U.S. Election Assistance Commission

www.eac.gov

U.S. Election Assistance Commission

The little-known Election Assistance Commission (EAC) is an independent federal agency established by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002 ---the law passed by Congress in response to the Florida recount or the 2000 presidential election. Under the Help America Vote Act, the EAC is responsible for collecting information about election administration and sharing that information at congressional hearings and with election officials and the public.

HAVA authorized several billion dollars to go to states for election improvements and established new voting requirements and created the EAC to oversee election administration and the recent changes.

About the U.S. Election Assistance Commission

The EAC is an independent, bipartisan commission charged with adopting voluntary voting system guidelines, maintaining the national mail voter registration form and serving as a "national clearinghouse" of information on election administration. The EAC also certifies voting systems and audits the use of HAVA funds. The EAC is required to submit an annual report to Congress as well as testify periodically about HAVA progress and related issues. The commission also holds public meetings to inform the public about its progress and activities as part of its mission to improve government transparency.

Four EAC commissioners are selected by the president with input from congressional leaders, and confirmed by the Senate. No more than two may belong to the same political party. Therefore at anyone time there may be two Republicans and two Democrats. The commussioners may serve up to two consecutive terms.

As of May 2011 the sitting commissioners are both Republicans  Donetta Davidson and Gineen Bresso Beach. The other two commission seats are currently vacant.

Information for Regional Reporters

The EAC is in position to provide some useful information to regional reporters. The EAC can tell you how much HAVA money your state has received, what it has said it will spend it on, and in some cases how much of the money has actually been spent and on what. States receive millions each year (mostly based on population) and are required to submit a plan and come up with some matching funds before getting the money.
The EAC administers the biennial Election Administration and Voting Survey (EAVS), an instrument used to collect state-by-state data on the administration of federal elections, and publishes an election day survery containing state data on voter registration, turnout, types of voting machines, poll workers, etc.

The agency also maintains an online clearinghouse on its web site for reports on state investigations into voting problems. It's called the Voting System Reports Clearinghouse.

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