[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 115 (Tuesday, July 28, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H8938-H8940]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            ABSENTEE BALLOT TRACK, RECEIVE, AND CONFIRM ACT

  Mrs. DAVIS of California. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules 
and pass the bill (H.R. 2510) to amend the Help America Vote Act of 
2002 to reimburse States for the costs incurred in establishing a 
program to track and confirm the receipt of voted absentee ballots in 
elections for Federal office and make information on the receipt of 
such ballots available by means of online access, and for other 
purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 2510

       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 ``Absentee Ballot Track, 
     Receive, and Confirm Act''.

     SEC. 2. REIMBURSEMENT FOR COSTS INCURRED IN ESTABLISHING 
                   PROGRAM TO TRACK AND CONFIRM RECEIPT OF 
                   ABSENTEE BALLOTS.

       (a) Reimbursement.--Subtitle D of title II of the Help 
     America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15401 et seq.) is amended 
     by adding at the end the following new part:

     ``PART 7--PAYMENTS TO REIMBURSE STATES FOR COSTS INCURRED IN 
 ESTABLISHING PROGRAM TO TRACK AND CONFIRM RECEIPT OF ABSENTEE BALLOTS

     ``SEC. 297. PAYMENTS TO STATES.

       ``(a) Payments For Costs of Establishing Program.--In 
     accordance with this section, the Commission shall make a 
     payment to a State to reimburse the State for the costs 
     incurred in establishing, if the State so chooses to 
     establish, an absentee ballot tracking program with respect 
     to elections for Federal office held in the State (including 
     costs incurred prior to the date of the enactment of this 
     part).
       ``(b) Absentee Ballot Tracking Program Described.--
       ``(1) Program described.--
       ``(A) In general.--In this part, an `absentee ballot 
     tracking program' is a program to track and confirm the 
     receipt of absentee ballots in an election for Federal office 
     under which the State or local election official responsible 
     for the receipt of voted absentee ballots in the election 
     carries out procedures to track and confirm the receipt of 
     such ballots, and makes information on the receipt of such 
     ballots available to the individual who cast the ballot, by 
     means of online access using the Internet site of the 
     official's office.
       ``(B) Information on whether vote was counted.--The 
     information referred to under subparagraph (A) with respect 
     to the receipt of an absentee ballot shall include 
     information regarding whether the vote cast on the ballot was 
     counted, and, in the case of a vote which was not counted, 
     the reasons therefor.
       ``(2) Use of toll-free telephone number by officials 
     without internet site.--A program established by a State or 
     local election official whose office does not have an 
     Internet site may meet the description of a program under 
     paragraph (1) if the official has

[[Page H8939]]

     established a toll-free telephone number that may be used by 
     an individual who cast an absentee ballot to obtain the 
     information on the receipt of the voted absentee ballot as 
     provided under such paragraph.
       ``(c) Certification of Compliance and Costs.--
       ``(1) Certification required.--In order to receive a 
     payment under this section, a State shall submit to the 
     Commission a statement containing--
       ``(A) a certification that the State has established an 
     absentee ballot tracking program with respect to elections 
     for Federal office held in the State; and
       ``(B) a statement of the costs incurred by the State in 
     establishing the program.
       ``(2) Amount of payment.--The amount of a payment made to a 
     State under this section shall be equal to the costs incurred 
     by the State in establishing the absentee ballot tracking 
     program, as set forth in the statement submitted under 
     paragraph (1), except that such amount may not exceed the 
     product of--
       ``(A) the number of jurisdictions in the State which are 
     responsible for operating the program; and
       ``(B) $3,000.
       ``(3) Limit on number of payments received.--A State may 
     not receive more than one payment under this part.

     ``SEC. 297A. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       ``(a) Authorization.--There are authorized to be 
     appropriated to the Commission for fiscal year 2010 and each 
     succeeding fiscal year such sums as may be necessary for 
     payments under this part.
       ``(b) Continuing Availability of Funds.--Any amounts 
     appropriated pursuant to the authorization under this section 
     shall remain available until expended.''.
       (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents of such Act 
     is amended by adding at the end of the items relating to 
     subtitle D of title II the following:

     ``Part 7--Payments To Reimburse States for Costs Incurred in 
 Establishing Program To Track and Confirm Receipt of Absentee Ballots

``Sec. 297. Payments to States.
``Sec. 297A. Authorization of appropriations.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
California (Mrs. Davis) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Daniel 
E. Lungren) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mrs. DAVIS of California. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks 
on this legislation.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. DAVIS of California. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as 
I may consume.
  I rise in support of H.R. 2510, the Absentee Ballot Track, Receive, 
and Confirm, or TRAC Act. I would like to thank House Administration 
Committee Chairman Brady, Ranking Member Lungren, and Election 
Subcommittee Chairwoman Lofgren for allowing this bill to come forward 
today. I would also like to especially thank our subcommittee's ranking 
member, Mr. McCarthy, for joining me in introducing this bill. I 
appreciate my California colleague's input in support of this important 
legislation. This is a better bill because of his efforts, and I hope 
that the members of our subcommittee can continue to work together 
across party lines because election administration need not be a 
partisan issue.
  We introduced this bill after hearing from absentee voters that they 
would like to know whether their ballots were sent, whether their 
ballots were received, and whether their votes were actually counted. 
In most cases, the fears of one's mail-in ballot somehow being lost in 
the system are unfounded, but we all know that the worry is still 
there, and sometimes there is real reason for concern.
  We have all heard election horror stories from people who simply did 
not receive a ballot they requested. Other voters have called their 
overwhelmed election officers and waited on hold for far too long 
trying to find out what happened to their ballots. And most voters 
never know whether their absentee ballot actually was counted. Was 
there a problem with their signature, they might wonder? Was the ballot 
damaged in the mail?
  Our Nation's voters deserve electoral procedures that are transparent 
and that strengthen their faith in democracy. The good news is that it 
is possible and practical to track absentee ballots. If voters can 
identify a problem early, they can work with their election offices to 
fix it and ensure that their votes count.
  The TRAC Act is modeled on a successful piece of bipartisan 
California State legislation that allows voters to go online or call a 
phone number to easily find out whether an elections office has sent 
out a ballot, whether a completed ballot has arrived back at the 
registrar's office, and whether the registrar has counted the ballot; 
and if not, why not?
  Absentee tracking has been a proven success in California and in 
several other States. In my home county of San Diego, over 98,000 
voters checked their ballot status online last November using such a 
system.
  Tracking gives voters easy access to the answers they need, and it 
takes a burden off the phone lines at elections offices. Absentee 
ballot tracking is particularly useful for our men and women in uniform 
serving overseas who have difficulty phoning their elections offices 
during regular business hours. The TRAC Act would allow the Federal 
Government to reimburse States for establishing absentee tracking 
systems. And setting up these tracking systems can be done for just a 
few thousand dollars in many jurisdictions. San Mateo County in 
California, for example, did it by simply linking their database to 
their Web site, and many other counties have followed that model. In 
these tough economic times, even the small grants we are offering 
States today will be especially helpful.
  I ask my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join Mr. McCarthy 
and me in supporting this effort to strengthen the democratic process 
and give American voters the electoral certainty they deserve.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 
such time as I may consume.
  I rise in support of this bill, the TRAC bill, which will encourage 
States to adopt measures toward the modernization of election systems.
  The legitimacy of our election systems is based on the public trust 
that properly cast ballots are counted, and in the case of absentee 
ballots, reach their appropriate destination. Any time an election 
system fails to include properly cast ballots there is cause for 
concern as to the legitimacy of the outcome.
  Long gone should be the days when dog-eared absentee ballots are 
relegated to dark and dusty corners of election offices with voters 
never having the certainty that their vote counted. By instituting a 
tracking system, States can further ensure the security of their 
absentee ballots. Some have said this is really promoting uniform 
postal progress information for election shipments. Moreover, an 
absentee ballot tracking system will enable voters to act as guardians 
of their own vote, providing them the ability to call attention to 
ballots that fail to reach their destination.
  An important aspect of this bill beyond the benefits of a ballot 
tracking system is that it is a voluntary, incentive-driven program. 
Whereas each State approaches its election process from a unique 
background and context, this voluntary program empowers the States to 
modernize their election systems in a manner appropriate to their 
particular challenges. The Committee on House Administration has held 
several hearings over the past year dealing with challenges to the 
administration of reliable and credible elections. Through the 
testimony of many qualified witnesses, we have come to realize that one 
particular subset of voters who are particularly vulnerable to those 
challenges is overseas military voters. My colleague on the committee, 
Mr. McCarthy, has introduced a piece of legislation which will help 
remedy that disservice to our men and women in uniform. And just as we 
take up this bill today, I am hopeful that we will soon see Mr. 
McCarthy's bill brought before this body for a vote.
  It simply isn't acceptable for ballots to disappear, some might say, 
like wandering puppies. We owe our uniformed servicemembers better than 
that.
  Madam Speaker, I urge support for this measure, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.

[[Page H8940]]

  Mrs. DAVIS of California. I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Holt).
  Mr. HOLT. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlelady from California, and 
I rise in support of the Absentee Ballot TRAC Act. I commend her and 
Mr. McCarthy for crafting this commonsense measure, and I urge my 
colleagues to support it.
  For the sake of good democracy, we must do all we can to have 
accessible, reliable, auditable voting. And we must do all we can to 
remove every reason for voters to believe that the voting system is not 
working well, to remove any doubt that they might have that votes are 
not counted as they intended.

                              {time}  1845

  Every year, some number of absentee ballots are requested by voters 
but not received, or delivered to voters but not returned to the 
election officials. The Election Assistance Commission's 2004 election 
administration voting survey reported that on average, only 89 percent 
of absentee ballots requested were returned. The 2006 Election 
Administration and Voting Survey reported that on average, a quarter of 
domestic civilian absentee ballots were rejected due to untimely 
receipt. And according to a survey of military and overseas voting in 
2008 conducted by the nonpartisan Overseas Vote Foundation, more than 1 
in 5 American voters living overseas, including military personnel, did 
not receive their ballots on time for them to be counted in the 2008 
election.
  Every such instance of nonreceipt or nondelivery must be treated as a 
probable instance of wrongful disenfranchisement because we can assume 
voters would not have requested the ballots if they did not intend to 
vote. And that's why I support this commonsense measure. It would 
reimburse States for establishing programs to track and confirm the 
receipt of absentee ballots and make available to the individual who 
cast the ballot information on the receipt of the ballot, and 
information about whether or not the ballot was counted. This would be 
done by means of on-line access using an Internet site of the 
official's office.
  I commend this bill to my colleagues, and I thank the gentleman and 
the gentlelady for proposing it.
  Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I urge the Members to 
support H.R. 2510, a bill to amend the Help America Vote Act. This 
bipartisan bill, sponsored by Representatives Susan Davis and Kevin 
McCarthy, and reported unanimously from the Committee on House 
Administration, will reimburse states for the cost of tracking and 
confirming absentee ballots.
  More voters than ever cast their ballots by mail. Many remain anxious 
that their ballots may not reach election offices on time--they 
question whether their votes are actually counted.
  H.R. 2510 provides incentives to states to develop systems allowing 
voters to track their ballots. Voters will be able to use the internet 
or a voter hotline to track whether the elections office has sent out a 
ballot, whether the completed ballot has arrived back at the 
registrar's office, whether the registrar has counted the ballot, and 
if not, why. Highly effective systems like these are already in place 
in counties in California, Washington, Virginia, Kansas and my home 
state of Pennsylvania.
  Voters and election offices both benefit from ballot tracking 
technology. With voters able to track their ballots, transparency and 
voter confidence in America's election system will be greatly improved. 
Voters will be able to receive accurate and updated information on the 
status of their ballots and confirm whether they were counted.
  Once this legislation is fully implemented, it will save costs for 
local governments and take the strain off election offices.
  I urge all my colleagues to vote for this bipartisan legislation.
  Mrs. DAVIS of California. Madam Speaker, I have no additional 
speakers. I urge passage of this legislation. And I yield back my 
remaining time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Davis) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 2510.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Madam Speaker, I object to the 
vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of 
order that a quorum is not present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

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