[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6564 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6564
To promote innovation in voting, including in voting technology and
voter registration technology, election security, and increased voter
participation through a challenge prize competition.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 26, 2018
Mr. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico (for himself, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr.
DeSaulnier, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Hastings, Ms. Shea-Porter,
Mr. Kilmer, Mr. McNerney, and Ms. Sewell of Alabama) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House
Administration
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To promote innovation in voting, including in voting technology and
voter registration technology, election security, and increased voter
participation through a challenge prize competition.
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 ``Voting Innovation Prize Act of
2018''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) In May 2018, the Pew Research Center found that the
United States trails most developed countries in voter turnout.
Nearly 56 percent of the United States voting-age population
cast ballots in the 2016 Presidential election. The Census
Bureau estimated that there were 245.5 million Americans ages
18 and older in November 2016, about 157.6 million of whom
reported being registered to vote. Turnout calculations usually
are based on the estimated voting-age population (VAP). The
55.7 percent VAP turnout in 2016 puts the United States behind
most of its peers in the Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD), most of whose members are highly
developed, democratic states. Looking at the most recent
nationwide election in each OECD nation, the United States
placed 26th out of 32.
(2) Also in May 2018, the Pew Research Center found that
registered voters represent a much smaller share of potential
voters in the United States than in most other OECD countries.
Only about 64 percent of the voting-age population (and 70
percent of voting-age citizens) was registered in 2016,
according to the Census Bureau report, compared with 91 percent
in Canada (2015) and the UK (2017), 96 percent in Sweden
(2014), and 99 percent in Slovakia (2016).
(3) Historians and election experts have catalogued a long
history in the United States of racially suppressive voting
measures such as poll taxes and literacy tests, put in place
under the guise of stopping voter fraud that was not actually
occurring in the first place. The effects persist today. People
of color residing in States with a history of voting
discrimination had fewer places to vote in 2016, and, on
average, minorities, including Hispanics and African Americans,
experience longer wait times at the polls than white voters.
Strict voter ID laws disproportionately burden voters of color,
and purging voter rolls unduly targets people of color.
(4) In 2013, President Obama established the Presidential
Commission on Election Administration (PCEA) to identify best
practices in election administration. The PCEA's mission was to
identify best practices in election administration and to make
recommendations to improve the voting experience. Since then,
election officials and voters across the United States have
used PCEA's research, recommendations, and tools to improve
elections. Upon the submission of its final report in 2014, the
PCEA disbanded, per President Obama's Executive Order.
(5) On January 22, 2014, President Obama called on Congress
and local jurisdictions to help put the PCEA's recommendations
in place, saying, ``No American should have to wait more than
half an hour to vote. And they should know, they should be
confident that their vote is being properly counted and is
secure.''.
(6) In 2016, President Obama spoke at South by Southwest,
addressing the role of technology in government and civic
engagement. President Obama cited low voter turnout as an area
in which technology could improve citizens' participation in
government. He said it was ``easier to order a pizza than to
vote'' and said we need to think about how to ``redesign our
systems so that we don't have 50 percent or 55 percent voter
participation in presidential elections'', noting that he was
interested in ``how can we create safe, secure, smart systems
for people to be able to vote much easier online''.
(7) The Brennan Center has documented at least two known
cyberattacks on non-American voting systems in recent decades.
In 2014, Ukraine's presidential vote was targeted by cyber
attackers, who deleted enough files to make the country's
voting system inoperable days before the election. Officials
were able to restore the system from backups and the election
went forward. Shortly before the results were to be announced,
however, experts examining computers at the Ukrainian Central
Election Commission discovered a virus designed to falsely
declare an ultra-nationalist party as the victor with 37
percent of the vote. Russia was implicated in a hack against
Bulgaria's Central Election Commission during a referendum and
local elections in 2015. While that attack did not impact the
systems used to total votes, it did hit the commission's
website, ``which provided updates on voter turnout''.
(8) According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS),
hackers targeted the election infrastructure of 21 States
during the 2016 elections. The failing security and
vulnerabilities in national election infrastructure were later
confirmed and highlighted by the hacking community in a report
issued in September 2017, after the DEFCON 25 conference in Las
Vegas, Nevada.
(9) In a January 2017 assessment, the Central Intelligence
Agency, the National Security Agency, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, and the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016
Presidential election. Officials across the United States
Intelligence Community (IC) have affirmed the report's
findings.
(10) In January 2017, DHS designated election systems as
part of our Nation's critical infrastructure, meaning that our
election systems must be secured to safeguard our Nation's
democratic process.
(11) The Congressional Task Force on Election Security's
January 2018 report and the Brennan Center's 2017 report on
securing elections from foreign interference found that--
(A) the Federal Government should provide funds to
help States replace aging, vulnerable voting machines
with paper ballots;
(B) States should conduct risk-limiting post-
election audits;
(C) the Federal Government should provide funds to
help States upgrade and maintain information technology
(IT) infrastructure, including voter registration
databases;
(D) election technology vendors must secure their
voting systems;
(E) the Federal Government should develop a
national strategy to counter efforts to undermine
democratic institutions;
(F) the Intelligence Community should conduct pre-
election threat assessments well in advance of Federal
elections;
(G) DHS should maintain the designation of election
infrastructure as a critical infrastructure subsector;
(H) Federal agencies should be empowered to be
effective partners in pushing out nationwide security
reforms;
(I) DHS should establish clear and effective
channels for sharing threat and intelligence
information with election officials; and
(J) States should prioritize cybersecurity training
in the administration of elections.
(12) The Strategy for American Innovation, announced by the
White House in September 2009, urged Federal agencies to
increase their ability to promote innovation with tools such as
prizes and challenges.
(13) Challenge.gov, launched in September 2010, is a
listing of challenge and prize competitions that are run by
more than 102 agencies across the Federal Government. These
problem-solving events include idea, creative, technical and
scientific competitions in which Federal agencies invite the
public's help to solve perplexing mission-centric problems. A
list of ongoing and completed prize challenges offered by these
agencies is available at challenge.gov. The Federal Government
has run more than 825 challenges since challenge.gov launched
in 2010, but competitions date back several centuries. To date,
more than 250,000 solvers from all States and over 180
congressional districts have participated in Federal challenge
and prize competitions.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that:
(1) American elections should be secure and free of
misconduct.
(2) It is important to conduct regular full assessments of
threats to our voting and voter registration systems, in light
of the constant evolution of technology and cyber threats.
(3) Increasing voter participation is of vital importance
to the strength of our democracy.
(4) Election security is a global issue as well as a
national priority for the United States. The United States
plays a vital role in supporting and strengthening democratic
institutions worldwide. As the United States bolsters its own
election system, it can better serve partner and ally countries
through sharing of best practices, and it can also share best
practices through its democracy promotion programs worldwide.
(5) Innovation prizes are one tool that the Federal
Government can use to engage the private, public, and nonprofit
communities in addressing vital challenges to the health of our
democracy and national security.
(6) In light of these findings, consistent and sustained
funding for election support is important to ensure that
American elections are secure and free of misconduct.
(7) This Act should be one part of a broader strategy at
the Federal, State, and local level to bolster innovation in
election security and voting.
SEC. 4. VOTING TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE PRIZE.
(a) In General.--The Election Assistance Commission (hereafter
referred to as the ``Commission''), acting through the Technical
Guidelines Development Committee of the Commission (hereafter referred
to as the ``Committee''), shall, in consultation with the Director of
the National Institute of Standards and Technology--
(1) identify the elements of voting equipment, election
systems, and voting technology which are in the most critical
need of innovation, with a particular emphasis on the need for
accessibility and security;
(2) conduct an annual prize competition to accelerate the
development of cost-effective technologies which will address
the elements identified under paragraph (1) while improving and
simplifying the procedures for voting and voter registration;
and
(3) define a measurable set of performance goals for
participants in the prize competitions to demonstrate their
solutions on a level playing field while making a significant
advancement over the current state of the art.
(b) Authority of Commission.--In carrying out subsection (a), the
Commission may--
(1) enter into a grant, contract, cooperative agreement, or
other agreement with a private sector for-profit or nonprofit
entity to administer the prize competitions;
(2) consult with the National Science Foundation, other
Federal agencies, and relevant persons in the field of election
administration and security to provide advice and assistance in
the design or administration of the prize competitions; and
(3) promulgate such regulations as may be necessary to
carry out this Act.
(c) No Quorum of Commission Required.--The Commission may carry out
this Act without regard to whether or not a quorum exists at any time
in the membership of the Commission.
(d) Amount of Awards.--For each fiscal year for which amounts are
appropriated pursuant to the authorization under section 6, the
Commission shall award an aggregate amount of $25,000,000 to winners of
the prize competitions.
SEC. 5. TIMETABLE FOR COMPETITION.
(a) Publication of Criteria.--Not later than 90 days after the date
of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall publish a technical
paper establishing the criteria for the design of the prize
competitions under this Act, based on the factors and needs identified
under section 4(a)(1).
(b) Initiation of Competition.--Not later than 90 days after
publishing the paper required under subsection (a), the Commission
shall initiate the first prize competition, and shall publish notice of
the competition on the official public website of the Commission and on
the challenge.gov website.
(c) Reports.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the end of
each fiscal year during which the Commission conducts the prize
competition under this Act, the Commission shall submit to
Congress a report on the results of the competition, including
the identification of the winners, a description of the
technologies developed under the competition, and the amount of
the awards.
(2) Posting information on websites.--The Commission shall
post on the official public website of the Commission and on
the challenge.gov website each report submitted under this
subsection, and shall ensure that information regarding the
winners of all of the prize competitions under this Act and the
amount of their awards is presented on such websites in a
searchable manner.
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated for each of the fiscal
years 2019 through 2023 such sums as may be necessary to carry out this
Act.
<all>