52 U.S.C. § 21003 — Condition for receipt of funds

(a) In general: A state^* qualifies for a payment for a fiscal year if its chief executive officer, or that officer's designee, working with the state's chief election official, files a certification with the Commission saying the state meets the requirements in subsection (b). A state can use this exact wording, filling in its own name: "[State] hereby certifies that it is in compliance with the requirements referred to in section 253(b) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002."

(b) State plan requirement; certification of compliance with applicable laws and requirements: To meet subsection (b), a state must show all of the following:

(1) It has filed a state plan for the fiscal year that it certifies (A) covers every element required by section 21004(a), or, for money authorized under section 21007(a)(4), just the element in section 21004(a)(14), (B) was developed the way section 21005 requires, and (C) met section 21006's public notice-and-comment rules.

(2) (A) Subject to (B), the state has filed, either separately or inside its state plan, a plan for fair, nondiscriminatory complaint procedures required under section 21112, and has those procedures actually running. If this implementation plan is not part of the main state plan, it must go through the same notice-and-comment steps in sections 21005(b) and 21006. (B) This filing requirement does not apply when a state is only trying to qualify for money authorized under section 21007(a)(4).

(3) The state complies with each law listed in section 21145, as those laws apply to this chapter.

(4) If any part of the payment goes to activities besides meeting subchapter III's requirements, then (A) those proposed uses cannot conflict with subchapter III, and (B) they must follow section 21001(b)'s rules.

(5) (A) Subject to (B), the state has set aside its own money for these activities equal to 5 percent of the total cost, counting both the payment and the state's own spending, plus, if the state is reimbursing itself under section 21001(c)(2), an extra amount equal to that reimbursement. (B) This 5-percent rule does not apply, for fiscal year 2010 money authorized under section 21007(a)(4), unless the state still has not set aside the funds by the end of fiscal year 2011, in which case it must repay the Commission.

(c) Methods of compliance left to discretion of State: The state decides how, specifically, to meet each element of its plan.

(d) Timing for filing of certification: A state cannot file its certification until 45 days have passed since its state plan was published in the Federal Register under section 21005(b), or, for any year after the state's first payment year, 30 days.

(e) Chief State election official defined: In this part, this official is whoever the state named under section 10 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (now 52 U.S.C. § 20509) to coordinate the state's duties under that Act.