Election Assistance Commission

The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) is an independent agency of the United States government created by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA). The Commission acts as a national resource and clearinghouse of data concerning election administration. It is billed with administering payments to states and also building guidance to fulfill HAVA requirements, implementing voluntary voting system guidelines, as well as accrediting voting system test laboratories and validating voting equipment. Also, it is incurred with developing and keeping a national mail voter registration form. The HAVA dictates the EAC will develop voluntary guidelines for voting systems, keeping a clearinghouse of details hard money lenders concerning election administration procedures which include testing and accreditation of election equipment, and giving the Election Assistance and Help America Vote Programs. In 2003, Congress appropriated $1.5} billion for HAVA. The General Services Administration distributed most of the $650 million authorized under Title I of HAVA, however the rest was reserved for the EAC to pay. The funds languished simply because the commissioners had been not verified till 9 Dec. 2003; the law had necessary that they be in place by 26 Feb. 2003. In its 2004 spending budget, Congress once more allocated $1.5 billion microdermabrasion machines to fund HAVA. By January 2004, the EAC had no permanent offices or spending budget, even though it was necessary to publish state election reform plans within the Federal Register before cash for new voting equipment could be disbursed to the states. In 2011, United States Representative Gregg Harper introduced a bill to end the EAC and transfer some of its authority towards the Federal Election Commission. The Assist America Vote Act specifies that commissioners are nominated by the President on recommendations from the majority and minority leadership in the U.S. Residence and U.S. Senate. As soon as confirmed by the full Senate, commissioners may serve two consecutive terms and no more than two commissioners may belong towards the same political party. The 3 EAC commissioners are Donetta Davidson, chair; Gracia Hillman; and Gineen Bresso. There is certainly 1 vacancy on the commission. Commissioner Davidson is really a former Colorado Secretary of State and was the agency’s 2007 chair. Gracia Hillman, who served as EAC Chair in 2005, is the former executive director of the League of Ladies Voters of metal detector the United States. Commissioner Bresso, just before her appointment with EAC, was the minority elections counsel for the Committee on Residence Administration. She previously served as a policy advisor to former Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. exactly where her main location of focus was on election law. The EAC Standards Board was established under title II section 211 of HAVA. Its duties include reviewing the voluntary voting systems guidelines and review of the very best practices recommendations. The Board consists of 110 members, 55 State election officials and 55 neighborhood election officials. The Board adopts and makes suggestions by simple majority vote. The EAC Board of Advisors was founder under title II section 211 of HAVA. Just like the Standards Board the Board of Advisor’s duties contain reviewing the voluntary voting systems guidelines and assessment of the most effective practices recommendations. The Board contains appointed members. Two members becoming appointed by each of, the National Governors Association, the National Conference of State Legislatures, the National Association of Secretaries of State, the National Association of State Election Directors, the National Association of Counties, the National Association of County Recorders, Election Officials, and Clerks (NACRC), the United States Conference of Mayors, the Election Center, the International Association of County Recorders, Election Officials, and Treasurers (IACREOT), the United States Commission on Civil Rights, and the Architectural and Transportation Barrier Compliance Board. The Board also includes the chief of the Workplace of Public Integrity of the Department of Justice, the Chief of the Voting Section of the Civil Rights (DOJ), as well as the director of the Federal Voting Help Program of the Department of Defense. Further, the Board also includes four members which represent experts in the field of camera stabilizer science and technology, one appointed by the Speaker tankless water heaters and one by the Minority Leader of the Home of Representatives, one appointed by the Majority Leader as well as the Minority Leader of the Senate. The eight final members of the Board, four members are appointed by the United States House Committee on Residence Administration and four members are appointed by the United States Senate Committee on Rules and Administration. Critics have contended that the EAC has responded positively to political pressure from the Republican Party and the Department of Justice. For instance, the EAC is said to have overstated the issue of voter fraud, that is often cited by Republicans as a justification for restrictive measures that Democrats charge are intended to prevent qualified Democrats from voting. The EAC Chair denied that there was any political pressure. Tova Wang, a consultant to the Commission, wrote a detailed account inside the Washington Post about how her analysis and that of her Republican co-author had been disregarded or altered, to produce a published report “that entirely stood our own work on its head.” The adjustments included playing up the voter fraud issue and omitting references to charges of voter intimidation lodged by Democrats, as well as removing all criticisms of the Department of Justice. In 2009, the United States Office of Special Counsel issued a report that discovered that the EAC engaged in political discrimination in federal hiring against an attorney to fill the Common Counsel position simply because he was a Republican. The report was in response to a settlement among the lawyer and also the EAC, in which the attorney was paid an unspecified about of money.