The Hill News

The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) is a bloated federal agency that has long outlived its purpose and recklessly mismanages its resources, yet continues to cost taxpayers millions of dollars each year. Put simply, the EAC is the perfect example of what’s wrong with Washington.
 
The EAC was created by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) in conjunction with a federal decision to send billions of dollars to states to replace old punch card and lever voting systems and to implement statewide registration databases and other improvements. HAVA also identified a number of research studies to be completed and provided for a federal voting machine testing and certification program.
 
Today, all of those functions except the ongoing testing and certification are now complete. Specifically, the agency has completed four of the five federally mandated election studies. The one outstanding study is six years overdue and stalled in interagency controversy. ! To boot, the last three White House budgets did not request any additional funds for the EAC to distribute to states, and given budget realities, it is unlikely that more funds will be made available.

Nearly a decade after its creation and years since it accomplished its primary objectives, the commission continues to operate providing little to no benefit to our electoral system.

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