I Designation of Election Administration Systems as Critical Infrastructure 101. Sense of Congress regarding election administration security as a matter of national security It is the sense of Congress that protecting the security and integrity of the administration of elections for public office, including the security of the information technology processes used to carry out voter registration and to operate voting systems, is a critical element of national security. 102. Designation of election administration systems as critical infrastructure for homeland security purposes (a) Designation The Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through the Assistant Secretary of the National Protection and Programs Directorate, shall designate the infrastructure used to administer elections for public office, including storage facilities, polling places, vote tabulation locations, voter databases (including online voter registration databases), voting machines, and other systems that manage the election process, as critical infrastructure. (b) Critical infrastructure defined In this section, the term critical infrastructure has the meaning given such term in section 1016 of the Critical Infrastructure Protection Act of 2001 ( 42 U.S.C. 5195c ). II Security of Voting Systems and Voter Registration Processes 201. Assistance to States for information technology security upgrades to voter registration and election administration processes (a) Authorization of funding Section 257(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 ( 52 U.S.C. 21007(a) ) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (5) For each of the fiscal years 2018 through 2027, such sums as may be necessary for such payments, except that a State may use a requirement payment made with funds authorized under this paragraph solely to carry out activities to upgrade the security of the information technology and cybersecurity elements of the voting systems used in the State and the information technology and cybersecurity elements of the State’s voter