Tomorrow, the Committee on House Administration (CHA) will convene to markup H.R. 634, the “Election Assistance Commission Termination Act.” The bill is part of CHA Chairman Gregg Harper (MS-3)’s ongoing attempt to eliminate the EAC, a campaign he has waged for several Congresses (and about which I wrote most recently in March 2015). The bill itself is pretty simple: it dissolves the EAC, returns its NVRA (“motor voter”) regulatory authority to the Federal Election Commission (whence it came thanks to the Help America Vote Act of 2002) and directs the federal government to wind up the EAC’s affairs. The bill is silent on other key facets of the EAC’s work, like certification and testing of voting technology and data collection via the Election Administration and Voting Survey. It’s hard to believe such work would simply stop, but the bill says nothing about what would happen post-termination.
Previous versions of the bill have made it out of committee but haven’t gotten floor consideration – and none have been introduced or considered in the Senate. Still, with the change in Administrations and scrutiny of the nation’s election system remaining high, there is concern in the election community that the EAC – which came back two years ago from a lengthy limbo and has been at a sprint ever since to restore programs and partner with election officials – could be in danger this time.
Full Article: We Still Need the EAC | Election Academy.