1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Prevent Election Hacking Act of 2018 . 2. Hack the Election Program (a) Establishment Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a program to be known as the Hack the Election Program to improve the cybersecurity of the systems used to administer elections for Federal office by facilitating and encouraging assessments by independent technical experts, in cooperation with State and local election officials and election service providers, to identify and report election cybersecurity vulnerabilities. (b) Voluntary participation by election officials and election service providers (1) No requirement to participate in program Participation in the Hack the Election Program shall be entirely voluntary for State and local election officials and election service providers. (2) Encouraging participation and input from election officials In developing the Hack the Election program under this section, the Secretary shall solicit input from, and encourage participation by, State and local election officials. (c) Activities funded In establishing the Hack the Election Program under this section, the Secretary shall— (1) establish a recurring competition for independent technical experts to assess election systems for the purpose of identifying and reporting election cybersecurity vulnerabilities; (2) establish an expeditious process by which independent technical experts can qualify to participate in the competition; (3) establish a schedule of awards (monetary or non-monetary) for reports of previously unidentified election cybersecurity vulnerabilities discovered by independent technical experts during the competition; (4) establish a process for State and local election officials and election service providers to voluntarily participate in the program by designating specific election systems, periods of time, and circumstances for assessment by independent technical experts