Overview and Implementation of the Help America Vote Act

Publication Date: June 2004

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Politics

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Abstract:

The October 2002 enactment of the Help America Vote Act, or HAVA (P.L. 107-252, H .R, 3295), may be remembered as a turning point with respect to the nation's election systems. After the widespread problems that occurred in the November 2000 election, Congress, the states, and various commissions examined election procedures, voting technologies, whether national standards are necessary, and the federal role in the election process. Historically, elections in the United States have been administered at the state and local level, and the federal government has not previously set mandatory standards for voting systems or provided funding for the administration of elections. P.L.- 07-252 creates a new federal agency with election administration responsibilities, sets requirements for voting and voter-registration systems and certain other aspects of election administration, and provides federal funding, but it does not supplant state and local control over election administration . Appropriations for election reform have included $1 .5 billion each year for FY2003 (H)..Res, 2, P.L. 108-7) and FY2004 (H.R. 2673, P.L. 108-199_). Issues for the 2nd session of the 108th Congress may include funding, ramping up of EAC activities, and implementation by, and impacts, on the states, including the security of electronic voting.