[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5803 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5803

To direct the Election Assistance Commission to establish a program to 
make grants to participating States and units of local government which 
 will administer the regularly scheduled general election for Federal 
office held in November 2008 for carrying out a program to make backup 
 paper ballots available in the case of the failure of a voting system 
or voting equipment in the election or some other emergency situation, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 15, 2008

Ms. Zoe Lofgren of California introduced the following bill; which was 
           referred to the Committee on House Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To direct the Election Assistance Commission to establish a program to 
make grants to participating States and units of local government which 
 will administer the regularly scheduled general election for Federal 
office held in November 2008 for carrying out a program to make backup 
 paper ballots available in the case of the failure of a voting system 
or voting equipment in the election or some other emergency situation, 
                        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. GRANTS TO STATES AND UNITS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT FOR MAKING 
              BACKUP PAPER BALLOTS AVAILABLE IN CASE OF VOTING SYSTEM 
              OR EQUIPMENT FAILURE OR OTHER EMERGENCY SITUATION.

    (a) Grants by Election Assistance Commission.--The Election 
Assistance Commission (hereafter referred to as the ``Commission'') 
shall establish a program under which the Commission shall make a grant 
to each participating State and each participating unit of local 
government for carrying out a program to make backup paper ballots 
available in the case of the failure of a voting system or voting 
equipment or some other emergency situation in the administration of 
the regularly scheduled general election for Federal office held in 
November 2008.
    (b) Requirements for Eligibility.--
            (1) Application.--A State or unit of local government is 
        eligible to participate in the program established by the 
        Commission under this Act if the State or unit of local 
        government submits an application to the Commission at such 
        time and in such manner as the Commission shall require, and 
        includes in the application--
                    (A) a certification that the State or unit of local 
                government has established a program that meets the 
                requirements of paragraph (2) to make backup paper 
                ballots available in the case of the failure of a 
                voting system or voting equipment or some other 
                emergency situation;
                    (B) a statement of the reasonable costs the State 
                or unit of local government expects to incur in 
                carrying out its program;
                    (C) a certification that, not later than 60 days 
                after the date of the election, the State or unit of 
                local government will provide the Commission with a 
                statement of the actual costs incurred in carrying out 
                its program;
                    (D) a certification that the State or unit of local 
                government will repay the Commission any amount by 
                which the payment made under this Act exceeds the 
                actual costs incurred in carrying out its program; and
                    (E) such other information and certifications as 
                the Commission may require.
            (2) Program requirements.--The requirements of this 
        paragraph for a program to make backup paper ballots available 
        in the case of the failure of a voting system or voting 
        equipment or some other emergency situation are as follows:
                    (A) In the event that the voting equipment at a 
                polling place malfunctions and cannot be used to cast 
                ballots on the date of the election or some other 
                emergency situation exists which prevents the use of 
                such equipment to cast ballots on that date, any 
                individual who is waiting at the polling place on that 
                date to cast a ballot in the election and who would be 
                delayed due to such malfunction or other emergency 
                situation shall be notified by the appropriate election 
                official of the individual's right to use a backup 
                paper ballot, and shall be provided with a backup paper 
                ballot for the election, the supplies necessary to mark 
                the ballot, and instructions on how to mark the ballot 
                to prevent overvotes.
                    (B) Any backup paper ballot which is cast by an 
                individual pursuant to the program of a State or unit 
                of local government shall be counted as a regular 
                ballot cast in the election and tabulated on the date 
                of the election, and shall not be treated (for 
                eligibility purposes) as a provisional ballot under 
                section 302(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002, 
                unless the individual casting the ballot would have 
                otherwise been required to cast a provisional ballot if 
                the voting equipment at the polling place had not 
                malfunctioned or an emergency situation had not existed 
                which prevented the use of such equipment to cast 
                ballots.
                    (C) The program of a State or unit of local 
                government is carried out in accordance with standards 
                established by the State or unit of local government 
                which include protocols for delivering and supplying 
                backup paper ballots to polling places and for 
                notifying individuals of the right to use the backup 
                paper ballots.
    (c) Amount of Grant.--The amount of a grant made to a State or unit 
of local government under the program established by the Commission 
under this Act shall be equal to the amount of the reasonable costs the 
State or unit of local government expects to incur in carrying out its 
program, as provided in the application under subsection (b)(1)(B).

SEC. 2. STATE DEFINED.

    In this Act, the term ``State'' includes the District of Columbia, 
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the United 
States Virgin Islands.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated for grants under the 
program established by the Commission under this Act $75,000,000. Any 
amount appropriated pursuant to the authority of this section shall 
remain available without fiscal year limitation until expended.
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