HR 2894 · 111th Congress 2009–2011, ended

Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2009

Latest action · Jun 19, 2009 Referred to the Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

  1. IntroducedJun 16, 2009
  2. Passed HouseNot reached
  3. Passed SenateNot reached
  4. To the PresidentNot reached
  5. Became lawNot reached

Summary

Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2009 - 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.

Cosponsors 97

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Jun 16, 2009 to Nov 5, 2009; 75 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.

SeatCosponsorSigned on
D-CAAdam B. SchiffOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-WAAdam SmithOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-TXAl GreenOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-NJAlbio SiresOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-FLAlcee L. HastingsOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-CABarbara LeeOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-MABarney FrankOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-CABob FilnerOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-NYCarolyn B. MaloneyOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-PAChaka FattahOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-MEChellie PingreeOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-PAChristopher P. CarneyOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-FLCorrine BrownOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-IADavid LoebsackOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-WIDavid R. ObeyOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-ORDavid WuOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-FLDebbie Wasserman SchultzOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-NJDonald M. PayneOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-MDDonna F. EdwardsOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-OREarl BlumenauerOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-NYEric J. J. MassaOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-CAFortney Pete StarkOriginalJun 16, 2009
R-NJFrank A. LoBiondoOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-NJFrank Pallone, Jr.OriginalJun 16, 2009
D-TXGene GreenOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-CAGeorge MillerOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-NYGregory W. MeeksOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-CAHenry A. WaxmanOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-GAHenry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr.OriginalJun 16, 2009
D-CTJames A. HimesOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-MNJames L. OberstarOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-MAJames P. McGovernOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-VAJames P. MoranOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-ILJanice D. SchakowskyOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-COJared PolisOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-PAJason AltmireOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-WAJay InsleeOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-NYJerrold NadlerOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-ILJesse L. Jackson, Jr.OriginalJun 16, 2009
D-WAJim McDermottOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-PAJoe SestakOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-CTJohn B. LarsonOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-GAJohn BarrowOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-MAJohn F. TierneyOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-GAJohn LewisOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-MAJohn W. OlverOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-NYJose E. SerranoOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-NYJoseph CrowleyOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-FLKathy CastorOriginalJun 16, 2009
R-NJLeonard LanceOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-CALinda T. SánchezOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-CALois CappsOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-OHMarcy KapturOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-NYMaurice D. HincheyOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-MAMichael E. CapuanoOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-PAMichael F. DoyleOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-CAMichael M. HondaOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-NCMike McIntyreOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-HINeil AbercrombieOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-NYNita M. LoweyOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-ORPeter A. DeFazioOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-WARick LarsenOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-NJRobert E. AndrewsOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-FLRobert WexlerOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-FLRon KleinOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-CASam FarrOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-TXSolomon P. OrtizOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-TNSteve CohenOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-NYSteve IsraelOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-NJSteven R. RothmanOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-WITammy BaldwinOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-VAThomas S.P. PerrielloOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-NYTimothy H. BishopOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-MNTimothy J. WalzOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-MOWm. Lacy ClayOriginalJun 16, 2009
D-MDC. A. Dutch RuppersbergerJun 23, 2009
D-MDChris Van HollenJun 23, 2009
D-PAJohn P. MurthaJun 26, 2009
D-AZRaúl M. GrijalvaJun 26, 2009
R-PATim MurphyJun 26, 2009
D-CTJoe CourtneyJul 8, 2009
D-KYBen ChandlerJul 15, 2009
D-ILJerry F. CostelloJul 23, 2009
D-PATim HoldenJul 29, 2009
D-PAAllyson Y. SchwartzJul 31, 2009
D-IABruce L. BraleyJul 31, 2009
D-PAKathleen A. DahlkemperJul 31, 2009
D-MNBetty McCollumSep 9, 2009
D-MDElijah E. CummingsSep 9, 2009
D-INAndré CarsonSep 17, 2009
D-NCMelvin L. WattOct 15, 2009
D-CODiana DeGetteOct 20, 2009
D-CTRosa L. DeLauroOct 22, 2009
D-NYCharles B. RangelOct 26, 2009
D-FLSuzanne M. KosmasOct 27, 2009
D-NCHeath ShulerNov 5, 2009
D-PAPaul E. KanjorskiNov 5, 2009

Committees 2

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

ChamberCommitteeWhat it did
HouseCommittee on House Administration
Referred Jun 16, 2009
HouseScience, Space, and Technology Committee
Referred Jun 16, 2009
Technology Subcommittee
Referred Jun 19, 2009

Actions 5

Everything that happened, newest first.

  1. Jun 19, 2009Referred to the Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation.
  2. Jun 16, 2009Introduced in House
  3. Jun 16, 2009Referred to House Administration
  4. Jun 16, 2009Referred to the Committee on House Administration, and in addition to the Committee on Science 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.
  5. Jun 16, 2009Referred to House Science and Technology

Related bills 1

Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.

BillTitleRelationshipLatest action
S 1431Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2009Identical billJul 9, 2009

Titles 2

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require a voter-verified permanent paper ballot under title III of such Act, and for other purposes.
Short Titles as Introduced
Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2009

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Government Operations and Politics.

Text 1

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

  1. Jun 16, 2009Introduced in House

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