Voting Enhancement and Security Act of 2007 - Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to direct the Technical Guidelines Development Committee to develop for the Election Assistance Commission specific guidelines, meeting certain criteria, for the operation of electronic voting equipment in federal elections. Requires states to comply with such guidelines.
Requires states to: (1) administer audits of the results of federal elections held in the state in accordance with a state audit plan; and (2) develop and implement election security protocols for protecting the voting equipment and contingency plans for addressing voting system failures and other emergencies.
[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2360 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2360
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require States to meet
Federal guidelines for the operation of electronic voting equipment,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 17, 2007
Mr. Ehlers (for himself, Mr. Daniel E. Lungren of California, and Mr.
McCarthy of California) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on House Administration
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require States to meet
Federal guidelines for the operation of electronic voting equipment,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Voting Enhancement and Security Act
of 2007''.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF FEDERAL GUIDELINES FOR ELECTRONIC VOTING
EQUIPMENT.
(a) Establishment of Guidelines; Support From National Institute of
Standards and Technology.--Section 221 of the Help America Vote Act of
2002 (42 U.S.C. 15361 et seq.) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsection (f) as subsection (g); and
(2) by inserting after subsection (e) the following new
subsection:
``(f) Special Rules for Establishment of Guidelines for Electronic
Voting Equipment.--
``(1) Establishment of guidelines.--In addition to any
other guidelines developed under this section, the Development
Committee shall develop specific guidelines for the operation
of electronic voting equipment in elections for Federal office
under which the equipment will comply with each of the
following technologies:
``(A) A technology that allows a contemporaneous,
redundant, and auditable trail of the votes cast or
recorded on such equipment. For purposes of this
subparagraph, a trail is `contemporaneous' if it is
created and recorded at the same time as the original
record.
``(B) A technology that allows each individual who
is eligible to vote in such an election to verify the
ballot before the individual's vote is cast into the
equipment.
``(C) A technology that ensures reliable security
of the equipment from tampering or improper use.
``(D) A technology that ensures that individuals
with disabilities who are eligible to vote in the
election can vote independently and without assistance.
``(2) Technical support from nist.--The Director of the
National Institute of Standards and Technology shall provide
the Development Committee with technical support in the
development of the guidelines for electronic voting equipment
under this subsection, in the same manner as the technical
support provided under subsection (e).
``(3) Deadline.--The Director shall complete the
requirements of subsection (a) not later than January 1,
2010.''.
(b) Requiring States to Meet Guidelines.--
(1) Requirement.--
(A) In general.--Section 301 of such Act (42 U.S.C.
15481) is amended--
(i) by redesignating subsections (b)
through (d) as subsections (c) through (e); and
(ii) by inserting after subsection (a) the
following new subsection:
``(b) Special Requirements for Electronic Voting Equipment.--
``(1) In general.--Any voting system which consists in
whole or in part of an electronic vote recording device or an
electronic vote tabulation device shall meet the voting system
guidelines applicable to such devices which are adopted by the
Commission pursuant to section 222 (in accordance with the
requirements for the development of such guidelines under
section 221(f)).
``(2) Definitions.--In this subsection--
``(A) the term `vote recording device' means the
mechanism or medium used for recording a voter's ballot
choices; and
``(B) the term `vote tabulation device' means the
mechanism or equipment used to tabulate the votes
recorded on the vote recording device.
``(3) Effective date.--Paragraph (1) shall apply with
respect to elections for Federal office held in 2012 and each
succeeding year.''.
(B) Conforming amendment.--Section 301(e) of such
Act (42 U.S.C. 15481(e)), as redesignated by
subparagraph (A), is amended by striking ``Each State''
and inserting ``Except as provided in subsection (b),
each State''.
(2) Availability of funding for meeting requirements.--
Section 257(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15407(a) is amended by
adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(4) For fiscal year 2011, $1,000,000,000, except that any
funds provided under the authorization made by this paragraph
shall be used by a State only to meet the requirements of
section 301(b), or to otherwise modify or replace its voting
systems in response to such requirements.''.
SEC. 3. REQUIRING AUDITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS.
(a) Requiring States To Administer Audits in Accordance With State
Plan.--Subtitle A of title III of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42
U.S.C. 15481 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 303 the
following new section:
``SEC. 303A. AUDITS OF RESULTS OF ELECTIONS.
``(a) Requiring States To Administer Audits in Accordance With
State Plan.--
``(1) In general.--Each State shall administer audits of
the results of elections for Federal office held in the State
in accordance with a State audit plan which describes the
entity responsible for administering the audits, the procedures
for administering the audits, and the rules for determining
which elections will be subject to audits and the number of
tabulation units in which the audits will occur.
``(2) Tabulation unit defined.--In this subsection, the
term `tabulation unit' means, with respect to an election, a
unit established by the State prior to the election (such as a
precinct, polling location, or particular type of voting
device) in which the votes tabulated by the voting system used
in the unit may be compared with the audit of the results of
the ballots cast in the unit.
``(3) Submission of plan to commission.--Not later than
January 1, 2009, the State shall submit its initial State audit
plan under this section to the Commission.
``(b) Certification.--A State does not meet the requirements of
this section unless the chief executive of the State and the chief
election official of the State certify that the State audit plan
provides for the fair and effective administration of audits under
procedures that are transparent and open to the public.
``(c) Effective Date.--This section shall apply with respect to the
regularly scheduled general elections for Federal office held in
November 2010 and each succeeding election for Federal office.''.
(b) Availability of Enforcement.--Section 401 of such Act (42
U.S.C. 15511) is amended by striking ``sections 301, 302, and 303'' and
inserting ``subtitle A of title III''.
(c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents of such Act is
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 303 the
following:
``303A. Audits of results of elections.''.
SEC. 4. REQUIRING STATES TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT ELECTION SECURITY
PROTOCOLS AND CONTINGENCY PLANS.
(a) In General.--Subtitle A of title III of the Help America Vote
Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481 et seq.), as amended by section 3(a), is
further amended by inserting after section 303A the following new
section:
``SEC. 303B. DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ELECTION SECURITY
PROTOCOLS AND CONTINGENCY PLANS.
``(a) Requirements for States.--Each State and jurisdiction which
administers elections for Federal office shall--
``(1) develop and implement security protocols for
protecting the voting equipment used in such elections and for
ensuring the security of the administration of such elections;
and
``(2) develop and implement contingency plans for
addressing voting system failures and other emergencies which
may occur on the date of such an election, including the
protocols to be followed at polling places and the protocols
applicable to the use of emergency ballots.
``(b) Effective Date.--This section shall apply with respect to the
regularly scheduled general election for Federal office in November
2008 and each succeeding election for Federal office.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents of such Act, as
amended by section 3(c), is further amended by inserting after the item
relating to section 303A the following:
``303B. Development and implementation of election security protocols
and contingency plans.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on House Administration.
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