The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC): An Overview
Updated February 23, 2023
The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC): An Overview
The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) is an
maintaining the federal mail voter registration form
independent federal agency that is charged with helping
required by the NVRA.
voters participate in the electoral process and election
That limitation does not mean the agency has no ability to
officials improve the administration of elections. It was
influence state or local action. However, its duties are
established by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA)
as part of Congress’s response to problems with the
primarily oriented toward facilitating or incentivizing
elections activities rather than compelling them. Those
administration of the 2000 elections.
duties, which are designed for input from a range of
The EAC—and the act that created it—marked something
elections stakeholders, include
of a shift in the federal approach to election administration.
administering grant programs;
Previous federal election laws had set requirements for the
administration of federal elections, but HAVA was the first
providing for voluntary voting system guidelines
to back its requirements with substantial support. The act
(VVSG), testing, and certification;
authorized grant programs for elections and an assistance-
oriented elections agency, the EAC.
issuing voluntary guidance for implementation of
certain HAVA requirements;
This In Focus provides an introduction to the EAC. It
describes the agency’s duties and structure
and briefly
conducting research and sharing best practices; and
reviews some of its history and related legislative activity.
establishing a Help America Vote College Program to
Overview
encourage students at institutions of higher education to
serve as poll workers and election officials to use their
The highest-profile problems with the administration of the
services.
2000 elections were in Florida—where disputes about the
vote count delayed resolution of the presidential race for
Structure
weeks—but post-election investigations revealed
The EAC includes a commission, a professional staff led by
widespread problems with states’ conduct of elections.
an executive director and general counsel, an Office of
Those investigations also prompted suggestions about how
Inspector General (OIG), three statutory advisory bodies,
to avoid similar problems in the future, including proposals
and one agency-created advisory body.
to increase federal involvement in elections.
The commission is designed to have four members, each of
Exactly what that involvement should look like was a
whom is required to have elections experience or expertise
matter of debate. The disagreements played out in at least
and no more than two of whom may be affiliated with the
two discussions relevant to the EAC: (1) whether any new
same political party. Commissioners are recommended by
federal responsibilities should be assigned to existing
the majority or minority leadership of the House or Senate
entities like the Federal Election Commission’s (FEC’s)
and appointed by the President subject to the advice and
Office of Election Administration (OEA) or an entirely new
consent of the Senate. Action on activities the commission
agency, and (2) whether the new responsibilities should
is authorized by HAVA to conduct, such as updating the
focus solely on supporting states and localities or also
VVSG and appointing statutory officers, requires approval
include authority to compel them to act.
by a three-vote quorum of the commissioners.
Congress struck a compromise in HAVA by creating a new
The EAC has two statutory officers, the executive director
agency, the EAC, but positioning it as a support agency.
and general counsel, who are appointed by the commission
That focus on assistance—in combination with other
with input in the case of the executive director from two of
objectives, such as providing for a range of expert input
the agency’s advisory bodies. HAVA authorizes the
into agency activities and guarding against partisanship—
executive director to hire other professional staff. The size
informed the duties and structure of the agency.
of the EAC’s staff has varied, from the four commissioners
and handful of transfers from the FEC’s OEA in FY2004 to
Duties
50 full-time equivalent positions in FY2010, about 25 to 30
In keeping with its positioning as an assistance agency, the
between FY2013 and FY2020, and 46 in FY2021.
EAC’s rulemaking authority is limited. HAVA explicitly
restricts the agency’s authority to issue rules, regulations,
One of the EAC OIG’s primary responsibilities is auditing
and other requirements for states or localities to regulations
recipients of grant funds administered by the EAC. The
about two duties it transferred to the EAC from the FEC:
OIG also conducts internal audits and investigations of the
(1) reporting to Congress on the impact of the National
agency itself, including audits of its finances, reports on
Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA), and (2)
management challenges, and investigations of complaints
of fraud, waste, mismanagement, and abuse. The OIG
conducted a 2008 investigation of alleged political bias in
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The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC): An Overview
preparation of an EAC report about voter fraud and
Those developments were taken by some as evidence that
intimidation, for example, and a 2010 investigation of
the agency had outlived its usefulness. Members introduced
complaints about the agency’s work environment.
legislation to terminate the EAC in each of the 112th
through 115th Congresses, and the House Appropriations
HAVA provided for three advisory bodies for the EAC: the
Committee recommended cutting or eliminating its funding
Board of Advisors, Standards Board, and Technical
each year between FY2012 and FY2018.
Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC). In 2021, the
EAC used its own authority to add another advisory body,
At least during the 116th and 117th Congresses, however,
the Local Leadership Council (LLC).
debate about whether there is a role for the EAC receded in
prominence. Recent election cycles have seen a number of
Board of Advisors. 35 members representing state and
high-profile developments, including foreign efforts to
local officials, federal entities, science and technology
interfere in the 2016 elections, the onset of the COVID-19
experts, and voters. Intended to be bipartisan and
pandemic in the 2020 election cycle, and an increase in
geographically representative. Responsible for
reports of threats to election workers during and after 2020.
reviewing draft VVSG and guidance; appointing a
search committee in the event of a vacancy for the
The EAC played a role in the federal response to each of
EAC’s executive director; and consulting on research,
those developments. It administered grant funding Congress
program goals, long-term planning, and monitoring and
provided to help states address foreign efforts to interfere in
review of voting system test laboratories.
elections and elections effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,
for example, and developed resources to help election
Standards Board. 110 members, with one state official
officials address physical and cybersecurity threats.
and one local official from different parties for each of
Following the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s
the 50 states, DC, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico,
designation of election systems as critical infrastructure in
and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Responsible for the same
January 2017, it also helped set up and continues to
tasks as the Board of Advisors.
participate in the Election Infrastructure Subsector.
TGDC. 15 members representing state and local
Supporters of an ongoing role for the EAC have cited its
officials, individuals with disabilities, and science and
participation in the federal response to recent developments
technology experts, with the director of the National
as new grounds to extend or expand it. More generally, the
Institute of Standards and Technology as chair.
primary focus of legislative activity on the agency seems to
Responsible for helping develop the VVSG.
have shifted in recent Congresses from whether there is a
LLC. 100 members, with two local election officials
role for the EAC to what that role should be, including
from each of the 50 states. Responsible for providing
What the agency should do. The EAC is the only
input into the agency’s work, such as by sharing
federal agency dedicated to the general administration of
experiences and best practices.
elections. As a result, it has been a common choice of
The structure of the EAC, like its duties, reflects its
agency for proposals to take new federal action on
emphasis on assistance. The agency’s advisory bodies are
election administration. Some bills would extend the
central to its functioning, with opportunities for input into
EAC’s existing duties into new areas, such as by
its guidance, planning, and staffing. Voters are represented
directing it to administer new elections grant programs.
on one of the advisory bodies, and state officials, local
Others would assign it new types of tasks, such as
officials, or their representatives make up some or all of the
setting mandatory standards for certain aspects of
membership of all four.
election administration.
The EAC was also set up to ensure a range of expert input
How the agency should function. Some legislative
into agency activities and help guard against partisanship.
activity on the EAC has focused less on what the agency
In addition to voters and state and local officials, for
does and more on how it does it, proposing changes to
example, the advisory bodies include experts in a range of
its structure or procedures. Members have introduced
other fields relevant to election administration. The
bills to create new EAC advisory bodies or add new
commission’s quorum requirement and the membership and
members to the existing bodies, for example, and to
selection processes for the commission and some of the
exempt the agency from the Paperwork Reduction Act
advisory bodies are also designed for partisan balance.
of 1995.
Legislative Activity
None of the changes to the EAC proposed in authorizing
legislation has been enacted to date, but Congress has made
One question Congress considered when developing the
some adjustments in appropriations measures, such as by
EAC was whether it should exist as a separate agency at all.
increasing the agency’s operational funding. For more on
That question was also a subject of particular congressional
those changes, see CRS Report R45770, The U.S. Election
interest for a period starting with the 112th Congress. As of
Assistance Commission: Overview and Selected Issues for
the beginning of that Congress, the EAC had distributed
Congress, by Karen L. Shanton.
most of the funding it was authorized by HAVA to
administer and completed much of the research the act
Karen L. Shanton, Analyst in American National
directed it to conduct. The authorization of operational
funding for the agency had expired, and the National
Government
Association of Secretaries of State had recently renewed a
IF10981
resolution that called for disbanding the agency.
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The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC): An Overview
Disclaimer
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