Election Technology Research Act of 2020

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 4990 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration AN ACT To direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Science Foundation to carry out re- search and other activities to promote the security and modernization of voting systems, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Sep 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4990.RFS H4990 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 HR 4990 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Election Technology 2 Research Act of 2020’’. 3 SEC. 2. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECH- 4 NOLOGY. 5 (a) VOTING SYSTEMS RESEARCH.—The Director of 6 the National Institute of Standards and Technology, in 7 collaboration with the National Science Foundation as ap- 8 propriate, shall carry out a program of research on voting 9 systems, including— 10 (1) the cybersecurity of different components of 11 such systems; 12 (2) end-to-end verifiable systems; 13 (3) internet-enabled voting; 14 (4) the accessibility and usability of different 15 components of such systems; 16 (5) voter privacy and data protection; 17 (6) methods for auditing elections; 18 (7) the interoperability of system technologies; 19 (8) means for providing voters with the ability 20 to easily check whether a ballot sent by mail has 21 been dispatched to the voter and whether the voter’s 22 marked ballot has been received and accepted by the 23 appropriate election official; 24 (9) the reliability of various approaches to voter 25 authentication; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Sep 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4990.RFS H4990 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 HR 4990 RFS (10) such other areas of research as the Direc- 1 tor of the National Institute of Standards and Tech- 2 nology determines to be appropriate and related to 3 the security and integrity of elections for Federal of- 4 fice. 5 (b) ELECTIONS SYSTEMS CENTER OF EXCEL- 6 LENCE.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National 8 Institute of Standards and Technology shall make 9 an award to an institution of higher education or an 10 eligible nonprofit organization (or a consortium 11 thereof) to establish a Center of Excellence in Elec- 12 tion Systems. 13 (2) COLLABORATIONS.—The Director shall en- 14 sure that the Center of Excellence includes a col- 15 laboration of institutions of higher education, non- 16 profit organizations, private sector entities, and 17 State and local election officials. 18 (3) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Center of 19 Excellence shall be to— 20 (A) conduct measurement research and 21 statistical analyses to inform the development 22 of standards for technologies and processes that 23 contribute to more secure, fair, and accessible 24 elections; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Sep 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4990.RFS H4990 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 HR 4990 RFS (B) test and evaluate the security, 1 usability, and accessibility of the technologies of 2 voting systems, including the accessibility of 3 poll book data by voters; 4 (C) research testing methods that could be 5 used for the certification of voting system tech- 6 nologies; 7 (D) educate and train students studying in 8 science, technology, engineering, and mathe- 9 matics fields to conduct measurement science 10 and standards research relevant to such sys- 11 tems; and 12 (E) foster collaboration among academic 13 researchers, private sector vendors of election 14 technology, and State and local election offi- 15 cials. 16 (4) REQUIREMENTS.— 17 (A) IN GENERAL.—An institution of higher 18 education or an eligible nonprofit organization 19 (or a consortium thereof) seeking funding under 20 this subsection shall submit an application to 21 the Director at such time, in such manner, and 22 containing such information as the Director 23 may require. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Sep 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4990.RFS H4990 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 HR 4990 RFS (B) APPLICATIONS.—Each application 1 under subparagraph (A) shall include a descrip- 2 tion of— 3 (i) how the Center will work with 4 other research institutions, industry part- 5 ners, and State or local election officials to 6 identify the measurement, testing, and 7 standards needs of voting systems and to 8 leverage the expertise of election practi- 9 tioners; and 10 (ii) how the Center will promote active 11 collaboration among researchers in mul- 12 tiple disciplines involved in ensuring the se- 13 curity and integrity of such systems. 14 (C) SELECTION AND DURATION.—Each 15 Center established under this section is author- 16 ized to carry out activities for a period of 5 17 years, renewable for an additional 5 years at 18 the discretion of the Director. 19 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 20 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 21 $12,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2021 through 22 2025. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Sep 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4990.RFS H4990 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 HR 4990 RFS SEC. 3. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. 1 (a) RESEARCH GRANTS.—The Director of the Na- 2 tional Science Foundation, in collaboration with the Na- 3 tional Institute of Standards and Technology and other 4 relevant agencies, as appropriate, shall award basic re- 5 search grants to increase the understanding of cyber and 6 other threats to voting systems and to inform the develop- 7 ment of technologies, processes, and policies that con- 8 tribute to more secure, fair, and accessible elections, in- 9 cluding research on— 10 (1) the cybersecurity of different components of 11 such systems; 12 (2) end-to-end verifiable systems; 13 (3) the risks and benefits of internet-enabled 14 voting; 15 (4) the human-technology interface, including 16 the usability, accessibility, and comprehensibility of 17 ballot design, ballot marking devices, and other com- 18 ponents of such systems; 19 (5) voter privacy and data protection; 20 (6) voter practices regarding the verification of 21 ballots generated by ballot marking devices and the 22 likelihood that voters, both with and without disabil- 23 ities, will recognize errors or omissions with respect 24 to such ballots; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Sep 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4990.RFS H4990 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 HR 4990 RFS (7) such other topics as the Director determines 1 to be appropriate and related to the integrity of elec- 2 tions. 3 (b) ELECTIONS SYSTEMS RESEARCH CENTER.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National 5 Science Foundation, in consultation with the Direc- 6 tor of the National Institute of Standards and Tech- 7 nology and the Secretary of Homeland Security, as 8 appropriate, shall award grants to institutions of 9 higher education or eligible nonprofit organizations 10 (or consortia thereof) to establish at least one multi- 11 disciplinary center for elections systems research and 12 education. 13 (2) CONSORTIA.—A consortia receiving an 14 award under this subsection may include institutions 15 of higher education, nonprofit organizations, private 16 sector entities, and State and local election officials. 17 (3) PURPOSE.—The purpose of a center estab- 18 lished with a grant awarded under this subsection 19 shall be to— 20 (A) conduct basic research to advance un- 21 derstanding of cyber and other threats to elec- 22 tion systems and the conduct of secure, fair, 23 and accessible elections; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Sep 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4990.RFS H4990 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 HR 4990 RFS (B) conduct research that may inform the 1 development of technologies, processes, and 2 policies that contribute to more secure, fair, 3 and accessible elections; 4 (C) educate and train students studying in 5 science, technology, engineering, and mathe- 6 matics fields to conduct research relevant to 7 election systems; 8 (D) design curricula that address the 9 growing organizational management and infor- 10 mation technology needs of the election commu- 11 nity; and 12 (E) foster collaboration among academic 13 researchers, private sector vendors of election 14 technology, and State and local election offi- 15 cials. 16 (4) REQUIREMENTS.— 17 (A) IN GENERAL.—An institution of higher 18 education or an eligible nonprofit organization 19 (or a consortium thereof) seeking funding under 20 this subsection shall submit an application to 21 the Director of the National Science Founda- 22 tion at such time, in such manner, and con- 23 taining such information as the Director may 24 require. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Sep 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4990.RFS H4990 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 HR 4990 RFS (B) APPLICATIONS.—Each application 1 under subparagraph (A) shall include a descrip- 2 tion of— 3 (i) how the center established with a 4 grant awarded under this subsection will 5 work with other research institutions, in- 6 dustry partners, and State and local elec- 7 tion officials to identify research needs and 8 leverage the expertise of election practi- 9 tioners; and 10 (ii) how the center will promote active 11 collaboration among researchers in mul- 12 tiple disciplines involved in elections sys- 13 tems security, including computer science, 14 data science, and social and behavioral 15 sciences. 16 (5) SELECTION AND DURATION.—Each center 17 established with a grant awarded under this section 18 is authorized to carry out activities for a period of 19 5 years, renewable for an additional 5 years at the 20 discretion of the Director. 21 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 22 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 23 $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2021 through 24 2025. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Sep 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4990.RFS H4990 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 HR 4990 RFS SEC. 4. OTHER ACTIVITIES OF NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF 1 STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY TO PROMOTE 2 SECURITY AND MODERNIZATION OF VOTING 3 SYSTEMS. 4 (a) COMMON DATA FORMAT.—The National Insti- 5 tute of Standards and Technology shall establish and 6 make publicly available common data format specifications 7 for auditing, voter registration, and other elements of vot- 8 ing systems, and provide the specifications to the Tech- 9 nical Guidelines Development Committee of the Election 10 Assistance Commission under section 221(e) of the Help 11 America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 20961(e)). 12 (b) ELECTIONS SYSTEMS CERTIFICATIONS.—The 13 National Institute of Standards and Technology shall 14 work in collaboration with the Election Assistance Com- 15 mission to update the process under which voting systems 16 are certified pursuant to the Help America Vote Act of 17 2002 so that State and local election officials will be better 18 able to carry out updates and otherwise modernize such 19 systems. 20 (c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Director of the 21 National Institute of Standards and Technology shall— 22 (1) provide technical assistance to State and 23 local election officials on the implementation of cy- 24 bersecurity standards, privacy standards, risk as- 25 sessments, risk-limiting audits, and technologies 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Sep 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4990.RFS H4990 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 HR 4990 RFS which are incorporated in the voluntary voting sys- 1 tem guidelines issued under the Help America Vote 2 Act of 2002; and 3 (2) in collaboration with the Department of 4 Homeland Security and the Election Assistance 5 Commission, as appropriate, conduct outreach to 6 State and local election officials in order to dissemi- 7 nate best practices for the implementation of such 8 voluntary voting system guidelines. 9 SEC. 5. GAO REPORT. 10 Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment 11 of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit a report 12 to Congress that— 13 (1) addresses the extent to which efforts by the 14 National Institute of Standards and Technology 15 (NIST) to assist the Technical Guidelines Develop- 16 ment Committee of the Election Assistance Commis- 17 sion in the development of voluntary voting systems 18 guidelines have resulted in market-ready standard- 19 ized voting equipment and software, and addresses 20 the resources made available to NIST to carry out 21 these activities; 22 (2) addresses efforts by NIST to monitor and 23 review the performance of laboratories accredited by 24 the Elections Assistance Commission and to make 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Sep 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4990.RFS H4990 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 HR 4990 RFS recommendations for continuing accreditation, in- 1 creased voting technology reliability, and the number 2 of accredited private laboratories, and addresses re- 3 sources made available to NIST to carry out these 4 activities; and 5 (3) addresses the extent to which the annual 6 list of suggestions required to be submitted by NIST 7 to the Election Assistance Commission for research 8 issues for grants and pilot programs under section 9 271(d) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 10 U.S.C. 21041) and the evaluation of grants and pro- 11 grams by NIST has improved voting technology and 12 been successful in encouraging the implementation 13 of new technologies in voting systems and equip- 14 ment. 15 SEC. 6. AMENDMENTS TO THE HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT 16 OF 2002. 17 Section 301(b) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 18 (52 U.S.C. 21081(b)) is amended— 19 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 20 striking ‘‘this section’’ and inserting ‘‘this Act’’; 21 (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 22 (1); 23 (3) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para- 24 graph (6); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:41 Sep 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4990.RFS H4990 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 HR 4990 RFS (4) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol- 1 lowing new paragraphs: 2 ‘‘(2) any other paper or electronic technologies 3 or processes for collecting, storing, or transmitting 4 personal information of voters for [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]