The U.S. Election Assistance Commission: What Role in the Administration of Elections?

What role in the administration of elections will the new U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) play, and how does that role differ from past federal involvement? The answers are uncertain because delays in appointing the commission members and insufficient funding severely handicapped early activities. This article examines the factors that influence the EAC's emerging role: the commission's background, structure, tasks and tools, start-up activities, and recent issues. Because the principal impact of the EAC is indirect, affecting election administration through the states, we draw on the “tools of government” literature to frame the discussion. Although the Help America Vote Act of 2002, which created the EAC, continues a long line of federal regulatory mandates in the elections arena, the EAC has almost no regulatory authority. Its principal tools are grants and information—instruments of cooperative, rather than coercive, federalism. Given that the major grant programs are ending, the EAC's long-term contribution will likely be to create and disseminate information. Copyright 2005, Oxford University Press.