1.This Act may be cited as the
American Democracy Index Act of
2009
.
2.Establishment of
American democracy index and related election data collection
(a)Subtitle C of title II of the Help America Vote Act of
2002 (42 U.S.C. 15381 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
248.Establishment
of American Democracy Index and related election data collection
(a)The Commission, in consultation with the Board and in
accordance with this section, shall—
(1)develop an
American Democracy Index for the evaluation of elections for Federal office
occurring in 2010 and thereafter;
(2)establish and
operate a data collection system in order to collect and measure election data
described in subsection (c) to be used in preparing the American Democracy
Index; and
(3)make the American
Democracy Index with respect to each election for Federal office generally
available to the public, including through the Internet.
(b)The American Democracy Index is an index that is
designed to assist States in the administration of elections for Federal office
by presenting the information collected under the system established under
subsection (a)(2) on a State-by-State basis in a manner designed to demonstrate
administration practices that—
(1)ensure the right
of individuals to vote;
(2)improve the
quality of voter access to polls and the quality of voter services; and
(3)secure the
accuracy and integrity of elections.
(c)
(1)The Commission shall, in consultation with the Board,
determine the data that is required to be collected under this section in order
to analyze the effectiveness of the State administration of elections for
Federal office, including data required for developing or refining the American
Democracy Index.
(2)
(A)States required
to provide dataEach State shall submit to any grantee under
subsection (e) the information described in paragraph (1) in support of the
American Democracy Index.
(B)Data submission
regulationsWithin 60 days after the first meeting of the Board
under subsection (d)(2)(B)(i), the Commission shall promulgate regulations
for—
(i)the enforcement of
the data submission mandate under subparagraph (A); and
(ii)the
standardization of election data described in paragraph (1).
(C)The Commission may, in coordination with a State, select
precincts within the State on a sample basis from which to draw the information
described in paragraph (1) in order to form statistical conclusions with
respect to election administration in that State. In forming such statistical
conclusions, the Office may append the information collected from the samples
to other information provided by the State that was collected with respect to
elections for Federal office in that State.
(D)In accordance with such regulations as the Commission may
promulgate, the Commission shall make payments to States to assist the States
in meeting the data submission requirements of this paragraph.
(E)Rulemaking
authority of CommissionSection 209 shall not apply with respect
to any regulations promulgated by the Commission pursuant to the authority of
this paragraph.
(d)Independent
board of advisors
(1)There is hereby established an independent Board of
Advisors (in this section referred to as the Board
) that the
Commission shall consult in developing and refining the American Democracy
Index and the data to be collected under subsection (c).
(2)Independent
board of advisors
(A)The
Board—
(i)shall be composed
of 8 members from individuals from the academic, nonprofit, and election
administration communities, of whom—
(I)4 shall be
selected by the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate, in
consultation with the majority and minority leader of the Senate; and
(II)4 shall be
selected by the Committee on House Administration of the House of
Representatives, in consultation with the Speaker and minority leader of the
House of Representatives; and
(ii)shall be headed
by a President elected by the members of the Board.
(B)The
Board shall—
(i)meet at least
twice a year, and at such other times as are specified by the President of the
Board; and
(ii)consult with the
Commission as provided by this section, including making periodic
recommendations to the Commission on the type of election data to be collected
from States, the method of data collection, the enforcement mechanism for the
collection of election data, the administration of elections in general, and
other relevant issues as the Board sees appropriate.
(e)Establishment
and operation of index and data collection system
(1)The Commission shall conduct a pilot program for
elections for Federal office occurring in 2010 under which the Commission shall
make a grant to 1 or more eligible entities to—
(A)to collect
election data described in subsection (c) in not more than 5 States selected by
the Board; and
(B)to develop,
refine, and publish data collection results for each of the States selected
under subparagraph (A), including a comparison of localities in each State
based on the data collected.
(2)Initial index
for 2012 electionsBased on the pilot project conducted under
paragraph (1), the Commission shall make a grant to 1 or more eligible entities
to—
(A)collect election
data described in subsection (c) in all States with respect to elections for
Federal office occurring in 2012; and
(B)prepare and
publish the first American Democracy Index.
(3)The Commission shall collect data, and prepare and
publish an American Democracy Index, for each Presidential election cycle
beginning on or after January 1, 2012, with respect to elections for Federal
office occurring during the Presidential election cycle. In carrying out such
duties, the Commission shall—
(A)modify the data to
be collected and the index in accordance with the provisions of this section;
and
(B)contract with 1 or
more eligible entities to carry out all or a portion of such duties.
(f)Not
later than 9 months after the end of the election cycle for the election for
Federal office occurring in 2012 and the end of each Presidential election
cycle beginning on or after January 1, 2012, the Commission shall submit a
report to Congress and to the chief State elections officials of each State
that includes the election data collected under this section, together with any
recommendations for—
(1)improving the
types of election data that are collected and included in the American
Democracy Index published under this section; and
(2)legislation or
administrative action to improve State performance in the administration of
elections for Federal office (as determined based on a State-by-State
comparison of such election data).
(g)In
this section:
(1)Elections for
federal officeThe term elections for Federal office
means general elections only for Federal office.
(2)The term eligible entity means any nonprofit
organization or other organization deemed appropriate by the Commission.
(3)Presidential
election cycleThe term Presidential election cycle
means the 4-year period beginning with January of the year following an
election for the office of President of the United States.
(4)The
term State means each of the 50 States and the District of
Columbia.
(h)Authorization of
appropriations
(1)There are authorized to be appropriated to the Commission
such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this
section.
(2)There is authorized to be appropriated $18,000,000 for
each of fiscal years 2011 through 2016 to assist the States in complying with
the data submission requirements of subsection
(c)(2)(A).
.
(b)The table of contents of the Help America Vote Act of
2002 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 247 the
following:
Sec 248. Establishment of American
Democracy Index and related election data
collection.
.