Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2003 - Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to provide for an extension of time for States to request payments for activities to improve administration of elections and for replacement of punch card or lever voting machines.
Repeals the exemption of the Election Assistance Commission from certain Government contracting requirements (thus requiring the Commission to advertise for proposals for purchases and contracts for supplies or services).
Revises audit capacity requirements to require the voting system to produce a voter-verified paper record suitable for a manual audit equivalent or superior to that of a paper ballot box system.
Requires the voting system to provide a mechanism for voter-verification of results with respect to individuals with disabilities which separates the function of vote generation from the function of vote casting, but does not require the use of paper. Requires instruction of election officials in the rights of the disabled to vote with the assistance of an aide of their selection under the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Requires the Commission to study and develop best practices to enhance accessibility and voter-verification mechanisms for disabled voters.
Accelerates the deadline for compliance with voting systems standards from January 1, 2006, to the regularly scheduled November 2004 general Federal election.
Requires each State and jurisdiction unable to meet such deadline to receive a paper voting system at Commission expense that shall be deemed compliant with such standards for use in the November 2004 general election.
Requires Federal certification of technological security of voter registration lists.
Directs the Commission to: (1) conduct manual mandatory surprise recounts of the voter-verified records of each election for Federal office (and, at State or local option, of elections for State and local office) in .5 percent of the jurisdictions in each State and .5 percent of the overseas jurisdictions in which voter-verified records are preserved in accordance with this Act immediately following each general election for Federal office; and (2) promptly publish the results of those recounts.
[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1980 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1980
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require a voter-verified
permanent record or hardcopy under title III of such Act, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 9, 2003
Mr. Graham of Florida introduced the following bill; which was read
twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require a voter-verified
permanent record or hardcopy under title III of such Act, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
This Act may be cited as the ``Voter Confidence and Increased
Accessibility Act of 2003''.
SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF TIME PROVIDED FOR STATES TO REQUEST PAYMENTS UNDER
TITLE I.
(a) Payments for Activities To Improve Administration of
Elections.--Section 101(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42
U.S.C. 15301(a)) is
amended by striking ``not later than 6 months after the date of the
enactment of this Act'' and inserting ``not later than the Tuesday next
after the first Monday in November 2003''.
(b) Payments for Replacement of Punch Card or Lever Voting
Machines.--Section 102(b)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15301(b)(1)) is
amended by striking ``not later than the date that is 6 months after
the date of the enactment of this Act'' and inserting ``not later than
the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November 2003''.
(c) Extension of Period of Authorization of Appropriations.--
(1) In general.--Section 104(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C.
15304(a)) is amended by striking ``$650,000,000'' and inserting
``an aggregate amount of $650,000,000 for fiscal years 2003 and
2004''.
(2) Date for transfer to election assistance commission of
unobligated funds.--Section 104(c)(2)(B) of such Act (42 U.S.C.
15304(c)(2)(B)) is amended by striking ``September 1, 2003''
and inserting ``January 1, 2004''.
(d) Requirement To Deploy Interim Measure if Waiver Requested.--
Section 102(a)(3)(B) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15301(a)(3)(B)) is amended
by striking the period at the end and inserting the following: ``,
except that any State requesting any such waiver shall accept and
implement a paper system for use on an interim basis as provided in
section 5(b) of the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of
2003 in time for use in the November 2004 general election.''.
SEC. 3. REPEAL OF EXEMPTION OF ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION FROM
CERTAIN GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS.
(a) In General.--Section 205 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002
(42 U.S.C. 15325) is amended by striking subsection (e).
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall
apply with respect to contracts entered into by the Election Assistance
Commission on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 4. PROMOTING ACCURACY, INTEGRITY, AND SECURITY THROUGH VOTER-
VERIFIED PERMANENT RECORD OR HARD COPY.
(a) In General.--Section 301(a)(2) of the Help America Vote Act of
2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481(a)(2)) is amended to read as follows:
``(2) Voter-verification and audit capacity.--
``(A) Voter-verification in general.--The voting
system shall produce a voter-verified paper record
suitable for a manual audit equivalent or superior to
that of a paper ballot box system, as further specified
in subparagraph (B).
``(B) Manual audit capacity.--
``(i) The voting system shall produce a
permanent paper record, each individual paper
record of which shall be made available for
inspection and verification by the voter at the
time the vote is cast, and preserved within the
polling place in the manner in which all other
paper ballots are preserved within the polling
place on Election Day for later use in any
manual audit.
``(ii) The voting system shall provide the
voter with an opportunity to correct any error
made by the system before the permanent record
is preserved for use in any manual audit.
``(iii) The voter verified paper record
produced under subparagraph (A) and this
subparagraph shall be available as an official
record and shall be the official record used
for any recount conducted with respect to any
election in which the system is used.
``(C) Software and modems.--
``(i) No voting system shall at any time
contain or use undisclosed software. Any voting
system containing or using software shall
disclose the source code of that software to
the Commission, and the Commission shall make
that source code available for inspection upon
request to any citizen.
``(ii) No voting system shall contain any
wireless communication device at all.
``(iii) All software and hardware used in
any electronic voting system shall be certified
by laboratories accredited by the Commission as
meeting the requirements of clauses (i) and (ii).''.
(b) Voter Verification of Results for Individuals With
Disabilities.--Section 301(a)(3) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15481(a)(3) is
amended--
(1) in the heading, by inserting ``and voter-verification
of results'' after ``accessibility'';
(2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``; and'' and
inserting the following: ``, and such voting system shall
provide a mechanism for voter-verification of results which
separates the function of vote generation from the function of
vote casting in a manner analogous to that described in section
4 with respect to the separation of paper ballot generation and
paper ballot verification and preservation, but does not
require the use of paper.'';
(3) by amending subparagraph (C) to read as follows:
``(C) The equipment deployed in accordance with
subparagraph (B) shall meet the voting system standards
for disability access and voter-verification of results
as outlined in this paragraph in accordance with the
deadline set forth in section 5(a), provided that if it
does not and an interim paper system is deployed in
accordance with section 5(b), disabled voters shall
have the option of using the interim paper system with
the assistance of an aide of the voter's personal
selection or using the voting system otherwise put in
place for use by disabled voters at the time in
question in accordance with the Help America Vote Act
of 2002, as in effect prior to the enactment of this
Act, except that the deadline set forth in section
301(a)(3)(C) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 15481(a)(3)(C)) is
moved forward from January 1, 2007, to January 1,
2006.''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(D) Election officials shall be instructed in the
rights of the disabled to vote with the assistance of
an aide of their selection under the Voting Rights Act
of 1965.''.
(c) Specific, Delineated Requirement of Study, Testing, and
Development of Best Practices.--In addition to any other requirements
under the Help America Vote Act of 2002, the Election Assistance
Commission shall study, test, and develop best practices to enhance
accessibility and voter-verification mechanisms for disabled voters.
SEC. 5. CHANGE IN DEADLINE FOR COMPLIANCE WITH STANDARDS.
(a) In General.--Section 301(d) of the Help America Vote Act of
2002 (42 U.S.C. 15481(d)) is amended by striking ``on and after January
1, 2006'' and inserting ``in time for elections for Federal office
beginning with the regularly scheduled general election to be held in
November 2004''.
(b) Interim Paper System.--Each State and jurisdiction that
certifies in the manner described in section 102(a)(3)(B) that it shall
be unable to comply with the requirements of section 301 in time for
the regularly scheduled general election for Federal office to be held
in November 2004 shall receive a paper voting system, based on paper
systems in use in the jurisdiction, if any, at the expense of the
Commission that shall be deemed compliant with section 301 by the
Commission for use in the November 2004 general elections.
SEC. 6. REQUIREMENT FOR FEDERAL CERTIFICATION OF TECHNOLOGICAL SECURITY
OF VOTER REGISTRATION LISTS.
Section 303(a)(3) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C.
15483(a)(3)) is amended by striking the period at the end and inserting
the following: ``, as certified by the Commission.''.
SEC. 7. REQUIREMENT FOR MANDATORY RECOUNTS.
The Election Assistance Commission shall conduct manual mandatory
surprise recounts of the voter-verified records of each election for
Federal office (and, at the option of the State or jurisdiction
involved, of elections for State and local office) in .5 percent of the
jurisdictions in each State and .5 percent of the overseas
jurisdictions in which voter-verified records are preserved in
accordance with this section immediately following each general
election for Federal office, and shall promptly publish the results of
those recounts. The treatment of the results of the recount shall be
governed by applicable Federal, State, or local law, except that any
individual who is a citizen of the jurisdiction involved may file an
appeal with the Commission if the individual believes that such law
does not provide a fair remedy.
SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.
Except as provided in section 3(b), the amendments made by this Act
shall take effect as if included in the enactment of the Help America
Vote Act of 2002.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S16122)
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.
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