security's 
        January 2018 report and the Brennan Center's 2017 report on 
        securing elections from foreign interference found that--
                    (A) the Federal Government should provide funds to 
                help States replace aging, vulnerable voting machines 
                with paper ballots;
                    (B) States should conduct risk-limiting post-
                election audits;
                    (C) the Federal Government should provide funds to 
                help States upgrade and maintain information technology 
                (IT) infrastructure, including voter registration 
                databases;
                    (D) election technology vendors must secure their 
                voting systems;
                    (E) the Federal Government should develop a 
                national strategy to counter efforts to undermine 
                democratic institutions;
                    (F) the Intelligence Community should conduct pre-
                election threat assessments well in advance of Federal 
                elections;
                    (G) DHS should maintain the designation of election 
                infrastructure as a critical infrastructure subsector;
                    (H) Federal agencies should be empowered to be 
                effective partners in pushing out nationwide security 
                reforms;
                    (I) DHS should establish clear and effective 
                channels for sharing threat and intelligence 
                information with election officials; and
                    (J) States should prioritize cybersecurity training 
                in the administration of elections.
            (12) The Strategy for American Innovation, announced by the 
        White House in September 2009, urged Federal agencies to 
        increase their ability to promote innovation with tools such as 
        prizes and challenges.
            (13) Challenge.gov, launched in September 2010, is a 
        listing of challenge and prize competitions that are run by 
        more than 102 agencies across the Federal Government. These 
        problem-solving events include idea, creative, technical and 
        scientific competitions in which Federal agencies invite the 
        public's help to solve perplexing mission-centric problems. A 
        list of ongoing and completed prize challenges offered by these 
        agencies is available at challenge.gov. The Federal Government 
        has run more than 825 challenges since challenge.gov launched 
        in 2010, but competitions date back several centuries. To date, 
        more than 250,000 solvers from all States and over 180 
        congressional districts have participated in Federal challenge 
        and prize competitions.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that:
            (1) American elections should be secure and free of 
        misconduct.
            (2) It is important to conduct regular full assessments of 
        threats to our voting and voter registration systems, in light 
        of the constant evolution of technology and cyber threats.
            (3) Increasing voter participation is of vital importance 
        to the strength of our democracy.
            (4) Election security is a global issue as well as a 
        national priority for the United States. The United States 
        plays a vital role in supporting and strengthening democratic 
        institutions worldwide. As the United States bolsters its own 
        election system, it can better serve partner and ally countries 
        through sharing of best practices, and it can also share best 
        practices through its democracy promotion programs worldwide.
            (5) Innovation prizes are one tool that the Federal 
        Government can use to engage the private, public, and nonprofit 
        communities in addressing vital challenges to the health of our 
        democracy and national security.
            (6) In light of these findings, consistent and sustained 
        funding for election support is important to ensure that 
        American elections are secure and free of misconduct.
            (7) This Act should be one part of a broader strategy at 
        the Federal, State, and local level to bolster innovation in 
        election security and voting.

SEC. 4. VOTING TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE PRIZE.

    (a) In General.--The Election Assistance Commission (hereafter 
referred to as the ``Commission''), acting through the Technical 
Guidelines Development Committee of the Commission (hereafter referred 
to as the ``Committee''), shall, in consultation with the Director of 
the National Institute of Standards and Technology--
            (1) identify the elements of voting equipment, election 
        systems, and voting technology which are in the most critical 
        need of innovation, with a particular emphasis on the need for 
        accessibility and security;
            (2) conduct an annual prize competition to accelerate the 
        development of cost-effective technologies which will address 
        the elements identified under paragraph (1) while improving and 
        simplifying the procedures for voting and voter registration; 
        and
            (3) define a measurable set of performance goals for 
        participants in the prize competitions to demonstrate their 
        solutions on a level playing field while making a significant 
        advancement over the current state of the art.
    (b) Authority of Commission.--In carrying out subsection (a), the 
Commission may--
            (1) enter into a grant, contract, cooperative agreement, or 
        other agreement with a private sector for-profit or nonprofit 
        entity to administer the prize competitions;
            (2) consult with the National Science Foundation, other 
        Federal agencies, and relevant persons in the field of election 
        administration and security to provide advice and assistance in 
        the design or administration of the prize competitions; and
            (3) promulgate such regulations as may be necessary to 
        carry out this Act.
    (c) No Quorum of Commission Required.--The Commission may carry out 
this Act without regard to whether or not a quorum exists at any time 
in the membership of the Commission.
    (d) Amount of Awards.--For each fiscal year for which amounts are 
appropriated pursuant to the authorization under section 6, the 
Commission shall award an aggregate amount of $25,000,000 to winners of 
the prize competitions.

SEC. 5. TIMETABLE FOR COMPETITION.

    (a) Publication of Criteria.--Not later than 90 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall publish a technical 
paper establishing the criteria for the design of the prize 
competitions under this Act, based on the factors and needs identified 
under section 4(a)(1).
    (b) Initiation of Competition.--Not later than 90 days after 
publishing the paper required under subsection (a), the Commission 
shall initiate the first prize competition, and shall publish notice of 
the competition on the official public website of the Commission and on 
the challenge.gov website.
    (c) Reports.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the end of 
        each fiscal year during which the Commission conducts the prize 
        competition under this Act, the Commission shall submit to 
        Congress a report on the results of the competition, including 
        the identification of the winners, a description of the 
        technologies developed under the competition, and the amount of 
        the awards.
            (2) Posting information on websites.--The Commission shall 
        post on the official public website of the Commission and on 
        the challenge.gov website each report submitted under this 
        subsection, and shall ensure that information regarding the 
        winners of all of the prize competitions under this Act and the 
        amount of their awards is presented on such websites in a 
        searchable manner.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated for each of the fiscal 
years 2019 through 2023 such sums as may be necessary to carry out this 
Act.
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