,i #aafth ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #cdab ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,june #ba1 #bjai,mr4 ,rodney ,davis of ,illinois 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,walker1 ,mr4 ,loudermilk1 ,mr4 ,waltz1 ,mr4 ,collins of ,georgia1 and ,mr4 ,upton7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,house ,administration1 and in addition to the ,permanent ,select ,committee on ,intelligence 7,permanent ,select71 for a period to be subsequently determined by the ,speaker1 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned ,a ,,bill ,to protect the administration of ,federal elections against cybersecurity threats4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,election ,security ,assistance ,act4 #b4 ,grants to ,states for election administration improvements 7a7 ,authorization of funds ,notwithstanding section #ajd7;c77#b77;,b7 of the ,help ,america ,vote ,act of #bjjb 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #bjijd7;c77#b77;,b771 there is authorized to be appropriated #chj1jjj1jjj for fiscal year #bjbj to the ,election ,assistance ,commission for necessary expenses to make payments to ,states for activities to improve the administration of elections for ,federal office1 including to enhance election technology and make election security improvements1 as authorized by sections #aja1 #ajc1 and #ajd of such ,act4 7b7 ,payments to ,states 7#a7 ,state match ,not later than two years after receiving funds under subsection 7a71 a ,state shall make available funds for activities described in such subsection in an amount equal to #be percent of the total amount of the payment made to the ,state under such subsection4 7#b7 ,timing ,the ,election ,assistance ,commission shall make payments to ,states under subsection 7a7 not later than #de days after the date of enactment of this ,act4 7#c7 ,guaranteed minimum payment ,for purposes of this section1 with respect to section #ajc of such ,act 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #bjijc7-- 7,a7 each reference to 8#e1jjj1jjj0 shall be deemed to refer to 8#c1jjj1jjj02 and 7,b7 each reference to 8#a1jjj1jjj0 shall be deemed to refer to 8#fjj1jjj04 7c7 ,reference ,for purposes of this section1 with respect to sections #aja and #ajc of such ,act1 each reference to the 8,administrator of ,general ,services0 or the 8,administrator0 shall be deemed to refer to the 8,election ,assistance ,commission04 #c4 ,treatment of electronic poll books as part of voting systems 7a7 ,inclusion in definition of voting system ,section #cja7;b7 of the ,help ,america ,vote ,act of #bjjb 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #bajha7;b77 is amended-- 7#a7 in the matter preceding paragraph 7#a71 by striking this section and inserting this ,act2 7#b7 by striking and at the end of paragraph 7#a72 7#c7 by redesignating paragraph 7#b7 as paragraph 7#c72 and 7#d7 by inserting after paragraph 7#a7 the following new paragraph3 7#b7 any electronic poll book used with respect to the election2 and 4 7b7 ,definition ,section #cja of such ,act 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #bajha7 is amended-- 7#a7 by redesignating subsections 7c7 and 7d7 as subsections 7d7 and 7e72 and 7#b7 by inserting after subsection 7b7 the following new subsection3 7c7 ,electronic poll book defined ,in this ,act1 the term electronic poll book means the total combination of mechanical1 electromechanical1 or electronic equipment 7including the software1 firmware1 and documentation required to program1 control1 and support the equipment7 that is used-- 7#a7 to retain the list of registered voters at a polling location1 or vote center1 or other location at which voters cast votes in an election for ,federal office2 and 7#b7 to identify registered voters who are eligible to vote in an election4 4 7c7 ,effective date ,section #cja7;e7 of such ,act 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #bajha7;e771 as redesignated by subsection 7b71 is amended by striking the period at the end and inserting the following3 1 or1 with respect to any requirements relating to electronic poll books1 on and after ,january #a1 #bjbj44 #d4 ,security clearance assistance for election officials 7a7 ,state officials ,in order to promote the timely sharing of information on threats to election infrastructure1 the ,secretary of ,homeland ,security may-- 7#a7 help expedite a security clearance at the top secret level for the chief ,state election official and other appropriate ,state personnel involved in the administration of elections1 as designated by the chief ,state election official2 7#b7 sponsor a security clearance at the top secret level for the chief ,state election official and other appropriate ,state personnel involved in the administration of elections1 as designated by the chief ,state election official2 and 7#c7 facilitate the issuance of a temporary clearance at the top secret level to the chief ,state election official and other appropriate ,state personnel involved in the administration of elections1 as designated by the chief ,state election official1 if the ,secretary determines classified information to be timely and relevant to the election infrastructure of the ,state at issue4 7b7 ,election ,assistance ,commission ,the ,secretary shall expeditiously issue a security clearance at the top secret level to the following officials3 7#a7 ,each member of the ,election ,assistance ,commission appointed pursuant to section #bjc7;a7 of the ,help ,america ,vote ,act of #bjjb 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #bjibc7;a774 7#b7 ,the ,executive ,director of the ,election ,assistance ,commission appointed pursuant to section #bjd7;a77#a7 of such ,act 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #bjibd7;a77#a774 7#c7 ,the ,general ,counsel of the ,election ,assistance ,commission appointed pursuant to section #bjd7;a77#d7 of such ,act 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #bjibd7;a77#d774 7c7 ,definitions ,in this section-- 7#a7 the term chief ,state election official means1 with respect to a ,state1 the individual designated by the ,state under section #aj of the ,national ,voter ,registration ,act of #aiic 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #bjeji7 to be responsible for coordination of the ,state's responsibilities under such ,act2 7#b7 the term election infrastructure means storage facilities1 polling places1 and centralized vote tabulation locations used to support the administration of elections for public office1 as well as related information and communications technology1 including voter registration databases1 voting machines1 electronic mail and other communications systems 7including electronic mail and other systems of election service providers who have entered into contracts with election agencies to support the administration of elections1 manage the election process1 and report and display election results71 and other systems used to manage the election process and to report and display election results on behalf of an election agency2 7#c7 the term ,secretary means the ,secretary of ,homeland ,security2 and 7#d7 the term ,state has the meaning given such term in section #ija of the ,help ,america ,vote ,act of #bjjb 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #baada74 #e4 ,duty of ,secretary of ,homeland ,security to notify ,state and local officials of election cybersecurity incidents 7a7 ,duty ,to share information with ,department of ,homeland ,security ,if a ,federal entity receives information about an election cybersecurity incident1 the ,federal entity shall promptly share that information with the ,department of ,homeland ,security1 unless the head of the entity 7or a ,senate-confirmed official designated by the head7 makes a specific determination in writing that there is good cause to withhold the particular information4 7b7 ,response to receipt of information by ,secretary of ,homeland ,security 7#a7 ,in general ,upon receiving information about an election cybersecurity incident under subsection 7a71 the ,secretary of ,homeland ,security1 in consultation with the ,attorney ,general1 the ,director of the ,federal ,bureau of ,investigation1 and the ,director of ,national ,intelligence1 shall promptly 7but in no case later than #if hours after receiving the information7 review the information and make a determination whether each of the following apply3 7,a7 ,there is credible evidence that the incident occurred4 7,b7 ,there is a basis to believe that the incident resulted1 could have resulted1 or could result in voter information systems or voter tabulation systems being altered or otherwise affected4 7#b7 ,duty to notify ,state and local officials 7,a7 ,duty described ,if the ,secretary makes a determination under paragraph 7#a7 that subparagraphs 7,a7 and 7,b7 of such paragraph apply with respect to an election cybersecurity incident1 not later than #if hours after making the determination1 the ,secretary shall provide a notification of the incident to each of the following3 7i7 ,the chief executive of the ,state involved4 7ii7 ,the ,state election official of the ,state involved4 7iii7 ,the local election official of the election agency involved4 7,b7 ,treatment of classified information 7i7 ,efforts to avoid inclusion of classified information ,in preparing a notification provided under this paragraph to an individual described in clause 7i71 7ii71 or 7iii7 of subparagraph 7,a71 the ,secretary shall attempt to avoid the inclusion of classified information4 7ii7 ,providing guidance to ,state and local officials ,to the extent that a notification provided under this paragraph to an individual described in clause 7i71 7ii71 or 7iii7 of subparagraph 7,a7 includes classified information1 the ,secretary 7in consultation with the ,attorney ,general and the ,director of ,national ,intelligence7 shall indicate in the notification which information is classified4 7#c7 ,exception 7,a7 ,in general ,if the ,secretary1 in consultation with the ,attorney ,general and the ,director of ,national ,intelligence1 makes a determination that it is not possible to provide a notification under paragraph 7#a7 with respect to an election cybersecurity incident without compromising intelligence methods or sources or interfering with an ongoing investigation1 the ,secretary shall not provide the notification under such paragraph4 7,b7 ,ongoing review ,not later than #cj days after making a determination under subparagraph 7,a7 and every #cj days thereafter1 the ,secretary shall review the determination4 ,if1 after reviewing the determination1 the ,secretary makes a revised determination that it is possible to provide a notification under paragraph 7#b7 without compromising intelligence methods or sources or interfering with an ongoing investigation1 the ,secretary shall provide the notification under paragraph 7#b7 not later than #if hours after making such revised determination4 7c7 ,definitions ,in this section1 the following definitions apply3 7#a7 ,election agency ,the term election agency means any component of a ,state1 or any component of a unit of local government in a ,state1 which is responsible for the administration of elections for ,federal office in the ,state4 7#b7 ,election cybersecurity incident ,the term election cybersecurity incident means an occurrence that actually or imminently jeopardizes1 without lawful authority1 the integrity1 confidentiality1 or availability of information on an information system of election infrastructure1 or actually or imminently jeopardizes1 without lawful authority1 an information system of election infrastructure4 7#c7 ,federal election ,the term ,federal election means any election 7as defined in section #cja7a7 of the ,federal ,election ,campaign ,act of #aiga 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #cjaja7a777 for ,federal office 7as defined in section #cja7c7 of the ,federal ,election ,campaign ,act of #aiga 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #cjaja7c7774 7#d7 ,federal entity ,the term ,federal entity means any agency 7as defined in section #eea of title #e1 ,united ,states ,code74 7#e7 ,local election official ,the term local election official means the chief election official of a component of a unit of local government of a ,state that is responsible for administering ,federal elections4 7#f7 ,secretary ,the term ,secretary means the ,secretary of ,homeland ,security4 7#g7 ,state ,the term ,state means each of the several ,states1 the ,district of ,columbia1 the ,commonwealth of ,puerto ,rico1 ,guam1 ,american ,samoa1 the ,commonwealth of ,northern ,mariana ,islands1 and the ,united ,states ,virgin ,islands4 7#h7 ,state election official ,the term ,state election official means-- 7,a7 the chief ,state election official of a ,state designated under section #aj of the ,national ,voter ,registration ,act of #aiic 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #bjeji72 or 7,b7 in the case of ,puerto ,rico1 ,guam1 ,american ,samoa1 the ,northern ,mariana ,islands1 and the ,united ,states ,virgin ,islands1 a chief ,state election official designated by the ,state for purposes of this ,act4 7d7 ,effective date ,this section shall apply with respect to information about an election cybersecurity incident which is received on or after the date of the enactment of this ,act4 #f4 ,establishment of ,election ,cyber ,assistance ,unit in ,election ,assistance ,commission 7a7 ,in general ,subtitle ,a of title ,,ii of the ,help ,america ,vote ,act of #bjjb 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #bjiba et seq47 is amended by adding at the end the following new part3 #d ,election ,cyber ,assistance ,unit #bbe4 ,election ,cyber ,assistance ,unit 7a7 ,establishment ,there is established in the ,commission the ,election ,cyber ,assistance ,unit 7hereafter in this part referred to as the ,unit74 7b7 ,duties ,the ,unit will provide ,state and local election officials in various geographic regions of the ,united ,states with access to risk-management1 resiliency1 and technical support services provided by election administration and cybersecurity experts who will be based in such regions and who may provide such services in person1 by telephone1 or online4 4 7b7 ,clerical amendment ,the table of contents of such ,act is amended by adding at the end of the items relating to subtitle ,a of title ,,ii the following3 ,part #d--;,election ,cyber ,assistance ,unit ,sec4 #bbe4 ,election ,cyber ,assistance ,unit4 4 #g4 ,representative of ,department of ,homeland ,security on ,technical ,guidelines ,development ,committee ,section #bba7;c77#a7 of the ,help ,america ,vote ,act of #bjjb 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #bjifa7;c77#a77 is amended-- 7#a7 by redesignating subparagraph 7,e7 as subparagraph 7,f72 and 7#b7 by inserting after subparagraph 7,d7 the following new subparagraph3 7,e7 ,a representative of the ,department of ,homeland ,security4 4 #h4 ,reports to ,congress on foreign threats to elections 7a7 ,in general ,not later than #cj days after the date of enactment of this ,act1 and #cj days after the end of each fiscal year thereafter1 the ,secretary of ,homeland ,security and the ,director of ,national ,intelligence1 in coordination with the heads of the appropriate ,federal entities1 shall submit a joint report to the appropriate congressional committees and the chief ,state election official of each ,state on foreign threats to elections in the ,united ,states1 including physical and cybersecurity threats4 7b7 ,voluntary participation by ,states ,the ,secretary shall solicit and consider comments from all ,state election agencies4 ,participation by an election agency in the report under this section shall be voluntary and at the discretion of the ,state4 7c7 ,appropriate ,federal entities ,in this section1 the term appropriate ,federal entities means-- 7#a7 the ,department of ,commerce1 including the ,national ,institute of ,standards and ,technology2 7#b7 the ,department of ,defense2 7#c7 the ,department of ,homeland ,security1 including the component of the ,department that reports to the ,under ,secretary responsible for overseeing critical infrastructure protection1 cybersecurity1 and other related programs of the ,department2 7#d7 the ,department of ,justice1 including the ,federal ,bureau of ,investigation2 7#e7 the ,election ,assistance ,commission2 and 7#f7 the ,office of the ,director of ,national ,intelligence1 the ,national ,security ,agency1 and such other elements of the intelligence community 7as defined in section #c of the ,national ,security ,act of #aidg 7#ej ,u4,s4,c4 #cjjc77 as the ,director of ,national ,intelligence determines are appropriate4 7d7 ,other definitions ,in this section-- 7#a7 the term appropriate congressional committees means-- 7,a7 the ,committee on ,rules and ,administration1 the ,committee on ,homeland ,security and ,governmental ,affairs1 the ,select ,committee on ,intelligence1 and the ,committee on ,foreign ,relations of the ,senate2 and 7,b7 the ,committee on ,house ,administration1 the ,committee on ,homeland ,security1 the ,permanent ,select ,committee on ,intelligence1 and the ,committee on ,foreign ,affairs of the ,house of ,representatives2 7#b7 the term chief ,state election official means1 with respect to a ,state1 the individual designated by the ,state under section #aj of the ,national ,voter ,registration ,act of #aiic 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #bjeji7 to be responsible for coordination of the ,state's responsibilities under such ,act2 7#c7 the term election agency means any component of a ,state or any component of a unit of local government of a ,state that is responsible for administering ,federal elections2 7#d7 the term ,secretary means the ,secretary of ,homeland ,security2 and 7#e7 the term ,state has the meaning given such term in section #ija of the ,help ,america ,vote ,act of #bjjb 7#eb ,u4,s4,c4 #baada74 #i4 ,,gao analysis of feasibility of conducting risk-limiting audits 7a7 ,analysis ,the ,comptroller ,general of the ,united ,states shall conduct an analysis of the following3 7#a7 ,the feasibility for ,states to conduct risk-limiting audits of elections for ,federal office4 7#b7 ,the types of risk-limiting audits performed by ,states4 7#c7 ,the extent to which risk-limiting audits performed by ,states have improved the administration of elections in such ,states4 7b7 ,report ,not later than #a year after the date of enactment of this ,act1 the ,comptroller ,general of the ,united ,states shall submit to ,congress a report on the analysis conducted under subsection 7a74 #aj4 ,,gao analysis of feasibility of requiring use of paper ballots 7a7 ,analysis ,the ,comptroller ,general of the ,united ,states shall conduct an analysis of the following3 7#a7 ,the feasibility of requiring the use of paper ballots in elections for ,federal office on a nationwide basis4 7#b7 ,the impacts with respect to accessibility for individuals with disabilities of requiring the use of paper ballots in elections for ,federal office4 7b7 ,report ,not later than #ahj days after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the ,comptroller ,general shall submit to ,congress a report on the analysis conducted under subsection 7a74 #aa4 ,study and report on optimal ballot design 7a7 ,study ,the ,election ,assistance ,commission shall conduct a study of the best ways to design ballots used in elections for public office1 including paper ballots and electronic or digital ballots1 to minimize confusion and user errors4 7b7 ,report ,not later than ,january #a1 #bjbj1 the ,election ,assistance ,commission shall submit to ,congress a report on the study conducted under subsection 7a74