Sec. 4001. Post-election audit requirement
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Title III of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 ( 52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq. ), as amended by section 3601, is amended by inserting after section 303A the following new section: In this section: Except as provided in subsection (c)(1)(B), the term post-election audit means, with respect to any election contest, a post-election process that— has a probability of at least 95 percent of correcting the reported outcome if the reported outcome is not the correct outcome; will not change the outcome if the reported outcome is the correct outcome; and involves a manual adjudication of voter intent from some or all of the ballots validly cast in the election contest.
The term reported outcome means the outcome of an election contest which is determined according to the canvass and which will become the official, certified outcome unless it is revised by an audit, recount, or other legal process. The term correct outcome means the outcome that would be determined by a manual adjudication of voter intent for all votes validly cast in the election contest. The term outcome means the winner or set of winners of an election contest. The term manual adjudication of voter intent means direct inspection and determination by humans, without assistance from electronic or mechanical tabulation devices, of the ballot choices marked by voters on each voter-verifiable paper record.
The term ballot manifest means a record maintained by each jurisdiction that— is created without reliance on any part of the voting system used to tabulate votes; functions as a sampling frame for conducting a post-election audit; and accounts for all ballots validly cast regardless of how they were tabulated and includes a precise description of the manner in which the ballots are physically stored, including the total number of physical groups of ballots, the numbering system for each group, a unique label for each group, and the number of ballots in each such group.
Each State and jurisdiction shall administer post-election audits of the results of all election contests for Federal office held in the State in accordance with the requirements of paragraph (2). Clause
(i)shall not apply to any election contest for which the State or jurisdiction conducts a full recount through a manual adjudication of voter intent. If a post-election audit conducted under subparagraph
(A)corrects the reported outcome of an election contest, the State or jurisdiction shall use the results of the manual adjudication of voter intent conducted as part of the post-election audit as the official results of the election contest. Not later than 6 years after the date of the enactment of this section, the chief State election official of the State shall establish rules and procedures for conducting post-election audits. The rules and procedures established under clause
(i)shall include the following: Rules and procedures for ensuring the security of ballots and documenting that prescribed procedures were followed. Rules and procedures for ensuring the accuracy of ballot manifests produced by jurisdictions. Rules and procedures for governing the format of ballot manifests and other data involved in post-election audits. Methods to ensure that any cast vote records used in a post-election audit are those used by the voting system to tally the results of the election contest sent to the chief State election official of the State and made public. Rules and procedures for the random selection of ballots to be inspected manually during each audit. Rules and procedures for the calculations and other methods to be used in the audit and to determine whether and when the audit of each election contest is complete. Rules and procedures for testing any software used to conduct post-election audits. After the completion of the post-election audit and at least 5 days before the election contest is certified by the State, the State shall make public and submit to the Commission a report on the results of the audit, together with such information as necessary to confirm that the audit was conducted properly. All data published with the report under clause
(i)shall be published in machine-readable, open data formats. Information and data published by the State under this subparagraph shall not compromise the anonymity of votes. After receiving any report submitted under clause (i), the Commission shall make such report available on its website. Except as provided in subparagraphs
(B)and (C), each State and jurisdiction shall be required to comply with the requirements of this subsection for the first regularly scheduled election for Federal office occurring in 2032 and for each subsequent election for Federal office. Except as provided in subparagraph (C), if a State certifies to the Commission not later than the first regularly scheduled election for Federal office occurring in 2032, that the State will not meet the deadline described in subparagraph
(A)because it would be impracticable to do so and includes in the certification the reasons for the failure to meet such deadline, subparagraph
(A)of this subsection and subsection (c)(2)(A) shall apply to the State as if the reference in such subsections to 2032 were a reference to 2034 . If a State certifies to the Commission not later than the first regularly scheduled election for Federal office occurring in 2034, that the State will not meet the deadline described in subparagraph
(B)because it would be impracticable to do so and includes in the certification the reasons for the failure to meet such deadline, subparagraph
(B)of this subsection and subsection (c)(2)(A) shall apply to the State as if the reference in such subsections to 2034 were a reference to 2036 . For the regularly scheduled elections for Federal office occurring in 2024 and 2026, each State shall administer a post-election audit of the result of at least one statewide election contest for Federal office held in the State, or if no such statewide contest is on the ballot, one election contest for Federal office chosen at random. In this subsection, the term post-election audit means a post-election process that involves a manual adjudication of voter intent from a sample of ballots validly cast in the election contest. Subject to subparagraphs
(B)and
(C)of subsection (b)(3), for the regularly scheduled elections for Federal office occurring in 2028 and for each subsequent election for Federal office that occurs prior to the first regularly scheduled election for Federal office occurring in 2032, each State shall administer a post-election audit of the result of at least one statewide election contest for Federal office held in the State, or if no such statewide contest is on the ballot, one election contest for Federal office chosen at random. A State shall be exempt from the requirements of this subsection for any regularly scheduled election for Federal office in which the State meets the requirements of subsection (b). . The table of contents for such Act, as amended by section 3601, is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 303A the following new item: Sec. 303B. Post-election audits. . The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall establish an advisory committee to study post-election audits and establish best practices for post-election audit methodologies and procedures. The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall appoint individuals to the advisory committee and secure the representation of— State and local election officials; individuals with experience and expertise in election security; individuals with experience and expertise in post-election audit procedures; and individuals with experience and expertise in statistical methods. There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out the purposes of this subsection.
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Sec. 4001
Post-election audit requirement
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