Thomas Hicks, commissioner of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, said today that EAC has developed a set of voluntary voting system guidelines to aid local election authorities, but the commission currently lacks a quorum to vote on the standards and distribute the guidance to localities. EAC currently has two active commissioners of a possible four, but requires a quorum of three in order to vote. President Trump has nominated two people to serve on EAC, but there has been no movement in Congress to confirm the nominees. “I’m hoping the Senate Rules Committee and the Senate come together and vote those two folks up or down relatively soon,” Hicks said today at the Symantec Government Symposium.
Thomas MacLellan, director of policy and government affairs at Symantec, said that a confirmation vote in the Senate “would be a good place to start.”
“It’s not heavy-handed, it’s not dollars, it respects separation of powers, and provides for leadership,” MacLellan said of the potential congressional impact on election security. EAC requires that no more than two commissioners be from the same political party, and the current EAC commissioners are both Democratic appointees of President Obama.
MacLellan indicated the need to “push forward with the development of the standards” that come out of a Federal body like EAC.
Full Article: EAC Commissioner Pushes for Standards, Reveals Spending on Election Security – MeriTalk.