[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2275 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2275

  To amend the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act to 
   ensure the usability, accuracy, integrity, and security of United 
States voting products and systems through the development of voluntary 
    consensus standards, the provision of technical assistance, and 
           laboratory accreditation, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 21, 2001

Mr. Ehlers (for himself and Mr. Barcia) introduced the following bill; 
             which was referred to the Committee on Science

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act to 
   ensure the usability, accuracy, integrity, and security of United 
States voting products and systems through the development of voluntary 
    consensus standards, the provision of technical assistance, and 
           laboratory accreditation, 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 Technology Standards Act of 
2001''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act--
            (1) the term ``Director'' means the Director of the 
        Institute;
            (2) the term ``Institute'' means the National Institute of 
        Standards and Technology; and
            (3) the term ``standards'' means performance standards, 
        best standard practices, and specifications relating to voting 
        products and systems.

SEC. 3. INSTITUTE MISSION AND PROGRAM.

    (a) Mission To Study Voting Technologies.--Section 2(c) of the 
National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 272(c)) 
is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (21), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) by redesignating paragraph (22) as paragraph (23); and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (21) the following new 
        paragraph:
            ``(22) study standards for voting products and systems used 
        in the United States, including vote casting, voter 
        registration, and vote counting products and systems; and''.
    (b) Voting Technology Standards and Program.--The National 
Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 271 et seq.) is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating sections 29 through 32 as sections 30 
        through 33, respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after section 28 the following new 
        section:

``SEC. 29. VOTING TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS AND PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Voting Systems Standards.--
            ``(1) Required standards.--Not later than 2 months after 
        the date of the enactment of the Voting Technology Standards 
        Act of 2001, the Director, in cooperation with other Federal 
        agencies, State and local governments, professional 
        associations of elections officials, standards development 
        organizations, industry and industry organizations, and others 
        the Director considers appropriate, shall publish in the 
        Federal Register a notice that--
                    ``(A) identifies the standards required to ensure 
                the usability, accuracy, integrity, and security of 
                United States voting products and systems; and
                    ``(B) outlines a strategy for the development of 
                those standards, including an identification of the 
                entity or entities responsible for developing each 
                standard.
            ``(2) Consensus standards.--
                    ``(A) Development.--Consistent with section 12(d) 
                of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act 
                of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note), the Director shall ensure 
                the development and publication of voluntary consensus-
                based standards to ensure the usability, accuracy, 
                integrity, and security of voting products and systems 
                used in the United States.
                    ``(B) Coordination.--In conducting activities under 
                subparagraph (A), the Director shall coordinate with 
                other Federal agencies, State and local governments, 
                professional associations of elections officials, 
                standards development organizations, industry and 
                industry organizations, and others the Director 
                considers appropriate.
            ``(3) Provisional standards.--
                    ``(A) Establishment.--If a standard identified 
                under paragraph (1)(A) is not developed and published 
                under paragraph (2) within 6 months after the date of 
                the enactment of the Voting Technology Standards Act of 
                2001, the Director shall establish a provisional 
standard, in cooperation with other Federal agencies, State and local 
governments, professional associations of elections officials, 
standards development organizations, industry and industry 
organizations, and others the Director considers appropriate, and 
using, to the extent practicable, the available work product of the 
entity or entities responsible, under the strategy outlined under 
paragraph (1)(B), for developing the standard.
                    ``(B) Publication and withdrawal.--A provisional 
                standard established under this paragraph shall be 
                published in the Federal Register, shall take effect 30 
                days after such publication, and shall remain in effect 
                until the appropriate standard is developed and 
                published under paragraph (2). When such a standard is 
                developed and published under paragraph (2), the 
                Director shall withdraw the provisional standard 
                established under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph.
            ``(4) Waiver of requirement to establish provisional 
        standard.--The Director may waive, for a duration of not longer 
        than 3 months, the requirement under paragraph (3)(A) to 
        establish a provisional standard if the Director determines 
        that a standard will be developed under paragraph (2) within a 
        reasonable amount of time.
            ``(5) Review of standards.--The Director shall review the 
        standards developed under paragraph (2) at the conclusion of 
        every even numbered year and, if the Director considers it 
        necessary, shall ensure the development of updated standards 
        consistent with section 12(d) of the National Technology 
        Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note).
    ``(b) Voting Technology Program.--
            ``(1) Research.--The Director shall establish a program for 
        research in areas that support the development of standards for 
        voting products and systems under subsection (a). Such program 
        shall address--
                    ``(A) the security of computers and networks used 
                in voting products and systems;
                    ``(B) methods of ensuring the performance of 
                computer software and other aspects of voting products 
                and systems;
                    ``(C) human factors, including the interaction 
                between people and devices or computers, usability 
                engineering, and access for the disabled;
                    ``(D) methods to detect and prevent fraud; and
                    ``(E) technological issues related to remote access 
                voting, including Internet voting, and voter privacy.
            ``(2) Technical assistance.--The Director shall provide, 
        upon request, technical assistance to State and local 
        governments to promote and improve the usability, accuracy, 
        integrity, and security of voting products and systems, 
        including conducting performance evaluations, checking error 
        rates, and evaluating best management practices before, during, 
        and after a Federal election, and shall give priority to those 
        States and local governments demonstrating the greatest need.
            ``(3) Accreditation of certifying laboratories.--The 
        Director shall accredit laboratories to test, evaluate, and 
        certify voting products and systems for conformance with the 
        standards developed under subsection (a). The Director shall 
        establish an accreditation fee for laboratories. The Director 
        may waive the accreditation fee in appropriate circumstances.
            ``(4) Grants to laboratories.--If the Director determines 
        that laboratories accredited under paragraph (3) do not have 
        the resources to meet the demand to test and evaluate voting 
        products and systems, and that a backlog exists, the Director 
        may provide financial assistance to such laboratories to 
        support additional testing and evaluation.
            ``(5) Information dissemination.--The Director shall, 
        directly or through appropriate arrangements with other 
        parties--
                    ``(A) maintain and make publicly available a list 
                of voting products and systems that have been certified 
                by laboratories accredited under paragraph (3); and
                    ``(B) disseminate technical information, standards, 
                and information on the experience of State and local 
                governments receiving technical assistance under 
                paragraph (2), to ensure the usability, accuracy, 
                integrity, and security of United States voting 
                products and systems.''.

SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

    Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Director shall transmit to the Congress a report that--
            (1) identifies the areas of human factors research, 
        including usability engineering and human-computer and human-
        machine interaction, that feasibly could be applied to voting 
        products and systems design to ensure the usability and 
        accuracy of United States voting products and systems, 
        including to improve access by the disabled and to reduce voter 
        error and the number of spoiled ballots in elections; and
            (2) assesses the potential demand by State and local 
        governments for technical assistance available under section 
        (29)(b)(2) of the National Institute of Standards and 
        Technology Act (as added by section 3(b)(2) of this Act), and 
        the feasibility of developing other means to address that 
        demand.
                                 <all>