Sec. 201 Election infrastructure designation
Subparagraph (J) of section 2001(3) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 601(3)) is amended by inserting “, including election infrastructure” before the period at the end.
Title II — Security Measures
II Security Measures
Sec. 202 Timely threat information
Subsection (d) of section 201 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 121) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
“(24) To provide timely threat information regarding election infrastructure to the chief State election official of the State with respect to which such information pertains.”
Sec. 203 Security clearance assistance for election officials
In order to promote the timely sharing of information on threats to election infrastructure, the Secretary may—
help expedite a security clearance for the chief State election official and other appropriate State personnel involved in the administration of elections, as designated by the chief State election official;
sponsor a security clearance for the chief State election official and other appropriate State personnel involved in the administration of elections, as designated by the chief State election official; and
facilitate the issuance of a temporary clearance to the chief State election official and other appropriate State personnel involved in the administration of elections, as designated by the chief State election official, if the Secretary determines classified information to be timely and relevant to the election infrastructure of the State at issue.
Sec. 204 Security risk and vulnerability assessments
In general— Paragraph (6) of section 2209(c) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 659(c)) is amended by inserting “(including by carrying out a security risk and vulnerability assessment)” after “risk management support”.
Prioritization To enhance election security—
In general— Not later than 90 days after receiving a written request from a chief State election official, the Secretary shall, to the extent practicable, commence a security risk and vulnerability assessment (pursuant to paragraph (6) of section 2209(c) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended by subsection (a)) on election infrastructure in the State at issue.
Notification— If the Secretary, upon receipt of a request described in paragraph (1), determines that a security risk and vulnerability assessment cannot be commenced within 90 days, the Secretary shall expeditiously notify the chief State election official who submitted such request.
Sec. 205 Annual reports
Reports on assistance and assessments— Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter through 2026, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees—
efforts to carry out section 203 during the prior year, including specific information on which States were helped, how many officials have been helped in each State, how many security clearances have been sponsored in each State, and how many temporary clearances have been issued in each State; and
efforts to carry out section 204 during the prior year, including specific information on which States were helped, the dates on which the Secretary received a request for a security risk and vulnerability assessment pursuant to such section, the dates on which the Secretary commenced each such request, and the dates on which the Secretary transmitted a notification in accordance with subsection (b)(2) of such section.
Reports on foreign threats— Not later than 90 days after the end of each fiscal year (beginning with fiscal year 2019), the Secretary and the Director of National Intelligence, in coordination with the heads of appropriate offices of the Federal government, shall submit a joint report to the appropriate congressional committees on foreign threats to elections in the United States, including physical and cybersecurity threats.
Information from States— For purposes of preparing the reports required under this section, the Secretary shall solicit and consider information and comments from States and election agencies, except that the provision of such information and comments by a State or election agency shall be voluntary and at the discretion of the State or agency.
Sec. 206 Pre-election threat assessments
Submission of assessment by DNI— Not later than 180 days before the date of each regularly scheduled general election for Federal office, the Director of National Intelligence shall submit an assessment of the full scope of threats to election infrastructure, including cybersecurity threats posed by state actors and terrorist groups, and recommendations to address or mitigate the threats, as developed by the Secretary and Chairman, to—
the chief State election official of each State;
the Committees on Homeland Security and House Administration of the House of Representatives and the Committees on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Rules and Administration of the Senate; and
any other appropriate congressional committees.
Updates to initial assessments— If, at any time after submitting an assessment with respect to an election under subsection (a), the Director of National Intelligence determines that the assessment should be updated to reflect new information regarding the threats involved, the Director shall submit a revised assessment under such subsection.
Definitions— In this section, the following definitions apply:
The term Chairman means the chair of the Election Assistance Commission.
The term chief State election official means, with respect to a State, the individual designated by the State under section 10 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (52 U.S.C. 20509) to be responsible for coordination of the State’s responsibilities under such Act.
The term election infrastructure means storage facilities, polling places, and centralized vote tabulation locations used to support the administration of elections for public office, as well as related information and communications technology, including voter registration databases, voting machines, electronic mail and other communications systems (including electronic mail and other systems of vendors who have entered into contracts with election agencies to support the administration of elections, manage the election process, and report and display election results), and other systems used to manage the election process and to report and display election results on behalf of an election agency.
The term Secretary means the Secretary of Homeland Security.
The term State has the meaning given such term in section 901 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21141).
Effective date— This title shall apply with respect to the regularly scheduled general election for Federal office held in November 2020 and each succeeding regularly scheduled general election for Federal office.