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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 2 ‘‘Help America Vote Act of 2002’’. 3 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 4 this Act is as follows: 5 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. TITLE I—PAYMENTS TO STATES FOR ELECTION ADMINISTRA- TION IMPROVEMENTS AND REPLACEMENT OF PUNCH CARD AND LEVER VOTING MACHINES Sec. 101. Payments to States for activities to improve administration of elec- tions. Sec. 102. Replacement of punch card or lever voting machines. Sec. 103. Guaranteed minimum payment amount. Sec. 104. Authorization of appropriations. Sec. 105. Administration of programs. Sec. 106. Effective date. TITLE II—COMMISSION Subtitle A—Establishment and General Organization PART 1—ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION Sec. 201. Establishment. Sec. 202. Duties. Sec. 203. Membership and appointment. Sec. 204. Staff. Sec. 205. Powers. Sec. 206. Dissemination of information. Sec. 207. Annual report. Sec. 208. Requiring majority approval for actions. Sec. 209. Limitation on rulemaking authority. Sec. 210. Authorization of appropriations. PART 2—ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION STANDARDS BOARD AND BOARD OF ADVISORS Sec. 211. Establishment. Sec. 212. Duties. Sec. 213. Membership of Standards Board. Sec. 214. Membership of Board of Advisors. Sec. 215. Powers of Boards; no compensation for service. Sec. 216. Status of Boards and members for purposes of claims against Board. PART 3—TECHNICAL GUIDELINES DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE Sec. 221. Technical Guidelines Development Committee. Sec. 222. Process for adoption. F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


2 Subtitle B—Testing, Certification, Decertification, and Recertification of Voting System Hardware and Software Sec. 231. Certification and testing of voting systems. Subtitle C—Studies and Other Activities To Promote Effective Administration of Federal Elections Sec. 241. Periodic studies of election administration issues. Sec. 242. Study, report, and recommendations on best practices for facilitating military and overseas voting. Sec. 243. Report on human factor research. Sec. 244. Study and report on voters who register by mail and use of social security information. Sec. 245. Study and report on electronic voting and the electoral process. Sec. 246. Study and report on free absentee ballot postage. Sec. 247. Consultation with Standards Board and Board of Advisors. Subtitle D—Election Assistance PART 1—REQUIREMENTS PAYMENTS Sec. 251. Requirements payments. Sec. 252. Allocation of funds. Sec. 253. Condition for receipt of funds. Sec. 254. State plan. Sec. 255. Process for development and filing of plan; publication by Commis- sion. Sec. 256. Requirement for public notice and comment. Sec. 257. Authorization of appropriations. Sec. 258. Reports. PART 2—PAYMENTS TO STATES AND UNITS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT TO ASSURE ACCESS FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES Sec. 261. Payments to States and units of local government to assure access for individuals with disabilities. Sec. 262. Amount of payment. Sec. 263. Requirements for eligibility. Sec. 264. Authorization of appropriations. Sec. 265. Reports. PART 3—GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON VOTING TECHNOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS Sec. 271. Grants for research on voting technology improvements. Sec. 272. Report. Sec. 273. Authorization of appropriations. PART 4—PILOT PROGRAM FOR TESTING OF EQUIPMENT AND TECHNOLOGY Sec. 281. Pilot program. Sec. 282. Report. Sec. 283. Authorization of appropriations. PART 5—PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY SYSTEMS Sec. 291. Payments for protection and advocacy systems. Sec. 292. Authorization of appropriations. F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


3 PART 6—NATIONAL STUDENT AND PARENT MOCK ELECTION Sec. 295. National Student and Parent Mock Election. Sec. 296. Authorization of appropriations. TITLE III—UNIFORM AND NONDISCRIMINATORY ELECTION TECHNOLOGY AND ADMINISTRATION REQUIREMENTS Subtitle A—Requirements Sec. 301. Voting systems standards. Sec. 302. Provisional voting and voting information requirements. Sec. 303. Computerized statewide voter registration list requirements and re- quirements for voters who register by mail. Sec. 304. Minimum requirements. Sec. 305. Methods of implementation left to discretion of State. Subtitle B—Voluntary Guidance Sec. 311. Adoption of voluntary guidance by Commission. Sec. 312. Process for adoption. TITLE IV—ENFORCEMENT Sec. 401. Actions by the Attorney General for declaratory and injunctive relief. Sec. 402. Establishment of State-based administrative complaint procedures to remedy grievances. TITLE V—HELP AMERICA VOTE COLLEGE PROGRAM Sec. 501. Establishment of program. Sec. 502. Activities under program. Sec. 503. Authorization of appropriations. TITLE VI—HELP AMERICA VOTE FOUNDATION Sec. 601. Help America Vote Foundation. TITLE VII—VOTING RIGHTS OF MILITARY MEMBERS AND OVERSEAS CITIZENS Sec. 701. Voting assistance programs. Sec. 702. Designation of single State office to provide information on registra- tion and absentee ballots for all voters in State. Sec. 703. Report on absentee ballots transmitted and received after general elections. Sec. 704. Extension of period covered by single absentee ballot application. Sec. 705. Additional duties of Presidential designee under Uniformed and Over- seas Citizens Absentee Voting Act. Sec. 706. Prohibition of refusal of voter registration and absentee ballot appli- cations on grounds of early submission. Sec. 707. Other requirements to promote participation of overseas and absent uniformed services voters. TITLE VIII—TRANSITION PROVISIONS Subtitle A—Transfer to Commission of Functions Under Certain Laws Sec. 801. Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


4 Sec. 802. National Voter Registration Act of 1993. Sec. 803. Transfer of property, records, and personnel. Sec. 804. Effective date; transition. Subtitle B—Coverage of Commission Under Certain Laws and Programs Sec. 811. Treatment of Commission personnel under certain civil service laws. Sec. 812. Coverage under Inspector General Act of 1978. TITLE IX—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS Sec. 901. State defined. Sec. 902. Audits and repayment of funds. Sec. 903. Clarification of ability of election officials to remove registrants from official list of voters on grounds of change of residence. Sec. 904. Review and report on adequacy of existing electoral fraud statutes and penalties. Sec. 905. Other criminal penalties. Sec. 906. No effect on other laws. TITLE I—PAYMENTS TO STATES 1 FOR ELECTION ADMINISTRA- 2 TION IMPROVEMENTS AND 3 REPLACEMENT OF PUNCH 4 CARD AND LEVER VOTING 5 MACHINES 6 SEC. 101. PAYMENTS TO STATES FOR ACTIVITIES TO IM- 7 PROVE ADMINISTRATION OF ELECTIONS. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 45 days after the 9 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 10 General Services (in this title referred to as the ‘‘Adminis- 11 trator’’) shall establish a program under which the Admin- 12 istrator shall make a payment to each State in which the 13 chief executive officer of the State, or designee, in con- 14 sultation and coordination with the chief State election of- 15 ficial, notifies the Administrator not later than 6 months 16 after the date of the enactment of this Act that the State 17 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


5 intends to use the payment in accordance with this sec- 1 tion. 2 (b) USE OF PAYMENT.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State shall use the funds 4 provided under a payment made under this section 5 to carry out 1 or more of the following activities: 6 (A) Complying with the requirements 7 under title III. 8 (B) Improving the administration of elec- 9 tions for Federal office. 10 (C) Educating voters concerning voting 11 procedures, voting rights, and voting tech- 12 nology. 13 (D) Training election officials, poll work- 14 ers, and election volunteers. 15 (E) Developing the State plan for require- 16 ments payments to be submitted under part 1 17 of subtitle D of title II. 18 (F) Improving, acquiring, leasing, modi- 19 fying, or replacing voting systems and tech- 20 nology and methods for casting and counting 21 votes. 22 (G) Improving the accessibility and quan- 23 tity of polling places, including providing phys- 24 ical access for individuals with disabilities, pro- 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


6 viding nonvisual access for individuals with vis- 1 ual impairments, and providing assistance to 2 Native Americans, Alaska Native citizens, and 3 to individuals with limited proficiency in the 4 English language. 5 (H) Establishing toll-free telephone hot- 6 lines that voters may use to report possible vot- 7 ing fraud and voting rights violations, to obtain 8 general election information, and to access de- 9 tailed automated information on their own voter 10 registration status, specific polling place loca- 11 tions, and other relevant information. 12 (2) LIMITATION.—A State may not use the 13 funds provided under a payment made under this 14 section— 15 (A) to pay costs associated with any litiga- 16 tion, except to the extent that such costs other- 17 wise constitute permitted uses of a payment 18 under this section; or 19 (B) for the payment of any judgment. 20 (c) USE OF FUNDS TO BE CONSISTENT WITH 21 OTHER LAWS AND REQUIREMENTS.—In order to receive 22 a payment under the program under this section, the State 23 shall provide the Administrator with certifications that— 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


7 (1) the State will use the funds provided under 1 the payment in a manner that is consistent with 2 each of the laws described in section 906, as such 3 laws relate to the provisions of this Act; and 4 (2) the proposed uses of the funds are not in- 5 consistent with the requirements of title III. 6 (d) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to section 103(b), 8 the amount of payment made to a State under this 9 section shall be the minimum payment amount de- 10 scribed in paragraph (2) plus the voting age popu- 11 lation proportion amount described in paragraph 12 (3). 13 (2) MINIMUM PAYMENT AMOUNT.—The min- 14 imum payment amount described in this paragraph 15 is— 16 (A) in the case of any of the several States 17 or the District of Columbia, 1⁄2 of 1 percent of 18 the aggregate amount made available for pay- 19 ments under this section; and 20 (B) in the case of the Commonwealth of 21 Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, or the 22 United States Virgin Islands, 1⁄10 of 1 percent 23 of such aggregate amount. 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


8 (3) VOTING AGE POPULATION PROPORTION 1 AMOUNT.—The voting age population proportion 2 amount described in this paragraph is the product 3 of— 4 (A) the aggregate amount made available 5 for payments under this section minus the total 6 of all of the minimum payment amounts deter- 7 mined under paragraph (2); and 8 (B) the voting age population proportion 9 for the State (as defined in paragraph (4)). 10 (4) VOTING AGE POPULATION PROPORTION DE- 11 FINED.—The term ‘‘voting age population propor- 12 tion’’ means, with respect to a State, the amount 13 equal to the quotient of— 14 (A) the voting age population of the State 15 (as reported in the most recent decennial cen- 16 sus); and 17 (B) the total voting age population of all 18 States (as reported in the most recent decennial 19 census). 20 SEC. 102. REPLACEMENT OF PUNCH CARD OR LEVER VOT- 21 ING MACHINES. 22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 45 days after 24 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Adminis- 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


9 trator shall establish a program under which the Ad- 1 ministrator shall make a payment to each State eli- 2 gible under subsection (b) in which a precinct within 3 that State used a punch card voting system or a 4 lever voting system to administer the regularly 5 scheduled general election for Federal office held in 6 November 2000 (in this section referred to as a 7 ‘‘qualifying precinct’’). 8 (2) USE OF FUNDS.—A State shall use the 9 funds provided under a payment under this section 10 (either directly or as reimbursement, including as re- 11 imbursement for costs incurred on or after January 12 1, 2001, under multiyear contracts) to replace punch 13 card voting systems or lever voting systems (as the 14 case may be) in qualifying precincts within that 15 State with a voting system (by purchase, lease, or 16 such other arrangement as may be appropriate) 17 that— 18 (A) does not use punch cards or levers; 19 (B) is not inconsistent with the require- 20 ments of the laws described in section 906; and 21 (C) meets the requirements of section 301. 22 (3) DEADLINE.— 23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 24 subparagraph (B), a State receiving a payment 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


10 under the program under this section shall en- 1 sure that all of the punch card voting systems 2 or lever voting systems in the qualifying pre- 3 cincts within that State have been replaced in 4 time for the regularly scheduled general election 5 for Federal office to be held in November 2004. 6 (B) WAIVER.—If a State certifies to the 7 Administrator not later than January 1, 2004, 8 that the State will not meet the deadline de- 9 scribed in subparagraph (A) for good cause and 10 includes in the certification the reasons for the 11 failure to meet such deadline, the State shall 12 ensure that all of the punch card voting sys- 13 tems or lever voting systems in the qualifying 14 precincts within that State will be replaced in 15 time for the first election for Federal office held 16 after January 1, 2006. 17 (b) ELIGIBILITY.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State is eligible to receive 19 a payment under the program under this section if 20 it submits to the Administrator a notice not later 21 than the date that is 6 months after the date of the 22 enactment of this Act (in such form as the Adminis- 23 trator may require) that contains— 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


11 (A) certifications that the State will use 1 the payment (either directly or as reimburse- 2 ment, including as reimbursement for costs in- 3 curred on or after January 1, 2001, under 4 multiyear contracts) to replace punch card vot- 5 ing systems or lever voting systems (as the case 6 may be) in the qualifying precincts within the 7 State by the deadline described in subsection 8 (a)(3); 9 (B) certifications that the State will con- 10 tinue to comply with the laws described in sec- 11 tion 906; 12 (C) certifications that the replacement vot- 13 ing systems will meet the requirements of sec- 14 tion 301; and 15 (D) such other information and certifi- 16 cations as the Administrator may require which 17 are necessary for the administration of the pro- 18 gram. 19 (2) COMPLIANCE OF STATES THAT REQUIRE 20 CHANGES TO STATE LAW.—In the case of a State 21 that requires State legislation to carry out an activ- 22 ity covered by any certification submitted under this 23 subsection, the State shall be permitted to make the 24 certification notwithstanding that the legislation has 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


12 not been enacted at the time the certification is sub- 1 mitted and such State shall submit an additional 2 certification once such legislation is enacted. 3 (c) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2) 5 and section 103(b), the amount of payment made to 6 a State under the program under this section shall 7 be equal to the product of— 8 (A) the number of the qualifying precincts 9 within the State; and 10 (B) $4,000. 11 (2) REDUCTION.—If the amount of funds ap- 12 propriated pursuant to the authority of section 13 104(a)(2) is insufficient to ensure that each State 14 receives the amount of payment calculated under 15 paragraph (1), the Administrator shall reduce the 16 amount specified in paragraph (1)(B) to ensure that 17 the entire amount appropriated under such section is 18 distributed to the States. 19 (d) REPAYMENT OF FUNDS FOR FAILURE TO MEET 20 DEADLINES.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—If a State receiving funds 22 under the program under this section fails to meet 23 the deadline applicable to the State under subsection 24 (a)(3), the State shall pay to the Administrator an 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


13 amount equal to the noncompliant precinct percent- 1 age of the amount of the funds provided to the State 2 under the program. 3 (2) NONCOMPLIANT PRECINCT PERCENTAGE 4 DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘noncompli- 5 ant precinct percentage’’ means, with respect to a 6 State, the amount (expressed as a percentage) equal 7 to the quotient of— 8 (A) the number of qualifying precincts 9 within the State for which the State failed to 10 meet the applicable deadline; and 11 (B) the total number of qualifying pre- 12 cincts in the State. 13 (e) PUNCH CARD VOTING SYSTEM DEFINED.—For 14 purposes of this section, a ‘‘punch card voting system’’ 15 includes any of the following voting systems: 16 (1) C.E.S. 17 (2) Datavote. 18 (3) PBC Counter. 19 (4) Pollstar. 20 (5) Punch Card. 21 (6) Vote Recorder. 22 (7) Votomatic. 23 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


14 SEC. 103. GUARANTEED MINIMUM PAYMENT AMOUNT. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any other payments 2 made under this title, the Administrator shall make a pay- 3 ment to each State to which a payment is made under 4 either section 101 or 102 and with respect to which the 5 aggregate amount paid under such sections is less than 6 $5,000,000 in an amount equal to the difference between 7 the aggregate amount paid to the State under sections 101 8 and 102 and $5,000,000. In the case of the Common- 9 wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the 10 United States Virgin Islands, the previous sentence shall 11 be applied as if each reference to ‘‘$5,000,000’’ were a 12 reference to ‘‘$1,000,000’’. 13 (b) PRO RATA REDUCTIONS.—The Administrator 14 shall make such pro rata reductions to the amounts de- 15 scribed in sections 101(d) and 102(c) as are necessary to 16 comply with the requirements of subsection (a). 17 SEC. 104. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro- 19 priated for payments under this title $650,000,000, of 20 which— 21 (1) 50 percent shall be for payments under sec- 22 tion 101; and 23 (2) 50 percent shall be for payments under sec- 24 tion 102. 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


15 (b) CONTINUING AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS AFTER 1 APPROPRIATION.—Any payment made to a State under 2 this title shall be available to the State without fiscal year 3 limitation (subject to subsection (c)(2)(B)). 4 (c) USE OF RETURNED FUNDS AND FUNDS REMAIN- 5 ING UNEXPENDED FOR REQUIREMENTS PAYMENTS.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amounts described in 7 paragraph (2) shall be transferred to the Election 8 Assistance Commission (established under title II) 9 and used by the Commission to make requirements 10 payments under part 1 of subtitle D of title II. 11 (2) AMOUNTS DESCRIBED.—The amounts re- 12 ferred to in this paragraph are as follows: 13 (A) Any amounts paid to the Adminis- 14 trator by a State under section 102(d)(1). 15 (B) Any amounts appropriated for pay- 16 ments under this title which remain unobligated 17 as of September 1, 2003. 18 (d) DEPOSIT OF AMOUNTS IN STATE ELECTION 19 FUND.—When a State has established an election fund 20 described in section 254(b), the State shall ensure that 21 any funds provided to the State under this title are depos- 22 ited and maintained in such fund. 23 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR AD- 24 MINISTRATOR.—In addition to the amounts authorized 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


16 under subsection (a), there are authorized to be appro- 1 priated to the Administrator such sums as may be nec- 2 essary to administer the programs under this title. 3 SEC. 105. ADMINISTRATION OF PROGRAMS. 4 In administering the programs under this title, the 5 Administrator shall take such actions as the Adminis- 6 trator considers appropriate to expedite the payment of 7 funds to States. 8 SEC. 106. EFFECTIVE DATE. 9 The Administrator shall implement the programs es- 10 tablished under this title in a manner that ensures that 11 the Administrator is able to make payments under the 12 program not later than the expiration of the 45-day period 13 which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act. 14 TITLE II—COMMISSION 15 Subtitle A—Establishment and 16 General Organization 17 PART 1—ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION 18 SEC. 201. ESTABLISHMENT. 19 There is hereby established as an independent entity 20 the Election Assistance Commission (hereafter in this title 21 referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’), consisting of the mem- 22 bers appointed under this part. Additionally, there is es- 23 tablished the Election Assistance Commission Standards 24 Board (including the Executive Board of such Board) and 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


17 the Election Assistance Commission Board of Advisors 1 under part 2 (hereafter in this part referred to as the 2 ‘‘Standards Board’’ and the ‘‘Board of Advisors’’, respec- 3 tively) and the Technical Guidelines Development Com- 4 mittee under part 3. 5 SEC. 202. DUTIES. 6 The Commission shall serve as a national clearing- 7 house and resource for the compilation of information and 8 review of procedures with respect to the administration of 9 Federal elections by— 10 (1) carrying out the duties described in part 3 11 (relating to the adoption of voluntary voting system 12 guidelines), including the maintenance of a clearing- 13 house of information on the experiences of State and 14 local governments in implementing the guidelines 15 and in operating voting systems in general; 16 (2) carrying out the duties described in subtitle 17 B (relating to the testing, certification, decertifica- 18 tion, and recertification of voting system hardware 19 and software); 20 (3) carrying out the duties described in subtitle 21 C (relating to conducting studies and carrying out 22 other activities to promote the effective administra- 23 tion of Federal elections); 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


18 (4) carrying out the duties described in subtitle 1 D (relating to election assistance), and providing in- 2 formation and training on the management of the 3 payments and grants provided under such subtitle; 4 (5) carrying out the duties described in subtitle 5 B of title III (relating to the adoption of voluntary 6 guidance); and 7 (6) developing and carrying out the Help Amer- 8 ica Vote College Program under title V. 9 SEC. 203. MEMBERSHIP AND APPOINTMENT. 10 (a) MEMBERSHIP.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall have 12 4 members appointed by the President, by and with 13 the advice and consent of the Senate. 14 (2) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Before the initial ap- 15 pointment of the members of the Commission and 16 before the appointment of any individual to fill a va- 17 cancy on the Commission, the Majority Leader of 18 the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representa- 19 tives, the Minority Leader of the Senate, and the 20 Minority Leader of the House of Representatives 21 shall each submit to the President a candidate rec- 22 ommendation with respect to each vacancy on the 23 Commission affiliated with the political party of the 24 Member of Congress involved. 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


19 (3) QUALIFICATIONS.—Each member of the 1 Commission shall have experience with or expertise 2 in election administration or the study of elections. 3 (4) DATE OF APPOINTMENT.—The appoint- 4 ments of the members of the Commission shall be 5 made not later than 120 days after the date of the 6 enactment of this Act. 7 (b) TERM OF SERVICE.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 9 graphs (2) and (3), members shall serve for a term 10 of 4 years and may be reappointed for not more 11 than 1 additional term. 12 (2) TERMS OF INITIAL APPOINTEES.—As des- 13 ignated by the President at the time of nomination, 14 of the members first appointed— 15 (A) 2 of the members (not more than 1 of 16 whom may be affiliated with the same political 17 party) shall be appointed for a term of 2 years; 18 and 19 (B) 2 of the members (not more than 1 of 20 whom may be affiliated with the same political 21 party) shall be appointed for a term of 4 years. 22 (3) VACANCIES.— 23 (A) IN GENERAL.—A vacancy on the Com- 24 mission shall be filled in the manner in which 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


20 the original appointment was made and shall be 1 subject to any conditions which applied with re- 2 spect to the original appointment. 3 (B) EXPIRED TERMS.—A member of the 4 Commission shall serve on the Commission 5 after the expiration of the member’s term until 6 the successor of such member has taken office 7 as a member of the Commission. 8 (C) UNEXPIRED TERMS.—An individual 9 appointed to fill a vacancy shall be appointed 10 for the unexpired term of the member replaced. 11 (c) CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall select 13 a chair and vice chair from among its members for 14 a term of 1 year, except that the chair and vice 15 chair may not be affiliated with the same political 16 party. 17 (2) NUMBER OF TERMS.—A member of the 18 Commission may serve as the chairperson and vice 19 chairperson for only 1 term each during the term of 20 office to which such member is appointed. 21 (d) COMPENSATION.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the Com- 23 mission shall be compensated at the annual rate of 24 basic pay prescribed for level IV of the Executive 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


21 Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United 1 States Code. 2 (2) OTHER ACTIVITIES.—No member appointed 3 to the Commission under subsection (a) may engage 4 in any other business, vocation, or employment while 5 serving as a member of the Commission and shall 6 terminate or liquidate such business, vocation, or 7 employment before sitting as a member of the Com- 8 mission. 9 SEC. 204. STAFF. 10 (a) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GENERAL COUNSEL, AND 11 OTHER STAFF.— 12 (1) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.—The Commission 13 shall have an Executive Director, who shall be paid 14 at a rate not to exceed the rate of basic pay for level 15 V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of 16 title 5, United States Code. 17 (2) TERM OF SERVICE FOR EXECUTIVE DIREC- 18 TOR.—The Executive Director shall serve for a term 19 of 4 years. An Executive Director may serve for a 20 longer period only if reappointed for an additional 21 term or terms by a vote of the Commission. 22 (3) PROCEDURE FOR APPOINTMENT.— 23 (A) IN GENERAL.—When a vacancy exists 24 in the position of the Executive Director, the 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


22 Standards Board and the Board of Advisors 1 shall each appoint a search committee to rec- 2 ommend at least 3 nominees for the position. 3 (B) REQUIRING CONSIDERATION OF NOMI- 4 NEES.—Except as provided in subparagraph 5 (C), the Commission shall consider the nomi- 6 nees recommended by the Standards Board and 7 the Board of Advisors in appointing the Execu- 8 tive Director. 9 (C) INTERIM SERVICE OF GENERAL COUN- 10 SEL.—If a vacancy exists in the position of the 11 Executive Director, the General Counsel of the 12 Commission shall serve as the acting Executive 13 Director until the Commission appoints a new 14 Executive Director in accordance with this 15 paragraph. 16 (D) SPECIAL RULES FOR INTERIM EXECU- 17 TIVE DIRECTOR.— 18 (i) CONVENING OF SEARCH COMMIT- 19 TEES.—The Standards Board and the 20 Board of Advisors shall each appoint a 21 search committee and recommend nomi- 22 nees for the position of Executive Director 23 in accordance with subparagraph (A) as 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


23 soon as practicable after the appointment 1 of their members. 2 (ii) INTERIM INITIAL APPOINT- 3 MENT.—Notwithstanding subparagraph 4 (B), the Commission may appoint an indi- 5 vidual to serve as an interim Executive Di- 6 rector prior to the recommendation of 7 nominees for the position by the Standards 8 Board or the Board of Advisors, except 9 that such individual’s term of service may 10 not exceed 6 months. Nothing in the pre- 11 vious sentence may be construed to pro- 12 hibit the individual serving as the interim 13 Executive Director from serving any addi- 14 tional term. 15 (4) GENERAL COUNSEL.—The Commission 16 shall have a General Counsel, who shall be appointed 17 by the Commission and who shall serve under the 18 Executive Director. The General Counsel shall serve 19 for a term of 4 years, and may serve for a longer 20 period only if reappointed for an additional term or 21 terms by a vote of the Commission. 22 (5) OTHER STAFF.—Subject to rules prescribed 23 by the Commission, the Executive Director may ap- 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


24 point and fix the pay of such additional personnel as 1 the Executive Director considers appropriate. 2 (6) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN CIVIL SERVICE 3 LAWS.—The Executive Director, General Counsel, 4 and staff of the Commission may be appointed with- 5 out regard to the provisions of title 5, United States 6 Code, governing appointments in the competitive 7 service, and may be paid without regard to the pro- 8 visions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 9 53 of that title relating to classification and General 10 Schedule pay rates, except that an individual so ap- 11 pointed may not receive pay in excess of the annual 12 rate of basic pay for level V of the Executive Sched- 13 ule under section 5316 of that title. 14 (b) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—Subject to rules 15 prescribed by the Commission, the Executive Director may 16 procure temporary and intermittent services under section 17 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, by a vote of the 18 Commission. 19 (c) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon request 20 of the Commission, the head of any Federal department 21 or agency may detail, on a reimbursable basis, any of the 22 personnel of that department or agency to the Commission 23 to assist it in carrying out its duties under this Act. 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


25 (d) ARRANGING FOR ASSISTANCE FOR BOARD OF AD- 1 VISORS AND STANDARDS BOARD.—At the request of the 2 Board of Advisors or the Standards Board, the Commis- 3 sion may enter into such arrangements as the Commission 4 considers appropriate to make personnel available to assist 5 the Boards with carrying out their duties under this title 6 (including contracts with private individuals for providing 7 temporary personnel services or the temporary detailing 8 of personnel of the Commission). 9 (e) CONSULTATION WITH BOARD OF ADVISORS AND 10 STANDARDS BOARD ON CERTAIN MATTERS.—In pre- 11 paring the program goals, long-term plans, mission state- 12 ments, and related matters for the Commission, the Exec- 13 utive Director and staff of the Commission shall consult 14 with the Board of Advisors and the Standards Board. 15 SEC. 205. POWERS. 16 (a) HEARINGS AND SESSIONS.—The Commission 17 may hold such hearings for the purpose of carrying out 18 this Act, sit and act at such times and places, take such 19 testimony, and receive such evidence as the Commission 20 considers advisable to carry out this Act. The Commission 21 may administer oaths and affirmations to witnesses ap- 22 pearing before the Commission. 23 (b) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The 24 Commission may secure directly from any Federal depart- 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


26 ment or agency such information as the Commission con- 1 siders necessary to carry out this Act. Upon request of 2 the Commission, the head of such department or agency 3 shall furnish such information to the Commission. 4 (c) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Commission may use 5 the United States mails in the same manner and under 6 the same conditions as other departments and agencies of 7 the Federal Government. 8 (d) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—Upon 9 the request of the Commission, the Administrator of Gen- 10 eral Services shall provide to the Commission, on a reim- 11 bursable basis, the administrative support services that 12 are necessary to enable the Commission to carry out its 13 duties under this Act. 14 (e) CONTRACTS.—The Commission may contract 15 with and compensate persons and Federal agencies for 16 supplies and services without regard to section 3709 of 17 the Revised Statutes of the United States (41 U.S.C. 5). 18 SEC. 206. DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION. 19 In carrying out its duties, the Commission shall, on 20 an ongoing basis, disseminate to the public (through the 21 Internet, published reports, and such other methods as the 22 Commission considers appropriate) in a manner that is 23 consistent with the requirements of chapter 19 of title 44, 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


27 United States Code, information on the activities carried 1 out under this Act. 2 SEC. 207. ANNUAL REPORT. 3 Not later than January 31 of each year (beginning 4 with 2004), the Commission shall submit a report to the 5 Committee on House Administration of the House of Rep- 6 resentatives and the Committee on Rules and Administra- 7 tion of the Senate detailing its activities during the fiscal 8 year which ended on September 30 of the previous cal- 9 endar year, and shall include in the report the following 10 information: 11 (1) A detailed description of activities con- 12 ducted with respect to each program carried out by 13 the Commission under this Act, including informa- 14 tion on each grant or other payment made under 15 such programs. 16 (2) A copy of each report submitted to the 17 Commission by a recipient of such grants or pay- 18 ments which is required under such a program, in- 19 cluding reports submitted by States receiving re- 20 quirements payments under part 1 of subtitle D, 21 and each other report submitted to the Commission 22 under this Act. 23 (3) Information on the voluntary voting system 24 guidelines adopted or modified by the Commission 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


28 under part 3 and information on the voluntary guid- 1 ance adopted under subtitle B of title III. 2 (4) All votes taken by the Commission. 3 (5) Such other information and recommenda- 4 tions as the Commission considers appropriate. 5 SEC. 208. REQUIRING MAJORITY APPROVAL FOR ACTIONS. 6 Any action which the Commission is authorized to 7 carry out under this Act may be carried out only with the 8 approval of at least 3 of its members. 9 SEC. 209. LIMITATION ON RULEMAKING AUTHORITY. 10 The Commission shall not have any authority to issue 11 any rule, promulgate any regulation, or take any other ac- 12 tion which imposes any requirement on any State or unit 13 of local government, except to the extent permitted under 14 section 9(a) of the National Voter Registration Act of 15 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–7(a)). 16 SEC. 210. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 17 In addition to the amounts authorized for payments 18 and grants under this title and the amounts authorized 19 to be appropriated for the program under section 503, 20 there are authorized to be appropriated for each of the 21 fiscal years 2003 through 2005 such sums as may be nec- 22 essary (but not to exceed $10,000,000 for each such year) 23 for the Commission to carry out this title. 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


29 PART 2—ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION 1 STANDARDS BOARD AND BOARD OF ADVISORS 2 SEC. 211. ESTABLISHMENT. 3 There are hereby established the Election Assistance 4 Commission Standards Board (hereafter in this title re- 5 ferred to as the ‘‘Standards Board’’) and the Election As- 6 sistance Commission Board of Advisors (hereafter in this 7 title referred to as the ‘‘Board of Advisors’’). 8 SEC. 212. DUTIES. 9 The Standards Board and the Board of Advisors 10 shall each, in accordance with the procedures described in 11 part 3, review the voluntary voting system guidelines 12 under such part, the voluntary guidance under title III, 13 and the best practices recommendations contained in the 14 report submitted under section 242(b). 15 SEC. 213. MEMBERSHIP OF STANDARDS BOARD. 16 (a) COMPOSITION.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to certification by 18 the chair of the Federal Election Commission under 19 subsection (b), the Standards Board shall be com- 20 posed of 110 members as follows: 21 (A) 55 shall be State election officials se- 22 lected by the chief State election official of each 23 State. 24 (B) 55 shall be local election officials se- 25 lected in accordance with paragraph (2). 26 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


30 (2) LIST OF LOCAL ELECTION OFFICIALS.— 1 Each State’s local election officials, including the 2 local election officials of Puerto Rico and the United 3 States Virgin Islands, shall select (under a process 4 supervised by the chief election official of the State) 5 a representative local election official from the State 6 for purposes of paragraph (1)(B). In the case of the 7 District of Columbia, Guam, and American Samoa, 8 the chief election official shall establish a procedure 9 for selecting an individual to serve as a local election 10 official for purposes of such paragraph, except that 11 under such a procedure the individual selected may 12 not be a member of the same political party as the 13 chief election official. 14 (3) REQUIRING MIX OF POLITICAL PARTIES 15 REPRESENTED.—The 2 members of the Standards 16 Board who represent the same State may not be 17 members of the same political party. 18 (b) PROCEDURES FOR NOTICE AND CERTIFICATION 19 OF APPOINTMENT.— 20 (1) NOTICE TO CHAIR OF FEDERAL ELECTION 21 COMMISSION.—Not later than 90 days after the date 22 of the enactment of this Act, the chief State election 23 official of the State shall transmit a notice to the 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


31 chair of the Federal Election Commission 1 containing— 2 (A) the name of the State election official 3 who agrees to serve on the Standards Board 4 under this title; and 5 (B) the name of the representative local 6 election official from the State selected under 7 subsection (a)(2) who agrees to serve on the 8 Standards Board under this title. 9 (2) CERTIFICATION.—Upon receiving a notice 10 from a State under paragraph (1), the chair of the 11 Federal Election Commission shall publish a certifi- 12 cation that the selected State election official and 13 the representative local election official are ap- 14 pointed as members of the Standards Board under 15 this title. 16 (3) EFFECT OF FAILURE TO PROVIDE NO- 17 TICE.—If a State does not transmit a notice to the 18 chair of the Federal Election Commission under 19 paragraph (1) within the deadline described in such 20 paragraph, no representative from the State may 21 participate in the selection of the initial Executive 22 Board under subsection (c). 23 (4) ROLE OF COMMISSION.—Upon the appoint- 24 ment of the members of the Election Assistance 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


32 Commission, the Election Assistance Commission 1 shall carry out the duties of the Federal Election 2 Commission under this subsection. 3 (c) EXECUTIVE BOARD.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 5 the last day on which the appointment of any of its 6 members may be certified under subsection (b), the 7 Standards Board shall select 9 of its members to 8 serve as the Executive Board of the Standards 9 Board, of whom— 10 (A) not more than 5 may be State election 11 officials; 12 (B) not more than 5 may be local election 13 officials; and 14 (C) not more than 5 may be members of 15 the same political party. 16 (2) TERMS.—Except as provided in paragraph 17 (3), members of the Executive Board of the Stand- 18 ards Board shall serve for a term of 2 years and 19 may not serve for more than 3 consecutive terms. 20 (3) STAGGERING OF INITIAL TERMS.—Of the 21 members first selected to serve on the Executive 22 Board of the Standards Board— 23 (A) 3 shall serve for 1 term; 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


33 (B) 3 shall serve for 2 consecutive terms; 1 and 2 (C) 3 shall serve for 3 consecutive terms, 3 as determined by lot at the time the members are 4 first appointed. 5 (4) DUTIES.—In addition to any other duties 6 assigned under this title, the Executive Board of the 7 Standards Board may carry out such duties of the 8 Standards Board as the Standards Board may dele- 9 gate. 10 SEC. 214. MEMBERSHIP OF BOARD OF ADVISORS. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Board of Advisors shall be 12 composed of 37 members appointed as follows: 13 (1) 2 members appointed by the National Gov- 14 ernors Association. 15 (2) 2 members appointed by the National Con- 16 ference of State Legislatures. 17 (3) 2 members appointed by the National Asso- 18 ciation of Secretaries of State. 19 (4) 2 members appointed by the National Asso- 20 ciation of State Election Directors. 21 (5) 2 members appointed by the National Asso- 22 ciation of Counties. 23 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


34 (6) 2 members appointed by the National Asso- 1 ciation of County Recorders, Election Administra- 2 tors, and Clerks. 3 (7) 2 members appointed by the United States 4 Conference of Mayors. 5 (8) 2 members appointed by the Election Cen- 6 ter. 7 (9) 2 members appointed by the International 8 Association of County Recorders, Election Officials, 9 and Treasurers. 10 (10) 2 members appointed by the United States 11 Commission on Civil Rights. 12 (11) 2 members appointed by the Architectural 13 and Transportation Barrier Compliance Board 14 under section 502 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 15 (29 U.S.C. 792). 16 (12) The chief of the Office of Public Integrity 17 of the Department of Justice, or the chief’s des- 18 ignee. 19 (13) The chief of the Voting Section of the Civil 20 Rights Division of the Department of Justice or the 21 chief’s designee. 22 (14) The director of the Federal Voting Assist- 23 ance Program of the Department of Defense. 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


35 (15) 4 members representing professionals in 1 the field of science and technology, of whom— 2 (A) 1 each shall be appointed by the 3 Speaker and the Minority Leader of the House 4 of Representatives; and 5 (B) 1 each shall be appointed by the Ma- 6 jority Leader and the Minority Leader of the 7 Senate. 8 (16) 8 members representing voter interests, of 9 whom— 10 (A) 4 members shall be appointed by the 11 Committee on House Administration of the 12 House of Representatives, of whom 2 shall be 13 appointed by the chair and 2 shall be appointed 14 by the ranking minority member; and 15 (B) 4 members shall be appointed by the 16 Committee on Rules and Administration of the 17 Senate, of whom 2 shall be appointed by the 18 chair and 2 shall be appointed by the ranking 19 minority member. 20 (b) MANNER OF APPOINTMENTS.—Appointments 21 shall be made to the Board of Advisors under subsection 22 (a) in a manner which ensures that the Board of Advisors 23 will be bipartisan in nature and will reflect the various 24 geographic regions of the United States. 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


36 (c) TERM OF SERVICE; VACANCY.—Members of the 1 Board of Advisors shall serve for a term of 2 years, and 2 may be reappointed. Any vacancy in the Board of Advisors 3 shall be filled in the manner in which the original appoint- 4 ment was made. 5 (d) CHAIR.—The Board of Advisors shall elect a 6 Chair from among its members. 7 SEC. 215. POWERS OF BOARDS; NO COMPENSATION FOR 8 SERVICE. 9 (a) HEARINGS AND SESSIONS.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—To the extent that funds are 11 made available by the Commission, the Standards 12 Board (acting through the Executive Board) and the 13 Board of Advisors may each hold such hearings for 14 the purpose of carrying out this Act, sit and act at 15 such times and places, take such testimony, and re- 16 ceive such evidence as each such Board considers ad- 17 visable to carry out this title, except that the Boards 18 may not issue subpoenas requiring the attendance 19 and testimony of witnesses or the production of any 20 evidence. 21 (2) MEETINGS.—The Standards Board and the 22 Board of Advisors shall each hold a meeting of its 23 members— 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


37 (A) not less frequently than once every 1 year for purposes of voting on the voluntary 2 voting system guidelines referred to it under 3 section 222; 4 (B) in the case of the Standards Board, 5 not less frequently than once every 2 years for 6 purposes of selecting the Executive Board; and 7 (C) at such other times as it considers ap- 8 propriate for purposes of conducting such other 9 business as it considers appropriate consistent 10 with this title. 11 (b) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The 12 Standards Board and the Board of Advisors may each se- 13 cure directly from any Federal department or agency such 14 information as the Board considers necessary to carry out 15 this Act. Upon request of the Executive Board (in the case 16 of the Standards Board) or the Chair (in the case of the 17 Board of Advisors), the head of such department or agen- 18 cy shall furnish such information to the Board. 19 (c) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Standards Board and 20 the Board of Advisors may use the United States mails 21 in the same manner and under the same conditions as a 22 department or agency of the Federal Government. 23 (d) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—Upon 24 the request of the Executive Board (in the case of the 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


38 Standards Board) or the Chair (in the case of the Board 1 of Advisors), the Administrator of the General Services 2 Administration shall provide to the Board, on a reimburs- 3 able basis, the administrative support services that are 4 necessary to enable the Board to carry out its duties under 5 this title. 6 (e) NO COMPENSATION FOR SERVICE.—Members of 7 the Standards Board and members of the Board of Advi- 8 sors shall not receive any compensation for their service, 9 but shall be paid travel expenses, including per diem in 10 lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employees of 11 agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, 12 United States Code, while away from their homes or reg- 13 ular places of business in the performance of services for 14 the Board. 15 SEC. 216. STATUS OF BOARDS AND MEMBERS FOR PUR- 16 POSES OF CLAIMS AGAINST BOARD. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The provisions of chapters 161 18 and 171 of title 28, United States Code, shall apply with 19 respect to the liability of the Standards Board, the Board 20 of Advisors, and their members for acts or omissions per- 21 formed pursuant to and in the course of the duties and 22 responsibilities of the Board. 23 (b) EXCEPTION FOR CRIMINAL ACTS AND OTHER 24 WILLFUL CONDUCT.—Subsection (a) may not be con- 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


39 strued to limit personal liability for criminal acts or omis- 1 sions, willful or malicious misconduct, acts or omissions 2 for private gain, or any other act or omission outside the 3 scope of the service of a member of the Standards Board 4 or the Board of Advisors. 5 PART 3—TECHNICAL GUIDELINES 6 DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE 7 SEC. 221. TECHNICAL GUIDELINES DEVELOPMENT COM- 8 MITTEE. 9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established 10 the Technical Guidelines Development Committee (here- 11 after in this part referred to as the ‘‘Development Com- 12 mittee’’). 13 (b) DUTIES.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Development Committee 15 shall assist the Executive Director of the Commis- 16 sion in the development of the voluntary voting sys- 17 tem guidelines. 18 (2) DEADLINE FOR INITIAL SET OF REC- 19 OMMENDATIONS.—The Development Committee 20 shall provide its first set of recommendations under 21 this section to the Executive Director of the Com- 22 mission not later than 9 months after all of its mem- 23 bers have been appointed. 24 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


40 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Development Committee 1 shall be composed of the Director of the National 2 Institute of Standards and Technology (who shall 3 serve as its chair), together with a group of 14 other 4 individuals appointed jointly by the Commission and 5 the Director of the National Institute of Standards 6 and Technology, consisting of the following: 7 (A) An equal number of each of the fol- 8 lowing: 9 (i) Members of the Standards Board. 10 (ii) Members of the Board of Advi- 11 sors. 12 (iii) Members of the Architectural and 13 Transportation Barrier Compliance Board 14 under section 502 of the Rehabilitation Act 15 of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 792). 16 (B) A representative of the American Na- 17 tional Standards Institute. 18 (C) A representative of the Institute of 19 Electrical and Electronics Engineers. 20 (D) 2 representatives of the National Asso- 21 ciation of State Election Directors selected by 22 such Association who are not members of the 23 Standards Board or Board of Advisors, and 24 who are not of the same political party. 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


41 (E) Other individuals with technical and 1 scientific expertise relating to voting systems 2 and voting equipment. 3 (2) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of 4 the Development Committee shall constitute a 5 quorum, except that the Development Committee 6 may not conduct any business prior to the appoint- 7 ment of all of its members. 8 (d) NO COMPENSATION FOR SERVICE.—Members of 9 the Development Committee shall not receive any com- 10 pensation for their service, but shall be paid travel ex- 11 penses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates 12 authorized for employees of agencies under subchapter I 13 of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away 14 from their homes or regular places of business in the per- 15 formance of services for the Development Committee. 16 (e) TECHNICAL SUPPORT FROM NATIONAL INSTI- 17 TUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—At the request of the Devel- 19 opment Committee, the Director of the National In- 20 stitute of Standards and Technology shall provide 21 the Development Committee with technical support 22 necessary for the Development Committee to carry 23 out its duties under this subtitle. 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


42 (2) TECHNICAL SUPPORT.—The technical sup- 1 port provided under paragraph (1) shall include in- 2 tramural research and development in areas to sup- 3 port the development of the voluntary voting system 4 guidelines under this part, including— 5 (A) the security of computers, computer 6 networks, and computer data storage used in 7 voting systems, including the computerized list 8 required under section 303(a); 9 (B) methods to detect and prevent fraud; 10 (C) the protection of voter privacy; 11 (D) the role of human factors in the design 12 and application of voting systems, including as- 13 sistive technologies for individuals with disabil- 14 ities (including blindness) and varying levels of 15 literacy; and 16 (E) remote access voting, including voting 17 through the Internet. 18 (3) NO PRIVATE SECTOR INTELLECTUAL PROP- 19 ERTY RIGHTS IN GUIDELINES.—No private sector in- 20 dividual or entity shall obtain any intellectual prop- 21 erty rights to any guideline or the contents of any 22 guideline (or any modification to any guideline) 23 adopted by the Commission under this Act. 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


43 (f) PUBLICATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS IN FED- 1 ERAL REGISTER.—At the time the Commission adopts any 2 voluntary voting system guideline pursuant to section 222, 3 the Development Committee shall cause to have published 4 in the Federal Register the recommendations it provided 5 under this section to the Executive Director of the Com- 6 mission concerning the guideline adopted. 7 SEC. 222. PROCESS FOR ADOPTION. 8 (a) GENERAL REQUIREMENT FOR NOTICE AND COM- 9 MENT.—Consistent with the requirements of this section, 10 the final adoption of the voluntary voting system guide- 11 lines (or modification of such a guideline) shall be carried 12 out by the Commission in a manner that provides for each 13 of the following: 14 (1) Publication of notice of the proposed guide- 15 lines in the Federal Register. 16 (2) An opportunity for public comment on the 17 proposed guidelines. 18 (3) An opportunity for a public hearing on the 19 record. 20 (4) Publication of the final guidelines in the 21 Federal Register. 22 (b) CONSIDERATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS OF DE- 23 VELOPMENT COMMITTEE; SUBMISSION OF PROPOSED 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


44 GUIDELINES TO BOARD OF ADVISORS AND STANDARDS 1 BOARD.— 2 (1) CONSIDERATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS OF 3 DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE.—In developing the vol- 4 untary voting system guidelines and modifications of 5 such guidelines under this section, the Executive Di- 6 rector of the Commission shall take into consider- 7 ation the recommendations provided by the Tech- 8 nical Guidelines Development Committee under sec- 9 tion 221. 10 (2) BOARD OF ADVISORS.—The Executive Di- 11 rector of the Commission shall submit the guidelines 12 proposed to be adopted under this part (or any 13 modifications to such guidelines) to the Board of 14 Advisors. 15 (3) STANDARDS BOARD.—The Executive Direc- 16 tor of the Commission shall submit the guidelines 17 proposed to be adopted under this part (or any 18 modifications to such guidelines) to the Executive 19 Board of the Standards Board, which shall review 20 the guidelines (or modifications) and forward its rec- 21 ommendations to the Standards Board. 22 (c) REVIEW.—Upon receipt of voluntary voting sys- 23 tem guidelines described in subsection (b) (or a modifica- 24 tion of such guidelines) from the Executive Director of the 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


45 Commission, the Board of Advisors and the Standards 1 Board shall each review and submit comments and rec- 2 ommendations regarding the guideline (or modification) to 3 the Commission. 4 (d) FINAL ADOPTION.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—A voluntary voting system 6 guideline described in subsection (b) (or modification 7 of such a guideline) shall not be considered to be fi- 8 nally adopted by the Commission unless the Com- 9 mission votes to approve the final adoption of the 10 guideline (or modification), taking into consideration 11 the comments and recommendations submitted by 12 the Board of Advisors and the Standards Board 13 under subsection (c). 14 (2) MINIMUM PERIOD FOR CONSIDERATION OF 15 COMMENTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Commis- 16 sion may not vote on the final adoption of a guide- 17 line described in subsection (b) (or modification of 18 such a guideline) until the expiration of the 90-day 19 period which begins on the date the Executive Direc- 20 tor of the Commission submits the proposed guide- 21 line (or modification) to the Board of Advisors and 22 the Standards Board under subsection (b). 23 (e) SPECIAL RULE FOR INITIAL SET OF GUIDE- 24 LINES.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


46 the most recent set of voting system standards adopted 1 by the Federal Election Commission prior to the date of 2 the enactment of this Act shall be deemed to have been 3 adopted by the Commission as of the date of the enact- 4 ment of this Act as the first set of voluntary voting system 5 guidelines adopted under this part. 6 Subtitle B—Testing, Certification, 7 Decertification, and Recertifi- 8 cation of Voting System Hard- 9 ware and Software 10 SEC. 231. CERTIFICATION AND TESTING OF VOTING SYS- 11 TEMS. 12 (a) CERTIFICATION AND TESTING.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall pro- 14 vide for the testing, certification, decertification, and 15 recertification of voting system hardware and soft- 16 ware by accredited laboratories. 17 (2) OPTIONAL USE BY STATES.—At the option 18 of a State, the State may provide for the testing, 19 certification, decertification, or recertification of its 20 voting system hardware and software by the labora- 21 tories accredited by the Commission under this sec- 22 tion. 23 (b) LABORATORY ACCREDITATION.— 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


47 (1) RECOMMENDATIONS BY NATIONAL INSTI- 1 TUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY.—Not later 2 than 6 months after the Commission first adopts 3 voluntary voting system guidelines under part 3 of 4 subtitle A, the Director of the National Institute of 5 Standards and Technology shall conduct an evalua- 6 tion of independent, non-Federal laboratories and 7 shall submit to the Commission a list of those lab- 8 oratories the Director proposes to be accredited to 9 carry out the testing, certification, decertification, 10 and recertification provided for under this section. 11 (2) APPROVAL BY COMMISSION.— 12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 13 vote on the accreditation of any laboratory 14 under this section, taking into consideration the 15 list submitted under paragraph (1), and no lab- 16 oratory may be accredited for purposes of this 17 section unless its accreditation is approved by a 18 vote of the Commission. 19 (B) ACCREDITATION OF LABORATORIES 20 NOT ON DIRECTOR LIST.—The Commission 21 shall publish an explanation for the accredita- 22 tion of any laboratory not included on the list 23 submitted by the Director of the National Insti- 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


48 tute of Standards and Technology under para- 1 graph (1). 2 (c) CONTINUING REVIEW BY NATIONAL INSTITUTE 3 OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—In cooperation with the 5 Commission and in consultation with the Standards 6 Board and the Board of Advisors, the Director of 7 the National Institute of Standards and Technology 8 shall monitor and review, on an ongoing basis, the 9 performance of the laboratories accredited by the 10 Commission under this section, and shall make such 11 recommendations to the Commission as it considers 12 appropriate with respect to the continuing accredita- 13 tion of such laboratories, including recommendations 14 to revoke the accreditation of any such laboratory. 15 (2) APPROVAL BY COMMISSION REQUIRED FOR 16 REVOCATION.—The accreditation of a laboratory for 17 purposes of this section may not be revoked unless 18 the revocation is approved by a vote of the Commis- 19 sion. 20 (d) TRANSITION.—Until such time as the Commis- 21 sion provides for the testing, certification, decertification, 22 and recertification of voting system hardware and software 23 by accredited laboratories under this section, the accredi- 24 tation of laboratories and the procedure for the testing, 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


49 certification, decertification, and recertification of voting 1 system hardware and software used as of the date of the 2 enactment of this Act shall remain in effect. 3 Subtitle C—Studies and Other Ac- 4 tivities To Promote Effective 5 Administration of Federal Elec- 6 tions 7 SEC. 241. PERIODIC STUDIES OF ELECTION ADMINISTRA- 8 TION ISSUES. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—On such periodic basis as the 10 Commission may determine, the Commission shall conduct 11 and make available to the public studies regarding the 12 election administration issues described in subsection (b), 13 with the goal of promoting methods of voting and admin- 14 istering elections which— 15 (1) will be the most convenient, accessible, and 16 easy to use for voters, including members of the uni- 17 formed services and overseas voters, individuals with 18 disabilities, including the blind and visually im- 19 paired, and voters with limited proficiency in the 20 English language; 21 (2) will yield the most accurate, secure, and ex- 22 peditious system for voting and tabulating election 23 results; 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


50 (3) will be nondiscriminatory and afford each 1 registered and eligible voter an equal opportunity to 2 vote and to have that vote counted; and 3 (4) will be efficient and cost-effective for use. 4 (b) ELECTION ADMINISTRATION ISSUES DE- 5 SCRIBED.—For purposes of subsection (a), the election ad- 6 ministration issues described in this subsection are as fol- 7 lows: 8 (1) Methods and mechanisms of election tech- 9 nology and voting systems used in voting and count- 10 ing votes in elections for Federal office, including 11 the over-vote and under-vote notification capabilities 12 of such technology and systems. 13 (2) Ballot designs for elections for Federal of- 14 fice. 15 (3) Methods of voter registration, maintaining 16 secure and accurate lists of registered voters (includ- 17 ing the establishment of a centralized, interactive, 18 statewide voter registration list linked to relevant 19 agencies and all polling sites), and ensuring that 20 registered voters appear on the voter registration list 21 at the appropriate polling site. 22 (4) Methods of conducting provisional voting. 23 (5) Methods of ensuring the accessibility of vot- 24 ing, registration, polling places, and voting equip- 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


51 ment to all voters, including individuals with disabil- 1 ities (including the blind and visually impaired), Na- 2 tive American or Alaska Native citizens, and voters 3 with limited proficiency in the English language. 4 (6) Nationwide statistics and methods of identi- 5 fying, deterring, and investigating voting fraud in 6 elections for Federal office. 7 (7) Identifying, deterring, and investigating 8 methods of voter intimidation. 9 (8) Methods of recruiting, training, and improv- 10 ing the performance of poll workers. 11 (9) Methods of educating voters about the proc- 12 ess of registering to vote and voting, the operation 13 of voting mechanisms, the location of polling places, 14 and all other aspects of participating in elections. 15 (10) The feasibility and advisability of con- 16 ducting elections for Federal office on different days, 17 at different places, and during different hours, in- 18 cluding the advisability of establishing a uniform poll 19 closing time and establishing— 20 (A) a legal public holiday under section 21 6103 of title 5, United States Code, as the date 22 on which general elections for Federal office are 23 held; 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


52 (B) the Tuesday next after the 1st Monday 1 in November, in every even numbered year, as 2 a legal public holiday under such section; 3 (C) a date other than the Tuesday next 4 after the 1st Monday in November, in every 5 even numbered year as the date on which gen- 6 eral elections for Federal office are held; and 7 (D) any date described in subparagraph 8 (C) as a legal public holiday under such section. 9 (11) Federal and State laws governing the eligi- 10 bility of persons to vote. 11 (12) Ways that the Federal Government can 12 best assist State and local authorities to improve the 13 administration of elections for Federal office and 14 what levels of funding would be necessary to provide 15 such assistance. 16 (13)(A) The laws and procedures used by each 17 State that govern— 18 (i) recounts of ballots cast in elections for 19 Federal office; 20 (ii) contests of determinations regarding 21 whether votes are counted in such elections; and 22 (iii) standards that define what will con- 23 stitute a vote on each type of voting equipment 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


53 used in the State to conduct elections for Fed- 1 eral office. 2 (B) The best practices (as identified by the 3 Commission) that are used by States with respect to 4 the recounts and contests described in clause (i). 5 (C) Whether or not there is a need for more 6 consistency among State recount and contest proce- 7 dures used with respect to elections for Federal of- 8 fice. 9 (14) The technical feasibility of providing vot- 10 ing materials in 8 or more languages for voters who 11 speak those languages and who have limited English 12 proficiency. 13 (15) Matters particularly relevant to voting and 14 administering elections in rural and urban areas. 15 (16) Methods of voter registration for members 16 of the uniformed services and overseas voters, and 17 methods of ensuring that such voters receive timely 18 ballots that will be properly and expeditiously han- 19 dled and counted. 20 (17) The best methods for establishing voting 21 system performance benchmarks, expressed as a per- 22 centage of residual vote in the Federal contest at the 23 top of the ballot. 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


54 (18) Broadcasting practices that may result in 1 the broadcast of false information concerning the lo- 2 cation or time of operation of a polling place. 3 (19) Such other matters as the Commission de- 4 termines are appropriate. 5 (c) REPORTS.—The Commission shall submit to the 6 President and to the Committee on House Administration 7 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 8 Rules and Administration of the Senate a report on each 9 study conducted under subsection (a) together with such 10 recommendations for administrative and legislative action 11 as the Commission determines is appropriate. 12 SEC. 242. STUDY, REPORT, AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON 13 BEST PRACTICES FOR FACILITATING MILI- 14 TARY AND OVERSEAS VOTING. 15 (a) STUDY.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission, in con- 17 sultation with the Secretary of Defense, shall con- 18 duct a study on the best practices for facilitating 19 voting by absent uniformed services voters (as de- 20 fined in section 107(1) of the Uniformed and Over- 21 seas Citizens Absentee Voting Act) and overseas vot- 22 ers (as defined in section 107(5) of such Act). 23 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


55 (2) ISSUES CONSIDERED.—In conducting the 1 study under paragraph (1) the Commission shall 2 consider the following issues: 3 (A) The rights of residence of uniformed 4 services voters absent due to military orders. 5 (B) The rights of absent uniformed serv- 6 ices voters and overseas voters to register to 7 vote and cast absentee ballots, including the 8 right of such voters to cast a secret ballot. 9 (C) The rights of absent uniformed serv- 10 ices voters and overseas voters to submit absen- 11 tee ballot applications early during an election 12 year. 13 (D) The appropriate preelection deadline 14 for mailing absentee ballots to absent uniformed 15 services voters and overseas voters. 16 (E) The appropriate minimum period be- 17 tween the mailing of absentee ballots to absent 18 uniformed services voters and overseas voters 19 and the deadline for receipt of such ballots. 20 (F) The timely transmission of balloting 21 materials to absent uniformed services voters 22 and overseas voters. 23 (G) Security and privacy concerns in the 24 transmission, receipt, and processing of ballots 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


56 from absent uniformed services voters and over- 1 seas voters, including the need to protect 2 against fraud. 3 (H) The use of a single application by ab- 4 sent uniformed services voters and overseas vot- 5 ers for absentee ballots for all Federal elections 6 occurring during a year. 7 (I) The use of a single application for voter 8 registration and absentee ballots by absent uni- 9 formed services voters and overseas voters. 10 (J) The use of facsimile machines and elec- 11 tronic means of transmission of absentee ballot 12 applications and absentee ballots to absent uni- 13 formed services voters and overseas voters. 14 (K) Other issues related to the rights of 15 absent uniformed services voters and overseas 16 voters to participate in elections. 17 (b) REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not later 18 than the date that is 18 months after the date of the en- 19 actment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to the 20 President and Congress a report on the study conducted 21 under subsection (a)(1) together with recommendations 22 identifying the best practices used with respect to the 23 issues considered under subsection (a)(2). 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


57 SEC. 243. REPORT ON HUMAN FACTOR RESEARCH. 1 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 2 of this Act, the Commission, in consultation with the Di- 3 rector of the National Institute of Standards and Tech- 4 nology, shall submit a report to Congress which assesses 5 the areas of human factor research, including usability en- 6 gineering and human-computer and human-machine inter- 7 action, which feasibly could be applied to voting products 8 and systems design to ensure the usability and accuracy 9 of voting products and systems, including methods to im- 10 prove access for individuals with disabilities (including 11 blindness) and individuals with limited proficiency in the 12 English language and to reduce voter error and the num- 13 ber of spoiled ballots in elections. 14 SEC. 244. STUDY AND REPORT ON VOTERS WHO REGISTER 15 BY MAIL AND USE OF SOCIAL SECURITY IN- 16 FORMATION. 17 (a) REGISTRATION BY MAIL.— 18 (1) STUDY.— 19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 20 conduct a study of the impact of section 303(b) 21 on voters who register by mail. 22 (B) SPECIFIC ISSUES STUDIED.—The 23 study conducted under subparagraph (A) shall 24 include— 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


58 (i) an examination of the impact of 1 section 303(b) on first time mail registrant 2 voters who vote in person, including the 3 impact of such section on voter registra- 4 tion; 5 (ii) an examination of the impact of 6 such section on the accuracy of voter rolls, 7 including preventing ineligible names from 8 being placed on voter rolls and ensuring 9 that all eligible names are placed on voter 10 rolls; and 11 (iii) an analysis of the impact of such 12 section on existing State practices, such as 13 the use of signature verification or attesta- 14 tion procedures to verify the identity of 15 voters in elections for Federal office, and 16 an analysis of other changes that may be 17 made to improve the voter registration 18 process, such as verification or additional 19 information on the registration card. 20 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after 21 the date on which section 303(b)(2) takes effect, the 22 Commission shall submit a report to the President 23 and Congress on the study conducted under para- 24 graph (1)(A) together with such recommendations 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


59 for administrative and legislative action as the Com- 1 mission determines is appropriate. 2 (b) USE OF SOCIAL SECURITY INFORMATION.—Not 3 later than 18 months after the date on which section 4 303(a)(5) takes effect, the Commission, in consultation 5 with the Commissioner of Social Security, shall study and 6 report to Congress on the feasibility and advisability of 7 using Social Security identification numbers or other in- 8 formation compiled by the Social Security Administration 9 to establish voter registration or other election law eligi- 10 bility or identification requirements, including the match- 11 ing of relevant information specific to an individual voter, 12 the impact of such use on national security issues, and 13 whether adequate safeguards or waiver procedures exist 14 to protect the privacy of an individual voter. 15 SEC. 245. STUDY AND REPORT ON ELECTRONIC VOTING 16 AND THE ELECTORAL PROCESS. 17 (a) STUDY.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall con- 19 duct a thorough study of issues and challenges, spe- 20 cifically to include the potential for election fraud, 21 presented by incorporating communications and 22 Internet technologies in the Federal, State, and local 23 electoral process. 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


60 (2) ISSUES TO BE STUDIED.—The Commission 1 may include in the study conducted under paragraph 2 (1) an examination of— 3 (A) the appropriate security measures re- 4 quired and minimum standards for certification 5 of systems or technologies in order to minimize 6 the potential for fraud in voting or in the reg- 7 istration of qualified citizens to register and 8 vote; 9 (B) the possible methods, such as Internet 10 or other communications technologies, that may 11 be utilized in the electoral process, including the 12 use of those technologies to register voters and 13 enable citizens to vote online, and recommenda- 14 tions concerning statutes and rules to be adopt- 15 ed in order to implement an online or Internet 16 system in the electoral process; 17 (C) the impact that new communications 18 or Internet technology systems for use in the 19 electoral process could have on voter participa- 20 tion rates, voter education, public accessibility, 21 potential external influences during the elec- 22 tions process, voter privacy and anonymity, and 23 other issues related to the conduct and adminis- 24 tration of elections; 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


61 (D) whether other aspects of the electoral 1 process, such as public availability of candidate 2 information and citizen communication with 3 candidates, could benefit from the increased use 4 of online or Internet technologies; 5 (E) the requirements for authorization of 6 collection, storage, and processing of electroni- 7 cally generated and transmitted digital mes- 8 sages to permit any eligible person to register 9 to vote or vote in an election, including applying 10 for and casting an absentee ballot; 11 (F) the implementation cost of an online 12 or Internet voting or voter registration system 13 and the costs of elections after implementation 14 (including a comparison of total cost savings for 15 the administration of the electoral process by 16 using Internet technologies or systems); 17 (G) identification of current and foresee- 18 able online and Internet technologies for use in 19 the registration of voters, for voting, or for the 20 purpose of reducing election fraud, currently 21 available or in use by election authorities; 22 (H) the means by which to ensure and 23 achieve equity of access to online or Internet 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


62 voting or voter registration systems and address 1 the fairness of such systems to all citizens; and 2 (I) the impact of technology on the speed, 3 timeliness, and accuracy of vote counts in Fed- 4 eral, State, and local elections. 5 (b) REPORT.— 6 (1) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 20 months 7 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 8 Commission shall transmit to the Committee on 9 House Administration of the House of Representa- 10 tives and the Committee on Rules and Administra- 11 tion of the Senate a report on the results of the 12 study conducted under subsection (a), including such 13 legislative recommendations or model State laws as 14 are required to address the findings of the Commis- 15 sion. 16 (2) INTERNET POSTING.—In addition to the 17 dissemination requirements under chapter 19 of title 18 44, United States Code, the Election Administration 19 Commission shall post the report transmitted under 20 paragraph (1) on an Internet website. 21 SEC. 246. STUDY AND REPORT ON FREE ABSENTEE BALLOT 22 POSTAGE. 23 (a) STUDY ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A FREE AB- 24 SENTEE BALLOT POSTAGE PROGRAM.— 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


63 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission, in con- 1 sultation with the Postal Service, shall conduct a 2 study on the feasibility and advisability of the estab- 3 lishment of a program under which the Postal Serv- 4 ice shall waive or otherwise reduce the amount of 5 postage applicable with respect to absentee ballots 6 submitted by voters in general elections for Federal 7 office (other than balloting materials mailed under 8 section 3406 of title 39, United States Code) that 9 does not apply with respect to the postage required 10 to send the absentee ballots to voters. 11 (2) PUBLIC SURVEY.—As part of the study con- 12 ducted under paragraph (1), the Commission shall 13 conduct a survey of potential beneficiaries under the 14 program described in such paragraph, including the 15 elderly and disabled, and shall take into account the 16 results of such survey in determining the feasibility 17 and advisability of establishing such a program. 18 (b) REPORT.— 19 (1) SUBMISSION.—Not later than the date that 20 is 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 21 the Commission shall submit to Congress a report 22 on the study conducted under subsection (a)(1) to- 23 gether with recommendations for such legislative 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


64 and administrative action as the Commission deter- 1 mines appropriate. 2 (2) COSTS.—The report submitted under para- 3 graph (1) shall contain an estimate of the costs of 4 establishing the program described in subsection 5 (a)(1). 6 (3) IMPLEMENTATION.—The report submitted 7 under paragraph (1) shall contain an analysis of the 8 feasibility of implementing the program described in 9 subsection (a)(1) with respect to the absentee ballots 10 to be submitted in the general election for Federal 11 office held in 2004. 12 (4) RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING THE EL- 13 DERLY AND DISABLED.—The report submitted 14 under paragraph (1) shall— 15 (A) include recommendations on ways that 16 program described in subsection (a)(1) would 17 target elderly individuals and individuals with 18 disabilities; and 19 (B) identify methods to increase the num- 20 ber of such individuals who vote in elections for 21 Federal office. 22 (c) POSTAL SERVICE DEFINED.—The term ‘‘Postal 23 Service’’ means the United States Postal Service estab- 24 lished under section 201 of title 39, United States Code. 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


65 SEC. 247. CONSULTATION WITH STANDARDS BOARD AND 1 BOARD OF ADVISORS. 2 The Commission shall carry out its duties under this 3 subtitle in consultation with the Standards Board and the 4 Board of Advisors. 5 Subtitle D—Election Assistance 6 PART 1—REQUIREMENTS PAYMENTS 7 SEC. 251. REQUIREMENTS PAYMENTS. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall make a re- 9 quirements payment each year in an amount determined 10 under section 252 to each State which meets the condi- 11 tions described in section 253 for the year. 12 (b) USE OF FUNDS.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 14 graph (2), a State receiving a requirements payment 15 shall use the payment only to meet the requirements 16 of title III. 17 (2) OTHER ACTIVITIES.—A State may use a re- 18 quirements payment to carry out other activities to 19 improve the administration of elections for Federal 20 office if the State certifies to the Commission that— 21 (A) the State has implemented the require- 22 ments of title III; or 23 (B) the amount expended with respect to 24 such other activities does not exceed an amount 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


66 equal to the minimum payment amount applica- 1 ble to the State under section 252(c). 2 (c) RETROACTIVE PAYMENTS.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 4 provision of this subtitle, including the maintenance 5 of effort requirements of section 254(a)(7), a State 6 may use a requirements payment as a reimburse- 7 ment for costs incurred in obtaining voting equip- 8 ment which meets the requirements of section 301 9 if the State obtains the equipment after the regu- 10 larly scheduled general election for Federal office 11 held in November 2000. 12 (2) SPECIAL RULE REGARDING MULTIYEAR 13 CONTRACTS.—A State may use a requirements pay- 14 ment for any costs for voting equipment which meets 15 the requirements of section 301 that, pursuant to a 16 multiyear contract, were incurred on or after Janu- 17 ary 1, 2001, except that the amount that the State 18 is otherwise required to contribute under the mainte- 19 nance of effort requirements of section 254(a)(7) 20 shall be increased by the amount of the payment 21 made with respect to such multiyear contract. 22 (d) ADOPTION OF COMMISSION GUIDELINES AND 23 GUIDANCE NOT REQUIRED TO RECEIVE PAYMENT.— 24 Nothing in this part may be construed to require a State 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


67 to implement any of the voluntary voting system guide- 1 lines or any of the voluntary guidance adopted by the 2 Commission with respect to any matter as a condition for 3 receiving a requirements payment. 4 (e) SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS.—As soon as prac- 5 ticable after the initial appointment of all members of the 6 Commission (but in no event later than 6 months there- 7 after), and not less frequently than once each calendar 8 year thereafter, the Commission shall make requirements 9 payments to States under this part. 10 (f) LIMITATION.—A State may not use any portion 11 of a requirements payment— 12 (1) to pay costs associated with any litigation, 13 except to the extent that such costs otherwise con- 14 stitute permitted uses of a requirements payment 15 under this part; or 16 (2) for the payment of any judgment. 17 SEC. 252. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (c), the 19 amount of a requirements payment made to a State for 20 a year shall be equal to the product of— 21 (1) the total amount appropriated for require- 22 ments payments for the year pursuant to the au- 23 thorization under section 257; and 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


68 (2) the State allocation percentage for the State 1 (as determined under subsection (b)). 2 (b) STATE ALLOCATION PERCENTAGE DEFINED.— 3 The ‘‘State allocation percentage’’ for a State is the 4 amount (expressed as a percentage) equal to the quotient 5 of— 6 (1) the voting age population of the State (as 7 reported in the most recent decennial census); and 8 (2) the total voting age population of all States 9 (as reported in the most recent decennial census). 10 (c) MINIMUM AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.—The amount 11 of a requirements payment made to a State for a year 12 may not be less than— 13 (1) in the case of any of the several States or 14 the District of Columbia, 1⁄2 of 1 percent of the total 15 amount appropriated for requirements payments for 16 the year under section 257; or 17 (2) in the case of the Commonwealth of Puerto 18 Rico, Guam, American Samoa, or the United States 19 Virgin Islands, 1⁄10 of 1 percent of such total 20 amount. 21 (d) PRO RATA REDUCTIONS.—The Administrator 22 shall make such pro rata reductions to the allocations de- 23 termined under subsection (a) as are necessary to comply 24 with the requirements of subsection (c). 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


69 (e) CONTINUING AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS AFTER 1 APPROPRIATION.—A requirements payment made to a 2 State under this part shall be available to the State with- 3 out fiscal year limitation. 4 SEC. 253. CONDITION FOR RECEIPT OF FUNDS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—A State is eligible to receive a re- 6 quirements payment for a fiscal year if the chief executive 7 officer of the State, or designee, in consultation and co- 8 ordination with the chief State election official, has filed 9 with the Commission a statement certifying that the State 10 is in compliance with the requirements referred to in sub- 11 section (b). A State may meet the requirement of the pre- 12 vious sentence by filing with the Commission a statement 13 which reads as follows: ‘‘





 hereby certifies 14 that it is in compliance with the requirements referred to 15 in section 253(b) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002.’’ 16 (with the blank to be filled in with the name of the State 17 involved). 18 (b) STATE PLAN REQUIREMENT; CERTIFICATION OF 19 COMPLIANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAWS AND REQUIRE- 20 MENTS.—The requirements referred to in this subsection 21 are as follows: 22 (1) The State has filed with the Commission a 23 State plan covering the fiscal year which the State 24 certifies— 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


70 (A) contains each of the elements described 1 in section 254 with respect to the fiscal year; 2 (B) is developed in accordance with section 3 255; and 4 (C) meets the public notice and comment 5 requirements of section 256. 6 (2) The State has filed with the Commission a 7 plan for the implementation of the uniform, non- 8 discriminatory administrative complaint procedures 9 required under section 402 (or has included such a 10 plan in the State plan filed under paragraph (1)), 11 and has such procedures in place for purposes of 12 meeting the requirements of such section. If the 13 State does not include such an implementation plan 14 in the State plan filed under paragraph (1), the re- 15 quirements of sections 255(b) and 256 shall apply to 16 the implementation plan in the same manner as such 17 requirements apply to the State plan. 18 (3) The State is in compliance with each of the 19 laws described in section 906, as such laws apply 20 with respect to this Act. 21 (4) To the extent that any portion of the re- 22 quirements payment is used for activities other than 23 meeting the requirements of title III— 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


71 (A) the State’s proposed uses of the re- 1 quirements payment are not inconsistent with 2 the requirements of title III; and 3 (B) the use of the funds under this para- 4 graph is consistent with the requirements of 5 section 251(b). 6 (5) The State has appropriated funds for car- 7 rying out the activities for which the requirements 8 payment is made in an amount equal to 5 percent 9 of the total amount to be spent for such activities 10 (taking into account the requirements payment and 11 the amount spent by the State) and, in the case of 12 a State that uses a requirements payment as a reim- 13 bursement under section 251(c)(2), an additional 14 amount equal to the amount of such reimbursement. 15 (c) METHODS OF COMPLIANCE LEFT TO DISCRETION 16 OF STATE.—The specific choices on the methods of com- 17 plying with the elements of a State plan shall be left to 18 the discretion of the State. 19 (d) TIMING FOR FILING OF CERTIFICATION.—A 20 State may not file a statement of certification under sub- 21 section (a) until the expiration of the 45-day period (or, 22 in the case of a fiscal year other than the first fiscal year 23 for which a requirements payment is made to the State 24 under this subtitle, the 30-day period) which begins on 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


72 the date the State plan under this subtitle is published 1 in the Federal Register pursuant to section 255(b). 2 (e) CHIEF STATE ELECTION OFFICIAL DEFINED.— 3 In this subtitle, the ‘‘chief State election official’’ of a 4 State is the individual designated by the State under sec- 5 tion 10 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 6 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–8) to be responsible for coordination 7 of the State’s responsibilities under such Act. 8 SEC. 254. STATE PLAN. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The State plan shall contain a de- 10 scription of each of the following: 11 (1) How the State will use the requirements 12 payment to meet the requirements of title III, and, 13 if applicable under section 251(a)(2), to carry out 14 other activities to improve the administration of elec- 15 tions. 16 (2) How the State will distribute and monitor 17 the distribution of the requirements payment to 18 units of local government or other entities in the 19 State for carrying out the activities described in 20 paragraph (1), including a description of— 21 (A) the criteria to be used to determine the 22 eligibility of such units or entities for receiving 23 the payment; and 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


73 (B) the methods to be used by the State 1 to monitor the performance of the units or enti- 2 ties to whom the payment is distributed, con- 3 sistent with the performance goals and meas- 4 ures adopted under paragraph (8). 5 (3) How the State will provide for programs for 6 voter education, election official education and train- 7 ing, and poll worker training which will assist the 8 State in meeting the requirements of title III. 9 (4) How the State will adopt voting system 10 guidelines and processes which are consistent with 11 the requirements of section 301. 12 (5) How the State will establish a fund de- 13 scribed in subsection (b) for purposes of admin- 14 istering the State’s activities under this part, includ- 15 ing information on fund management. 16 (6) The State’s proposed budget for activities 17 under this part, based on the State’s best estimates 18 of the costs of such activities and the amount of 19 funds to be made available, including specific infor- 20 mation on— 21 (A) the costs of the activities required to 22 be carried out to meet the requirements of title 23 III; 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


74 (B) the portion of the requirements pay- 1 ment which will be used to carry out activities 2 to meet such requirements; and 3 (C) the portion of the requirements pay- 4 ment which will be used to carry out other ac- 5 tivities. 6 (7) How the State, in using the requirements 7 payment, will maintain the expenditures of the State 8 for activities funded by the payment at a level that 9 is not less than the level of such expenditures main- 10 tained by the State for the fiscal year ending prior 11 to November 2000. 12 (8) How the State will adopt performance goals 13 and measures that will be used by the State to de- 14 termine its success and the success of units of local 15 government in the State in carrying out the plan, in- 16 cluding timetables for meeting each of the elements 17 of the plan, descriptions of the criteria the State will 18 use to measure performance and the process used to 19 develop such criteria, and a description of which offi- 20 cial is to be held responsible for ensuring that each 21 performance goal is met. 22 (9) A description of the uniform, nondiscrim- 23 inatory State-based administrative complaint proce- 24 dures in effect under section 402. 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


75 (10) If the State received any payment under 1 title I, a description of how such payment will affect 2 the activities proposed to be carried out under the 3 plan, including the amount of funds available for 4 such activities. 5 (11) How the State will conduct ongoing man- 6 agement of the plan, except that the State may not 7 make any material change in the administration of 8 the plan unless the change— 9 (A) is developed and published in the Fed- 10 eral Register in accordance with section 255 in 11 the same manner as the State plan; 12 (B) is subject to public notice and com- 13 ment in accordance with section 256 in the 14 same manner as the State plan; and 15 (C) takes effect only after the expiration of 16 the 30-day period which begins on the date the 17 change is published in the Federal Register in 18 accordance with subparagraph (A). 19 (12) In the case of a State with a State plan 20 in effect under this subtitle during the previous fis- 21 cal year, a description of how the plan reflects 22 changes from the State plan for the previous fiscal 23 year and of how the State succeeded in carrying out 24 the State plan for such previous fiscal year. 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


76 (13) A description of the committee which par- 1 ticipated in the development of the State plan in ac- 2 cordance with section 255 and the procedures fol- 3 lowed by the committee under such section and sec- 4 tion 256. 5 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR ELECTION FUND.— 6 (1) ELECTION FUND DESCRIBED.—For pur- 7 poses of subsection (a)(5), a fund described in this 8 subsection with respect to a State is a fund which 9 is established in the treasury of the State govern- 10 ment, which is used in accordance with paragraph 11 (2), and which consists of the following amounts: 12 (A) Amounts appropriated or otherwise 13 made available by the State for carrying out the 14 activities for which the requirements payment is 15 made to the State under this part. 16 (B) The requirements payment made to 17 the State under this part. 18 (C) Such other amounts as may be appro- 19 priated under law. 20 (D) Interest earned on deposits of the 21 fund. 22 (2) USE OF FUND.—Amounts in the fund shall 23 be used by the State exclusively to carry out the ac- 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


77 tivities for which the requirements payment is made 1 to the State under this part. 2 (3) TREATMENT OF STATES THAT REQUIRE 3 CHANGES TO STATE LAW.—In the case of a State 4 that requires State legislation to establish the fund 5 described in this subsection, the Commission shall 6 defer disbursement of the requirements payment to 7 such State until such time as legislation establishing 8 the fund is enacted. 9 (c) PROTECTION AGAINST ACTIONS BASED ON IN- 10 FORMATION IN PLAN.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—No action may be brought 12 under this Act against a State or other jurisdiction 13 on the basis of any information contained in the 14 State plan filed under this part. 15 (2) EXCEPTION FOR CRIMINAL ACTS.—Para- 16 graph (1) may not be construed to limit the liability 17 of a State or other jurisdiction for criminal acts or 18 omissions. 19 SEC. 255. PROCESS FOR DEVELOPMENT AND FILING OF 20 PLAN; PUBLICATION BY COMMISSION. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The chief State election official 22 shall develop the State plan under this subtitle through 23 a committee of appropriate individuals, including the chief 24 election officials of the 2 most populous jurisdictions with- 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


78 in the States, other local election officials, stake holders 1 (including representatives of groups of individuals with 2 disabilities), and other citizens, appointed for such pur- 3 pose by the chief State election official. 4 (b) PUBLICATION OF PLAN BY COMMISSION.—After 5 receiving the State plan of a State under this subtitle, the 6 Commission shall cause to have the plan published in the 7 Federal Register. 8 SEC. 256. REQUIREMENT FOR PUBLIC NOTICE AND COM- 9 MENT. 10 For purposes of section 251(a)(1)(C), a State plan 11 meets the public notice and comment requirements of this 12 section if— 13 (1) not later than 30 days prior to the submis- 14 sion of the plan, the State made a preliminary ver- 15 sion of the plan available for public inspection and 16 comment; 17 (2) the State publishes notice that the prelimi- 18 nary version of the plan is so available; and 19 (3) the State took the public comments made 20 regarding the preliminary version of the plan into 21 account in preparing the plan which was filed with 22 the Commission. 23 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


79 SEC. 257. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to amounts trans- 2 ferred under section 104(c), there are authorized to be ap- 3 propriated for requirements payments under this part the 4 following amounts: 5 (1) For fiscal year 2003, $1,400,000,000. 6 (2) For fiscal year 2004, $1,000,000,000. 7 (3) For fiscal year 2005, $600,000,000. 8 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Any amounts appropriated pur- 9 suant to the authority of subsection (a) shall remain avail- 10 able without fiscal year limitation until expended. 11 SEC. 258. REPORTS. 12 Not later than 6 months after the end of each fiscal 13 year for which a State received a requirements payment 14 under this part, the State shall submit a report to the 15 Commission on the activities conducted with the funds 16 provided during the year, and shall include in the report— 17 (1) a list of expenditures made with respect to 18 each category of activities described in section 19 251(b); 20 (2) the number and type of articles of voting 21 equipment obtained with the funds; and 22 (3) an analysis and description of the activities 23 funded under this part to meet the requirements of 24 this Act and an analysis and description of how such 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


80 activities conform to the State plan under section 1 254. 2 PART 2—PAYMENTS TO STATES AND UNITS OF 3 LOCAL GOVERNMENT TO ASSURE ACCESS 4 FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES 5 SEC. 261. PAYMENTS TO STATES AND UNITS OF LOCAL GOV- 6 ERNMENT TO ASSURE ACCESS FOR INDIVID- 7 UALS WITH DISABILITIES. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 9 Human Services shall make a payment to each eligible 10 State and each eligible unit of local government (as de- 11 scribed in section 263). 12 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible State and eligible 13 unit of local government shall use the payment received 14 under this part for— 15 (1) making polling places, including the path of 16 travel, entrances, exits, and voting areas of each 17 polling facility, accessible to individuals with disabil- 18 ities, including the blind and visually impaired, in a 19 manner that provides the same opportunity for ac- 20 cess and participation (including privacy and inde- 21 pendence) as for other voters; and 22 (2) providing individuals with disabilities and 23 the other individuals described in paragraph (1) with 24 information about the accessibility of polling places, 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


81 including outreach programs to inform the individ- 1 uals about the availability of accessible polling places 2 and training election officials, poll workers, and elec- 3 tion volunteers on how best to promote the access 4 and participation of individuals with disabilities in 5 elections for Federal office. 6 (c) SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS.—As soon as prac- 7 ticable after the date of the enactment of this Act (but 8 in no event later than 6 months thereafter), and not less 9 frequently than once each calendar year thereafter, the 10 Secretary shall make payments under this part. 11 SEC. 262. AMOUNT OF PAYMENT. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The amount of a payment made 13 to an eligible State or an eligible unit of local government 14 for a year under this part shall be determined by the Sec- 15 retary. 16 (b) CONTINUING AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS AFTER 17 APPROPRIATION.—A payment made to an eligible State 18 or eligible unit of local government under this part shall 19 be available without fiscal year limitation. 20 SEC. 263. REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBILITY. 21 (a) APPLICATION.—Each State or unit of local gov- 22 ernment that desires to receive a payment under this part 23 for a fiscal year shall submit an application for the pay- 24 ment to the Secretary at such time and in such manner 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


82 and containing such information as the Secretary shall re- 1 quire. 2 (b) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—Each application 3 submitted under subsection (a) shall— 4 (1) describe the activities for which assistance 5 under this section is sought; and 6 (2) provide such additional information and cer- 7 tifications as the Secretary determines to be essen- 8 tial to ensure compliance with the requirements of 9 this part. 10 (c) PROTECTION AGAINST ACTIONS BASED ON IN- 11 FORMATION IN APPLICATION.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—No action may be brought 13 under this Act against a State or unit of local gov- 14 ernment on the basis of any information contained 15 in the application submitted under subsection (a). 16 (2) EXCEPTION FOR CRIMINAL ACTS.—Para- 17 graph (1) may not be construed to limit the liability 18 of a State or unit of local government for criminal 19 acts or omissions. 20 SEC. 264. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro- 22 priated to carry out the provisions of this part the fol- 23 lowing amounts: 24 (1) For fiscal year 2003, $50,000,000. 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


83 (1) For fiscal year 2004, $25,000,000. 1 (1) For fiscal year 2005, $25,000,000. 2 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Any amounts appropriated pur- 3 suant to the authority of subsection (a) shall remain avail- 4 able without fiscal year limitation until expended. 5 SEC. 265. REPORTS. 6 (a) REPORTS BY RECIPIENTS.—Not later than the 6 7 months after the end of each fiscal year for which an eligi- 8 ble State or eligible unit of local government received a 9 payment under this part, the State or unit shall submit 10 a report to the Secretary on the activities conducted with 11 the funds provided during the year, and shall include in 12 the report a list of expenditures made with respect to each 13 category of activities described in section 261(b). 14 (b) REPORT BY SECRETARY TO COMMITTEES.—With 15 respect to each fiscal year for which the Secretary makes 16 payments under this part, the Secretary shall submit a 17 report on the activities carried out under this part to the 18 Committee on House Administration of the House of Rep- 19 resentatives and the Committee on Rules and Administra- 20 tion of the Senate. 21 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


84 PART 3—GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON VOTING 1 TECHNOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS 2 SEC. 271. GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON VOTING TECH- 3 NOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall make 5 grants to assist entities in carrying out research and devel- 6 opment to improve the quality, reliability, accuracy, acces- 7 sibility, affordability, and security of voting equipment, 8 election systems, and voting technology. 9 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—An entity is eligible to receive a 10 grant under this part if it submits to the Commission (at 11 such time and in such form as the Commission may re- 12 quire) an application containing— 13 (1) certifications that the research and develop- 14 ment funded with the grant will take into account 15 the need to make voting equipment fully accessible 16 for individuals with disabilities, including the blind 17 and visually impaired, the need to ensure that such 18 individuals can vote independently and with privacy, 19 and the need to provide alternative language accessi- 20 bility for individuals with limited proficiency in the 21 English language (consistent with the requirements 22 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965); and 23 (2) such other information and certifications as 24 the Commission may require. 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


85 (c) APPLICABILITY OF REGULATIONS GOVERNING 1 PATENT RIGHTS IN INVENTIONS MADE WITH FEDERAL 2 ASSISTANCE.—Any invention made by the recipient of a 3 grant under this part using funds provided under this part 4 shall be subject to chapter 18 of title 35, United States 5 Code (relating to patent rights in inventions made with 6 Federal assistance). 7 (d) RECOMMENDATION OF TOPICS FOR RE- 8 SEARCH.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National 10 Institute of Standards and Technology (hereafter in 11 this section referred to as the ‘‘Director’’) shall sub- 12 mit to the Commission an annual list of the Direc- 13 tor’s suggestions for issues which may be the subject 14 of research funded with grants awarded under this 15 part during the year. 16 (2) REVIEW OF GRANT APPLICATIONS RE- 17 CEIVED BY COMMISSION.—The Commission shall 18 submit each application it receives for a grant under 19 this part to the Director, who shall review the appli- 20 cation and provide the Commission with such com- 21 ments as the Director considers appropriate. 22 (3) MONITORING AND ADJUSTMENT OF GRANT 23 ACTIVITIES AT REQUEST OF COMMISSION.—After the 24 Commission has awarded a grant under this part, 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


86 the Commission may request that the Director mon- 1 itor the grant, and (to the extent permitted under 2 the terms of the grant as awarded) the Director may 3 recommend to the Commission that the recipient of 4 the grant modify and adjust the activities carried 5 out under the grant. 6 (4) EVALUATION OF GRANTS AT REQUEST OF 7 COMMISSION.— 8 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a grant 9 for which the Commission submits the applica- 10 tion to the Director under paragraph (2) or re- 11 quests that the Director monitor the grant 12 under paragraph (3), the Director shall prepare 13 and submit to the Commission an evaluation of 14 the grant and the activities carried out under 15 the grant. 16 (B) INCLUSION IN REPORTS.—The Com- 17 mission shall include the evaluations submitted 18 under subparagraph (A) for a year in the re- 19 port submitted for the year under section 207. 20 (e) PROVISION OF INFORMATION ON PROJECTS.— 21 The Commission may provide to the Technical Guidelines 22 Development Committee under part 3 of subtitle A such 23 information regarding the activities funded under this part 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


87 as the Commission deems necessary to assist the Com- 1 mittee in carrying out its duties. 2 SEC. 272. REPORT. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each entity which receives a 4 grant under this part shall submit to the Commission a 5 report describing the activities carried out with the funds 6 provided under the grant. 7 (b) DEADLINE.—An entity shall submit a report re- 8 quired under subsection (a) not later than 60 days after 9 the end of the fiscal year for which the entity received 10 the grant which is the subject of the report. 11 SEC. 273. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro- 13 priated for grants under this part $20,000,000 for fiscal 14 year 2003. 15 (b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts appro- 16 priated pursuant to the authorization under this section 17 shall remain available, without fiscal year limitation, until 18 expended. 19 PART 4—PILOT PROGRAM FOR TESTING OF 20 EQUIPMENT AND TECHNOLOGY 21 SEC. 281. PILOT PROGRAM. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall make 23 grants to carry out pilot programs under which new tech- 24 nologies in voting systems and equipment are tested and 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


88 implemented on a trial basis so that the results of such 1 tests and trials are reported to Congress. 2 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—An entity is eligible to receive a 3 grant under this part if it submits to the Commission (at 4 such time and in such form as the Commission may re- 5 quire) an application containing— 6 (1) certifications that the pilot programs funded 7 with the grant will take into account the need to 8 make voting equipment fully accessible for individ- 9 uals with disabilities, including the blind and visually 10 impaired, the need to ensure that such individuals 11 can vote independently and with privacy, and the 12 need to provide alternative language accessibility for 13 individuals with limited proficiency in the English 14 language (consistent with the requirements of the 15 Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the requirements of 16 this Act); and 17 (2) such other information and certifications as 18 the Commission may require. 19 (c) RECOMMENDATION OF TOPICS FOR PILOT PRO- 20 GRAMS.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National 22 Institute of Standards and Technology (hereafter in 23 this section referred to as the ‘‘Director’’) shall sub- 24 mit to the Commission an annual list of the Direc- 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


89 tor’s suggestions for issues which may be the subject 1 of pilot programs funded with grants awarded under 2 this part during the year. 3 (2) REVIEW OF GRANT APPLICATIONS RE- 4 CEIVED BY COMMISSION.—The Commission shall 5 submit each application it receives for a grant under 6 this part to the Director, who shall review the appli- 7 cation and provide the Commission with such com- 8 ments as the Director considers appropriate. 9 (3) MONITORING AND ADJUSTMENT OF GRANT 10 ACTIVITIES AT REQUEST OF COMMISSION.—After the 11 Commission has awarded a grant under this part, 12 the Commission may request that the Director mon- 13 itor the grant, and (to the extent permitted under 14 the terms of the grant as awarded) the Director may 15 recommend to the Commission that the recipient of 16 the grant modify and adjust the activities carried 17 out under the grant. 18 (4) EVALUATION OF GRANTS AT REQUEST OF 19 COMMISSION.— 20 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a grant 21 for which the Commission submits the applica- 22 tion to the Director under paragraph (2) or re- 23 quests that the Director monitor the grant 24 under paragraph (3), the Director shall prepare 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


90 and submit to the Commission an evaluation of 1 the grant and the activities carried out under 2 the grant. 3 (B) INCLUSION IN REPORTS.—The Com- 4 mission shall include the evaluations submitted 5 under subparagraph (A) for a year in the re- 6 port submitted for the year under section 207. 7 (d) PROVISION OF INFORMATION ON PROJECTS.— 8 The Commission may provide to the Technical Guidelines 9 Development Committee under part 3 of subtitle A such 10 information regarding the activities funded under this part 11 as the Commission deems necessary to assist the Com- 12 mittee in carrying out its duties. 13 SEC. 282. REPORT. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each entity which receives a 15 grant under this part shall submit to the Commission a 16 report describing the activities carried out with the funds 17 provided under the grant. 18 (b) DEADLINE.—An entity shall submit a report re- 19 quired under subsection (a) not later than 60 days after 20 the end of the fiscal year for which the entity received 21 the grant which is the subject of the report. 22 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


91 SEC. 283. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro- 2 priated for grants under this part $10,000,000 for fiscal 3 year 2003. 4 (b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts appro- 5 priated pursuant to the authorization under this section 6 shall remain available, without fiscal year limitation, until 7 expended. 8 PART 5—PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY SYSTEMS 9 SEC. 291. PAYMENTS FOR PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY 10 SYSTEMS. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any other payments 12 made under this subtitle, the Secretary of Health and 13 Human Services shall pay the protection and advocacy 14 system (as defined in section 102 of the Developmental 15 Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 16 U.S.C. 15002)) of each State to ensure full participation 17 in the electoral process for individuals with disabilities, in- 18 cluding registering to vote, casting a vote and accessing 19 polling places. In providing such services, protection and 20 advocacy systems shall have the same general authorities 21 as they are afforded under subtitle C of title I of the De- 22 velopmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act 23 of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15041 et seq.). 24 (b) MINIMUM GRANT AMOUNT.—The minimum 25 amount of each grant to a protection and advocacy system 26 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


92 shall be determined and allocated as set forth in sub- 1 sections (c)(3), (c)(4), (c)(5), (e), and (g) of section 509 2 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794e), except 3 that the amount of the grants to systems referred to in 4 subsections (c)(3)(B) and (c)(4)(B) of that section shall 5 be not less than $70,000 and $35,000, respectively. 6 (c) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PRO- 7 GRAM.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 9 the date on which the initial appropriation of funds 10 for a fiscal year is made pursuant to the authoriza- 11 tion under section 292, the Secretary shall set aside 12 7 percent of the amount appropriated under such 13 section and use such portion to make payments to 14 eligible entities to provide training and technical as- 15 sistance with respect to the activities carried out 16 under this section. 17 (2) USE OF FUNDS.—A recipient of a payment 18 under this subsection may use the payment to sup- 19 port training in the use of voting systems and tech- 20 nologies, and to demonstrate and evaluate the use of 21 such systems and technologies, by individuals with 22 disabilities (including blindness) in order to assess 23 the availability and use of such systems and tech- 24 nologies for such individuals. At least 1 of the recipi- 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


93 ents under this subsection shall use the payment to 1 provide training and technical assistance for non- 2 visual access. 3 (3) ELIGIBILITY.—An entity is eligible to re- 4 ceive a payment under this subsection if the entity— 5 (A) is a public or private nonprofit entity 6 with demonstrated experience in voting issues 7 for individuals with disabilities; 8 (B) is governed by a board with respect to 9 which the majority of its members are individ- 10 uals with disabilities or family members of such 11 individuals or individuals who are blind; and 12 (C) submits to the Secretary an application 13 at such time, in such manner, and containing 14 such information as the Secretary may require. 15 SEC. 292. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 16 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any other amounts 17 authorized to be appropriated under this subtitle, there 18 are authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 for each 19 of the fiscal years 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006, and for 20 each subsequent fiscal year such sums as may be nec- 21 essary, for the purpose of making payments under section 22 291(a); except that none of the funds provided by this sub- 23 section shall be used to initiate or otherwise participate 24 in any litigation related to election-related disability ac- 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


94 cess, notwithstanding the general authorities that the pro- 1 tection and advocacy systems are otherwise afforded under 2 subtitle C of title I of the Developmental Disabilities As- 3 sistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15041 4 et seq.). 5 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Any amounts appropriated pur- 6 suant to the authority of this section shall remain avail- 7 able until expended. 8 PART 6—NATIONAL STUDENT AND PARENT 9 MOCK ELECTION 10 SEC. 295. NATIONAL STUDENT AND PARENT MOCK ELEC- 11 TION. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Election Assistance Commis- 13 sion is authorized to award grants to the National Student 14 and Parent Mock Election, a national nonprofit, non- 15 partisan organization that works to promote voter partici- 16 pation in American elections to enable it to carry out voter 17 education activities for students and their parents. Such 18 activities may— 19 (1) include simulated national elections at least 20 5 days before the actual election that permit partici- 21 pation by students and parents from each of the 50 22 States in the United States, its territories, the Dis- 23 trict of Columbia, and United States schools over- 24 seas; and 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


95 (2) consist of— 1 (A) school forums and local cable call-in 2 shows on the national issues to be voted upon 3 in an ‘‘issues forum’’; 4 (B) speeches and debates before students 5 and parents by local candidates or stand-ins for 6 such candidates; 7 (C) quiz team competitions, mock press 8 conferences, and speech writing competitions; 9 (D) weekly meetings to follow the course of 10 the campaign; or 11 (E) school and neighborhood campaigns to 12 increase voter turnout, including newsletters, 13 posters, telephone chains, and transportation. 14 (b) REQUIREMENT.—The National Student and Par- 15 ent Mock Election shall present awards to outstanding 16 student and parent mock election projects. 17 SEC. 296. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 18 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 19 the provisions of this subtitle $200,000 for fiscal year 20 2003 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 21 6 succeeding fiscal years. 22 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


96 TITLE III—UNIFORM AND NON- 1 DISCRIMINATORY ELECTION 2 TECHNOLOGY AND ADMINIS- 3 TRATION REQUIREMENTS 4 Subtitle A—Requirements 5 SEC. 301. VOTING SYSTEMS STANDARDS. 6 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—Each voting system used in an 7 election for Federal office shall meet the following require- 8 ments: 9 (1) IN GENERAL.— 10 (A) Except as provided in subparagraph 11 (B), the voting system (including any lever vot- 12 ing system, optical scanning voting system, or 13 direct recording electronic system) shall— 14 (i) permit the voter to verify (in a pri- 15 vate and independent manner) the votes 16 selected by the voter on the ballot before 17 the ballot is cast and counted; 18 (ii) provide the voter with the oppor- 19 tunity (in a private and independent man- 20 ner) to change the ballot or correct any 21 error before the ballot is cast and counted 22 (including the opportunity to correct the 23 error through the issuance of a replace- 24 ment ballot if the voter was otherwise un- 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


97 able to change the ballot or correct any 1 error); and 2 (iii) if the voter selects votes for more 3 than 1 candidate for a single office— 4 (I) notify the voter that the voter 5 has selected more than 1 candidate 6 for a single office on the ballot; 7 (II) notify the voter before the 8 ballot is cast and counted of the effect 9 of casting multiple votes for the office; 10 and 11 (III) provide the voter with the 12 opportunity to correct the ballot be- 13 fore the ballot is cast and counted. 14 (B) A State or jurisdiction that uses a 15 paper ballot voting system, a punch card voting 16 system, or a central count voting system (in- 17 cluding mail-in absentee ballots and mail-in bal- 18 lots), may meet the requirements of subpara- 19 graph (A)(iii) by— 20 (i) establishing a voter education pro- 21 gram specific to that voting system that 22 notifies each voter of the effect of casting 23 multiple votes for an office; and 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


98 (ii) providing the voter with instruc- 1 tions on how to correct the ballot before it 2 is cast and counted (including instructions 3 on how to correct the error through the 4 issuance of a replacement ballot if the 5 voter was otherwise unable to change the 6 ballot or correct any error). 7 (C) The voting system shall ensure that 8 any notification required under this paragraph 9 preserves the privacy of the voter and the con- 10 fidentiality of the ballot. 11 (2) AUDIT CAPACITY.— 12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The voting system shall 13 produce a record with an audit capacity for 14 such system. 15 (B) MANUAL AUDIT CAPACITY.— 16 (i) The voting system shall produce a 17 permanent paper record with a manual 18 audit capacity for such system. 19 (ii) The voting system shall provide 20 the voter with an opportunity to change 21 the ballot or correct any error before the 22 permanent paper record is produced. 23 (iii) The paper record produced under 24 subparagraph (A) shall be available as an 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


99 official record for any recount conducted 1 with respect to any election in which the 2 system is used. 3 (3) ACCESSIBILITY FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DIS- 4 ABILITIES.—The voting system shall— 5 (A) be accessible for individuals with dis- 6 abilities, including nonvisual accessibility for the 7 blind and visually impaired, in a manner that 8 provides the same opportunity for access and 9 participation (including privacy and independ- 10 ence) as for other voters; 11 (B) satisfy the requirement of subpara- 12 graph (A) through the use of at least 1 direct 13 recording electronic voting system or other vot- 14 ing system equipped for individuals with disabil- 15 ities at each polling place; and 16 (C) if purchased with funds made available 17 under title II on or after January 1, 2007, meet 18 the voting system standards for disability access 19 (as outlined in this paragraph). 20 (4) ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGE ACCESSIBILITY.— 21 The voting system shall provide alternative language 22 accessibility pursuant to the requirements of section 23 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 24 1973aa–1a). 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


100 (5) ERROR RATES.—The error rate of the vot- 1 ing system in counting ballots (determined by taking 2 into account only those errors which are attributable 3 to the voting system and not attributable to an act 4 of the voter) shall comply with the error rate stand- 5 ards established under section 3.2.1 of the voting 6 systems standards issued by the Federal Election 7 Commission which are in effect on the date of the 8 enactment of this Act. 9 (6) UNIFORM DEFINITION OF WHAT CON- 10 STITUTES A VOTE.—Each State shall adopt uniform 11 and nondiscriminatory standards that define what 12 constitutes a vote and what will be counted as a vote 13 for each category of voting system used in the State. 14 (b) VOTING SYSTEM DEFINED.—In this section, the 15 term ‘‘voting system’’ means— 16 (1) the total combination of mechanical, 17 electromechanical, or electronic equipment (including 18 the software, firmware, and documentation required 19 to program, control, and support the equipment) 20 that is used— 21 (A) to define ballots; 22 (B) to cast and count votes; 23 (C) to report or display election results; 24 and 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


101 (D) to maintain and produce any audit 1 trail information; and 2 (2) the practices and associated documentation 3 used— 4 (A) to identify system components and ver- 5 sions of such components; 6 (B) to test the system during its develop- 7 ment and maintenance; 8 (C) to maintain records of system errors 9 and defects; 10 (D) to determine specific system changes 11 to be made to a system after the initial quali- 12 fication of the system; and 13 (E) to make available any materials to the 14 voter (such as notices, instructions, forms, or 15 paper ballots). 16 (c) CONSTRUCTION.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this section shall 18 be construed to prohibit a State or jurisdiction 19 which used a particular type of voting system in the 20 elections for Federal office held in November 2000 21 from using the same type of system after the effec- 22 tive date of this section, so long as the system meets 23 or is modified to meet the requirements of this sec- 24 tion. 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


102 (2) PROTECTION OF PAPER BALLOT VOTING 1 SYSTEMS.—For purposes of subsection (a)(1)(A)(i), 2 the term ‘‘verify’’ may not be defined in a manner 3 that makes it impossible for a paper ballot voting 4 system to meet the requirements of such subsection 5 or to be modified to meet such requirements. 6 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Each State and jurisdiction 7 shall be required to comply with the requirements of this 8 section on and after January 1, 2006. 9 SEC. 302. PROVISIONAL VOTING AND VOTING INFORMA- 10 TION REQUIREMENTS. 11 (a) PROVISIONAL VOTING REQUIREMENTS.—If an 12 individual declares that such individual is a registered 13 voter in the jurisdiction in which the individual desires to 14 vote and that the individual is eligible to vote in an election 15 for Federal office, but the name of the individual does not 16 appear on the official list of eligible voters for the polling 17 place or an election official asserts that the individual is 18 not eligible to vote, such individual shall be permitted to 19 cast a provisional ballot as follows: 20 (1) An election official at the polling place shall 21 notify the individual that the individual may cast a 22 provisional ballot in that election. 23 (2) The individual shall be permitted to cast a 24 provisional ballot at that polling place upon the exe- 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


103 cution of a written affirmation by the individual be- 1 fore an election official at the polling place stating 2 that the individual is— 3 (A) a registered voter in the jurisdiction in 4 which the individual desires to vote; and 5 (B) eligible to vote in that election. 6 (3) An election official at the polling place shall 7 transmit the ballot cast by the individual or the 8 voter information contained in the written affirma- 9 tion executed by the individual under paragraph (2) 10 to an appropriate State or local election official for 11 prompt verification under paragraph (4). 12 (4) If the appropriate State or local election of- 13 ficial to whom the ballot or voter information is 14 transmitted under paragraph (3) determines that 15 the individual is eligible under State law to vote, the 16 individual’s provisional ballot shall be counted as a 17 vote in that election in accordance with State law. 18 (5)(A) At the time that an individual casts a 19 provisional ballot, the appropriate State or local elec- 20 tion official shall give the individual written informa- 21 tion that states that any individual who casts a pro- 22 visional ballot will be able to ascertain under the sys- 23 tem established under subparagraph (B) whether the 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


104 vote was counted, and, if the vote was not counted, 1 the reason that the vote was not counted. 2 (B) The appropriate State or local election offi- 3 cial shall establish a free access system (such as a 4 toll-free telephone number or an Internet website) 5 that any individual who casts a provisional ballot 6 may access to discover whether the vote of that indi- 7 vidual was counted, and, if the vote was not counted, 8 the reason that the vote was not counted. 9 States described in section 4(b) of the National Voter Reg- 10 istration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–2(b)) may meet 11 the requirements of this subsection using voter registra- 12 tion procedures established under applicable State law. 13 The appropriate State or local official shall establish and 14 maintain reasonable procedures necessary to protect the 15 security, confidentiality, and integrity of personal informa- 16 tion collected, stored, or otherwise used by the free access 17 system established under paragraph (5)(B). Access to in- 18 formation about an individual provisional ballot shall be 19 restricted to the individual who cast the ballot. 20 (b) VOTING INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS.— 21 (1) PUBLIC POSTING ON ELECTION DAY.—The 22 appropriate State or local election official shall cause 23 voting information to be publicly posted at each poll- 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


105 ing place on the day of each election for Federal of- 1 fice. 2 (2) VOTING INFORMATION DEFINED.—In this 3 section, the term ‘‘voting information’’ means— 4 (A) a sample version of the ballot that will 5 be used for that election; 6 (B) information regarding the date of the 7 election and the hours during which polling 8 places will be open; 9 (C) instructions on how to vote, including 10 how to cast a vote and how to cast a provisional 11 ballot; 12 (D) instructions for mail-in registrants and 13 first-time voters under section 303(b); 14 (E) general information on voting rights 15 under applicable Federal and State laws, in- 16 cluding information on the right of an indi- 17 vidual to cast a provisional ballot and instruc- 18 tions on how to contact the appropriate officials 19 if these rights are alleged to have been violated; 20 and 21 (F) general information on Federal and 22 State laws regarding prohibitions on acts of 23 fraud and misrepresentation. 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


106 (c) VOTERS WHO VOTE AFTER THE POLLS CLOSE.— 1 Any individual who votes in an election for Federal office 2 as a result of a Federal or State court order or any other 3 order extending the time established for closing the polls 4 by a State law in effect 10 days before the date of that 5 election may only vote in that election by casting a provi- 6 sional ballot under subsection (a). Any such ballot cast 7 under the preceding sentence shall be separated and held 8 apart from other provisional ballots cast by those not af- 9 fected by the order. 10 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE FOR PROVISIONAL VOTING 11 AND VOTING INFORMATION.—Each State and jurisdiction 12 shall be required to comply with the requirements of this 13 section on and after January 1, 2004. 14 SEC. 303. COMPUTERIZED STATEWIDE VOTER REGISTRA- 15 TION LIST REQUIREMENTS AND REQUIRE- 16 MENTS FOR VOTERS WHO REGISTER BY 17 MAIL. 18 (a) COMPUTERIZED STATEWIDE VOTER REGISTRA- 19 TION LIST REQUIREMENTS.— 20 (1) IMPLEMENTATION.— 21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 22 subparagraph (B), each State, acting through 23 the chief State election official, shall implement, 24 in a uniform and nondiscriminatory manner, a 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


107 single, uniform, official, centralized, interactive 1 computerized statewide voter registration list 2 defined, maintained, and administered at the 3 State level that contains the name and registra- 4 tion information of every legally registered voter 5 in the State and assigns a unique identifier to 6 each legally registered voter in the State (in 7 this subsection referred to as the ‘‘computerized 8 list’’), and includes the following: 9 (i) The computerized list shall serve 10 as the single system for storing and man- 11 aging the official list of registered voters 12 throughout the State. 13 (ii) The computerized list contains the 14 name and registration information of every 15 legally registered voter in the State. 16 (iii) Under the computerized list, a 17 unique identifier is assigned to each legally 18 registered voter in the State. 19 (iv) The computerized list shall be co- 20 ordinated with other agency databases 21 within the State. 22 (v) Any election official in the State, 23 including any local election official, may 24 obtain immediate electronic access to the 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


108 information contained in the computerized 1 list. 2 (vi) All voter registration information 3 obtained by any local election official in the 4 State shall be electronically entered into 5 the computerized list on an expedited basis 6 at the time the information is provided to 7 the local official. 8 (vii) The chief State election official 9 shall provide such support as may be re- 10 quired so that local election officials are 11 able to enter information as described in 12 clause (vi). 13 (viii) The computerized list shall serve 14 as the official voter registration list for the 15 conduct of all elections for Federal office 16 in the State. 17 (B) EXCEPTION.—The requirement under 18 subparagraph (A) shall not apply to a State in 19 which, under a State law in effect continuously 20 on and after the date of the enactment of this 21 Act, there is no voter registration requirement 22 for individuals in the State with respect to elec- 23 tions for Federal office. 24 (2) COMPUTERIZED LIST MAINTENANCE.— 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


109 (A) IN GENERAL.—The appropriate State 1 or local election official shall perform list main- 2 tenance with respect to the computerized list on 3 a regular basis as follows: 4 (i) If an individual is to be removed 5 from the computerized list, such individual 6 shall be removed in accordance with the 7 provisions of the National Voter Registra- 8 tion Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg et 9 seq.), including subsections (a)(4), (c)(2), 10 (d), and (e) of section 8 of such Act (42 11 U.S.C. 1973gg–6). 12 (ii) For purposes of removing names 13 of ineligible voters from the official list of 14 eligible voters— 15 (I) under section 8(a)(3)(B) of 16 such Act (42 U.S.C. 1973gg– 17 6(a)(3)(B)), the State shall coordinate 18 the computerized list with State agen- 19 cy records on felony status; and 20 (II) by reason of the death of the 21 registrant under section 8(a)(4)(A) of 22 such Act (42 U.S.C. 1973gg– 23 6(a)(4)(A)), the State shall coordinate 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


110 the computerized list with State agen- 1 cy records on death. 2 (iii) Notwithstanding the preceding 3 provisions of this subparagraph, if a State 4 is described in section 4(b) of the National 5 Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 6 1973gg–2(b)), that State shall remove the 7 names of ineligible voters from the comput- 8 erized list in accordance with State law. 9 (B) CONDUCT.—The list maintenance per- 10 formed under subparagraph (A) shall be con- 11 ducted in a manner that ensures that— 12 (i) the name of each registered voter 13 appears in the computerized list; 14 (ii) only voters who are not registered 15 or who are not eligible to vote are removed 16 from the computerized list; and 17 (iii) duplicate names are eliminated 18 from the computerized list. 19 (3) TECHNOLOGICAL SECURITY OF COMPUTER- 20 IZED LIST.—The appropriate State or local official 21 shall provide adequate technological security meas- 22 ures to prevent the unauthorized access to the com- 23 puterized list established under this section. 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


111 (4) MINIMUM STANDARD FOR ACCURACY OF 1 STATE VOTER REGISTRATION RECORDS.—The State 2 election system shall include provisions to ensure 3 that voter registration records in the State are accu- 4 rate and are updated regularly, including the fol- 5 lowing: 6 (A) A system of file maintenance that 7 makes a reasonable effort to remove registrants 8 who are ineligible to vote from the official list 9 of eligible voters. Under such system, consistent 10 with the National Voter Registration Act of 11 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg et seq.), registrants 12 who have not responded to a notice and who 13 have not voted in 2 consecutive general elec- 14 tions for Federal office shall be removed from 15 the official list of eligible voters, except that no 16 registrant may be removed solely by reason of 17 a failure to vote. 18 (B) Safeguards to ensure that eligible vot- 19 ers are not removed in error from the official 20 list of eligible voters. 21 (5) VERIFICATION OF VOTER REGISTRATION IN- 22 FORMATION.— 23 (A) REQUIRING PROVISION OF CERTAIN 24 INFORMATION BY APPLICANTS.— 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


112 (i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 1 in clause (ii), notwithstanding any other 2 provision of law, an application for voter 3 registration for an election for Federal of- 4 fice may not be accepted or processed by 5 a State unless the application includes— 6 (I) in the case of an applicant 7 who has been issued a current and 8 valid driver’s license, the applicant’s 9 driver’s license number; or 10 (II) in the case of any other ap- 11 plicant (other than an applicant to 12 whom clause (ii) applies), the last 4 13 digits of the applicant’s social security 14 number. 15 (ii) SPECIAL RULE FOR APPLICANTS 16 WITHOUT DRIVER’S LICENSE OR SOCIAL 17 SECURITY NUMBER.—If an applicant for 18 voter registration for an election for Fed- 19 eral office has not been issued a current 20 and valid driver’s license or a social secu- 21 rity number, the State shall assign the ap- 22 plicant a number which will serve to iden- 23 tify the applicant for voter registration 24 purposes. To the extent that the State has 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


113 a computerized list in effect under this 1 subsection and the list assigns unique iden- 2 tifying numbers to registrants, the number 3 assigned under this clause shall be the 4 unique identifying number assigned under 5 the list. 6 (iii) DETERMINATION OF VALIDITY OF 7 NUMBERS PROVIDED.—The State shall de- 8 termine whether the information provided 9 by an individual is sufficient to meet the 10 requirements of this subparagraph, in ac- 11 cordance with State law. 12 (B) REQUIREMENTS FOR STATE OFFI- 13 CIALS.— 14 (i) SHARING INFORMATION IN DATA- 15 BASES.—The chief State election official 16 and the official responsible for the State 17 motor vehicle authority of a State shall 18 enter into an agreement to match informa- 19 tion in the database of the statewide voter 20 registration system with information in the 21 database of the motor vehicle authority to 22 the extent required to enable each such of- 23 ficial to verify the accuracy of the informa- 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


114 tion provided on applications for voter reg- 1 istration. 2 (ii) AGREEMENTS WITH COMMIS- 3 SIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY.—The offi- 4 cial responsible for the State motor vehicle 5 authority shall enter into an agreement 6 with the Commissioner of Social Security 7 under section 205(r)(8) of the Social Secu- 8 rity Act (as added by subparagraph (C)). 9 (C) ACCESS TO FEDERAL INFORMATION.— 10 Section 205(r) of the Social Security Act (42 11 U.S.C. 405(r)) is amended by adding at the end 12 the following new paragraph: 13 ‘‘(8)(A) The Commissioner of Social Security shall, 14 upon the request of the official responsible for a State 15 driver’s license agency pursuant to the Help America Vote 16 Act of 2002— 17 ‘‘(i) enter into an agreement with such official 18 for the purpose of verifying applicable information, 19 so long as the requirements of subparagraphs (A) 20 and (B) of paragraph (3) are met; and 21 ‘‘(ii) include in such agreement safeguards to 22 assure the maintenance of the confidentiality of any 23 applicable information disclosed and procedures to 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


115 permit such agency to use the applicable information 1 for the purpose of maintaining its records. 2 ‘‘(B) Information provided pursuant to an agreement 3 under this paragraph shall be provided at such time, in 4 such place, and in such manner as the Commissioner de- 5 termines appropriate. 6 ‘‘(C) The Commissioner shall develop methods to ver- 7 ify the accuracy of information provided by the agency 8 with respect to applications for voter registration, for 9 whom the last 4 digits of a social security number are pro- 10 vided instead of a driver’s license number. 11 ‘‘(D) For purposes of this paragraph— 12 ‘‘(i) the term ‘applicable information’ means in- 13 formation regarding whether— 14 ‘‘(I) the name (including the first name 15 and any family forename or surname), the date 16 of birth (including the month, day, and year), 17 and social security number of an individual pro- 18 vided to the Commissioner match the informa- 19 tion contained in the Commissioner’s records, 20 and 21 ‘‘(II) such individual is shown on the 22 records of the Commissioner as being deceased; 23 and 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


116 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘State driver’s license agency’ 1 means the State agency which issues driver’s li- 2 censes to individuals within the State and maintains 3 records relating to such licensure. 4 ‘‘(E) Nothing in this paragraph may be construed to 5 require the provision of applicable information with regard 6 to a request for a record of an individual if the Commis- 7 sioner determines there are exceptional circumstances 8 warranting an exception (such as safety of the individual 9 or interference with an investigation). 10 ‘‘(F) Applicable information provided by the Commis- 11 sion pursuant to an agreement under this paragraph or 12 by an individual to any agency that has entered into an 13 agreement under this paragraph shall be considered as 14 strictly confidential and shall be used only for the pur- 15 poses described in this paragraph and for carrying out an 16 agreement under this paragraph. Any officer or employee 17 or former officer or employee of a State, or any officer 18 or employee or former officer or employee of a contractor 19 of a State who, without the written authority of the Com- 20 missioner, publishes or communicates any applicable infor- 21 mation in such individual’s possession by reason of such 22 employment or position as such an officer, shall be guilty 23 of a felony and upon conviction thereof shall be fined or 24 imprisoned, or both, as described in section 208.’’. 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


117 (D) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN 1 STATES.—In the case of a State which is per- 2 mitted to use social security numbers, and pro- 3 vides for the use of social security numbers, on 4 applications for voter registration, in accord- 5 ance with section 7 of the Privacy Act of 1974 6 (5 U.S.C. 552a note), the provisions of this 7 paragraph shall be optional. 8 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR VOTERS WHO REGISTER BY 9 MAIL.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 6(c) 11 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 12 U.S.C. 1973gg–4(c)) and subject to paragraph (3), 13 a State shall, in a uniform and nondiscriminatory 14 manner, require an individual to meet the require- 15 ments of paragraph (2) if— 16 (A) the individual registered to vote in a 17 jurisdiction by mail; and 18 (B)(i) the individual has not previously 19 voted in an election for Federal office in the 20 State; or 21 (ii) the individual has not previously voted 22 in such an election in the jurisdiction and the 23 jurisdiction is located in a State that does not 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


118 have a computerized list that complies with the 1 requirements of subsection (a). 2 (2) REQUIREMENTS.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—An individual meets the 4 requirements of this paragraph if the 5 individual— 6 (i) in the case of an individual who 7 votes in person— 8 (I) presents to the appropriate 9 State or local election official a cur- 10 rent and valid photo identification; or 11 (II) presents to the appropriate 12 State or local election official a copy 13 of a current utility bill, bank state- 14 ment, government check, paycheck, or 15 other government document that 16 shows the name and address of the 17 voter; or 18 (ii) in the case of an individual who 19 votes by mail, submits with the ballot— 20 (I) a copy of a current and valid 21 photo identification; or 22 (II) a copy of a current utility 23 bill, bank statement, government 24 check, paycheck, or other government 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


119 document that shows the name and 1 address of the voter. 2 (B) FAIL-SAFE VOTING.— 3 (i) IN PERSON.—An individual who 4 desires to vote in person, but who does not 5 meet the requirements of subparagraph 6 (A)(i), may cast a provisional ballot under 7 section 302(a). 8 (ii) BY MAIL.—An individual who de- 9 sires to vote by mail but who does not 10 meet the requirements of subparagraph 11 (A)(ii) may cast such a ballot by mail and 12 the ballot shall be counted as a provisional 13 ballot in accordance with section 302(a). 14 (3) INAPPLICABILITY.—Paragraph (1) shall not 15 apply in the case of a person— 16 (A) who registers to vote by mail under 17 section 6 of the National Voter Registration Act 18 of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–4) and submits as 19 part of such registration either— 20 (i) a copy of a current and valid photo 21 identification; or 22 (ii) a copy of a current utility bill, 23 bank statement, government check, pay- 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


120 check, or government document that shows 1 the name and address of the voter; 2 (B)(i) who registers to vote by mail under 3 section 6 of the National Voter Registration Act 4 of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–4) and submits 5 with such registration either— 6 (I) a driver’s license number; or 7 (II) at least the last 4 digits of the in- 8 dividual’s social security number; and 9 (ii) with respect to whom a State or local 10 election official matches the information sub- 11 mitted under clause (i) with an existing State 12 identification record bearing the same number, 13 name and date of birth as provided in such reg- 14 istration; or 15 (C) who is— 16 (i) entitled to vote by absentee ballot 17 under the Uniformed and Overseas Citi- 18 zens Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 19 1973ff–1 et seq.); 20 (ii) provided the right to vote other- 21 wise than in person under section 22 3(b)(2)(B)(ii) of the Voting Accessibility 23 for the Elderly and Handicapped Act (42 24 U.S.C. 1973ee–1(b)(2)(B)(ii)); or 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


121 (iii) entitled to vote otherwise than in 1 person under any other Federal law. 2 (4) CONTENTS OF MAIL-IN REGISTRATION 3 FORM.— 4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The mail voter reg- 5 istration form developed under section 6 of the 6 National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 7 U.S.C. 1973gg–4) shall include the following: 8 (i) The question ‘‘Are you a citizen of 9 the United States of America?’’ and boxes 10 for the applicant to check to indicate 11 whether the applicant is or is not a citizen 12 of the United States. 13 (ii) The question ‘‘Will you be 18 14 years of age on or before election day?’’ 15 and boxes for the applicant to check to in- 16 dicate whether or not the applicant will be 17 18 years of age or older on election day. 18 (iii) The statement ‘‘If you checked 19 ‘no’ in response to either of these ques- 20 tions, do not complete this form.’’. 21 (iv) A statement informing the indi- 22 vidual that if the form is submitted by 23 mail and the individual is registering for 24 the first time, the appropriate information 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


122 required under this section must be sub- 1 mitted with the mail-in registration form 2 in order to avoid the additional identifica- 3 tion requirements upon voting for the first 4 time. 5 (B) INCOMPLETE FORMS.—If an applicant 6 for voter registration fails to answer the ques- 7 tion included on the mail voter registration 8 form pursuant to subparagraph (A)(i), the reg- 9 istrar shall notify the applicant of the failure 10 and provide the applicant with an opportunity 11 to complete the form in a timely manner to 12 allow for the completion of the registration 13 form prior to the next election for Federal of- 14 fice (subject to State law). 15 (5) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sub- 16 section shall be construed to require a State that 17 was not required to comply with a provision of the 18 National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 19 1973gg et seq.) before the date of the enactment of 20 this Act to comply with such a provision after such 21 date. 22 (c) PERMITTED USE OF LAST 4 DIGITS OF SOCIAL 23 SECURITY NUMBERS.—The last 4 digits of a social secu- 24 rity number described in subsections (a)(5)(A)(i)(II) and 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


123 (b)(3)(B)(i)(II) shall not be considered to be a social secu- 1 rity number for purposes of section 7 of the Privacy Act 2 of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a note). 3 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 4 (1) COMPUTERIZED STATEWIDE VOTER REG- 5 ISTRATION LIST REQUIREMENTS.— 6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 7 subparagraph (B), each State and jurisdiction 8 shall be required to comply with the require- 9 ments of subsection (a) on and after January 1, 10 2004. 11 (B) WAIVER.—If a State or jurisdiction 12 certifies to the Commission not later than Jan- 13 uary 1, 2004, that the State or jurisdiction will 14 not meet the deadline described in subpara- 15 graph (A) for good cause and includes in the 16 certification the reasons for the failure to meet 17 such deadline, subparagraph (A) shall apply to 18 the State or jurisdiction as if the reference in 19 such subparagraph to ‘‘January 1, 2004’’ were 20 a reference to ‘‘January 1, 2006’’. 21 (2) REQUIREMENT FOR VOTERS WHO REGISTER 22 BY MAIL.— 23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each State and juris- 24 diction shall be required to comply with the re- 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


124 quirements of subsection (b) on and after Janu- 1 ary 1, 2004, and shall be prepared to receive 2 registration materials submitted by individuals 3 described in subparagraph (B) on and after the 4 date described in such subparagraph. 5 (B) APPLICABILITY WITH RESPECT TO IN- 6 DIVIDUALS.—The provisions of subsection (b) 7 shall apply to any individual who registers to 8 vote on or after January 1, 2003. 9 SEC. 304. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS. 10 The requirements established by this title are min- 11 imum requirements and nothing in this title shall be con- 12 strued to prevent a State from establishing election tech- 13 nology and administration requirements that are more 14 strict than the requirements established under this title 15 so long as such State requirements are not inconsistent 16 with the Federal requirements under this title or any law 17 described in section 906. 18 SEC. 305. METHODS OF IMPLEMENTATION LEFT TO DIS- 19 CRETION OF STATE. 20 The specific choices on the methods of complying 21 with the requirements of this title shall be left to the dis- 22 cretion of the State. 23 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


125 Subtitle B—Voluntary Guidance 1 SEC. 311. ADOPTION OF VOLUNTARY GUIDANCE BY COM- 2 MISSION. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—To assist States in meeting the 4 requirements of subtitle A, the Commission shall adopt 5 voluntary guidance consistent with such requirements in 6 accordance with the procedures described in section 312. 7 (b) DEADLINES.—The Commission shall adopt the 8 recommendations under this section not later than— 9 (1) in the case of the recommendations with re- 10 spect to section 301, January 1, 2004; 11 (2) in the case of the recommendations with re- 12 spect to section 302, October 1, 2003; and 13 (3) in the case of the recommendations with re- 14 spect to section 303, October 1, 2003. 15 (c) QUADRENNIAL UPDATE.—The Commission shall 16 review and update recommendations adopted with respect 17 to section 301 no less frequently than once every 4 years. 18 SEC. 312. PROCESS FOR ADOPTION. 19 The adoption of the voluntary guidance under this 20 subtitle shall be carried out by the Commission in a man- 21 ner that provides for each of the following: 22 (1) Publication of notice of the proposed rec- 23 ommendations in the Federal Register. 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


126 (2) An opportunity for public comment on the 1 proposed recommendations. 2 (3) An opportunity for a public hearing on the 3 record. 4 (4) Publication of the final recommendations in 5 the Federal Register. 6 TITLE IV—ENFORCEMENT 7 SEC. 401. ACTIONS BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR DE- 8 CLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF. 9 The Attorney General may bring a civil action against 10 any State or jurisdiction in an appropriate United States 11 District Court for such declaratory and injunctive relief 12 (including a temporary restraining order, a permanent or 13 temporary injunction, or other order) as may be necessary 14 to carry out the uniform and nondiscriminatory election 15 technology and administration requirements under sec- 16 tions 301, 302, and 303. 17 SEC. 402. ESTABLISHMENT OF STATE-BASED ADMINISTRA- 18 TIVE COMPLAINT PROCEDURES TO REMEDY 19 GRIEVANCES. 20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF STATE-BASED ADMINISTRA- 21 TIVE COMPLAINT PROCEDURES TO REMEDY GRIEV- 22 ANCES.— 23 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROCEDURES AS CON- 24 DITION OF RECEIVING FUNDS.—If a State receives 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


127 any payment under a program under this Act, the 1 State shall be required to establish and maintain 2 State-based administrative complaint procedures 3 which meet the requirements of paragraph (2). 4 (2) REQUIREMENTS FOR PROCEDURES.—The 5 requirements of this paragraph are as follows: 6 (A) The procedures shall be uniform and 7 nondiscriminatory. 8 (B) Under the procedures, any person who 9 believes that there is a violation of any provi- 10 sion of title III (including a violation which has 11 occurred, is occurring, or is about to occur) 12 may file a complaint. 13 (C) Any complaint filed under the proce- 14 dures shall be in writing and notarized, and 15 signed and sworn by the person filing the com- 16 plaint. 17 (D) The State may consolidate complaints 18 filed under subparagraph (B). 19 (E) At the request of the complainant, 20 there shall be a hearing on the record. 21 (F) If, under the procedures, the State de- 22 termines that there is a violation of any provi- 23 sion of title III, the State shall provide the ap- 24 propriate remedy. 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


128 (G) If, under the procedures, the State de- 1 termines that there is no violation, the State 2 shall dismiss the complaint and publish the re- 3 sults of the procedures. 4 (H) The State shall make a final deter- 5 mination with respect to a complaint prior to 6 the expiration of the 90-day period which be- 7 gins on the date the complaint is filed, unless 8 the complainant consents to a longer period for 9 making such a determination. 10 (I) If the State fails to meet the deadline 11 applicable under subparagraph (H), the com- 12 plaint shall be resolved within 60 days under al- 13 ternative dispute resolution procedures estab- 14 lished for purposes of this section. The record 15 and other materials from any proceedings con- 16 ducted under the complaint procedures estab- 17 lished under this section shall be made available 18 for use under the alternative dispute resolution 19 procedures. 20 (b) REQUIRING ATTORNEY GENERAL APPROVAL OF 21 COMPLIANCE PLAN FOR STATES NOT RECEIVING 22 FUNDS.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 1, 24 2004, each nonparticipating State shall elect— 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


129 (A) to certify to the Commission that the 1 State meets the requirements of subsection (a) 2 in the same manner as a State receiving a pay- 3 ment under this Act; or 4 (B) to submit a compliance plan to the At- 5 torney General which provides detailed informa- 6 tion on the steps the State will take to ensure 7 that it meets the requirements of title III. 8 (2) STATES WITHOUT APPROVED PLAN DEEMED 9 OUT OF COMPLIANCE.—A nonparticipating State 10 (other than a State which makes the election de- 11 scribed in paragraph (1)(A)) shall be deemed to not 12 meet the requirements of title III if the Attorney 13 General has not approved a compliance plan sub- 14 mitted by the State under this subsection. 15 (3) NONPARTICIPATING STATE DEFINED.—In 16 this section, a ‘‘nonparticipating State’’ is a State 17 which, during 2003, does not notify any office which 18 is responsible for making payments to States under 19 any program under this Act of its intent to partici- 20 pate in, and receive funds under, the program. 21 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


130 TITLE V—HELP AMERICA VOTE 1 COLLEGE PROGRAM 2 SEC. 501. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 4 appointment of its members, the Election Assistance Com- 5 mission shall develop a program to be known as the ‘‘Help 6 America Vote College Program’’ (hereafter in this title re- 7 ferred to as the ‘‘Program’’). 8 (b) PURPOSES OF PROGRAM.—The purpose of the 9 Program shall be— 10 (1) to encourage students enrolled at institu- 11 tions of higher education (including community col- 12 leges) to assist State and local governments in the 13 administration of elections by serving as nonpartisan 14 poll workers or assistants; and 15 (2) to encourage State and local governments to 16 use the services of the students participating in the 17 Program. 18 SEC. 502. ACTIVITIES UNDER PROGRAM. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the Program, the 20 Commission (in consultation with the chief election official 21 of each State) shall develop materials, sponsor seminars 22 and workshops, engage in advertising targeted at stu- 23 dents, make grants, and take such other actions as it con- 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


131 siders appropriate to meet the purposes described in sec- 1 tion 501(b). 2 (b) REQUIREMENTS FOR GRANT RECIPIENTS.—In 3 making grants under the Program, the Commission shall 4 ensure that the funds provided are spent for projects and 5 activities which are carried out without partisan bias or 6 without promoting any particular point of view regarding 7 any issue, and that each recipient is governed in a bal- 8 anced manner which does not reflect any partisan bias. 9 (c) COORDINATION WITH INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER 10 EDUCATION.—The Commission shall encourage institu- 11 tions of higher education (including community colleges) 12 to participate in the Program, and shall make all nec- 13 essary materials and other assistance (including materials 14 and assistance to enable the institution to hold workshops 15 and poll worker training sessions) available without charge 16 to any institution which desires to participate in the Pro- 17 gram. 18 SEC. 503. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 19 In addition to any funds authorized to be appro- 20 priated to the Commission under section 210, there are 21 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this title— 22 (1) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2003; and 23 (2) such sums as may be necessary for each 24 succeeding fiscal year. 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


132 TITLE VI—HELP AMERICA VOTE 1 FOUNDATION 2 SEC. 601. HELP AMERICA VOTE FOUNDATION. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part B of subtitle II of title 36, 4 United States Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 5 1525 the following: 6 ‘‘CHAPTER 1526—HELP AMERICA VOTE 7 FOUNDATION 8 ‘‘Sec. ‘‘152601. Organization. ‘‘152602. Purposes. ‘‘152603. Board of directors. ‘‘152604. Officers and employees. ‘‘152605. Powers. ‘‘152606. Principal office. ‘‘152607. Service of process. ‘‘152608. Annual audit. ‘‘152609. Civil action by Attorney General for equitable relief. ‘‘152610. Immunity of United States Government. ‘‘152611. Authorization of appropriations. ‘‘152612. Annual report. ‘‘§ 152601. Organization 9 ‘‘(a) FEDERAL CHARTER.—The Help America Vote 10 Foundation (in this chapter, the ‘foundation’) is a feder- 11 ally chartered corporation. 12 ‘‘(b) NATURE OF FOUNDATION.—The foundation is 13 a charitable and nonprofit corporation and is not an agen- 14 cy or establishment of the United States Government. 15 ‘‘(c) PERPETUAL EXISTENCE.—Except as otherwise 16 provided, the foundation has perpetual existence. 17 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


133 ‘‘§ 152602. Purposes 1 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The purposes of the foundation 2 are to— 3 ‘‘(1) mobilize secondary school students (includ- 4 ing students educated in the home) in the United 5 States to participate in the election process in a non- 6 partisan manner as poll workers or assistants (to the 7 extent permitted under applicable State law); 8 ‘‘(2) place secondary school students (including 9 students educated in the home) as nonpartisan poll 10 workers or assistants to local election officials in 11 precinct polling places across the United States (to 12 the extent permitted under applicable State law); 13 and 14 ‘‘(3) establish cooperative efforts with State and 15 local election officials, local educational agencies, su- 16 perintendents and principals of public and private 17 secondary schools, and other appropriate nonprofit 18 charitable and educational organizations exempt 19 from taxation under section 501(a) of the Internal 20 Revenue Code of 1986 as an organization described 21 in section 501(c)(3) of such Code to further the pur- 22 poses of the foundation. 23 ‘‘(b) REQUIRING ACTIVITIES TO BE CARRIED OUT 24 ON NONPARTISAN BASIS.—The foundation shall carry out 25 its purposes without partisan bias or without promoting 26 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


134 any particular point of view regarding any issue, and shall 1 ensure that each participant in its activities is governed 2 in a balanced manner which does not reflect any partisan 3 bias. 4 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION WITH STATE ELECTION OFFI- 5 CIALS.—The foundation shall carry out its purposes under 6 this section in consultation with the chief election officials 7 of the States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 8 of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the United 9 States Virgin Islands. 10 ‘‘§ 152603. Board of directors 11 ‘‘(a) GENERAL.—The board of directors is the gov- 12 erning body of the foundation. 13 ‘‘(b) MEMBERS AND APPOINTMENT.—(1) The board 14 consists of 12 directors, who shall be appointed not later 15 than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this chap- 16 ter as follows: 17 ‘‘(A) 4 directors (of whom not more than 2 may 18 be members of the same political party) shall be ap- 19 pointed by the President. 20 ‘‘(B) 2 directors shall be appointed by the 21 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 22 ‘‘(C) 2 directors shall be appointed by the Mi- 23 nority Leader of the House of Representatives. 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


135 ‘‘(D) 2 directors shall be appointed by the Ma- 1 jority Leader of the Senate. 2 ‘‘(E) 2 directors shall be appointed by the Mi- 3 nority Leader of the Senate. 4 ‘‘(2) In addition to the directors described in para- 5 graph (1), the chair and ranking minority member of the 6 Committee on House Administration of the House of Rep- 7 resentatives (or their designees) and the chair and ranking 8 minority member of the Committee on Rules and Adminis- 9 tration of the Senate (or their designees) shall each serve 10 as an ex officio nonvoting member of the board. 11 ‘‘(3) A director is not an employee of the Federal 12 Government and appointment to the board does not con- 13 stitute appointment as an officer or employee of the 14 United States Government for the purpose of any law of 15 the United States (except as may otherwise be provided 16 in this chapter). 17 ‘‘(4) The terms of office of the directors are 4 years. 18 ‘‘(5) A vacancy on the board shall be filled in the 19 manner in which the original appointment was made. 20 ‘‘(c) CHAIR.—The directors shall select 1 of the direc- 21 tors as the chair of the board. The individual selected may 22 not be a current or former holder of any partisan elected 23 office or a current or former officer of any national com- 24 mittee of a political party. 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


136 ‘‘(d) QUORUM.—The number of directors constituting 1 a quorum of the board shall be established under the by- 2 laws of the foundation. 3 ‘‘(e) MEETINGS.—The board shall meet at the call 4 of the chair of the board for regularly scheduled meetings, 5 except that the board shall meet not less often than annu- 6 ally. 7 ‘‘(f) REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES.—Directors 8 shall serve without compensation but may receive travel 9 expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in ac- 10 cordance with sections 5702 and 5703 of title 5. 11 ‘‘(g) LIABILITY OF DIRECTORS.—Directors are not 12 personally liable, except for gross negligence. 13 ‘‘§ 152604. Officers and employees 14 ‘‘(a) APPOINTMENT OF OFFICERS AND EMPLOY- 15 EES.—The board of directors appoints, removes, and re- 16 places officers and employees of the foundation. 17 ‘‘(b) STATUS AND COMPENSATION OF EMPLOYEES.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Officers and employees of 19 the foundation— 20 ‘‘(A) are not employees of the Federal 21 Government (except as may otherwise be pro- 22 vided in this chapter); 23 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


137 ‘‘(B) shall be appointed and removed with- 1 out regard to the provisions of title 5 governing 2 appointments in the competitive service; and 3 ‘‘(C) may be paid without regard to chap- 4 ter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5 5. 6 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEE 7 RATES FOR TRAVEL.—For purposes of any schedules 8 of rates negotiated by the Administrator of General 9 Services for the use of employees of the Federal 10 Government who travel on official business, officers 11 and employees of the foundation who travel while en- 12 gaged in the performance of their duties under this 13 chapter shall be deemed to be employees of the Fed- 14 eral Government. 15 ‘‘§ 152605. Powers 16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The foundation may— 17 ‘‘(1) adopt a constitution and bylaws; 18 ‘‘(2) adopt a seal which shall be judicially no- 19 ticed; and 20 ‘‘(3) do any other act necessary to carry out 21 this chapter. 22 ‘‘(b) POWERS AS TRUSTEE.—To carry out its pur- 23 poses, the foundation has the usual powers of a corpora- 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


138 tion acting as a trustee in the District of Columbia, includ- 1 ing the power— 2 ‘‘(1) to accept, receive, solicit, hold, administer, 3 and use any gift, devise, or bequest, either absolutely 4 or in trust, of property or any income from or other 5 interest in property; 6 ‘‘(2) to acquire property or an interest in prop- 7 erty by purchase or exchange; 8 ‘‘(3) unless otherwise required by an instrument 9 of transfer, to sell, donate, lease, invest, or otherwise 10 dispose of any property or income from property; 11 ‘‘(4) to borrow money and issue instruments of 12 indebtedness; 13 ‘‘(5) to make contracts and other arrangements 14 with public agencies and private organizations and 15 persons and to make payments necessary to carry 16 out its functions; 17 ‘‘(6) to sue and be sued; and 18 ‘‘(7) to do any other act necessary and proper 19 to carry out the purposes of the foundation. 20 ‘‘(c) ENCUMBERED OR RESTRICTED GIFTS.—A gift, 21 devise, or bequest may be accepted by the foundation even 22 though it is encumbered, restricted, or subject to beneficial 23 interests of private persons, if any current or future inter- 24 est is for the benefit of the foundation. 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


139 ‘‘(d) CONTRACTS.—The foundation may enter into 1 such contracts with public and private entities as it con- 2 siders appropriate to carry out its purposes. 3 ‘‘(e) ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN WASHINGTON MET- 4 ROPOLITAN AREA.—During each year (beginning with 5 2003), the foundation may sponsor a conference in the 6 Washington, D.C. metropolitan area to honor secondary 7 school students and other individuals who have served (or 8 plan to serve) as poll workers and assistants and who have 9 otherwise participated in the programs and activities of 10 the foundation. 11 ‘‘§ 152606. Principal office 12 ‘‘The principal office of the foundation shall be in the 13 District of Columbia unless the board of directors deter- 14 mines otherwise. However, the foundation may conduct 15 business throughout the States, territories, and posses- 16 sions of the United States. 17 ‘‘§ 152607. Service of process 18 ‘‘The foundation shall have a designated agent to re- 19 ceive service of process for the foundation. Notice to or 20 service on the agent, or mailed to the business address 21 of the agent, is notice to or service on the foundation. 22 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


140 ‘‘§ 152608. Annual audit 1 ‘‘The foundation shall enter into a contract with an 2 independent auditor to conduct an annual audit of the 3 foundation. 4 ‘‘§ 152609. Civil action by Attorney General for equi- 5 table relief 6 ‘‘The Attorney General may bring a civil action in 7 the United States District Court for the District of Colum- 8 bia for appropriate equitable relief if the foundation— 9 ‘‘(1) engages or threatens to engage in any act, 10 practice, or policy that is inconsistent with the pur- 11 poses in section 152602 of this title; or 12 ‘‘(2) refuses, fails, or neglects to carry out its 13 obligations under this chapter or threatens to do so. 14 ‘‘§ 152610. Immunity of United States Government 15 ‘‘The United States Government is not liable for any 16 debts, defaults, acts, or omissions of the foundation. The 17 full faith and credit of the Government does not extend 18 to any obligation of the foundation. 19 ‘‘§ 152611. Authorization of appropriations 20 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to the foun- 21 dation for carrying out the purposes of this chapter— 22 ‘‘(1) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2003; and 23 ‘‘(2) such sums as may be necessary for each 24 succeeding fiscal year. 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


141 ‘‘§ 152612. Annual report 1 ‘‘As soon as practicable after the end of each fiscal 2 year, the foundation shall submit a report to the Commis- 3 sion, the President, and Congress on the activities of the 4 foundation during the prior fiscal year, including a com- 5 plete statement of its receipts, expenditures, and invest- 6 ments. Such report shall contain information gathered 7 from participating secondary school students describing 8 the nature of the work they performed in assisting local 9 election officials and the value they derived from the expe- 10 rience of educating participants about the electoral proc- 11 ess.’’. 12 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 13 for part B of subtitle II of title 36, United States Code, 14 is amended by inserting after the item relating to chapter 15 1525 the following new item: 16 ‘‘1526. Help America Vote Foundation ......................................152601’’. TITLE VII—VOTING RIGHTS OF 17 MILITARY MEMBERS AND 18 OVERSEAS CITIZENS 19 SEC. 701. VOTING ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS. 20 (a) ISSUES CONSIDERED IN ASSESSMENTS OF MILI- 21 TARY DEPARTMENT COMPLIANCE.—Subsection (e) of sec- 22 tion 1566 of title 10, United States Code, as added by 23 section 1602(a) of the National Defense Authorization Act 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


142 for Fiscal Year 2002 (Public Law 107–107; 115 Stat. 1 1274), is amended— 2 (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting 3 ‘‘(1) The Secretary’’; and 4 (2) by adding at the end the following new 5 paragraphs: 6 ‘‘(2) Under regulations and procedures (including di- 7 rectives) prescribed by the Secretary, a member of the 8 Armed Forces appointed or assigned to duty as a voting 9 assistance officer shall, to the maximum extent prac- 10 ticable, be given the time and resources needed to perform 11 the member’s duties as a voting assistance officer during 12 the period in advance of a general election when members 13 and their dependents are preparing and submitting absen- 14 tee ballots.’’. 15 (b) POSTMARKING OF OVERSEAS VOTING MATE- 16 RIALS.—Subsection (g)(2) of such section is amended by 17 adding at the end the following: ‘‘The Secretary shall en- 18 sure that voting materials are transmitted expeditiously 19 by military postal authorities at all times. The Secretary 20 shall, to the maximum extent practicable, implement 21 measures to ensure that a postmark or other official proof 22 of mailing date is provided on each absentee ballot col- 23 lected at any overseas location or vessel at sea whenever 24 the Department of Defense is responsible for collecting 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


143 mail for return shipment to the United States. The Sec- 1 retary shall ensure that the measures implemented under 2 the preceding sentence do not result in the delivery of ab- 3 sentee ballots to the final destination of such ballots after 4 the date on which the election for Federal office is held. 5 Not later than the date that is 6 months after the date 6 of the enactment of the Help America Vote Act of 2002, 7 the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report describing 8 the measures to be implemented to ensure the timely 9 transmittal and postmarking of voting materials and iden- 10 tifying the persons responsible for implementing such 11 measures.’’. 12 (c) PROVIDING NOTICE OF DEADLINES AND RE- 13 QUIREMENTS.—Such section is amended by adding at the 14 end the following new subsection: 15 ‘‘(h) NOTICE OF DEADLINES AND REQUIREMENTS.— 16 The Secretary of each military department, utilizing the 17 voting assistance officer network established for each mili- 18 tary installation, shall, to the maximum extent practicable, 19 provide notice to members of the Armed Forces stationed 20 at that installation of the last date before a general Fed- 21 eral election for which absentee ballots mailed from a post- 22 al facility located at that installation can reasonably be 23 expected to be timely delivered to the appropriate State 24 and local election officials.’’. 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


144 (d) REGISTRATION AND VOTING INFORMATION FOR 1 MEMBERS AND DEPENDENTS.—Such section is further 2 amended by adding at the end the following new sub- 3 section: 4 ‘‘(i) REGISTRATION AND VOTING INFORMATION FOR 5 MEMBERS AND DEPENDENTS.—(1) The Secretary of each 6 military department, using a variety of means including 7 both print and electronic media, shall, to the maximum 8 extent practicable, ensure that members of the Armed 9 Forces and their dependents who are qualified to vote have 10 ready access to information regarding voter registration 11 requirements and deadlines (including voter registration), 12 absentee ballot application requirements and deadlines, 13 and the availability of voting assistance officers to assist 14 members and dependents to understand and comply with 15 these requirements. 16 ‘‘(2) The Secretary of each military department shall 17 make the national voter registration form prepared for 18 purposes of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absen- 19 tee Voting Act by the Federal Election Commission avail- 20 able so that each person who enlists shall receive such 21 form at the time of the enlistment, or as soon thereafter 22 as practicable. 23 ‘‘(3) Where practicable, a special day or days shall 24 be designated at each military installation for the purpose 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


145 of informing members of the Armed Forces and their de- 1 pendents of election timing, registration requirements, and 2 voting procedures.’’. 3 SEC. 702. DESIGNATION OF SINGLE STATE OFFICE TO PRO- 4 VIDE INFORMATION ON REGISTRATION AND 5 ABSENTEE BALLOTS FOR ALL VOTERS IN 6 STATE. 7 Section 102 of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens 8 Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff–1) is amended— 9 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before 10 ‘‘Each State’’; and 11 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub- 12 section: 13 ‘‘(b) DESIGNATION OF SINGLE STATE OFFICE TO 14 PROVIDE INFORMATION ON REGISTRATION AND ABSEN- 15 TEE BALLOT PROCEDURES FOR ALL VOTERS IN 16 STATE.— 17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall designate 18 a single office which shall be responsible for pro- 19 viding information regarding voter registration pro- 20 cedures and absentee ballot procedures to be used by 21 absent uniformed services voters and overseas voters 22 with respect to elections for Federal office (including 23 procedures relating to the use of the Federal write- 24 in absentee ballot) to all absent uniformed services 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


146 voters and overseas voters who wish to register to 1 vote or vote in any jurisdiction in the State. 2 ‘‘(2) RECOMMENDATION REGARDING USE OF 3 OFFICE TO ACCEPT AND PROCESS MATERIALS.— 4 Congress recommends that the State office des- 5 ignated under paragraph (1) be responsible for car- 6 rying out the State’s duties under this Act, including 7 accepting valid voter registration applications, absen- 8 tee ballot applications, and absentee ballots (includ- 9 ing Federal write-in absentee ballots) from all absent 10 uniformed services voters and overseas voters who 11 wish to register to vote or vote in any jurisdiction 12 in the State.’’. 13 SEC. 703. REPORT ON ABSENTEE BALLOTS TRANSMITTED 14 AND RECEIVED AFTER GENERAL ELECTIONS. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 102 of the Uniformed and 16 Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff– 17 1), as amended by section 702, is amended by adding at 18 the end the following new subsection: 19 ‘‘(c) REPORT ON NUMBER OF ABSENTEE BALLOTS 20 TRANSMITTED AND RECEIVED.—Not later than 90 days 21 after the date of each regularly scheduled general election 22 for Federal office, each State and unit of local government 23 which administered the election shall (through the State, 24 in the case of a unit of local government) submit a report 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


147 to the Election Assistance Commission (established under 1 the Help America Vote Act of 2002) on the combined 2 number of absentee ballots transmitted to absent uni- 3 formed services voters and overseas voters for the election 4 and the combined number of such ballots which were re- 5 turned by such voters and cast in the election, and shall 6 make such report available to the general public.’’. 7 (b) DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARDIZED FORMAT FOR 8 REPORTS.—The Election Assistance Commission, working 9 with the Election Assistance Commission Board of Advi- 10 sors and the Election Assistance Commission Standards 11 Board, shall develop a standardized format for the reports 12 submitted by States and units of local government under 13 section 102(c) of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens 14 Absentee Voting Act (as added by subsection (a)), and 15 shall make the format available to the States and units 16 of local government submitting such reports. 17 SEC. 704. EXTENSION OF PERIOD COVERED BY SINGLE AB- 18 SENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION. 19 Section 104(a) of the Uniformed and Overseas Citi- 20 zens Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff–1), as 21 amended by section 1606(b) of the National Defense Au- 22 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002 (Public Law 107– 23 107; 115 Stat. 1279), is amended by striking ‘‘during that 24 year,’’ and all that follows and inserting the following: 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


148 ‘‘through the next 2 regularly scheduled general elections 1 for Federal office (including any runoff elections which 2 may occur as a result of the outcome of such general elec- 3 tions), the State shall provide an absentee ballot to the 4 voter for each such subsequent election.’’. 5 SEC. 705. ADDITIONAL DUTIES OF PRESIDENTIAL DES- 6 IGNEE UNDER UNIFORMED AND OVERSEAS 7 CITIZENS ABSENTEE VOTING ACT. 8 (a) EDUCATING ELECTION OFFICIALS ON RESPON- 9 SIBILITIES UNDER ACT.—Section 101(b)(1) of the Uni- 10 formed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (42 11 U.S.C. 1973ff(b)(1)) is amended by striking the semicolon 12 at the end and inserting the following: ‘‘, and ensure that 13 such officials are aware of the requirements of this Act;’’. 14 (b) DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARD OATH FOR USE 15 WITH MATERIALS.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 101(b) of such Act 17 (42 U.S.C. 1973ff(b)) is amended— 18 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para- 19 graph (5); 20 (B) by striking the period at the end of 21 paragraph (6) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 22 (C) by adding at the end the following new 23 paragraph: 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


149 ‘‘(7) prescribe a standard oath for use with any 1 document under this title affirming that a material 2 misstatement of fact in the completion of such a 3 document may constitute grounds for a conviction 4 for perjury.’’. 5 (2) REQUIRING STATES TO USE STANDARD 6 OATH.—Section 102(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 7 1973ff–1(b)), as amended by section 602, is 8 amended— 9 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para- 10 graph (3); 11 (B) by striking the period at the end of 12 paragraph (4) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 13 (C) by adding at the end the following new 14 paragraph: 15 ‘‘(5) if the State requires an oath or affirmation 16 to accompany any document under this title, use the 17 standard oath prescribed by the Presidential des- 18 ignee under section 101(b)(7).’’. 19 (c) PROVIDING STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF VOTER 20 PARTICIPATION FOR BOTH OVERSEAS VOTERS AND AB- 21 SENT UNIFORMED SERVICES VOTERS.—Section 101(b)(6) 22 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff(b)(6)) is amended by strik- 23 ing ‘‘a general assessment’’ and inserting ‘‘a separate sta- 24 tistical analysis’’. 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


150 SEC. 706. PROHIBITION OF REFUSAL OF VOTER REGISTRA- 1 TION AND ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATIONS 2 ON GROUNDS OF EARLY SUBMISSION. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 104 of the Uniformed and 4 Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff– 5 3), as amended by section 1606(b) of the National De- 6 fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002 (Public Law 7 107–107; 115 Stat. 1279), is amended by adding at the 8 end the following new subsection: 9 ‘‘(e) PROHIBITION OF REFUSAL OF APPLICATIONS 10 ON GROUNDS OF EARLY SUBMISSION.—A State may not 11 refuse to accept or process, with respect to any election 12 for Federal office, any otherwise valid voter registration 13 application or absentee ballot application (including the 14 postcard form prescribed under section 101) submitted by 15 an absent uniformed services voter during a year on the 16 grounds that the voter submitted the application before 17 the first date on which the State otherwise accepts or 18 processes such applications for that year submitted by ab- 19 sentee voters who are not members of the uniformed serv- 20 ices.’’. 21 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 22 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to elections for 23 Federal office that occur after January 1, 2004. 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


151 SEC. 707. OTHER REQUIREMENTS TO PROMOTE PARTICIPA- 1 TION OF OVERSEAS AND ABSENT UNI- 2 FORMED SERVICES VOTERS. 3 Section 102 of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens 4 Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff–1), as amended 5 by the preceding provisions of this title, is amended by 6 adding at the end the following new subsection: 7 ‘‘(c) REGISTRATION NOTIFICATION.—With respect to 8 each absent uniformed services voter and each overseas 9 voter who submits a voter registration application or an 10 absentee ballot request, if the State rejects the application 11 or request, the State shall provide the voter with the rea- 12 sons for the rejection.’’. 13 TITLE VIII—TRANSITION 14 PROVISIONS 15 Subtitle A—Transfer to Commis- 16 sion of Functions Under Certain 17 Laws 18 SEC. 801. FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN ACT OF 1971. 19 (a) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS OF OFFICE OF ELEC- 20 TION ADMINISTRATION OF FEDERAL ELECTION COMMIS- 21 SION.—There are transferred to the Election Assistance 22 Commission established under section 201 all functions 23 which the Office of the Election Administration, estab- 24 lished within the Federal Election Commission, exercised 25 before the date of the enactment of this Act. 26 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


152 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 311(a) of 1 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 2 438(a)) is amended— 3 (1) in paragraph (8), by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the 4 end; 5 (2) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 6 inserting a period; and 7 (3) by striking paragraph (10) and the second 8 and third sentences. 9 SEC. 802. NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION ACT OF 1993. 10 (a) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS.—There are trans- 11 ferred to the Election Assistance Commission established 12 under section 201 all functions which the Federal Election 13 Commission exercised under section 9(a) of the National 14 Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–7(a)) 15 before the date of the enactment of this Act. 16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 9(a) of the 17 National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 18 1973gg–7(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘Federal Election 19 Commission’’ and inserting ‘‘Election Assistance Commis- 20 sion’’. 21 SEC. 803. TRANSFER OF PROPERTY, RECORDS, AND PER- 22 SONNEL. 23 (a) PROPERTY AND RECORDS.—The contracts, liabil- 24 ities, records, property, and other assets and interests of, 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


153 or made available in connection with, the offices and func- 1 tions of the Federal Election Commission which are trans- 2 ferred by this subtitle are transferred to the Election As- 3 sistance Commission for appropriate allocation. 4 (b) PERSONNEL.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The personnel employed in 6 connection with the offices and functions of the Fed- 7 eral Election Commission which are transferred by 8 this subtitle are transferred to the Election Assist- 9 ance Commission. 10 (2) EFFECT.—Any full-time or part-time per- 11 sonnel employed in permanent positions shall not be 12 separated or reduced in grade or compensation be- 13 cause of the transfer under this subsection during 14 the 1-year period beginning on the date of the enact- 15 ment of this Act. 16 SEC. 804. EFFECTIVE DATE; TRANSITION. 17 (a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This title and the amend- 18 ments made by this title shall take effect upon the ap- 19 pointment of all members of the Election Assistance Com- 20 mission under section 203. 21 (b) TRANSITION.—With the consent of the entity in- 22 volved, the Election Assistance Commission is authorized 23 to utilize the services of such officers, employees, and 24 other personnel of the entities from which functions have 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


154 been transferred to the Election Assistance Commission 1 under this title or the amendments made by this title for 2 such period of time as may reasonably be needed to facili- 3 tate the orderly transfer of such functions. 4 (c) NO EFFECT ON AUTHORITIES OF OFFICE OF 5 ELECTION ADMINISTRATION PRIOR TO APPOINTMENT OF 6 MEMBERS OF COMMISSION.—During the period which be- 7 gins on the date of the enactment of this Act and ends 8 on the effective date described in subsection (a), the Office 9 of Election Administration of the Federal Election Com- 10 mission shall continue to have the authority to carry out 11 any of the functions (including the development of vol- 12 untary standards for voting systems and procedures for 13 the certification of voting systems) which it has the au- 14 thority to carry out as of the date of the enactment of 15 this Act. 16 Subtitle B—Coverage of Commis- 17 sion Under Certain Laws and 18 Programs 19 SEC. 811. TREATMENT OF COMMISSION PERSONNEL UNDER 20 CERTAIN CIVIL SERVICE LAWS. 21 (a) COVERAGE UNDER HATCH ACT.—Section 22 7323(b)(2)(B)(i)(I) of title 5, United States Code, is 23 amended by inserting ‘‘or the Election Assistance Com- 24 mission’’ after ‘‘Commission’’. 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


155 (b) EXCLUSION FROM SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERV- 1 ICE.—Section 3132(a)(1)(C) of title 5, United States 2 Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘or the Election Assistance 3 Commission’’ after ‘‘Commission’’. 4 SEC. 812. COVERAGE UNDER INSPECTOR GENERAL ACT OF 5 1978. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8G(a)(2) of the Inspector 7 General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is amended by insert- 8 ing ‘‘the Election Assistance Commission,’’ after ‘‘Federal 9 Election Commission,’’. 10 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 11 subsection (a) shall take effect 180 days after the appoint- 12 ment of all members of the Election Assistance Commis- 13 sion under section 203. 14 TITLE IX—MISCELLANEOUS 15 PROVISIONS 16 SEC. 901. STATE DEFINED. 17 In this Act, the term ‘‘State’’ includes the District 18 of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, 19 American Samoa, and the United States Virgin Islands. 20 SEC. 902. AUDITS AND REPAYMENT OF FUNDS. 21 (a) RECORDKEEPING REQUIREMENT.—Each recipi- 22 ent of a grant or other payment made under this Act shall 23 keep such records with respect to the payment as are con- 24 sistent with sound accounting principles, including records 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


156 which fully disclose the amount and disposition by such 1 recipient of funds, the total cost of the project or under- 2 taking for which such funds are used, and the amount of 3 that portion of the cost of the project or undertaking sup- 4 plied by other sources, and such other records as will fa- 5 cilitate an effective audit. 6 (b) AUDITS AND EXAMINATIONS.— 7 (1) AUDITS AND EXAMINATIONS.—Except as 8 provided in paragraph (5), each office making a 9 grant or other payment under this Act, or any duly 10 authorized representative of such office, may audit 11 or examine any recipient of the grant or payment 12 and shall have access for the purpose of audit and 13 examination to any books, documents, papers, and 14 records of the recipient which in the opinion of the 15 entity may be related or pertinent to the grant or 16 payment. 17 (2) RECIPIENTS OF ASSISTANCE SUBJECT TO 18 PROVISIONS OF SECTION.—The provisions of this 19 section shall apply to all recipients of grants or other 20 payments under this Act, whether by direct grant, 21 cooperative agreement, or contract under this Act or 22 by subgrant or subcontract from primary grantees 23 or contractors under this Act. 24 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


157 (3) MANDATORY AUDIT.—In addition to audits 1 conducted pursuant to paragraph (1), all funds pro- 2 vided under this Act shall be subject to mandatory 3 audit by the Comptroller General at least once dur- 4 ing the lifetime of the program involved. For pur- 5 poses of an audit under this paragraph, the Comp- 6 troller General shall have access to books, docu- 7 ments, papers, and records of recipients of funds in 8 the same manner as the office making the grant or 9 payment involved has access to such books, docu- 10 ments, papers, and records under paragraph (1). 11 (4) SPECIAL RULE FOR PAYMENTS BY GENERAL 12 SERVICES ADMINISTRATION.—With respect to any 13 grant or payment made under this Act by the Ad- 14 ministrator of General Services, the Election Assist- 15 ance Commission shall be deemed to be the office 16 making the grant or payment for purposes of this 17 section. 18 (5) SPECIAL RULE.—In the case of grants or 19 payments made under section 251, audits and ex- 20 aminations conducted under paragraph (1) shall be 21 performed on a regular basis (as determined by the 22 Commission). 23 (6) SPECIAL RULES FOR AUDITS BY THE COM- 24 MISSION.—In addition to the audits described in 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


158 paragraph (1), the Election Assistance Commission 1 may conduct a special audit or special examination 2 of a recipient described in paragraph (1) upon a vote 3 of the Commission. 4 (c) RECOUPMENT OF FUNDS.—If the Comptroller 5 General determines as a result of an audit conducted 6 under subsection (b) that— 7 (1) a recipient of funds under this Act is not 8 in compliance with each of the requirements of the 9 program under which the funds are provided; or 10 (2) an excess payment has been made to the re- 11 cipient under the program, 12 the recipient shall pay to the office which made the grant 13 or payment involved a portion of the funds provided which 14 reflects the proportion of the requirements with which the 15 recipient is not in compliance, or the extent to which the 16 payment is in excess, under the program involved. 17 SEC. 903. CLARIFICATION OF ABILITY OF ELECTION OFFI- 18 CIALS TO REMOVE REGISTRANTS FROM OFFI- 19 CIAL LIST OF VOTERS ON GROUNDS OF 20 CHANGE OF RESIDENCE. 21 Section 8(b)(2) of the National Voter Registration 22 Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg–6(b)(2)) is amended by 23 striking the period at the end and inserting the following: 24 ‘‘, except that nothing in this paragraph may be construed 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


159 to prohibit a State from using the procedures described 1 in subsections (c) and (d) to remove an individual from 2 the official list of eligible voters if the individual— 3 ‘‘(A) has not either notified the applicable 4 registrar (in person or in writing) or responded 5 during the period described in subparagraph 6 (B) to the notice sent by the applicable reg- 7 istrar; and then 8 ‘‘(B) has not voted or appeared to vote in 9 2 or more consecutive general elections for Fed- 10 eral office.’’. 11 SEC. 904. REVIEW AND REPORT ON ADEQUACY OF EXIST- 12 ING ELECTORAL FRAUD STATUTES AND PEN- 13 ALTIES. 14 (a) REVIEW.—The Attorney General shall conduct a 15 review of existing criminal statutes concerning election of- 16 fenses to determine— 17 (1) whether additional statutory offenses are 18 needed to secure the use of the Internet for election 19 purposes; and 20 (2) whether existing penalties provide adequate 21 punishment and deterrence with respect to such of- 22 fenses. 23 (b) REPORT.—The Attorney General shall submit a 24 report to the Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


160 and House of Representatives, the Committee on Rules 1 and Administration of the Senate, and the Committee on 2 House Administration of the House of Representatives on 3 the review conducted under subsection (a) together with 4 such recommendations for legislative and administrative 5 action as the Attorney General determines appropriate. 6 SEC. 905. OTHER CRIMINAL PENALTIES. 7 (a) CONSPIRACY TO DEPRIVE VOTERS OF A FAIR 8 ELECTION.—Any individual who knowingly and willfully 9 gives false information in registering or voting in violation 10 of section 11(c) of the National Voting Rights Act of 1965 11 (42 U.S.C. 1973i(c)), or conspires with another to violate 12 such section, shall be fined or imprisoned, or both, in ac- 13 cordance with such section. 14 (b) FALSE INFORMATION IN REGISTERING AND VOT- 15 ING.—Any individual who knowingly commits fraud or 16 knowingly makes a false statement with respect to the nat- 17 uralization, citizenry, or alien registry of such individual 18 in violation of section 1015 of title 18, United States 19 Code, shall be fined or imprisoned, or both, in accordance 20 with such section. 21 SEC. 906. NO EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as specifically provided in 23 section 303(b) of this Act with regard to the National 24 Voter Registration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg et 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002


161 seq.), nothing in this Act may be construed to authorize 1 or require conduct prohibited under any of the following 2 laws, or to supersede, restrict, or limit the application of 3 such laws: 4 (1) The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 5 1973 et seq.). 6 (2) The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and 7 Handicapped Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ee et seq.). 8 (3) The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Ab- 9 sentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff et seq.). 10 (4) The National Voter Registration Act of 11 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1973gg et seq.). 12 (5) The Americans with Disabilities Act of 13 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). 14 (6) The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 15 701 et seq.). 16 (b) NO EFFECT ON PRECLEARANCE OR OTHER RE- 17 QUIREMENTS UNDER VOTING RIGHTS ACT.—The ap- 18 proval by the Administrator or the Commission of a pay- 19 ment or grant application under title I or title II, or any 20 other action taken by the Commission or a State under 21 such title, shall not be considered to have any effect on 22 requirements for preclearance under section 5 of the Vot- 23 ing Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973c) or any other 24 requirements of such Act. 25 F:\P7\ELRFM\CNF2\FINAL F:\V7\100802\100802.002