[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2045 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2045

To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require a voter-verified 
permanent record or hardcopy under title III of such Act, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 2, 2004

  Mrs. Boxer introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
         referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require a voter-verified 
permanent record or hardcopy under title III of such Act, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Secure and 
Verifiable Electronic Voting Act of 2004'' or the ``SAVE Voting Act of 
2004''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Promoting accuracy, integrity, and security through voter-
                            verified permanent record or hard copy.
Sec. 3. Extension of time provided for States to request payments under 
                            title I.
Sec. 4. Change in deadline for compliance with standards.
Sec. 5. Requirement for Federal certification of technological security 
                            of voter registration lists.
Sec. 6. Requirement for mandatory recounts.
Sec. 7. Security standards for manufacturers of federally certified 
                            voting systems.
Sec. 8. Repeal of exemption of Election Assistance Commission from 
                            certain Government contracting 
                            requirements.
Sec. 9. Effective date.

SEC. 2. PROMOTING ACCURACY, INTEGRITY, AND SECURITY THROUGH VOTER-
              VERIFIED PERMANENT RECORD OR HARD COPY.

    (a) In General.--Section 301(a)(2) of the Help America Vote Act of 
2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481(a)(2)) is amended to read as follows:
            ``(2) Voter-verification and manual audit capacity.--
                    ``(A) Voter-verification.--The voting system shall 
                produce a voter-verified paper record suitable for a 
                manual audit equivalent or superior to that of a paper 
                ballot voting system and that meets the requirements of 
                subparagraph (B).
                    ``(B) Manual audit capacity.--
                            ``(i) The voting system shall produce a 
                        permanent paper record, each individual paper 
                        record of which shall be made available for 
                        inspection and verification by the voter at the 
                        time the vote is cast, and preserved within the 
                        polling place in the manner in which all other 
                        paper ballots are preserved within the polling 
                        place on Election Day for later use in any 
                        manual audit.
                            ``(ii) The voting system shall provide the 
                        voter with an opportunity to correct any error 
                        made by the system before the permanent record 
                        is preserved for use in any manual audit.
                            ``(iii) The voter-verified paper record 
                        produced under subparagraph (A) and this 
                        subparagraph shall be available as an official 
                        record and shall be the official record used 
                        for any recount conducted with respect to any 
                        election in which the system is used.
                            ``(iv) The voter-verified paper record 
                        produced under subparagraph (A) and this 
                        subparagraph may not be produced on thermal 
                        paper.
                    ``(C) Software and modems.--
                            ``(i) No voting system shall at any time 
                        contain or use undisclosed software. Any voting 
                        system containing or using software shall 
                        disclose the source code of that software to 
                        the Commission, and the Commission shall make 
                        that source code available for inspection upon 
                        request to any citizen.
                            ``(ii) No voting system shall contain any 
                        wireless communication device at all.
                            ``(iii) All software and hardware used in 
                        any electronic voting system shall be certified 
                        by laboratories accredited by the Commission as 
                        meeting the requirements of clauses (i) and 
                        (ii).''.
    (b) Voter Verification of Results for Individuals With 
Disabilities.--Section 301(a)(3) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15481(a)(3)) is 
amended--
            (1) in the heading, by inserting ``and voter-verification 
        of results'' after ``accessibility'';
            (2) in subparagraph (B), by inserting before ``; and'' the 
        following: ``, and such voting system shall provide a mechanism 
        for voter-verification of results and manual audit capacity in 
        a manner analogous to the manner required under subparagraphs 
        (A) and (B) of paragraph (2), but that does not require the use 
        of paper''; and
            (3) by amending subparagraph (C) to read as follows:
                    ``(C) meet the voting system standards for 
                disability access and voter-verification of results as 
                outlined in this paragraph in accordance with the 
                deadline described in subsection (d), except that, if 
                it does not and a paper ballot voting system is used on 
                an interim basis in accordance with section 
                102(a)(3)(B), any individual who requires assistance to 
                vote by reason of blindness, disability, or inability 
                to read or write shall have the option of using such 
                voting system with the assistance of a person chosen by 
                that individual in accordance with section 208 of the 
                Voting Rights Act of 1965 or using the voting system 
                otherwise put in place for use by voters at the time in 
                question in accordance with this Act, as in effect 
                prior to the enactment of the Secure and Verifiable 
                Electronic Voting Act of 2004, except that `2006' shall 
                be substituted for `2007' in section 301(a)(3)(C).''.
    (c) Notification of Right to Assistance of an Aide.--Section 
302(b)(2) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15482(b)(2)) 
is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (E), by striking ``and'' after the 
        semicolon at the end;
            (2) in subparagraph (F), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(G) information on the right of any individual 
                who requires assistance to vote by reason of blindness, 
                disability, or inability to read or write to be given 
                assistance by a person chosen by that individual under 
                section 208 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.''.
    (d) Voter-Verification and Audit Capacity Funding.--Title II of the 
Help America Vote Act of 2002 is amended by adding at the end the 
following new part:

        ``PART 7--VOTER-VERIFICATION AND AUDIT CAPACITY FUNDING

``SEC. 271. VOTER-VERIFICATION AND AUDIT CAPACITY FUNDING.

    ``(a) Payments to States.--Subject to subsection (b), not later 
than the date that is 30 days after the date of the enactment of the 
Secure and Verifiable Electronic Voting Act of 2004, the Election 
Assistance Commission shall pay to each State an amount to assist the 
State in paying for the implementation of the voter-verification and 
audit capacity requirements of paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 
301(a), as amended by subsections (a) and (b) of section 2 of the 
Secure and Verifiable Electronic Voting Act of 2004.
    ``(b) Limitation.--The amount paid to a State under subsection (a) 
for each voting system purchased by a State may not exceed the average 
cost of adding a printer to each type of voting system that the State 
could have purchased to meet the requirements described in such 
subsection.

``SEC. 272. APPROPRIATION.

    ``Such sums are appropriated to the Election Assistance Commission, 
without fiscal year limitation, as may be necessary to make payments to 
States in accordance with section 271(a).''.
    (e) Specific, Delineated Requirement of Study, Testing, and 
Development of Best Practices.--In addition to any other requirements 
under the Help America Vote Act of 2002, the Election Assistance 
Commission shall study, test, and develop best practices to enhance 
accessibility and voter-verification mechanisms for disabled voters.

SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF TIME PROVIDED FOR STATES TO REQUEST PAYMENTS UNDER 
              TITLE I.

    (a) Payments for Activities to Improve Administration of 
Elections.--Section 101(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 
U.S.C. 15301(a)) is amended by striking ``not later than 6 months after 
the date of the enactment of this Act'' and inserting ``not later than 
the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November 2004''.
    (b) Payments for Replacement of Punch Card or Lever Voting 
Machines.--Section 102(b)(1) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 
U.S.C. 15301(b)(1)) is amended by striking ``not later than the date 
that is 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act'' and 
inserting ``not later than the Tuesday next after the first Monday in 
November 2004''.
    (c) Extension of Period of Authorization of Appropriations.--
            (1) In general.--Section 104(a) of the Help America Vote 
        Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15304(a)) is amended by striking 
        ``$650,000,000'' and inserting ``an aggregate amount of 
        $650,000,000 for fiscal years 2003 through 2005''.
            (2) Date for transfer to election assistance commission of 
        unobligated funds.--Section 104(c)(2)(B) of the Help America 
        Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15304(c)(2)(B)) is amended by 
        striking ``September 1, 2003'' and inserting ``January 1, 
        2005''.
    (d) Requirement To Deploy Interim Measure If Waiver Requested.--
Section 102(a)(3)(B) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 
15301(a)(3)(B)) is amended by striking the period at the end and 
inserting the following: ``, except that any State requesting any such 
waiver shall accept and implement a paper ballot voting system for use 
on an interim basis as provided in section 4(b) of the Secure and 
Verifiable Electronic Voting Act of 2004 in time for use in the 
regularly scheduled general election for Federal office held in 
November 2004.''.

SEC. 4. CHANGE IN DEADLINE FOR COMPLIANCE WITH STANDARDS.

    (a) In General.--Section 301(d) of the Help America Vote Act of 
2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481(d)) is amended by striking ``on and after January 
1, 2006'' and inserting ``in time for elections for Federal office 
beginning with the regularly scheduled general election to be held in 
November 2004''.
    (b) Interim Paper Ballot Voting System.--Section 301 of the Help 
America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481(d)) is amended by adding at 
the end the following new subsection:
    ``(e) Interim Paper Ballot Voting System.--Each State and 
jurisdiction that certifies by July 1, 2004, in a manner similar to the 
manner described in section 102(a)(3)(B) that it is unable to comply 
with the requirements of section 301, as amended by the Secure and 
Verifiable Electronic Voting Act of 2004, in time for the regularly 
scheduled general election for Federal office to be held in November 
2004 shall use a paper ballot voting system, based on paper ballot 
voting systems in use in the jurisdiction, if any, that shall be deemed 
compliant with section 301 by the Commission for use in the November 
2004 general elections. The Commission shall reimburse the State or 
jurisdiction for any costs incurred in using such a system.''.

SEC. 5. REQUIREMENT FOR FEDERAL CERTIFICATION OF TECHNOLOGICAL SECURITY 
              OF VOTER REGISTRATION LISTS.

    Section 303(a)(3) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 
15483(a)(3)) is amended by striking ``measures to prevent the'' and 
inserting ``measures, as certified by the Election Assistance 
Commission, to prevent''.

SEC. 6. REQUIREMENT FOR MANDATORY RECOUNTS.

    The Election Assistance Commission shall conduct unannounced manual 
recounts of the voter-verified records of each election for Federal 
office (and, at the option of the State or jurisdiction involved, 
elections for State and local office) in 0.5 percent of the 
jurisdictions in each State (as defined in section 901 of the Help 
America Vote Act of 2002) and, including overseas voters (as defined in 
section 107(5) of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting 
Act), immediately following each general election for Federal office 
and shall promptly publish the results of those recounts. The treatment 
of the results of the recount shall be governed by applicable Federal, 
State, or local law.

SEC. 7. SECURITY STANDARDS FOR MANUFACTURERS OF FEDERALLY CERTIFIED 
              VOTING SYSTEMS.

    (a) In General.--Section 301(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 
2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following 
new paragraph:
            ``(7) Security standards for manufacturers of voting 
        systems used in federal elections.--
                    ``(A) In general.--No voting system may be used in 
                an election for Federal office unless the manufacturer 
                of such system meets the requirements described in 
                subparagraph (B).
                    ``(B) Requirements described.--The requirements 
                described in this subparagraph are as follows:
                            ``(i) The manufacturer shall conduct 
                        background checks on individuals who are 
                        programmers and developers before such 
                        individuals work on any software used in 
                        connection with the voting system.
                            ``(ii) The manufacturer shall document the 
                        chain of custody for the handling of software 
                        used in connection with voting systems.
                            ``(iii) The manufacturer shall ensure that 
                        any software used in connection with the voting 
                        system is not transferred over the Internet.
                            ``(iv) The manufacturer shall provide the 
                        codes used in any software used in connection 
                        with the voting system to the Commission and 
                        may not alter such codes once certification has 
                        occurred unless such system is recertified.
                            ``(v) The manufacturer shall implement 
                        procedures to ensure internal security, as 
                        required by the Director of the National 
                        Institute of Standards and Technology.
                            ``(vi) The manufacturer shall meet such 
                        other requirements as may be established by the 
                        Director of the National Institute of Standards 
                        and Technology.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to voting systems used on and after the date of the 
regularly scheduled general election for Federal office held in 
November 2004.

SEC. 8. REPEAL OF EXEMPTION OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION FROM 
              CERTAIN GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 205 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 
(42 U.S.C. 15325) is amended by striking subsection (e).
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to contracts entered into by the Election Assistance 
Commission on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    Except as provided in sections 7(b) and 8(b), the amendments made 
by this Act shall take effect as if included in the enactment of the 
Help America Vote Act of 2002.
                                 <all>