Title: A bill to establish an advisory committee to make recommendations on improvements to the security, integrity, and administration of Federal elections.
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
This bill establishes a bipartisan advisory committee within the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to study the integrity and administration of the November 2020 general election. The committee must also make recommendations to the EAC, state legislatures, and Congress on best practices for administering federal elections, including best practices to prevent improper voting and increase the security of vote-by-mail ballots.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 13 Placed on Calendar Senate (PCS)]

<DOC>





                                                         Calendar No. 2
117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 13

     To establish an advisory committee to make recommendations on 
improvements to the security, integrity, and administration of Federal 
                               elections.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 6, 2021

 Mr. Scott of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. Hoeven, Mr. Cramer, Mr. 
   Cotton, Mr. Lankford, Mrs. Fischer, Ms. Ernst, Mr. Sullivan, Mrs. 
Capito, Mr. Young, Mr. Cassidy, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Moran, and Mr. Rounds) 
      introduced the following bill; which was read the first time

                            January 19, 2021

            Read the second time and placed on the calendar

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To establish an advisory committee to make recommendations on 
improvements to the security, integrity, and administration of Federal 
                               elections.

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

SECTION 1. 2020 BIPARTISAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established within the Election 
Assistance Commission the 2020 Bipartisan Advisory Committee (referred 
to in this section as the ``Advisory Committee'').
    (b) Membership.--
            (1) Composition.--The Advisory Committee shall be composed 
        of 18 members of whom--
                    (A) nine shall be appointed by the leader of the 
                Republican caucus in the Senate (in consultation with 
                the minority leader of the House of Representatives), 
                one of which shall be appointed as a Co-Chairperson of 
                the Advisory Committee; and
                    (B) nine shall be appointed by the Speaker of the 
                House of Representatives (in consultation with the 
                leader of the Democratic caucus in the Senate), one of 
                which shall be appointed as a Co-Chairperson of the 
                Advisory Committee.
            (2) Representation.--Individuals appointed to the Advisory 
        Committee under paragraph (1) shall be geographically balanced 
        and shall include representatives of Federal, State, and local 
        governments and of the legal, cybersecurity, and election 
        administration and technology communities.
            (3) Date.--The appointments of the members of the Advisory 
        Committee shall be made not later than 90 days after the date 
        of enactment of this Act.
    (c) Period of Appointment; Vacancies.--
            (1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), a 
        member of the Advisory shall be appointed for the duration of 
        the Advisory Committee.
            (2) Removal.--A member may be removed from the Advisory 
        Committee at any time at the upon concurrence of both of the 
        Co-Chairpersons of the Advisory Committee.
            (3) Vacancies.--A vacancy in the Advisory Committee--
                    (A) shall not affect the powers of the Commission; 
                and
                    (B) shall be filled in the same manner as the 
                original appointment.
    (d) Duties.--
            (1) Study.--
                    (A) In general.--The Advisory Committee shall, 
                consistent with applicable law, study the integrity and 
                administration of the general election for Federal 
                office held in November 2020 and make recommendations 
                to State legislatures to improve the security, 
                integrity, and administration of Federal elections.
                    (B) Matters studied.--The matters studied by the 
                Advisory Committee shall include--
                            (i) the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on 
                        the administration of the general election for 
                        Federal office held in November 2020;
                            (ii) the election practices adopted by 
                        Federal, State, and local governments in 
                        response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including--
                                    (I) practices that undermined the 
                                security and integrity of the election; 
                                and
                                    (II) practices that strengthened 
                                the security and integrity of the 
                                election;
                            (iii) the laws, rules, policies, 
                        activities, strategies, and practices regarding 
                        mail-in ballots, absentee ballots, and vote-by-
                        mail procedures, including--
                                    (I) measures that undermined the 
                                security and integrity of the election; 
                                and
                                    (II) measures that strengthened the 
                                security and integrity of the election;
                            (iv) any laws, rules, policies, activities, 
                        strategies, and practices that would have 
                        allowed improper or fraudulent votes to be cast 
                        in such election and the scope of any improper 
                        and fraudulent votes that were cast in the 
                        election;
                            (v) any laws, rules, policies, activities, 
                        strategies, and practices, or failure to apply 
                        such laws, rules, policies, activities, 
                        strategies, and practices, that would have 
                        allowed improper or fraudulent voter 
                        registration and the scope of any improper or 
                        fraudulent voter registration; and
                            (vi) any laws, rules, policies, activities, 
                        strategies, and practices that would bolster 
                        public confidence in the integrity of future 
                        general elections for Federal office and reduce 
                        the perceived possibility of fraud, including, 
                        but not limited to, voter identification 
                        statutes for both in-person and absentee 
                        voting, increased voter list maintenance 
                        policies pursuant to the National Voter 
                        Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20501 et 
                        seq.), and use of the Electronic Registration 
                        Information Center.
            (2) Reports.--
                    (A) Initial report.--Not later than 180 days after 
                the date of the enactment of this Act, the Advisory 
                Committee shall submit to the Election Assistance 
                Commission and the appropriate Congressional committees 
                a report on the matter studied under paragraph (1). 
                Such report shall include--
                            (i) precinct-by-precinct data highlighting 
                        the number and incidence of any improper and 
                        fraudulent votes that were cast in the 
                        election; and
                            (ii) precinct-by-precinct data highlighting 
                        the number and incidence of any improper and 
                        fraudulent voter registrations.
                    (B) Recommendations.--
                            (i) In general.--Not later than 360 days 
                        after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
                        the Advisory Committee shall submit to the 
                        Election Assistance Commission and the 
                        appropriate Congressional committees 
                        recommendations on the following:
                                    (I) The best practices that should 
                                be adopted by at each level of local 
                                and State Government for administering 
                                elections for Federal office--
                                            (aa) during the COVID-19 
                                        pandemic; and
                                            (bb) during other national 
                                        emergencies.
                                    (II) The best practices that should 
                                be adopted at each level of local and 
                                State Government to mitigate fraud and 
                                increase the integrity and security of 
                                mail-in ballots, absentee ballots, and 
                                vote-by-mail procedures.
                                    (III) The best practices that 
                                should be adopted at each level of 
                                local and State Government to prevent 
                                improper or fraudulent votes from being 
                                cast.
                                    (IV) The best practices that should 
                                be adopted at each level of local and 
                                State Government to prevent improper 
                                voters from being registered.
                            (ii) Minority views.--In the case of any 
                        recommendation with respect to which one-third 
                        or more of the Committee does not concur, the 
                        report shall include a justification for why 
                        such members do not concur.
                    (C) Appropriate congressional committees.--For 
                purposes of this paragraph, the term ``appropriate 
                Congressional Committees'' means--
                            (i) the Committee on Rules and 
                        Administration of the Senate;
                            (ii) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
                        Senate;
                            (iii) the Committee on House Administration 
                        of the House of Representatives; and
                            (iv) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
                        House of Representatives.
    (e) Commission Personnel Matters.--
            (1) Prohibition on compensation of members.--The members of 
        the Advisory Committee may not receive pay or benefits from the 
        United States Government by reason of their service on the 
        Advisory Committee.
            (2) Staff.--
                    (A) In general.--Each Co-Chairperson of the 
                Advisory Committee may appoint not more than 5 subject 
                matter experts to serve as staff to the Advisory 
                Committee.
                    (B) Compensation.--The Co-Chairpersons of the 
                Advisory Committee may fix the compensation of the 
                staff of the Advisor Committee without regard to 
                chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, 
                United States Code, relating to classification of 
                positions and General Schedule pay rates, except that 
                the rate of pay for the staff may not exceed the rate 
                payable for level V of the Executive Schedule under 
                section 5316 of that title.
    (f) Termination.--The Advisory Committee shall terminate 90 days 
after the date on which the Advisory Committee submits the report 
required under subsection (d).
    (g) Nonapplicability of FACA.--The Federal Advisory Committee Act 
(5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Advisory Committee.
                                                         Calendar No. 2

117th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                                 S. 13

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

     To establish an advisory committee to make recommendations on 
improvements to the security, integrity, and administration of Federal 
                               elections.

_______________________________________________________________________

                            January 19, 2021

            Read the second time and placed on the calendar