*HomeU.S. Government Accountability Office*
Menu

      close


          
          
                          	
				
				
	
	
					Reports & Testimonies
									
																				
				
				
	
	
								Reports & Testimonies
													
																												
																						
							
																Recommendations Database
							
																												
																						
							
																Month in Review
							
																												
																						
							
																Order Copies
							
																												
																						
							
																Restricted Reports
							
																												
																						
							
																View Topics
							
																												
																						
							
																View Agencies
							
																												
																						
							
																Bid Protests & Appropriations Law
									
																				
				
				
	
	
								Bid Protests & Appropriations Law
													
																												
																						
							
																Bid Protests
							
																												
																						
							
																Appropriations Law
							
																												
																						
							
																Federal Vacancies Reform Act
							
																												
																						
							
																Other Legal
							
																												
																						
							
																About
									
																				
				
				
	
	
								About
													
																												
																						
							
																What GAO Does
							
																												
																						
							
																U.S. Comptroller General
							
																												
																						
							
																Careers
							
																												
																						
							
																Contact UsFor Congress
                                
                          
        
                Press Center
                                
                          
        
                Careers
                                
                          
        
                BlogSearch Breadcrumb
        Home
                            Elections and Campaign Finance
    Elections and Campaign Finance Jump To:
    Jump ToElder Abuse
          Services for Older Adults
          State and Local-Level Drivers and Trends
          State and Local Fiscal Projections
          Federal Borrowing
          Managing the Debt
          Summary of Funding Provisions
          Auditing the Government's Books
          Unpacking the Financial Report
          Highlights
          Recommendations
          Background
          About This Work
          About This Work
          Trends
          About the Center
          Why It's High Risk
          What Remains To Be Done
          Key Reports
          Newest COVID-Related Reports
          AI Use Cases
          Flood Insurance
          Past Pandemic-Related Reports
          CARES Act Oversight Reports
          All COVID-19 Reports
          Report Suspected Fraud
          Subjects
          How to Get Notified
          Past Reports
          Public Health Threats
          Explore the FY 2022 and 2023 Funds
          Lessons Learned
          Agency Reports
          Recent Reports
          Recommendations
          Supplemental Material
          Full Report
          Additional Data
          View Decision
          Downloads
          Previously Identified Actions
          Related Pages
          Associated Agencies
          Tough Choices and Opportunities Ahead
          Americas Fiscal Future Key Areas
          Retirement Security Key Areas
          Current List
          About The High Risk List
          Area Ratings
          Previous High Risk Products
          Search Federal Vacancies
          Past Federal Vacancies
          Violation Letters
          About the Yellow Book
          Advisory Council
          Related Resources
          Comment Letters
          Related Publications
          Contacts and Resources
          Major Issues Facing the Nation
          Meeting Strategic Challenges
          Additional Resources
          Resources
          GAO Contacts
          Mission Teams
          Operations and Staff Offices
          Organization Chart
          Why a Career at GAO?
          Am I Qualified?
          Company Culture
          Reasonable Accommodations
          Video Gallery
          Paid Internships
          Student Volunteers
          Professional Development Program
          Advancement
          Executive Candidate Program
          Summer Associates
          Externships
          Benefits
          Contacts
                    Issue Summary
    In the United States, states and local election jurisdictions are largely responsible for administering federal elections. States regulate activities like voting methods and setting time periods for voting on or before Election Day. Among other things, local jurisdictions register eligible voters, design ballots, arrange for polling places, and count ballots.

Federal laws regulate various aspects of election administration, including voter registration and protecting the voting rights of individuals with disabilities and certain minority groups. Various federal agencies have roles and responsibilities for implementing these laws and assisting states and localities in managing election administration. Federal agencies also have roles in administering campaign finance laws.

There are benefits and challenges to how states and local election jurisdictions administer various processes. There are also opportunities to strengthen federal efforts.

For instance:

The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) serves as an information clearinghouse on elections issues and provides resources to help election officials administer federal elections. It also administers elections-related grants. Most recently, it administered $400 million in CARES Act grants to help states conduct elections during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there were issues with how states and the EAC categorized about 20% of the grant spending, making it hard to consistently determine how states spent these funds. The EAC should assess its administration of CARES Act grants and implement lessons learned to improve grants administration.
	The Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has helped state and local election officials secure online voter registration systems, voting machines, and other election infrastructure since 2017. CISA has been working to more fully address challenges it identified in its prior election assistance efforts to help protect election infrastructure from physical and cyber threats.**Examples of Election Assets Subject to Physical or Cyber Threats**

Image
              Examples of Election Assets Subject to Physical or Cyber ThreatsFederal law generally requires all polling places for federal elections to be accessible to all voters, and that these polling places have a system for casting ballots that is accessible for people with disabilities. However, election officials and advocates have reported challenges like physical obstacles to entry, voting equipment not being set up properly, and some voters facing difficulties marking paper mail ballots. The EAC, as part of its information clearinghouse role, has created a variety of resources to assist election officials in ensuring accessible voting for people with disabilities. It is working to collect and incorporate feedback from election officials on the usefulness of these resources.**Polling Place with a Make-shift Ramp****That Could Impede Voters with Disabilities**

Image
              voters with disabilitiesFederal law requires that states provide certain voter registration opportunities, such as when an individual obtains a driver’s license. States can also provide additional opportunities, such as online registration. Establishing infrastructure for online registration requires time and money, but can generate savings and enhance accuracy, such as by reducing the need for local election officials to manually process paper registration forms. Both states and local jurisdictions also work to maintain accurate voter registration lists, but have struggled to ensure that these lists capture all changes in registrants’ information (such as when people do not notify the U.S. Postal Service when they move).
	The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is responsible for civil enforcement of campaign finance law. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is responsible for investigating and prosecuting criminal violations of campaign finance law. Various types of campaign finance-related activities are subject to federal law and enforcement by both the FEC and DOJ. While the agencies coordinate activities related to campaign finance, until recently they had not updated their memorandum on coordination to help ensure consistent and effective coordination when enforcing campaign finance law.

  Recent Reports
          2020 Elections: State and Local Perspectives on Election Administration during the COVID-19 PandemicGAO-22-104731
      
	Published:  Jul 11, 2022


	Publicly Released: Jul 11, 2022
                        Election Assistance Commission: Assessment of Lessons Learned Could Improve Grants AdministrationGAO-22-104313
      
	Published:  Nov 08, 2021


	Publicly Released: Nov 08, 2021
                        Voters with Disabilities: State and Local Actions and Federal Resources to Address Accessibility of Early VotingGAO-21-352
      
	Published:  Jun 21, 2021


	Publicly Released: Jul 21, 2021
                        Election Security: DHS Plans Are Urgently Needed to Address Identified Challenges Before the 2020 ElectionsGAO-20-267
      
	Published:  Feb 06, 2020


	Publicly Released: Feb 06, 2020
                        Campaign Finance: Federal Framework, Agency Roles and Responsibilities, and PerspectivesGAO-20-66R
      
	Published:  Feb 02, 2020


	Publicly Released: Feb 02, 2020
                        Voter Registration: Information on Federal Enforcement Efforts and State and Local List ManagementGAO-19-485
      
	Published:  Jun 27, 2019


	Publicly Released: Jun 27, 2019
                        Elections: Observations on Voting Equipment Use and ReplacementGAO-18-294
      
	Published:  Apr 11, 2018


	Publicly Released: Apr 11, 2018
                        Voters with Disabilities: Observations on Polling Place Accessibility and Related Federal Guidance [Reissued on December 4, 2017]GAO-18-4
      
	Published:  Oct 03, 2017


	Publicly Released: Dec 04, 2017
                        Elections: Issues Related to Registering Voters and Administering ElectionsGAO-16-630
      
	Published:  Jun 30, 2016


	Publicly Released: Jun 30, 2016
                        Elections: DOD Needs More Comprehensive Planning to Address Military and Overseas Absentee Voting ChallengesGAO-16-378
      
	Published:  Apr 20, 2016


	Publicly Released: Apr 20, 2016
                        Elections: Issues Related to State Voter Identification Laws [Reissued on February 27, 2015]GAO-14-634
      
	Published:  Sep 19, 2014


	Publicly Released: Feb 27, 2015
                        Elections: Observations on Wait Times for Voters on Election Day 2012GAO-14-850
      
	Published:  Sep 30, 2014


	Publicly Released: Sep 30, 2014
Load All
GAO Contacts
    
      Rebecca S. Gambler
      
              Rebecca S. Gambler
            
            Director
      
            gamblerr@gao.gov
      
            (202) 512-8777
    Brenda S. Farrell
      
              Brenda S. Farrell
            
            Director
      
            FarrellB@gao.gov
      
            (202) 512-3604
    David Hinchman
      
              David (Dave) Hinchman
            
            Director
      
            HinchmanD@gao.gov
      
            (214) 777-5719
                                                      MultimediaPodcasts
    
      Election Security
    Thursday, February 06, 2020
      
            Transcript
          Views on Implementing Federal Elections on a Weekend
    Thursday, January 12, 2012
      
            Transcript
Photo showing a person in a wheel chair next to runners exercising together
          Blog Post
              For Disability Pride Month—We Highlight Our Work on Access Issues
            Thursday, July 21, 2022
      
            July is Disability Pride Month—a month commemorating the 1990 passage of the Americans with...
          Photo of an older woman in a wheel chair
          Blog Post
              It’s the 30th Anniversary of the ADA. What’s Changed?
            Monday, July 27, 2020
      
            July 26 th marked 30 years since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 . The...
 Receive GAO Updates
  Stay informed as we add new reports & testimonies.

    GAO Logo
      U.S. Government Accountability Office


                                   Column 1
                            Press Center
                              Contact Us
                              Inspector General
                              Restricted Reports
                              Column 2
                            Copyright & Terms of Use
                              Privacy Policy
                              Accessibility
                              Sitemap
                              Column 3
                            FOIA Requests
                              Scam Alerts
                              No FEAR Act Data
                              Health Care Advisory Committees