US HB5816 | 2011-2012 | 112th Congress

Status

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 101-0)
Status: Introduced on May 17 2012 - 25% progression, died in committee
Action: 2012-06-18 - Referred to the Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation.
Pending: House Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation Committee
Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [PDF]

Summary

Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2011 [sic] - Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) to revise requirements for the audit capacity of voting systems, particularly those for a permanent paper record. Requires the voting system to require the use of an individual, durable, voter-verified paper ballot of the voter's vote that shall be marked and made available for inspection by the voter before the voter's vote is cast and counted, and which shall be counted by hand or read by an optical scanner or other counting device. Requires the voting system to provide the voter with an opportunity to correct any system-made error in the voter-verified paper ballot before it is permanently preserved. Requires each paper ballot used to be: (1) suitable for a manual audit, and (2) counted by hand in any recount or audit conducted with respect to any federal election. Sets forth a special rule for treatment of disputes when paper ballots have been shown to be compromised. Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to make grants to eligible entities to study, test, and develop accessible ballot voting, verification, and casting mechanisms and devices and best practices to enhance the accessibility of paper ballot voting and verification mechanisms for individuals with disabilities, for voters whose primary language is not English, and for voters with difficulties in literacy. Specifies additional voting system requirements and prohibitions. Requires the NSF Director to make grants to eligible entities to conduct research on the development of election-dedicated voting system software. Makes available additional funding to enable states to meet the costs of the requirements imposed by this Act. Provides for complaints to the Attorney General by persons aggrieved by violations of HAVA. Requires each state to administer audits of federal election results, without advance notice to the precincts selected, consisting of random hand counts of the voter-verified paper ballots. Makes an exception from this requirement for elections in which the winning candidate had no opponent or received 80% or more of the vote total. Prescribes requirements for determination of the number of ballots counted under the audit. Prescribes the process for administering audits. Requires the Election Auditor of a state, as soon as practicable after the completion of an audit, to submit the results to the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) for publication. Prohibits certification of the results of any election until completion of audits. Provides for payments to states for the costs of conducting audits. Exempts from this Act any election for which a recount under state law will commence before certification of the election results. Repeals the EAC's exemption from certain federal government contracting requirements.

Tracking Information

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Title

Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2011

Sponsors

Rep. Rush Holt [D-NJ]Rep. Gary Ackerman [D-NY]Rep. Jason Altmire [D-PA]Rep. Robert Andrews [D-NJ]
Rep. Xavier Becerra [D-CA]Rep. Sanford Bishop [D-GA]Rep. Timothy Bishop [D-NY]Rep. Earl Blumenauer [D-OR]
Rep. Leonard Boswell [D-IA]Rep. Bruce Braley [D-IA]Rep. Corrine Brown [D-FL]Rep. G. Butterfield [D-NC]
Rep. Lois Capps [D-CA]Rep. Michael Capuano [D-MA]Rep. Dennis Cardoza [D-CA]Rep. Andre Carson [D-IN]
Rep. Kathy Castor [D-FL]Rep. Ben Chandler [D-KY]Rep. Lacy Clay [D-MO]Rep. Steve Cohen [D-TN]
Rep. Jerry Costello [D-IL]Rep. Joe Courtney [D-CT]Rep. Joseph Crowley [D-NY]Rep. Elijah Cummings [D-MD]
Rep. Danny Davis [D-IL]Rep. Peter DeFazio [D-OR]Rep. Diana DeGette [D-CO]Rep. Rosa DeLauro [D-CT]
Rep. Lloyd Doggett [D-TX]Rep. Michael Doyle [D-PA]Rep. Donna Edwards [D-MD]Rep. Keith Ellison [D-MN]
Rep. Anna Eshoo [D-CA]Rep. Sam Farr [D-CA]Rep. Barney Frank [D-MA]Rep. John Garamendi [D-CA]
Rep. Gene Green [D-TX]Rep. Raul Grijalva [D-AZ]Rep. Luis Gutierrez [D-IL]Rep. Janice Hahn [D-CA]
Rep. Alcee Hastings [D-FL]Rep. James Himes [D-CT]Rep. Maurice Hinchey [D-NY]Rep. Tim Holden [D-PA]
Rep. Michael Honda [D-CA]Rep. Steve Israel [D-NY]Rep. Jesse Jackson [D-IL]Rep. Marcy Kaptur [D-OH]
Rep. William Keating [D-MA]Rep. Larry Kissell [D-NC]Rep. Rick Larsen [D-WA]Rep. John Larson [D-CT]
Rep. Barbara Lee [D-CA]Rep. Sander Levin [D-MI]Rep. John Lewis [D-GA]Rep. David Loebsack [D-IA]
Rep. Nita Lowey [D-NY]Rep. Carolyn Maloney [D-NY]Rep. Doris Matsui [D-CA]Rep. Carolyn McCarthy [D-NY]
Rep. Betty McCollum [D-MN]Rep. Jim McDermott [D-WA]Rep. James McGovern [D-MA]Rep. Mike McIntyre [D-NC]
Rep. Gregory Meeks [D-NY]Rep. George Miller [D-CA]Rep. Gwen Moore [D-WI]Rep. James Moran [D-VA]
Rep. Jerrold Nadler [D-NY]Rep. Grace Napolitano [D-CA]Rep. Eleanor Norton [D-DC]Rep. John Olver [D-MA]
Rep. Frank Pallone [D-NJ]Rep. Ed Perlmutter [D-CO]Sen. Gary Peters [D-MI]Rep. Chellie Pingree [D-ME]
Rep. Jared Polis [D-CO]Rep. Charles Rangel [D-NY]Rep. Cedric Richmond [D-LA]Rep. Steven Rothman [D-NJ]
Rep. Linda Sanchez [D-CA]Rep. Loretta Sanchez [D-CA]Rep. John Sarbanes [D-MD]Rep. Janice Schakowsky [D-IL]
Rep. Adam Schiff [D-CA]Rep. Allyson Schwartz [D-PA]Rep. Robert Scott [D-VA]Rep. Jose Serrano [D-NY]
Rep. Heath Shuler [D-NC]Rep. Louise Slaughter [D-NY]Rep. Adam Smith [D-WA]Rep. Fortney Stark [D-CA]
Rep. Bennie Thompson [D-MS]Rep. John Tierney [D-MA]Rep. Edolphus Towns [D-NY]Sen. Chris Van Hollen [D-MD]
Rep. Timothy Walz [D-MN]Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz [D-FL]Rep. Melvin Watt [D-NC]Rep. Henry Waxman [D-CA]
Rep. Lynn Woolsey [D-CA]

History

DateChamberAction
2012-06-18HouseReferred to the Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation.
2012-05-24HouseReferred to the Subcommittee on Elections.
2012-05-17HouseReferred to House Science, Space, and Technology
2012-05-17HouseReferred to House House Administration
2012-05-17HouseReferred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, 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.

Same As/Similar To

HB5799 (Related) 2012-09-26 - Referred to the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training.
HB6246 (Related) 2012-08-02 - Referred to the Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation.
SB3608 (Related) 2012-09-21 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.

Subjects


US Congress State Sources


Bill Comments

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