Election Security Assistance Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3412 To protect the administration of Federal elections against cybersecurity threats. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 21, 2019 Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois (for himself, Mr. WALKER, Mr. LOUDERMILK, Mr. WALTZ, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, and Mr. UPTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administra- tion, and in addition to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (Permanent Select), 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 protect the administration of Federal elections against cybersecurity threats. 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Election Security As- 4 sistance Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3412.IH H3412 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3412 IH SEC. 2. GRANTS TO STATES FOR ELECTION ADMINISTRA- 1 TION IMPROVEMENTS. 2 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF FUNDS.—Notwithstanding 3 section 104(c)(2)(B) of the Help America Vote Act of 4 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20904(c)(2)(B)), there is authorized to 5 be appropriated $380,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 to the 6 Election Assistance Commission for necessary expenses to 7 make payments to States for activities to improve the ad- 8 ministration of elections for Federal office, including to 9 enhance election technology and make election security im- 10 provements, as authorized by sections 101, 103, and 104 11 of such Act. 12 (b) PAYMENTS TO STATES.— 13 (1) STATE MATCH.—Not later than two years 14 after receiving funds under subsection (a), a State 15 shall make available funds for activities described in 16 such subsection in an amount equal to 25 percent of 17 the total amount of the payment made to the State 18 under such subsection. 19 (2) TIMING.—The Election Assistance Commis- 20 sion shall make payments to States under subsection 21 (a) not later than 45 days after the date of enact- 22 ment of this Act. 23 (3) GUARANTEED MINIMUM PAYMENT.—For 24 purposes of this section, with respect to section 103 25 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20903)— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3412.IH H3412 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3412 IH (A) each reference to ‘‘$5,000,000’’ shall 1 be deemed to refer to ‘‘$3,000,000’’; and 2 (B) each reference to ‘‘$1,000,000’’ shall 3 be deemed to refer to ‘‘$600,000’’. 4 (c) REFERENCE.—For purposes of this section, with 5 respect to sections 101 and 103 of such Act, each ref- 6 erence to the ‘‘Administrator of General Services’’ or the 7 ‘‘Administrator’’ shall be deemed to refer to the ‘‘Election 8 Assistance Commission’’. 9 SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF ELECTRONIC POLL BOOKS AS PART 10 OF VOTING SYSTEMS. 11 (a) INCLUSION IN DEFINITION OF VOTING SYS- 12 TEM.—Section 301(b) of the Help America Vote Act of 13 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081(b)) is amended— 14 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 15 striking ‘‘this section’’ and inserting ‘‘this Act’’; 16 (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 17 (1); 18 (3) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para- 19 graph (3); and 20 (4) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol- 21 lowing new paragraph: 22 ‘‘(2) any electronic poll book used with respect 23 to the election; and’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3412.IH H3412 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3412 IH (b) DEFINITION.—Section 301 of such Act (52 1 U.S.C. 21081) is amended— 2 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 3 subsections (d) and (e); and 4 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol- 5 lowing new subsection: 6 ‘‘(c) ELECTRONIC POLL BOOK DEFINED.—In this 7 Act, the term ‘electronic poll book’ means the total com- 8 bination of mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic 9 equipment (including the software, firmware, and docu- 10 mentation required to program, control, and support the 11 equipment) that is used— 12 ‘‘(1) to retain the list of registered voters at a 13 polling location, or vote center, or other location at 14 which voters cast votes in an election for Federal of- 15 fice; and 16 ‘‘(2) to identify registered voters who are eligi- 17 ble to vote in an election.’’. 18 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 301(e) of such Act 19 (52 U.S.C. 21081(e)), as redesignated by subsection (b), 20 is amended by striking the period at the end and inserting 21 the following: ‘‘, or, with respect to any requirements re- 22 lating to electronic poll books, on and after January 1, 23 2020.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3412.IH H3412 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 3412 IH SEC. 4. SECURITY CLEARANCE ASSISTANCE FOR ELECTION 1 OFFICIALS. 2 (a) STATE OFFICIALS.—In order to promote the 3 timely sharing of information on threats to election infra- 4 structure, the Secretary of Homeland Security may— 5 (1) help expedite a security clearance at the top 6 secret level for the chief State election official and 7 other appropriate State personnel involved in the ad- 8 ministration of elections, as designated by the chief 9 State election official; 10 (2) sponsor a security clearance at the top se- 11 cret level for the chief State election official and 12 other appropriate State personnel involved in the ad- 13 ministration of elections, as designated by the chief 14 State election official; and 15 (3) facilitate the issuance of a temporary clear- 16 ance at the top secret level to the chief State election 17 official and other appropriate State personnel in- 18 volved in the administration of elections, as des- 19 ignated by the chief State election official, if the 20 Secretary determines classified information to be 21 timely and relevant to the election infrastructure of 22 the State at issue. 23 (b) ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION.—The Sec- 24 retary shall expeditiously issue a security clearance at the 25 top secret level to the following officials: 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3412.IH H3412 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 3412 IH (1) Each member of the Election Assistance 1 Commission appointed pursuant to section 203(a) of 2 the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 3 20923(a)). 4 (2) The Executive Director of the Election As- 5 sistance Commission appointed pursuant to section 6 204(a)(1) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20924(a)(1)). 7 (3) The General Counsel of the Election Assist- 8 ance Commission appointed pursuant to section 9 204(a)(4) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 20924(a)(4)). 10 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 11 (1) the term ‘‘chief State election official’’ 12 means, with respect to a State, the individual des- 13 ignated by the State under section 10 of the Na- 14 tional Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 15 20509) to be responsible for coordination of the 16 State’s responsibilities under such Act; 17 (2) the term ‘‘election infrastructure’’ means 18 storage facilities, polling places, and centralized vote 19 tabulation locations used to support the administra- 20 tion of elections for public office, as well as related 21 information and communications technology, includ- 22 ing voter registration databases, voting machines, 23 electronic mail and other communications systems 24 (including electronic mail and other systems of elec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3412.IH H3412 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 3412 IH tion service providers who have entered into con- 1 tracts with election agencies to support the adminis- 2 tration of elections, manage the election process, and 3 report and display election results), and other sys- 4 tems used to manage the election process and to re- 5 port and display election results on behalf of an elec- 6 tion agency; 7 (3) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 8 of Homeland Security; and 9 (4) the term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning given 10 such term in section 901 of the Help America Vote 11 Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21141). 12 SEC. 5. DUTY OF SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY TO 13 NOTIFY STATE AND LOCAL OFFICIALS OF 14 ELECTION CYBERSECURITY INCIDENTS. 15 (a) DUTY TO SHARE INFORMATION WITH DEPART- 16 MENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY.—If a Federal entity re- 17 ceives information about an election cybersecurity inci- 18 dent, the Federal entity shall promptly share that infor- 19 mation with the Department of Homeland Security, unless 20 the head of the entity (or a Senate-confirmed official des- 21 ignated by the head) makes a specific determination in 22 writing that there is good cause to withhold the particular 23 information. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3412.IH H3412 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 3412 IH (b) RESPONSE TO RECEIPT OF INFORMATION BY 1 SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY.— 2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Upon receiving information 3 about an election cybersecurity incident under sub- 4 section (a), the Secretary of Homeland Security, in 5 consultation with the Attorney General, the Director 6 of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Di- 7 rector of National Intelligence, shall promptly (but 8 in no case later than 96 hours after receiving the in- 9 formation) review the information and make a deter- 10 mination whether each of the following apply: 11 (A) There is credible evidence that the in- 12 cident occurred. 13 (B) There is a basis to believe that the in- 14 cident resulted, could have resulted, or could re- 15 sult in voter information systems or voter tab- 16 ulation systems being altered or otherwise af- 17 fected. 18 (2) DUTY TO NOTIFY STATE AND LOCAL OFFI- 19 CIALS.— 20 (A) DUTY DESCRIBED.—If the Secretary 21 makes a determination under paragraph (1) 22 that subparagraphs (A) and (B) of such para- 23 graph apply with respect to an election cyberse- 24 curity incident, not later than 96 hours after 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3412.IH H3412 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 3412 IH making the determination, the Secretary shall 1 provide a notification of the incident to each of 2 the following: 3 (i) The chief executive of the State in- 4 volved. 5 (ii) The State election official of the 6 State involved. 7 (iii) The local election official of the 8 election agency involved. 9 (B) TREATMENT OF CLASSIFIED INFORMA- 10 TION.— 11 (i) EFFORTS TO AVOID INCLUSION OF 12 CLASSIFIED INFORMATION.—In preparing 13 a notification provided under this para- 14 graph to an individual described in clause 15 (i), (ii), or (iii) of subparagraph (A), the 16 Secretary shall attempt to avoid the inclu- 17 sion of classified information. 18 (ii) PROVIDING GUIDANCE TO STATE 19 AND LOCAL OFFICIALS.—To the extent 20 that a notification provided under this 21 paragraph to an individual described in 22 clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of subparagraph (A) 23 includes classified information, the Sec- 24 retary (in consultation with the Attorney 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3412.IH H3412 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 3412 IH General and the Director of National Intel- 1 ligence) shall indicate in the notification 2 which information is classified. 3 (3) EXCEPTION.— 4 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary, in 5 consultation with the Attorney General and the 6 Director of National Intelligence, makes a de- 7 termination that it is not possible to provide a 8 notification under paragraph (1) with respect to 9 an election cybersecurity incident without com- 10 promising intelligence methods or sources or 11 interfering with an ongoing investigation, the 12 Secretary shall not provide the notification 13 under such paragraph. 14 (B) ONGOING REVIEW.—Not later than 30 15 days after making a determination under sub- 16 paragraph (A) and every 30 days thereafter, 17 the Secretary shall review the determination. If, 18 after reviewing the determination, the Secretary 19 makes a revised determination that it is pos- 20 sible to provide a notification under paragraph 21 (2) without compromising intelligence methods 22 or sources or interfering with an ongoing inves- 23 tigation, the Secretary shall provide the notifi- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3412.IH H3412 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 3412 IH cation under paragraph (2) not later than 96 1 hours after making such revised determination. 2 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi- 3 nitions apply: 4 (1) ELECTION AGENCY.—The term ‘‘election 5 agency’’ means any component of a State, or any 6 component of a unit of local government in a State, 7 which is responsible for the administration of elec- 8 tions for Federal office in the State. 9 (2) ELECTION CYBERSECURITY INCIDENT.— 10 The term ‘‘election cybersecurity incident’’ means an 11 occurrence that actually or imminently jeopardizes, 12 without lawful authority, the integrity, confiden- 13 tiality, or availability of information on an informa- 14 tion system of election infrastructure, or actually or 15 imminently jeopardizes, without lawful authority, an 16 information system of election infrastructure. 17 (3) FEDERAL ELECTION.—The term ‘‘Federal 18 election’’ means any election (as defined in section 19 301(1) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 20 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101(1))) for Federal office (as 21 defined in section 301(3) of the Federal Election 22 Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101(3))). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:25 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3412.IH H3412 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 3412 IH (4) FEDERAL ENTITY.—The term ‘‘Federal en- 1 tity’’ means any agency (as defined in section 551 2 of title 5, United States Code). 3 (5) LOCAL ELECTION OFFICIAL.—The term 4 ‘‘local election official’’ means the chief election offi- 5 cial of a component of a unit of local government of 6 a State that is responsible for administering Federal 7 elections. 8 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 9 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 10 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 11 the several States, the District of Columbia, the 12 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American 13 Samoa, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Is- 14 lands, a [Text truncated for display. 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