[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 253 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 253

 To direct the Election Assistance Commission to make grants to States 
        to carry out election administration improvement plans.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 7, 2009

Mr. Hastings of Florida (for himself, Ms. Matsui, and Ms. Corrine Brown 
 of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                   Committee on House Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Election Assistance Commission to make grants to States 
        to carry out election administration improvement plans.

    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 ``Critical Election Infrastructure Act 
of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Roughly 130 million votes were cast in the United 
        States in the November 2008 general election, representing over 
        61 percent of the Nation's population.
            (2) Hundreds of thousands of individuals were forced to 
        wait in lines for 5 hours or longer in order to cast their 
        votes, both during early voting periods and on Election Day.
            (3) Hundreds of jurisdictions lacked the necessary 
        equipment and personnel to speedily and efficiently meet the 
        needs of such large turnout.

SEC. 3. GRANTS TO STATES FOR ELECTION ADMINISTRATION IMPROVEMENTS.

    (a) Grants Authorized.--The Election Assistance Commission 
(hereafter referred to as the ``Commission'') shall make grants to 
eligible States to carry out election administration improvement plans.
    (b) Plans Described.--For purposes of this Act, an election 
administration improvement plan is a plan established by a State to 
promote efficiency and fairness in the operation of polling places at 
which individuals cast ballots in elections for Federal office held in 
the State (including early voting sites), which may include the 
acquisition of additional voting systems and equipment, improved 
training of election administration officials, and the allocation of 
additional election administration officials to polling places serving 
greater numbers of voters.
    (c) Eligibility.--A State is eligible to receive a grant under this 
Act if it submits to the Commission (at such time and in such form as 
the Commission may require) an application containing--
            (1) the State's election administration improvement plan;
            (2) a description of how the State will use the funds 
        provided under the grant to carry out the plan; and
            (3) such other information and certifications as the 
        Commission may require.
    (d) Amount of Grant.--The amount of the grant made to an eligible 
State under this Act shall be determined by the Commission, taking into 
account the contents of application submitted by the State under 
subsection (c), the amount of funds available for grants to all States, 
and such other factors as the Commission considers appropriate.
    (e) 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. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated for grants 
under this Act $250,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2009 through 
2012.
    (b) Continuing Availability of Funds.--Any amounts appropriated 
pursuant to the authorization under this section shall remain available 
until expended.
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