ATLANTA (AP) 鈥� Florida鈥檚 鈥渉anging chads鈥� ballot controversy riveted the nation during the and later prompted Congress to create an independent commission to help states update their voting equipment.
The U.S. Election Assistance Commission has operated in relative anonymity since, but is now central to President seeking to overhaul elections. One of the commission鈥檚 boards will meet Thursday in North Carolina, the first commission-related meeting since the were announced.
, Trump directed the agency to update the national voter registration form to add a proof of citizenship requirement. But whether the president can order an independent agency to act and whether the commission has the authority to do what Trump wants will .
Why was the commission created?
Congress approved the Help America Vote Act in 2002 to help states replace outdated voting systems and improve the voting experience.
It passed overwhelmingly with bipartisan support and was signed into law by then-President , a Republican who won the 2000 presidential contest over Democrat in a disputed election that went to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The culprit was a method of voting at the time in Florida that relied on so-called , which required voters to mark their choices using a hand-held stylus. But thousands of voters didn't punch their ballot choices completely, leaving it to local election workers 鈥� 鈥� to divine their intent. The resulting chaos in the pivotal swing state and intense national attention turned 鈥渉anging" and 鈥減regnant" chads into household terms.
The Supreme Court ultimately , leaving Bush with a 537-vote victory margin that gave him the Electoral Votes he needed to claim the presidency.
The 2002 law was designed to modernize the voting process. Under it, the Election Assistance Commission was given a number of mandates: distribute $2.8 billion in federal money for new voting equipment; create voluntary guidelines for voting systems and establish a federal testing and certification program for them; oversee the national voter registration form; and gather data about federal elections.
The four commissioners who lead the agency are nominated by the president based on recommendations from the majority and minority leaders in the U.S. House and Senate, then confirmed by the Senate. No political party can be represented by more than two commissioners.
At various points, the agency has faced budget cuts, staffing shortages and gridlock caused by vacancies in the commissioner positions. But a consistent budget and a quorum among the commissioners since 2019 has led to increased stability, with election officials praising its efforts in recent years.
Trump wants to put his own stamp on elections
Trump has long been skeptical of how elections are run, making that the 2020 election was 鈥渞igged鈥� against him. Multiple reviews of that election confirmed .
He has continued to criticize voting processes since his win last November, including in his March 25 , which calls for major changes that include a proof-of-citizenship requirement when people register to vote for federal elections.
While Trump directed several federal agencies to act, two of the order鈥檚 major provisions were directed at the Election Assistance Commission.
It was instructed to 鈥渢ake appropriate action鈥� within 30 days to require documentary proof of citizenship on the national voter registration form. The order outlines acceptable documents as a U.S. passport, a compliant driver鈥檚 license or official military ID that 鈥渋ndicates the applicant is a citizen,鈥� or a government-issued photo ID accompanied by proof of citizenship.
It also directed the commission to 鈥渢ake all appropriate action to cease鈥� federal money for any state that fails to use the form that includes the proof-of-citizenship requirement, though a handful of states are exempt under federal law. Trump also wants the commission to revise standards for voting systems.
Election experts have said the changes are unrealistic given the process outlined in federal law, which includes reviews by advisory groups and a period for public comment. The last major update to the voluntary guidelines for voting systems took years and was approved by the commission in 2021.
鈥淚t鈥檚 practically impossible to demand that commissioners of the EAC create wholly new voting system guidelines based on highly questionable criteria within 180 days,鈥� said David Becker, a former Justice Department lawyer who leads the Center for Election Innovation & Research. 鈥淚t raises the question as to whether this was designed to create chaos since it cannot be practically and competently completed.鈥�
Lawsuits say the commission is independent and not subject to Trump's orders
Trump鈥檚 executive order has prompted by voting rights groups, the Democratic Party and Democratic elected officials in 21 states. They say the president is exceeding his authority under the Constitution.
A lawsuit by argues that the commission was created by Congress to operate independently to protect elections and is required to make decisions 鈥渦nder standards of bipartisanship鈥� and in collaboration with the states.
鈥淭he Elections EO seeks to eradicate all those safeguards 鈥� aiming to force the Commission to rubberstamp the President鈥檚 policy preferences on, among other things, voter registration and voting systems,鈥� lawyers for the states wrote.
Justin Levitt, an expert in constitutional law who served previously as deputy assistant attorney general for the Justice Department鈥檚 civil rights division, said Congress established the Election Assistance Commission as independent of the president and did not give it any enforcement authority.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not like most of the other agencies in the federal government, and that makes a big difference in the amount that it can do or will do to further Trump鈥檚 agenda,鈥� Levitt said. 鈥淟egally, that (order) has as much impact as if I told the EAC what to do or you told the EAC what to do.鈥�
What happens next?
On Thursday, the commission鈥檚 Standards Board begins its annual meeting in North Carolina, where it will hear from election officials from across the country, many of whom are likely to have questions about the commission鈥檚 role under Trump鈥檚 order.
Earlier this month, the commission鈥檚 executive director sent a letter to state election officials summarizing the proof-of-citizenship requirement outlined in Trump鈥檚 order and asking how states would propose to implement it, if required, and what effect that would have on voter registration.
Chairman Donald Palmer said the agency was following the law, which governs the way any proposed change to the federal form can be made.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the process that we鈥檝e done in the past, and that鈥檚 the process we did this time,鈥� Palmer said. 鈥淚n my mind, this is really to get information from the states.鈥�
He praised the commission鈥檚 ability in recent years to find consensus and noted that the litigation would likely settle questions surrounding the executive order.
鈥淲e are in the executive branch, but we are an independent agency. And so those answers will 鈥� I鈥檓 sure those will be resolved,鈥� he said.
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Associated Press writer Ali Swenson in New York contributed to this report.
Christina A. Cassidy, The Associated Press
