[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 794 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 794

 To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to reauthorize and improve 
 the operation of the Election Assistance Commission, to provide funds 
  to States to make security upgrades to voter registration lists and 
                   processes, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 1, 2017

Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. Hoyer, Ms. Lofgren, and Mr. 
   Raskin) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on 
    Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to reauthorize and improve 
 the operation of the Election Assistance Commission, to provide funds 
  to States to make security upgrades to voter registration lists and 
                   processes, 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; FINDINGS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``EAC 
Reauthorization Act of 2017''.
    (b) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) The elections for Federal office which were held in 
        November 2016 were plagued with a number of problems, 
        including--
                    (A) foreign interference, as confirmed by the 
                United States intelligence community;
                    (B) a worsening voting machine infrastructure that 
                will continue to deteriorate without congressional 
                action; and
                    (C) a lack of resources at the State and local 
                level that will make election administration more 
                challenging.
            (2) The Election Assistance Commission is the only Federal 
        agency charged with making elections more fair, accurate, 
        accessible, and efficient by providing best practices, 
        information, and voting machine certifications to States.
            (3) The Election Assistance Commission should be equipped 
        with the tools necessary to undertake its nonpartisan mission 
        of helping State and local election officials administer their 
        elections and ensuring the accuracy, integrity, and security of 
        our elections.

SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION.

    Section 210 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20930) 
is amended by striking ``for each of the fiscal years 2003 through 
2005'' and inserting ``for each of the fiscal years 2017 through 
2022''.

SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE TO STATES FOR SECURITY UPGRADES TO VOTER 
              REGISTRATION LISTS AND PROCESSES.

    (a) Authorization of Funding.--Section 257(a) of the Help America 
Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21007(a)) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new paragraph:
            ``(5) For fiscal year 2018, such sums as may be necessary 
        for such payments, except that a State may use a requirement 
        payment made with funds authorized under this paragraph solely 
        to upgrade the security of the State's voter registration lists 
        and voter registration processes and to carry out other 
        activities necessary to meet the requirements of section 
        303(a)(3) (relating to the technological security of the 
        State's computerized voter registration list).''.
    (b) Waiver of 5-Percent Match Requirement.--Section 253(b)(5) of 
such Act (52 U.S.C. 21003(b)(5)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``subparagraph (B)'' 
        and inserting ``subparagraphs (B) and (C)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
            ``(C) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply for purposes of 
        determining the eligibility of a State to receive a 
        requirements payment appropriated pursuant to the authorization 
        provided under section 257(a)(5) of this title for fiscal year 
        2018.''.

SEC. 4. ASSESSMENT OF ADEQUACY OF VOTING SYSTEMS AND MACHINES.

    (a) Assessment.--In consultation with the election officials of 
each State, the Election Assistance Commission shall carry out an 
assessment of whether the voting systems, including the voting 
machines, available for use in the elections for Federal office to be 
held in 2018 are adequate to meet the demands of such elections.
    (b) Plan for Replacement of Outdated and Inadequate Machines.--Not 
later than December 31, 2017, the Commission shall submit to Congress 
and the States a report on the assessment carried out under subsection 
(a), and shall include in the report a plan for replacing voting 
machines which the Commission determines, on the basis of such 
assessment, are outdated or otherwise not capable of meeting the 
demands of the elections for Federal office to be held in 2018.
    (c) Definition.--In this section, the term ``State'' has the 
meaning given such term in section 901 of the Help America Vote Act of 
2002 (52 U.S.C. 21141).

SEC. 5. REQUIRING STATES TO PARTICIPATE IN POST-GENERAL ELECTION 
              SURVEYS.

    (a) Requirement.--Title III of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 
(52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 303 the 
following new section:

``SEC. 303A. REQUIRING PARTICIPATION IN POST-GENERAL ELECTION SURVEYS.

    ``(a) Requirement.--Each State shall furnish to the Commission such 
information as the Commission may request for purposes of conducting 
any post-election survey of the States with respect to the 
administration of a regularly scheduled general election for Federal 
office.
    ``(b) Effective Date.--This section shall apply with respect to the 
regularly scheduled general election for Federal office held in 
November 2018 and any succeeding election.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment Relating to Enforcement.--Section 401 of 
such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) is amended by striking ``and 303'' and 
inserting ``303, and 303A''.
    (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents of such Act is 
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 303 the 
following new item:

``Sec. 303A. Requiring participation in post-general election 
                            surveys.''.

SEC. 6. REPORTS BY NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY ON 
              USE OF FUNDS TRANSFERRED FROM ELECTION ASSISTANCE 
              COMMISSION.

    (a) Requiring Reports on Use Funds as Condition of Receipt.--
Section 231 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20971) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(e) Report on Use of Funds Transferred From Commission.--To the 
extent that funds are transferred from the Commission to the Director 
of the National Institute of Standards and Technology for purposes of 
carrying out this section during any fiscal year, the Director may not 
use such funds unless the Director certifies at the time of transfer 
that the Director will submit a report to the Commission not later than 
90 days after the end of the fiscal year detailing how the Director 
used such funds during the year.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to fiscal year 2018 and each succeeding fiscal year.

SEC. 7. RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE OPERATIONS OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE 
              COMMISSION.

    (a) Assessment of Information Technology and Cybersecurity.--Not 
later than December 31, 2017, the Election Assistance Commission shall 
carry out an assessment of the security and effectiveness of the 
Commission's information technology systems, including the 
cybersecurity of such systems.
    (b) Improvements to Administrative Complaint Procedures.--
            (1) Review of procedures.--The Election Assistance 
        Commission shall carry out a review of the effectiveness and 
        efficiency of the State-based administrative complaint 
        procedures established and maintained under section 402 of the 
        Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21112) for the 
        investigation and resolution of allegations of violations of 
        title III of such Act.
            (2) Recommendations to streamline procedures.--Not later 
        than December 31, 2017, the Commission shall submit to Congress 
        a report on the review carried out under paragraph (1), and 
        shall include in the report such recommendations as the 
        Commission considers appropriate to streamline and improve the 
        procedures which are the subject of the review.
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