Election Assistance Commission

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The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) was created by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002 as an independent and bipartisan commission. It is responsible for developing election administration guidance for compliance with HAVA, as well as maintaining other election administration standards and certification guidelines. The EAC's mandate is primarily to assist state election agencies in meeting expectations standardized in HAVA, and to ensure accessible, accurate, and secure elections across the United States.

The Commission is composed of four members who may serve up to two consecutive four-year terms. Commissioners are appointed by the president subject to the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate.

Purpose

See also: Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002

According to the Election Assistance Commission's website, the EAC's primary responsibilities include the creation and maintenance of federal voting system standards, currently known as the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG), the accreditation and certification of Voting System Test Laboratories (VSTLs), and audits of the use of HAVA funds, all in accordance with the requirements of HAVA. Additionally, the EAC helps states achieve compliance with HAVA by serving as a national clearinghouse of election-related information.

The EAC also maintains the national mail voter registration form that the National Voter Registration Act requires states to use."

Leadership

Commissioners of the EAC are appointed by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Commissioners serve four-year terms and may be reappointed for one additional term. Commissioners may also serve on holdover status after their terms expire, pending the appointment of a successor.

As of July 2025, the commissioners of the EAC were:

Commissioners of the Election Assistance Commission

Commissioner	Appointed by	Date confimed	Confirmation vote
Christy McCormick	Pres. Barack Obama (D)	December 16, 2014	Unanimous
Thomas Hicks	Pres. Barack Obama (D)	December 16, 2014	Unanimous
Donald Palmer	Pres. Donald Trump (R)	January 2, 2019	Unanimous
Benjamin Hovland	Pres. Donald Trump (R)	January 2, 2019	Unanimous

As required by HAVA, the EAC commissioners must submit an annual report to Congress, and testify periodically about issues related to HAVA and its requirements. Additionally, the EAC holds public meetings and hearings to inform the public on its work and activities.

HAVA also requires the formation of a 37-member Board of Advisors and a 110-member Standards Board to assist the EAC in carrying out its mandates under the law. HAVA Section 221 calls for establishing a Technical Guidelines Development Committee to assist the EAC in developing Voluntary Voting System Guidelines. These governing boards are intended to provide valuable input and expertise in the formation of guidance and policy.

Voluntary Voting System Guidelines

As provided by the Help America Vote Act, the Election Assistance Commission is mandated to develop and maintain a set of specifications and requirements for the certification of voting equipment, known as the Voluntary Voting Systems Guidelines (VVSG). The EAC certifies that state and local governments' voting equipment meets Voluntary Voting System Guideline specifications through its Voting System Test Laboratories (VSTLs). Federal law does not require voting equipment to be compliant with Voluntary Voting System Guidelines, though some states require compliance through state law.

The EAC published its first set of Voluntary Voting Systems Guidelines in 2005 (referred to as VVSG 1.0). The EAC updated its guidelines to VVSG 1.1 in 2015. In 2021, the EAC unanimously adopted VVSG 2.0 and deprecated versions 1.0 and 1.1 on November 16, 2023.

Noteworthy events

Trump election administration executive order (2025)

On March 25, 2025, President Donald Trump (R) signed executive order 14248, Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections. The order included changes to federal election administration guidance and procedures, including those related to voter registration, absentee/mail-in voting, ballot counting, and election equipment. It also directed the Election Assistance Commission to take several actions.

See below for a breakdown of noteworthy sections of the executive order:

Documentary proof of citizenship and noncitizen list maintenance (Secs. 2 & 3)

The order directed the EAC to, within 30 days of the order, require documentary proof of citizenship on the national mail voter registration form, and to develop a method for state or local officials to record the type of document that the voter provides, including document number, issuer, issue date, and expiration date. 

The order also included new requirements for federal agencies to share information with state and local officials about the immigration status of registered voters or voter registration applicants, including by granting access to databases and resources such as the Social Security Number Verification Service and the Death Master File. 

It also required the Secretary of Homeland Security to deliver a report to the Attorney General within 90 days that identifies all noncitizens “who have indicated on any immigration form that they have registered or voted in a Federal, State, or local election,” and to submit the information to the relevant state and local officials for review. 

Receipt of absentee/mail-in ballots by Election Day (Sec. 7)

The order instructed the Attorney General to interpret and enforce U.S. code as requiring that all ballots counted in an election must be received by Election Day, and would condition federal funding for election administration on state’s compliance with this provision.  

Eliminating barcodes and QR codes for ballot counting (Sec. 4)

The order directed the EAC to amend the Voluntary Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG) 2.0 to eliminate guidance related to voting equipment and ballots that rely on barcodes or QR codes for tabulation. The order directs federal departments to condition election-related funding based on compliance with the amended guidance. 

The order required the EAC to review and re-certify voting equipment affected by the amended guidance within 180 days. 

Other provisions

The order instructed federal and state officials to coordinate to identify crimes related to elections, such as instances of ineligible voters casting a ballot, individuals who are registered multiple times, or threats made against election officials. It also directed the  Attorney General to prioritize enforcement of federal voting laws in states that do not enter into information sharing or cooperation agreements with federal authorities. (Sec. 5)

It also required the Secretary of Homeland Security to conduct a review and deliver a report on the security of all electronic voting and voter registration systems, and it directed the Attorney General to prioritize enforcement of laws that “prevent foreign nationals from contributing or donating in United States elections,” and prohibit “lobbying by organizations or entities that have received any Federal funds.”(Secs. 6 & 8)

Reactions to the executive order

Chair of the EAC, Donald Palmer, who then President Trump appointed to the commission in 2019, said a statement, “The U.S. Election Assistance Commission is carefully reviewing the President’s Executive Order and determining the next steps in enhancing the integrity of voter registration and state and federal elections. … We also anticipate consulting with state and local election officials.”

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D) said, “Trump’s executive order is unlawful. It would prevent eligible Americans from exercising their sacred right to vote. The Trump administration is weaponizing the federal government and trying to make it harder for voters to fight back at the ballot box.”

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) said, “This is a great first step for election integrity reforms.”

Litigation challenging the executive order

See below for a timeline of litigation challenging the executive order and relevant documents in reverse chronological order.

• August 1, 2025

  Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the Trump administration to respond to plaintiffs' questions in the ongoing litigation related to what actions officials had taken to implement the executive order. In the order, Kollar-Kotelly wrote, that "the interests of justice are best served by a prompt ruling that resolves the parties’ discovery dispute and directs production of responses to a targeted set of interrogatories that are 'proportional to the needs of the case' in its current posture." The order specified a deadline of August 15 for defendants to respond.

• July 31, 2025

  The Trump administration appealed the injunction from U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

• June 13, 2025

  Judge Denise Casper of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted a second injunction blocking enforcement of the same provisions blocked by the April 24 order from Judge Kollar-Kotelly, as well as the provisions of the executive order requiring an Election Day ballot receipt deadline and ordering the EAC to withhold funding to states in noncompliance. In blocking the Election Day ballot receipt deadline, Casper wrote that the plaintiff states had "shown the risk of irreparable harm" and that enforcing the provisions would "divert the States’ resources from other key projects such as voter registration list maintenance and preparing for upcoming elections." Read the full opinion below.

  June 13 district court opinion

• May 5, 2025

  The Trump administration notified the court that it would not appeal the preliminary injunction, meaning that portions of the order that Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly enjoined would not take effect while litigation was ongoing.

• April 24, 2025

  Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia granted a preliminary injunction that temporarily blocked enforcement of the requirement for documentary proof of citizenship on the federal registration form and while registering at public agencies. In the opinion, Kollar-Kotelly wrote that, "the plaintiffs are substantially likely to prevail: Our Constitution entrusts Congress and the States—not the President—with the authority to regulate federal elections. Consistent with that allocation of power, Congress is currently debating legislation that would effect many of the changes the President purports to order. See Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, H.R. 22, 119th Cong. (2025). And no statutory delegation of authority to the Executive Branch permits the President to short-circuit Congress’s deliberative process by executive order." The order denied plaintiffs requests for an injunction of section Sections 2(b), 7(a), and 7(b) of the executive order. Read the full opinion below.

  April 24 district court opinion

• April 3, 2025

  Three of the challenges were consolidated under the case League of United Latin American Citizens v. Executive Office of the President in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

• April 3, 2025

  Democratic attorneys general from 19 states filed a separate lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts to block aspects of the order. Attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin joined the complaint.

• March 31, 2025

  the Democratic National Committee, along with the Democratic Governors Association, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D), and U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging various aspects of the executive order.

Deprecation of Voluntary Voting System Guidelines 1.0 and 1.1 (November 15, 2023)

See also: Deprecation of Voluntary Voting Systems Guidelines 1.0 and 1.1, November 2023

EAC commissioners unanimously adopted a new version of the Voluntary Voting Systems Guidelines, referred to as VVSG 2.0, on February 10, 2021. The EAC began requiring compliance with VVSG 2.0 for any new voting system certifications on November 16, 2023 (one year after the EAC certified one of its Voting System Test Laboratories to evaluate voting systems according to the new standards, as required by federal law).

As a result, the EAC deprecated its previous VVSG 1.0 and VVSG 1.1 standards and ceased issuing new voting system certifications that do not comply with VVSG 2.0. However, older equipment certified to the previous standards maintains its certification and may remain in use.

In March 2023, the EAC provided the following information about the 2023 deprecation process:

“

Q: What Does VVSG Deprecation Mean? Deprecation of a VVSG standard means testing new voting systems to the standard (e.g. VVSG 1.0) will be discontinued, while also limiting modifications to existing systems certified under a previous standard to the areas of security and maintenance. Q: Will Voting Systems Be Decertified? No voting system will be decertified by the EAC as part of VVSG deprecation. Q: What Does This Mean for EAC Certified Voting Systems? VVSG deprecation does not affect the status of any previously EAC certified system. Systems certified under a previous standard are still certified and may still be acquired and used. Q: What Does This Mean for Jurisdictions? Jurisdictions are not required to replace or update any system with a VVSG 2.0 certified version. Jurisdictions may continue to acquire and use systems certified to deprecated standards.

”

Federal law does not require compliance with the VVSG, although voting equipment must be compliant to receive new federal certification, and some states require compliance through state law. Once a new version of the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines takes effect, the EAC ceases to certify new voting equipment that does not comply with the updated standards. However, older equipment certified to the previous standards maintains its certification and may remain in use.

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See also

• Voting Rights Act
• National Voter Registration Act
• Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002
• Federal Constitutional Voting Protections
• Election dictionary

External links

Suggest a link

• U.S Election Assistance Commission
• U.S Election Assistance Commission, "Text of HAVA"
• U.S Election Assistance Commission, "Resources for voters"

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