The Help America Vote Act and Election Administration: Overview and Selected Issues for the 2016 Election

The Help America Vote Act and Election Administration: Overview and Selected Issues for the 2016 Election. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress. Arthur L. Burris and Eric A. Fischer. October 18, 2016

The deadlocked November 2000 presidential election focused national attention on previously obscure details of election administration. Congress responded with the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA; P.L. 107-252). HAVA created the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), established a set of election administration requirements, and provided federal funding, but it did not supplant state and local control over election administration. Several issues have arisen or persisted in the years since HAVA was enacted.

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