On May 8, the Committee on House Administration (chaired by Rep. Robert Brady of Pennsylvania), during its consideration and mark-up session on H.R. 811, adopted a substitute amendment by Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, who chairs the Comittee's Elections subcommittee. That amendment completely replaces the text of H.R. 811, as originally introduced by Rep. Rush Holt of New Jersey in February 2007.

While much of the language of the Lofgren substitute is identical to that of the original H.R. 811, some of the substitute's provisions differ in a number of significant ways. Those differences are intended to address various concerns raised during hearings held by the Committee's Elections subcommittee earlier this year.

In addition, during the May 8 mark-up session, the Committee considered several other amendments, some to amend the original text of H.R. 811 and others to amend the Lofgren substitute. Most of those other amendments were not approved by the Committee. However, two amendments to the Lofgren substitute were approved:

1. An amendment, offered by Rep. Charles Gonzalez of Texas, providing two technical corrections.

2. An amendment, offered by Rep. Michael Capuano of Massachusetts, enabling voters in elections for Federal office to request and receive a paper ballot.

As a result, the current text of H.R. 811, as approved by the Committee and referred to the full House, is reflected by the Lofgren substitute as amended by the Gonzalez and Capuano amendments:

Text of Lofgren substitute

Text of Gonzalez amendment to the Lofgren substitute

Text of Capuano amendment to the Lofgren substitute

The full current text of H.R. 811, as approved by the Committee, has now been merged into a single document and can be found here.

An updated summary of the provisions of H.R. 811, as amended by the Committee, can be found here.

A copy of the Committee's full report (House Report 110-154) can be found here.