FAST Voting Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1512 To provide funds to give States incentives to invest in practices and technology designed to expedite voting at the polls and simplify voter registration, improve voting system security, and promote automatic voter registration, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 5, 2019 Mr. CONNOLLY (for himself and Mr. LANGEVIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration A BILL To provide funds to give States incentives to invest in prac- tices and technology designed to expedite voting at the polls and simplify voter registration, improve voting sys- tem security, and promote automatic voter registration, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Fair, Accurate, Secure, and Timely Voting Act of 2019’’ 5 or the ‘‘FAST Voting Act of 2019’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1512.IH H1512 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1512 IH (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 1 this Act is as follows: 2 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. TITLE I—IMPROVING VOTER PARTICIPATION Sec. 101. Incentives for States to invest in practices and technology designed to expedite voting at the polls and simplify voter registration. Sec. 102. Criteria for awarding grants. Sec. 103. Criteria for evaluating applications. Sec. 104. Authorization of appropriations. TITLE II—IMPROVING VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY Sec. 201. Incentives for States to improve voting system security. Sec. 202. Criteria for awarding grants. Sec. 203. Criteria for evaluating applications. Sec. 204. Authorization of appropriations. TITLE III—ENCOURAGING AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRATION Sec. 301. Incentives for States to implement automatic voter registration. Sec. 302. Applications. Sec. 303. Authorization of appropriations. TITLE IV—GENERAL PROVISIONS Sec. 401. Establishment of performance measures and targets. Sec. 402. Reporting requirements. Sec. 403. State defined. TITLE I—IMPROVING VOTER 3 PARTICIPATION 4 SEC. 101. INCENTIVES FOR STATES TO INVEST IN PRAC- 5 TICES AND TECHNOLOGY DESIGNED TO EX- 6 PEDITE VOTING AT THE POLLS AND SIM- 7 PLIFY VOTER REGISTRATION. 8 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts made 10 available under section 104 for a fiscal year and not 11 reserved under section (b) of section 104, the Elec- 12 tion Assistance Commission (hereafter in this title 13 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1512.IH H1512 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1512 IH referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’) shall award 1 grants, on a competitive basis, to States in accord- 2 ance with section 103. 3 (2) NUMBER OF GRANTS.—A State may not re- 4 ceive more than 1 grant under this section per grant 5 period. 6 (3) DURATION OF GRANTS.— 7 (A) IN GENERAL.—A grant under this sec- 8 tion shall be awarded for a period of not more 9 than 4 years. 10 (B) CONTINUATION OF GRANTS.—A State 11 that is awarded a grant under this section shall 12 not receive grant funds under this section for 13 the second or any subsequent year of the grant 14 unless the State demonstrates to the Commis- 15 sion, at such time and in such manner as deter- 16 mined by the Commission, that the State is— 17 (i) making progress in implementing 18 the grant implementation plan described in 19 section 102(b) at a rate that the Commis- 20 sion determines will result in the State 21 fully implementing such plan during the 22 remainder of the grant period; or 23 (ii) making progress against the per- 24 formance measures established under sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1512.IH H1512 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1512 IH tion 401 at a rate that the Commission de- 1 termines will result in the State reaching 2 its targets and achieving the objectives of 3 the grant during the remainder of the 4 grant period. 5 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—Each State that receives a 6 grant under this title shall use the funds provided by the 7 grant to carry out the State’s grant implementation plan 8 described in section 102(b). 9 SEC. 102. CRITERIA FOR AWARDING GRANTS. 10 (a) APPLICATIONS.—Each State that desires to re- 11 ceive a grant under this title shall submit an application 12 to the Commission at such time, in such manner, and con- 13 taining such information as the Commission may reason- 14 ably require. At a minimum, each such application shall 15 include each of the following: 16 (1) A documentation of the State’s record in 17 carrying out the following in the administration of 18 elections for public office: 19 (A) Providing various voter registration 20 opportunities and record of providing electronic 21 transfer of voter registration information from 22 government agencies to election officials. 23 (B) Providing early voting. 24 (C) Providing absentee voting. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1512.IH H1512 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 1512 IH (D) Providing assistance to voters who do 1 not speak English as a primary language. 2 (E) Providing assistance to voters with dis- 3 abilities at and beyond the level required by 4 Federal law. 5 (F) Providing effective access to voting for 6 members of the uniformed services at and be- 7 yond the level required by Federal law. 8 (G) Providing formal training of election 9 officials. 10 (H) Auditing waiting times at polling 11 places. 12 (I) Allocating polling locations, equipment, 13 and staff to match population distribution. 14 (J) Responding to voting irregularities and 15 concerns raised at polling stations. 16 (K) Creating and adhering to contingency 17 voting plans in the event of a natural or other 18 disaster. 19 (L) Any other performance measure estab- 20 lished under section 401 in providing various 21 voter registration opportunities. 22 (2) Evidence of established conditions of inno- 23 vation and reform in the administration of elections 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1512.IH H1512 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 1512 IH for public office in the State and the State’s pro- 1 posed plan for implementing additional conditions. 2 (3) Evidence of collaboration between relevant 3 stakeholders in developing the grant implementation 4 plan described in subsection (b). 5 (4) Annual performance measures and targets 6 for the activities carried out with the grant. 7 (5) A description of the State’s plan to conduct 8 a rigorous evaluation of the effectiveness of the ac- 9 tivities carried out with the grant. 10 (6) The grant implementation plan described in 11 subsection (b). 12 (b) GRANT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—The grant im- 13 plementation plan described in this subsection is a plan 14 developed by the State for using funds provided by the 15 grant to improve the State’s performance on the perform- 16 ance measures established under section 401, including 17 how the State will carry out some or all of the following: 18 (1) Providing flexible registration opportunities, 19 including online and same-day registration and reg- 20 istration updating. 21 (2) Providing early voting, at a minimum of 9 22 of the 10 calendar days preceding an election, at 23 sufficient and flexible hours. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1512.IH H1512 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 1512 IH (3) Providing absentee voting, including no-ex- 1 cuse absentee voting. 2 (4) Providing assistance to voters who do not 3 speak English as a primary language beyond the 4 minimum requirements of the Voting Rights Act of 5 1965. 6 (5) Providing assistance to voters with disabil- 7 ities, including visual impairment, at and beyond the 8 level required by Federal law. 9 (6) Providing effective access to voting for 10 members of the uniformed services at and beyond 11 the level required by Federal law. 12 (7) Providing formal training of election offi- 13 cials, including State and county administrators and 14 volunteers. 15 (8) Auditing and reducing waiting times at poll- 16 ing places. 17 (9) Allocating polling locations, equipment, and 18 staff to match population distribution. 19 (10) Responding to any reports of voting irreg- 20 ularities or concerns raised at polling places. 21 (11) Creating contingency voting plans in the 22 event of natural or other disaster. 23 (12) Improving the wait times at the persist- 24 ently poorest performing polling stations. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1512.IH H1512 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 1512 IH SEC. 103. CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING APPLICATIONS. 1 (a) AWARD BASIS.—The Commission shall award 2 grants to States under this title on a competitive basis, 3 based on the quality of the State’s application submitted 4 under section 102, including— 5 (1) the State’s record in the areas described in 6 paragraph (1) of section 102(a); 7 (2) the State’s record of, and commitment to, 8 establishing conditions for innovation and reform, as 9 described in paragraph (2) of section 102(a); 10 (3) the quality and likelihood of success of the 11 State’s grant implementation plan described in sec- 12 tion 102(b) in showing improvement in the areas de- 13 scribed in paragraph (1) of section 102(a), including 14 the State’s capacity to implement the plan and evi- 15 dence of collaboration as described in paragraph (3) 16 of section 102(a); and 17 (4) the State’s evaluation plan as described in 18 paragraph (5) of section 102(a). 19 (b) EXPLANATION.—The Commission shall publish 20 an explanation of how the application review process under 21 this paragraph will ensure an equitable and objective eval- 22 uation based on the criteria described in subsection (a). 23 SEC. 104. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 24 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro- 25 priated such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1512.IH H1512 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 1512 IH 2019 and each succeeding fiscal year to carry out this 1 title. 2 (b) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—From the amount 3 made available to carry out this title for a fiscal year, the 4 Commission may reserve not more than 10 percent of such 5 amount to carry out activities related to— 6 (1) technical assistance; and 7 (2) outreach and dissemination. 8 TITLE II—IMPROVING VOTING 9 SYSTEM SECURITY 10 SEC. 201. INCENTIVES FOR STATES TO IMPROVE VOTING 11 SYSTEM SECURITY. 12 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts made 14 available under section 204 for a fiscal year and not 15 reserved under section (b) of section 204, the Elec- 16 tion Assistance Commission (hereafter in this title 17 referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’) shall award 18 grants, on a competitive basis, to States in accord- 19 ance with section 203. 20 (2) NUMBER OF GRANTS.—A State may not re- 21 ceive more than 1 grant under this section per grant 22 period. 23 (3) DURATION OF GRANTS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1512.IH H1512 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 1512 IH (A) IN GENERAL.—A grant under this sec- 1 tion shall be awarded for a period of not more 2 than 4 years. 3 (B) CONTINUATION OF GRANTS.—A State 4 that is awarded a grant under this section shall 5 not receive grant funds under this section for 6 the second or any subsequent year of the grant 7 unless the State demonstrates to the Commis- 8 sion, at such time and in such manner as deter- 9 mined by the Commission, that the State is— 10 (i) making progress in implementing 11 the grant implementation plan described in 12 section 202(b) at a rate that the Commis- 13 sion determines will result in the State 14 fully implementing such plan during the 15 remainder of the grant period; or 16 (ii) making progress against the per- 17 formance measures established under sec- 18 tion 401 at a rate that the Commission de- 19 termines will result in the State reaching 20 its targets and achieving the objectives of 21 the grant during the remainder of the 22 grant period. 23 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—Each State that receives a 24 grant under this title shall use the funds provided by the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1512.IH H1512 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 1512 IH grant to carry out the State’s grant implementation plan 1 described in section 202(b). 2 SEC. 202. CRITERIA FOR AWARDING GRANTS. 3 (a) APPLICATIONS.—Each State that desires to re- 4 ceive a grant under this title shall submit an application 5 to the Commission at such time, in such manner, and con- 6 taining such information as the Commission may reason- 7 ably require. At a minimum, each such application shall 8 include each of the following: 9 (1) A documentation of the State’s record in 10 carrying out the following in the administration of 11 elections for public office: 12 (A) Providing voting machines that are 13 less than 10 years old. 14 (B) Providing voting equipment that gen- 15 erates a verifiable paper trail at polling places. 16 (C) Implementing strong chain of custody 17 procedures for the physical security of voting 18 equipment and paper records at all stages of 19 the process. 20 (D) Conducting pre-election testing on 21 every voting machine and ensuring that paper 22 ballots are available wherever electronic ma- 23 chines are used. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1512.IH H1512 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 1512 IH (E) Mandating post-election risk-limiting 1 audits to confirm the validity of electronic re- 2 sults. 3 (F) Keeping offline backups of voter reg- 4 istration lists. 5 (G) Providing a secure voter registration 6 database that logs requests submitted to the 7 database. 8 (H) Publishing and enforcing a policy de- 9 tailing use limitations and security safeguards 10 to protect voters’ personal information in the 11 voter registration process. 12 (I) Providing secure processes and proce- 13 dures for reporting vote tallies. 14 (J) Providing a secure platform for dis- 15 seminating vote totals. 16 (K) Any other performance [Text truncated for display. 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