[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1907 Introduced in House (IH)]
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115th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1907
To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to conduct research and
development to mitigate the consequences of threats to voting systems,
to amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require the voting
systems used in elections for Federal office to comply with national
standards developed by the National Institute of Standards and
Technology for operational security and ballot verification, to
establish programs to promote research in innovative voting system
technologies, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 5, 2017
Mr. Johnson of Georgia (for himself, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Pocan, Mr. Meeks,
Mr. Cicilline, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Rush, Mr. Bishop of Georgia,
Ms. Clarke of New York, Ms. Norton, Ms. Lee, Mr. Hastings, Ms. Jackson
Lee, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Ms. Slaughter, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. Ted
Lieu of California, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Mr. David Scott of Georgia,
Mr. Huffman, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Richmond, Ms. Fudge,
Ms. Bass, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Al Green of Texas, Ms.
Maxine Waters of California, Mr. Norcross, Mr. McNerney, Mr. Payne, Ms.
Judy Chu of California, Ms. Eshoo, and Mr. Smith of Washington)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
House Administration, and in addition to the Committees on Science,
Space, and Technology, and Homeland Security, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to conduct research and
development to mitigate the consequences of threats to voting systems,
to amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require the voting
systems used in elections for Federal office to comply with national
standards developed by the National Institute of Standards and
Technology for operational security and ballot verification, to
establish programs to promote research in innovative voting system
technologies, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Election
Infrastructure and Security Promotion Act of 2017''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
TITLE I--ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE AND SECURITY
Sec. 101. Definition of critical infrastructure.
Sec. 102. Designation of voting systems as critical infrastructure.
Sec. 103. Voting system threat and research and development.
TITLE II--NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY
Sec. 201. Development of standards.
Sec. 202. Requiring States to comply with standards in administration
of elections for Federal office.
Sec. 203. Incorporation of standards into certification and testing of
voting systems.
TITLE III--NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR TRANSPARENCY AND VERIFICATION OF
BALLOT COUNTING
Sec. 301. Development of standards.
Sec. 302. Requiring States to comply with standards in administration
of elections for Federal office.
TITLE IV--RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Sec. 401. Innovative election technology research and development.
TITLE I--ELECTION INFRASTRUCTURE AND SECURITY
SEC. 101. DEFINITION OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.
In this title, the term ``critical infrastructure'' has the meaning
given such term in section 1016 of the Critical Infrastructure
Protection Act of 2001 (42 U.S.C. 5195c(e)).
SEC. 102. DESIGNATION OF VOTING SYSTEMS AS CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.
The Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through the Assistant
Secretary of the National Protection and Programs Directorate, shall--
(1) designate voting systems used in the United States as
critical infrastructure;
(2) include threats of compromise, disruption, or
destruction of voting systems in national planning scenarios;
and
(3) conduct a campaign to proactively educate local
election officials about the designation of voting systems as
critical infrastructure and election officials at all levels of
government of voting system threats.
SEC. 103. VOTING SYSTEM THREAT AND RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.
(a) In General.--In furtherance of local election official
preparedness and response, the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting
through the Under Secretary for Science and Technology, and in
consultation with other relevant agencies and departments of the
Federal Government and relevant State and local election official
operators of election infrastructure, shall conduct research and
development to mitigate the consequences of voting systems threats.
(b) Scope.--The scope of the research and development under
subsection (a) shall include the following:
(1) An objective scientific analysis of the risks to
critical election infrastructures from a range of threats.
(2) Determination of the voting system assets and
infrastructures that are at risk from intrusion, compromise,
disruption or destruction.
(3) An evaluation of emergency planning and response
technologies that would address the findings and
recommendations of experts, including those of a Commission to
Assess the Threat to the United States from election
administration or voting system attack.
(4) An analysis of technology options that are available to
improve the resiliency of critical infrastructure to voting
system threats.
(5) The restoration and recovery capabilities of critical
infrastructure under differing levels of damage and disruption.
(c) Comprehensive Plan.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of Homeland Security shall
prepare and submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a comprehensive plan to
protect and prepare the critical infrastructure of the voting
systems used in the United States against threats, including
from acts of terrorism.
(2) Plan requirements.--The comprehensive plan shall--
(A) be based on findings of the research and
development conducted under subsection (a);
(B) be developed in consultation with the relevant
Federal sector-specific agencies (as defined under
Homeland Security Presidential Directive for critical
infrastructures); and
(C) be developed in consultation with State and
local election officials.
(3) Updates.--The Secretary shall update the plan required
under this subsection biennially.
TITLE II--NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY
SEC. 201. DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARDS.
(a) Development.--The Director of the National Institute of
Standards and Technology shall develop standards for ensuring the
operational security of the voting systems used in elections for
Federal office, including the physical and cybersecurity of such
systems and security requirements for the personnel who operate such
systems.
(b) Contents of Standards.--In developing standards under this
title, the Director shall ensure the following:
(1) The standards shall set forth specific, evidence-based
security requirements for the operation of each individual
component of voting systems, including components for marking
ballots, scanning ballots, aggregating vote tallies from vote
counters, and electronic poll books.
(2) The standards shall set forth specific, evidence-based
requirements for the interoperability of the components, based
on data standards established by the National Institute of
Standards and Technology.
(3) No system or device upon which ballots or votes are
cast or tabulated shall be connected to the Internet at any
time through any publicly accessible network.
(4) No system or device upon which ballots or votes are
cast or tabulated shall contain, use, or be accessible by any
wireless, power-line, or concealed communication device.
(c) Deadline; Updates.--
(1) Deadline for initial standards.--The Director shall
develop the standards under this title not later than 1 year
after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(2) Updates.--The Director may update the standards under
this title at such times as the Director considers appropriate.
SEC. 202. REQUIRING STATES TO COMPLY WITH STANDARDS IN ADMINISTRATION
OF ELECTIONS FOR FEDERAL OFFICE.
Section 301(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C.
21081(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(7) Compliance with security standards.--In operating the
voting system, the State shall comply with the applicable
standards developed by the Director of the National Institute
of Standards and Technology under title II of the Election
Infrastructure and Security Promotion Act of 2017 for ensuring
the operational security of voting systems.''.
SEC. 203. INCORPORATION OF STANDARDS INTO CERTIFICATION AND TESTING OF
VOTING SYSTEMS.
Section 231(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C.
20971(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(3) Ensuring compliance with operational security
standards.--The testing and certification of voting system
hardware and software carried out under this subtitle shall
test whether voting systems are in compliance with the
applicable standards developed by the Director of the National
Institute of Standards and Technology under title II of the
Election Infrastructure and Security Promotion Act of 2017 for
ensuring the operational security of voting systems, including
testing whether the components of voting systems meet the
component-specific security requirements and the system
interoperability requirements under such standards.''.
TITLE III--NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR TRANSPARENCY AND VERIFICATION OF
BALLOT COUNTING
SEC. 301. DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARDS.
(a) Development.--The Director of the National Institute of
Standards and Technology shall develop standards for ensuring that the
process by which ballots are counted in elections for Federal office is
transparent and permits voters to verify that votes in such elections
are counted correctly.
(b) Contents of Standards.--In developing standards under this
title, the Director shall ensure the following:
(1) Election officials will provide the public with
sufficient evidence to verify the results of an election for
Federal office, including through the establishment of tracking
procedures that permit members of the public to track the
ballots counted in the election, so long as such procedures
ensure the anonymity of the individuals who cast the ballots.
(2) All of the data used or produced by the relevant
components of a voting system used in an election for Federal
office.
(3) Election officials shall make all of the relevant
components of a voting system used in an election for Federal
office available to other parties (such as other officials of
the State, research organizations, and institutions of higher
education) to duplicate the testing procedures used to certify
the use of the system for use in such elections.
(c) Deadline; Updates.--
(1) Deadline for initial standards.--The Director shall
develop the standards under this title not later than 1 year
after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(2) Updates.--The Director may update the standards under
this title at such times as the Director considers appropriate.
(d) Relevant Components Defined.--In this section, the term
``relevant components'' means, with respect to a voting system, each
component of the system which is involved with counting ballots and
producing a tally of the ballots cast, including the source code, build
tools, build procedure documentation, test plans, test fixtures, and
software and hardware specifications.
SEC. 302. REQUIRING STATES TO COMPLY WITH STANDARDS IN ADMINISTRATION
OF ELECTIONS FOR FEDERAL OFFICE.
Section 301(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C.
21081(a)), as amended by section 202, is amended by adding at the end
the following new paragraph:
``(8) Compliance with transparency and ballot verification
standards.--In operating the voting system, the State shall
comply with the applicable standards developed by the Director
of the National Institute of Standards and Technology under
title III of the Election Infrastructure and Security Promotion
Act of 2017 for ensuring that the process by which ballots are
counted in elections for Federal office is transparent and
permits voters to verify that votes in such elections are
counted correctly.''.
TITLE IV--RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
SEC. 401. INNOVATIVE ELECTION TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.
(a) In General.--The National Science Foundation, in cooperation
with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, shall establish an
election technology innovation research and development program. Such
program--
(1) shall support the development of hardware and software
technologies and systems for marking ballots, scanning ballots,
aggregating tallies from counters, and electronic poll books;
and
(2) may also support research and development on other
elements of technology for voting, election administration,
auditing, and other election-critical operations.
(b) Requirements.--The National Science Foundation shall, to the
extent practicable and in consultation with the Election Assistance
Commission and the National Institute of Standards and Technology,
ensure that technologies developed through assistance provided under
this section--
(1) conform to any applicable standards and guidelines for
design and for data interoperability established by the
National Institute of Standards and Technology; and
(2) are made available for use by Federal, State, and local
governments at no cost.
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