Bill Explanation

Explanation of H.R. 4555 - Federal Election Audit Act

This bill, introduced by Mr. Murphy in the House of Representatives, aims to amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to allow the use of requirements payments to conduct a post-election audit with respect to an election for Federal office in a State. The bill was later referred to the Committee on House Administration.

The purpose of this bill is to ensure that after an election for a Federal office (such as President, Senator, or Representative), there is a process in place to conduct an audit to check the effectiveness and accuracy of the voting systems, election procedures, and outcomes used in that election. The audit would also assess the performance of the State and local election officials who were responsible for conducting the election.

The bill proposes to allow the use of requirements payments for these post-election audits. Requirements payments are payments made under the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to help States meet certain requirements related to voting and elections.

The specific amendment to the Help America Vote Act in this bill states that the audit must meet certain requirements to be eligible for the use of requirements payments. These requirements include:

No individual who participates in conducting the audit can be an employee or contractor of an office of the State or local government responsible for administering elections for Federal office, or a subsidiary or affiliate of such an office.
The audit must include an examination of compliance with established processes for voter registration, voter check-in, voting, tabulation, canvassing, post-election proceedings (such as recounts and recanvasses), and reporting of results.

The bill also includes a definition of "nonvoting election technology" as technology used in the administration of elections for Federal office that is not directly involved in the casting, counting, tabulating, or collecting of ballots or votes. Examples of nonvoting election technology include electronic pollbooks, election result reporting systems, electronic ballot delivery systems, online voter registration systems, and more.

Finally, the bill expresses the sense of Congress that these post-election audits are most effective when completed before the expiration of the period during which individuals are authorized under State law to challenge the election results.

HB 4555 Federal Election Audit Act

US Congress 118th Congress

Bill Texts

Introduced 04/18/2024

Introduced 08/07/2023

Weigh In

Spread the Word!

Sponsors (1)

Rep. Gregory Murphy

Primary Sponsor