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§21041 Grants for Research on Voting Technology Improvements

Title 52 › Subtitle II — Voting Assistance and Election Administration › CHAPTER 209 — ELECTION ADMINISTRATION IMPROVEMENT › SUBCHAPTER II — COMMISSION › Part D — Election Assistance › subpart 3 — grants for research on voting technology improvements › § 21041

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Commission must give grants to help groups research and develop better voting machines and election systems. The goal is to make equipment more reliable, accurate, affordable, secure, and easier to use and access. To get a grant, an applicant must file what the Commission asks for and promise that the work will make machines fully accessible to people with disabilities (including blind and visually impaired), let them vote privately and independently, and provide language access for people with limited English, consistent with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.). The Commission can ask for other information. Any invention made with grant money follows the patent rules in chapter 18 of title 35. The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology must give the Commission a yearly list of research ideas, review each application the Commission sends, and can monitor grants and recommend changes if asked. If the Director is involved, they must evaluate the grant and the Commission must include that evaluation in its report under section 20927. The Commission may also share project information with the Technical Guidelines Development Committee.

Title 52, §21041

Voting and Elections, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In general

The Commission shall make grants to assist entities in carrying out research and development to improve the quality, reliability, accuracy, accessibility, affordability, and security of voting equipment, election systems, and voting technology.

(b)Eligibility

An entity is eligible to receive a grant under this subpart if it submits to the Commission (at such time and in such form as the Commission may require) an application containing—

(1)certifications that the research and development funded with the grant will take into account the need to make voting equipment fully accessible for individuals with disabilities, including the blind and visually impaired, the need to ensure that such individuals can vote independently and with privacy, and the need to provide alternative language accessibility for individuals with limited proficiency in the English language (consistent with the requirements of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 [52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.]); and

(2)such other information and certifications as the Commission may require.

(c)Applicability of regulations governing patent rights in inventions made with Federal assistance

Any invention made by the recipient of a grant under this subpart using funds provided under this subpart shall be subject to chapter 18 of title 35 (relating to patent rights in inventions made with Federal assistance).

(d)Recommendation of topics for research

(1)In general

The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (hereafter in this section referred to as the “Director”) shall submit to the Commission an annual list of the Director’s suggestions for issues which may be the subject of research funded with grants awarded under this subpart during the year.

(2)Review of grant applications received by Commission

The Commission shall submit each application it receives for a grant under this subpart to the Director, who shall review the application and provide the Commission with such comments as the Director considers appropriate.

(3)Monitoring and adjustment of grant activities at request of Commission

After the Commission has awarded a grant under this subpart, the Commission may request that the Director monitor the grant, and (to the extent permitted under the terms of the grant as awarded) the Director may recommend to the Commission that the recipient of the grant modify and adjust the activities carried out under the grant.

(4)Evaluation of grants at request of Commission

(A)In general

In the case of a grant for which the Commission submits the application to the Director under paragraph (2) or requests that the Director monitor the grant under paragraph (3), the Director shall prepare and submit to the Commission an evaluation of the grant and the activities carried out under the grant.

(B)Inclusion in reports

The Commission shall include the evaluations submitted under subparagraph (A) for a year in the report submitted for the year under section 20927 of this title.

(e)Provision of information on projects

The Commission may provide to the Technical Guidelines Development Committee under subpart 3 of part A of this subchapter such information regarding the activities funded under this subpart as the Commission deems necessary to assist the Committee in carrying out its duties.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Voting Rights Act of 1965, referred to in subsec. (b)(1), is Pub. L. 89–110, Aug. 6, 1965, 79 Stat. 437, which is classified generally to chapters 103 (§ 10301 et seq.), 105 (§ 10501 et seq.), and 107 (§ 10701 et seq.) of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables. Codification Section was formerly classified to section 15441 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.