http://www.eweek.com/security/election-security-bills-finally-progressing-in-congress
By Wayne Rash
eWeek.com
January 08, 2019
After years of contention about real and imagined security attacks on U.S.
elections, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to consider and then
pass H.R. 1, also known as the "For the People Act of 2019," which includes
provisions that would improve election security and help states improve their
voting systems, as well as require transparency in political activities and
strengthen ethics rules.
If passed, the bill would provide money so that states could replace their
existing insecure voting machines, as well as require breach notification and
set security standards for voting machines purchased using the federal funds. A
primary feature of the new standards would be a requirement that voting
machines use paper ballots.
A similar bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate late in 2017 but was never
considered. That bill was S.2261, the Secure Elections Act. This was a
bipartisan bill, and the sponsors have said that they intend to reintroduce it
early in the new Congress. The Senate bill does not require paper ballots, but
rather requires some from of paper audit trail, including a printout created by
a voting machine.
While H.R. 1 has a number of provisions in common with the Senate bill, the
chances of it passing the Senate are remote. Partly this is because the bill
contains a vast array of provisions, some of which are certain to meet
opposition in the Senate. Those include the requirement for paper ballots,
which have met with opposition based on a reluctance in the Senate to place
restrictions on elections, which under the U.S. Constitution are conducted by
the states.
[...]
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