[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2694 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2694
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to establish deadlines for
States to count the ballots cast in elections for Federal office and to
certify the results of elections for Federal office, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 7, 2025
Mr. Obernolte (for himself, Mr. Calvert, Mr. Kiley of California, Mr.
Fong, Mr. Valadao, Mr. Issa, and Mr. McClintock) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House
Administration
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to establish deadlines for
States to count the ballots cast in elections for Federal office and to
certify the results of elections for Federal office, and for other
purposes.
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 ``Election Results Accountability
Act''.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF DEADLINES FOR COUNTING BALLOTS AND CERTIFYING
RESULTS OF FEDERAL ELECTIONS.
(a) Deadlines.--Title III of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (52
U.S.C. 20181 et seq.), as amended by section 2(a) of the COCOA Act of
2024, is amended--
(1) by redesignating sections 305 and 306 as sections 306
and 307; and
(2) by inserting after section 304 the following new
section:
``SEC. 305. DEADLINES FOR COUNTING BALLOTS AND CERTIFYING RESULTS.
``(a) Deadlines.--
``(1) Counting ballots.--Not later than 72 hours after the
closing of the polls for an election for Federal office held in
a State, the State shall count not less than 90 percent of the
ballots cast in the election and make the result of the count
publicly available.
``(2) Certifying results.--Not later than 2 weeks after the
closing of the polls for an election for Federal office held in
a State, the State shall--
``(A) complete the counting of all of the ballots
cast in the election; and
``(B) officially certify the result of the election
and make the result publicly available.
``(b) Exceptions.--A State shall not be considered to be out of
compliance with the requirements of subsection (a) if the Commission
and the Attorney General certify that the State's failure to meet such
requirements is due to any of the following:
``(1) A bona fide emergency, including--
``(A) a major disaster (as defined in section 102
of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122));
``(B) a significant public health emergency, such
as a pandemic or widespread outbreak; or
``(C) a cyberattack, data breach, or other
significant security threat to the election
infrastructure.
``(2) Technical difficulties, including--
``(A) malfunctioning election equipment or
software; or
``(B) errors in the tabulation of ballots or the
transmission of results that could not have been
reasonably anticipated or mitigated in advance.
``(3) The implementation of new election procedures or
reforms and the State certifies that it is in the process of
complying with all such requirements, except that this
paragraph applies only with respect to the first election held
after the implementation of the new procedures or reforms.
``(4) The conducting of a recount of the results of the
election.
``(c) Withholding of Election Administration Funds for Failure To
Comply With Deadlines.--If the Commission and the Attorney General each
certify that a State is not in compliance with the requirements of
subsection (a) with respect to an election, the State may not receive
any funds from the Commission to support the administration of
subsequent elections unless--
``(1) the State submits to the Commission and the Attorney
General a plan to ensure that the State will comply with such
requirements with respect to such subsequent elections; and
``(2) the Commission and the Attorney General each certify
that the State has taken actions to comply with such plan.''.
(b) Conforming Amendment Relating to Existing Enforcement
Provisions.--Section 401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111), as amended by
section 2(b) of the COCOA Act of 2024, is amended by striking ``and
304'' and inserting ``304, and 305''.
(c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents of such Act, as
amended by section 2(c) of the COCOA Act of 2024, is amended--
(1) by redesignating the items relating to sections 305 and
306 as relating to section 306 and 307; and
(2) by inserting after the item relating to section 304 the
following:
``Sec. 305. Deadlines for counting ballots and certifying results.''.
(d) Effective Date.--This Act and the amendments made by this Act
shall apply with respect to elections held after the expiration of the
90-day period which begins on the date of the enactment of this Act.
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