HR 6794 - Emergency Election Audit Act of 2008

HR 6794

110th CONGRESS
2d Session

H. R. 6794

To direct the Election Assistance Commission to reimburse jurisdictions for the costs incurred in conducting manual audits of the results of the general elections for Federal office to be held in November 2008.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

August 1, 2008

Mr. HOLT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration

A BILL

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Emergency Election Audit Act of 2008'.

SEC. 2. PAYMENTS FOR CONDUCTING MANUAL AUDITS OF RESULTS OF 2008 GENERAL ELECTIONS.

(a) Payments-

(1) ELIGIBILITY FOR PAYMENTS- If a State conducts manual audits of the results of any of the regularly scheduled general elections for Federal office in November 2008 (and, at the option of the State, conducts audits of elections for State and local office held at the same time as such election) in accordance with the requirements of this section, the Election Assistance Commission (hereafter in this Act referred to as the `Commission') shall make a payment to the State in an amount equal to the documented reasonable costs incurred by the State in conducting the audits.

(2) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE AND COSTS-

(A) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED- In order to receive a payment under this section, a State shall submit to the Commission, in such form as the Commission may require, a statement containing--

(i) a certification that the State conducted the audits in accordance with all of the requirements of this section;

(ii) a statement of the reasonable costs incurred in conducting the audits; and

(iii) such other information and assurances as the Commission may require.

(B) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT- The amount of a payment made to a State under this section shall be equal to the reasonable costs incurred in conducting the audits.

(C) DETERMINATION OF REASONABLENESS OF COSTS- The determinations under this paragraph of whether costs incurred by a State are reasonable shall be made by the Commission.

(3) TIMING OF PAYMENTS- The Commission shall make the payment required under this section to a State not later than 30 days after receiving the statement submitted by the State under paragraph (2).

(4) MANDATORY IMMEDIATE REIMBURSEMENT OF COUNTIES AND OTHER JURISDICTIONS- If a county or other jurisdiction responsible for the administration of an election in a State incurs costs as the result of the State conducting an audit of the election in accordance with this section, the State shall reimburse the county or jurisdiction for such costs immediately upon receiving the payment from the Commission under paragraph (3).

(5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- There are authorized to be appropriated to the Commission such sums as may be necessary for payments under this section. Any amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization under this subsection shall remain available until expended.

(b) Audit Requirements- In order to receive a payment under this section for conducting an audit, the State shall meet the following minimum requirements:

(1) Not later than 30 days before the date of the regularly scheduled general election for Federal office in November 2008, the State shall establish and publish guidelines, standards, and procedures to be used in conducting audits in accordance with this section.

(2) The State shall select an appropriate entity to oversee the administration of the audit, in accordance with such criteria as the State considers appropriate consistent with the requirements of this section, except that the entity must meet a general standard of independence as defined by the State.

(3) The State shall determine whether the units in which the audit will be conducted will be precincts or some alternative auditing unit, and shall apply that determination in a uniform manner for all audits conducted in accordance with this section.

(4) The State shall select the precincts or alternative auditing units in which audits are conducted in accordance with this section in a random manner following the election after the final unofficial vote count (as defined by the State) has been announced, such that each precinct or alternative auditing unit in which the election was held has an equal chance of being selected, subject to paragraph (9), except that the State shall ensure that at least one precinct or alternative auditing unit is selected in each county in which the election is held.

(5) The audit shall be conducted in not less than 2 percent of the precincts or alternative auditing units in the State (in the case of a general election for the office of Senator) or the Congressional district involved (in the case of an election for the office of Representative in, or Delegate or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress).

(6) The State shall determine the stage of the tabulation process at which the audit will be conducted, and shall apply that determination in a uniform manner for all audits conducted in accordance with this section, except that the audit shall commence within 48 hours after the State or jurisdiction involved announces the final unofficial vote count (as defined by the State) in each precinct in which votes are cast in the election which is the subject of the audit.

(7) With respect to each precinct or alternative audit unit audited, the State shall ensure that a voter verified paper ballot or paper ballot printout verifiable by the voter at the time the vote is cast is available for every vote cast in the precinct or alternative audit unit, and that the tally produced by counting all of those paper ballots or paper ballot printouts by hand is compared with the corresponding final unofficial vote count (as defined by the State) announced with respect to that precinct or audit unit in the election.

(8) Within each precinct or alternative audit unit, the audit shall include all ballots cast by all individuals who voted in or who are under the jurisdiction of the precinct or alternative audit unit with respect to the election, including absentee ballots (subject to paragraph (9)), early ballots, emergency ballots, and provisional ballots, without regard to the time, place, or manner in which the ballots were cast.

(9) If a State establishes a separate precinct for purposes of counting the absentee ballots cast in the election and treats all absentee ballots as having been cast in that precinct, and if the state does not make absentee ballots sortable by precinct and include those ballots in the hand count, the State may divide absentee ballots into audit units approximately equal in size to the average precinct in the State in terms of the number of ballots cast, and shall randomly select and include at least 2 percent of those audit units in the audit. Any audit carried out with respect to such an audit unit shall meet the completeness requirement and the other standards set forth under paragraph (7) and applicable to audits carried out with respect to other precincts and alternative audit units, including the requirement that all paper ballots be counted by hand.

(10) The audit shall be conducted in a public and transparent manner, such that members of the public are able to observe the entire process.

(1) STATE SUBMISSION OF REPORT- In order to receive a payment under this section, a State shall submit to the Commission a report, in such form as the Commission may require, on the results of each audit conducted under this section.

(2) COMMISSION ACTION- The Commission may request additional information from a State based on the report submitted under paragraph (1).

(3) PUBLICATION- The Commission shall publish each report submitted under paragraph (1) upon receipt.

(d) Delay in Certification of Results by State- No State may certify the results of any election which is subject to an audit under this section prior to completing the audit, resolving discrepancies discovered in the audit, and submitting the report required under subsection (c).

(e) State Defined- In this Act, the term `State' includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the United States Virgin Islands.

END