[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>