To direct the Election Assistance Commission to establish a program to make grants to participating States and units of local government which will administer the regularly scheduled general election for Federal office held in November 2008 for carrying out a program to make backup paper ballots available in the case of the failure of a voting system or voting equipment in the election or some other emergency situation, and for other purposes.

Overview Sponsor: Rep. Zoe Lofgren [D-CA16](no cosponsors) Cosponsors: Text: Summary | Full Text Cost: less than $1 per American in 2009. This is computed from a Congressional Budget Office report, merely by dividing the estimated cost of $77,000,000 by the U.S. population. The figure is extracted from the report automatically and may be incorrect. See the report for details. Status: Introduced Apr 15, 2008 Referred to Committee View Committee Assignments Reported by Committee May 7, 2008 Failed Passage in House Jul 15, 2008 Senate Vote (did not occur) Signed by President (did not occur) This bill never became law. This bill was proposed in a previous session of Congress. Sessions of Congress last two years, and at the end of each session all proposed bills and resolutions that haven't passed are cleared from the books. Members often reintroduce bills that did not come up for debate under a new number in the next session. Last Action: Jul 15, 2008: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Failed by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 248 - 170 (Roll no. 493). Related: See the Related Legislation page for other bills related to this one and a list of subject terms that have been applied to this bill. Sometimes the text of one bill or resolution is incorporated into another, and in those cases the original bill or resolution, as it would appear here, would seem to be abandoned. Votes: Jul 15, 2008: This bill failed in the House of Representatives by roll call vote. The vote was held under a suspension of the rules to cut debate short and pass the bill, needing a two-thirds majority. This usually occurs for non-controversial legislation. The totals were 248 Ayes, 170 Nays, 16 Present/Not Voting. Vote Details. You are not tracking any senators or representatives. To see their votes here, look up a Member of Congress. View all 1 votes on this bill.

Question & Answer Have a question about this bill? Submit a short fact-oriented question and see if it will be answered by other visitors. Enter your question. Tips: Be clear and precise. No abbreviations. Don't ask about the status of this bill or when it will be voted on (other users are not likely to know). Don't ask a loaded question or for individual advice: Your question will be rejected. After submitting your question it will be reviewed, and if approved will appear here.

Sources of Influence

MAPLight.org reports that the following organizations have taken a stance on this bill:

Follow the link to MAPLight.org to see if campaign contributions from employees of these organizations are correlated with how Members of Congress voted on this bill.

{{cite web
|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-5803
|title=H.R. 5803
|accessdate=Feb 9, 2010
|author=110th Congress (2008)
|date=Apr 15, 2008
|work=Legislation
|publisher=GovTrack.us
|quote=To direct the Election Assistance Commission to establish a program to make grants to...
}}