Sec. 4. Incentives to States to improve voting system security
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Subtitle D of title II of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 ( 52 U.S.C. 21001 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new part: From the amounts made available under section 297E for a fiscal year and not reserved under section
(b)of such section, the Commission shall award grants on a competitive basis to States in accordance with section 297B. A State may not receive more than 1 grant under this part for a fiscal year. Each State that receives a grant under this part shall use the funds provided by the grant to carry out the State's grant implementation plan described in section 297A(b). Each State that desires to receive a grant under this part shall submit an application to the Commission at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Commission may reasonably require. At a minimum, each such application shall include each of the following: The grant implementation plan described in subsection (b). Evidence of established conditions of innovation and reform in providing voting system security and the State’s proposed plan for implementing additional conditions. Evidence of collaboration between relevant stakeholders in developing the grant implementation plan described in subsection (b). Annual performance measures and targets for the activities carried out with the grant. A description of the State’s plan to conduct a rigorous evaluation of the effectiveness of the activities carried out with the grant. The grant implementation plan described in this subsection is a plan developed by the State for using funds provided by the grant to carry out some or all of the following, and to otherwise meet the requirements of section 301 which are first imposed on a State or jurisdiction pursuant to the amendments made by section 2 of the Safeguarding Election Infrastructure Act of 2019, during the grant implementation period: Providing voting machines that are less than 10 years old as of the date on which the State submits its application for the grant under subsection (a). Updating voting equipment to provide a verifiable paper trail at polling stations. Implementing strong chain of custody procedures for the physical security of voting equipment and paper records at all stages of the process. Conducting pre-election testing on every voting machine and ensuring paper ballots are available wherever electronic machines are used. Keeping offline backups of voter registration lists. Providing a secure voter registration database that logs requests submitted to the database. Publishing and enforcing a policy detailing use limitations and security safeguards to protect voters’ personal information in the voter registration process. Providing secure processes and procedures for reporting vote tallies. Providing a secure platform for disseminating vote totals. In this part, the grant implementation period with respect to a grant is the 4-year period which begins on the first day of the fiscal year for which the grant is awarded. The Commission shall award grants to States under this part on a competitive basis, based on the quality of the State’s application submitted under section 297A, including— the quality and likelihood of success of the State’s grant implementation plan described in section 297A(b), including the State’s capacity to implement the plan and evidence of collaboration as described in paragraph
(3)of section 297A(a); the State’s record of, and commitment to, establishing conditions for innovation and reform, as described in paragraph
(2)of section 297A(a); and the State’s evaluation plan as described in paragraph
(5)of section 297A(a). In the case of a State that received a grant under this part in a previous fiscal year, the Commission may not award a grant under this part to the State for any subsequent fiscal year unless the State demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Commission that— the State made sufficient progress in carrying out the grant implementation plan for that previous fiscal year at a rate that will enable the State to fully implement the plan prior to the end of the grant implementation period for that plan; or the State made sufficient progress in meeting the performance measures and targets for the programs and activities funded by the grant (as established by the State under section 297C) to enable the State to fully meet such measures and targets prior to the end of the grant implementation period for that plan. The Commission shall publish an explanation of how the application review process under this subsection will ensure an equitable and objective evaluation based on the criteria described in subsection
(a)and the special rule described in subsection (b). Each State receiving a grant under this part shall establish performance measures and targets approved by the Commission for the programs and activities carried out with the funds provided by the grant. Each State receiving a grant under this part shall submit to the Commission, at such time and in such manner as the Commission may require, an annual report including— data on the State’s progress in achieving the targets for the performance measures established under section 297C; a description of the challenges the State has faced in implementing the programs and activities funded by the grant and how it has addressed or plans to address those challenges; and findings from the evaluation plan for the grant. There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2020 and each succeeding fiscal year to carry out this part. Any amount appropriated for a fiscal year pursuant to the authorization under paragraph
(1)shall not remain available for any subsequent fiscal year. From the amount made available to carry out this part for a fiscal year, the Commission may reserve not more than 10 percent of such amount to carry out activities related to— technical assistance; and outreach and dissemination. . 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 for Improving Voting System Security Sec. 297. Incentives for States to improve voting system security. Sec. 297A. Criteria for awarding grants. Sec. 297B. Criteria for evaluating applications. Sec. 297C. Establishment of performance measures and targets. Sec. 297D. Reporting requirements. Sec. 297E. Authorization of appropriations. .
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Sec. 4
Incentives to States to improve voting system security
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