PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

§21051 Pilot Program

Title 52 › Subtitle II — Voting Assistance and Election Administration › CHAPTER 209 — ELECTION ADMINISTRATION IMPROVEMENT › SUBCHAPTER II — COMMISSION › Part D — Election Assistance › subpart 4 — pilot program for testing of equipment and technology › § 21051

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Commission must give grants to run short-term tests of new voting technologies and equipment and must report the test results to Congress. To get a grant, an applicant must send the Commission an application when and how the Commission asks. The application must promise that the tests will make voting equipment accessible to people with disabilities (including those who are blind or visually impaired), let those voters cast ballots independently and privately, and provide alternative-language help for people with limited English, consistent with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and this law. Applicants must also provide any other information the Commission requires. The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) must send the Commission a yearly list of suggested pilot topics. The Commission will send each application to the NIST Director for review and comment. The Commission can ask NIST to monitor grants and suggest changes. When NIST reviews or monitors a grant, it must write an evaluation for the Commission, and the Commission must include those evaluations in its annual report. The Commission may also share grant information with the Technical Guidelines Development Committee as needed.

Title 52, §21051

Voting and Elections, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In general

The Commission shall make grants to carry out pilot programs under which new technologies in voting systems and equipment are tested and implemented on a trial basis so that the results of such tests and trials are reported to Congress.

(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 pilot programs 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 the requirements of this chapter); and

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

(c)Recommendation of topics for pilot programs

(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 pilot programs 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.

(d)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. This chapter, referred to in subsec. (b)(1), was in the original “this Act”, meaning Pub. L. 107–252, Oct. 29, 2002, 116 Stat. 1666, known as the Help America Vote Act of 2002, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables. Codification Section was formerly classified to section 15451 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.