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Serving America•s Election Officials and Voters During the COVID-19 Pandemic 

2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table of Contents 

Chairman’s Message 4 

Meet the Commissioners 6 

Executive Director’s Letter 11 

General Counsel’s Update 14 

Executive Summary 15 

Administering HAVA Funds 24 

Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic 28 

The 2020 Election: Assisting Election Officials and Voters 35 

Enhancing Election Security 46 

Setting New National Standards for Voting Systems 48 

Leveraging Data 52 

Promoting Accessibility 55 

Highlighting Best Practices 59 

EAC Agency Development 61 

EAC Advisory & Oversight Boards 65 

Appendix 78 
4 

CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE 

Looking back on 2020, we are proud of the 

role we played and the work we did to assist 

state and local election officials as over 150

million Americans voted. The successful 

administration of the 2020 election provides 

reassurance that the foundation of America’s 

democracy thrived amid record voter 

participation and despite a global pandemic. 

This was in no small part because of the 

herculean efforts by state and local election

officials. Many of the successful measures they

developed this year should improve the voting 

experience in future elections, like increasing 

the pool of poll workers and improving 

absentee/mail ballot operations. 

When the year began, the U.S. Election 

Assistance Commission (EAC) was focused 

on election security and protecting against 

threats of foreign interference in the 2020 

election. This critical mission, combined with 

typical election year challenges posed by voting 

technology, accessibility issues, and poll worker 

shortages would test the limits of our election 

infrastructure amid the high voter turnout of a 

general election year. 

The COVID-19 pandemic created challenges 

no election official could completely plan or

budget for, particularly for those states in the 

midst of primaries as our way of life was facing 

the dramatic shifts necessary to limit the spread 

of COVID-19. In response, the EAC, alongside 

federal, state, and local partners, leveraged 

resources to ensure voters could cast their vote 

in the remaining primary elections and for the 

November 3rd general election. 

Buoyed by $400 million in emergency funding 

provided by the CARES Act, states improved their 

absentee/mail ballot operations with technology 

to process, track, and secure ballot requests; 

developed tools to verify and count absentee 

and mail-in ballots; improved coordination 

with the Postal Service; increased voter and 

public education about the absentee/mail ballot 

processes; and purchased resources for personal 

protective equipment, hand sanitizer, and other 

protections for poll workers and voters to have a 

safe, in-person voting experience. Coordinating 

the distribution and management of these critical 

funds was a substantial task for the EAC in 2020. 

I am immensely proud of the work of our team to 

ensure election officials had the information and

funding they needed to make 2020 a success. 

While official data from the EAC’s Election 

Administration and Voting Survey will not be 

available for a few months, estimates from the 

United States Elections Project say a record 92 

million voters requested mail ballots for the 

general election. Significantly, the rejection rate 

for this historic level of mail ballots is lower than 

in previous elections, due, in part, to massive 

voter education campaigns by secretaries of 

state, political candidates and parties, and civic 

organizations. To their credit, many states 

adopted the practice of allowing voters to cure 

their mail ballots if they were deficient in any 

way. More flexibility ensured greater access 

and allowed for increased participation for 

voters who preferred voting by mail because of 

the pandemic or out of convenience. With the 

proper funding, these investments could serve 

voters in future elections. 

In-person, early voting also boosted voter 

participation rates. By Election Day, 

approximately 100 million Americans voted 

early, which was over 70 percent of the national 

vote just four years ago. 

To support in-person voting, the EAC 

designated September 1st as National Poll 

Worker Recruitment Day. We also launched an 

accompanying campaign designed to promote 

awareness about the need for poll workers and 

to educate Americans about the important role 

poll workers play in the election process. With 

partners from the public and private sectors, 

civic leagues, and other nonprofits, Americans

responded in record numbers to serve their 

communities. Particularly important, a new 

generation of Americans stepped up this year and 

helped America vote. 
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

Finally, our election infrastructure took a 

huge leap forward in matters of election 

security, with election officials as well as cyber

and national security professionals declaring 

the November 3rd election “the most secure 

in American history.” To maintain and 

build on this success, however, will require 

continued investment in the infrastructure of 

our democracy. Specifically, election officials

regularly discuss the need for consistent 

federal funding that can sustain and grow the 

innovative practices we have seen. 

The EAC contributed to this proud moment 

and these efforts. In April, we launched the 

Cyber Access and Security Program (CAS) 

to provide access to security training, best 

practices, expertise, and other assistance for 

election officials tasked with protecting critical 

election infrastructure. 

Advances over the last four years were also 

critical in raising voter awareness about election 

misinformation and disinformation and 

increasing Americans’ social media literacy. The 

EAC proudly participated in and promoted a 

campaign driven by the National Association of 

Secretaries of State, “#trustedinfo2020,” which 

cautioned voters to rely on election officials for

trusted source information. 

As we review the 2020 election, our agency 

will focus not only on these successes, but 

shortcomings too. Alongside our local and state 

election partners, we aim to improve on every 

aspect that touches on the voting experience so 

2022, 2024, and all future elections can be even 

better for election officials and voters.

Outside of working to support the 2020 

election, the agency continued to meet its 

statutory obligations under the Help America 

Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA). We made significant

progress in advancing the Voluntary Voting 

System Guidelines (VVSG) 2.0. In February, 

the Technical Guidelines Development 

Committee (TGDC) approved VVSG 2.0 technical 

requirements. By March, the EAC published 

the guidelines in the Federal Register for public 

comment. After the public comment period 

closed in June, a working group consisting of 

EAC and the National Institute of Standards and 

Technology (NIST) staff began reviewing public

comments. In anticipation of a final vote, updates

to the Testing and Certification program manual,

the Voting System Test Laboratory manual, 

a VVSG lifecycle policy, and the addition of 

vulnerability, penetration, and component testing 

guidance within the manuals have been drafted. 

The Commission hopes to vote on VVSG 2.0 in 

early 2021. 

This historic election year, the EAC proved 

it remains integral to securing America’s 

democratic legacy for future generations. 

I am grateful for the partnership of my fellow 

Commissioners and the hard work of the 

EAC staff in this trying year. With additional 

resources, we can sustain and grow the EAC’s 

role to better serve election officials and voters 

as our election systems evolve. If the 2020 

election taught us anything, it is that our 

democracy is precious, we must invest in it to 

make it stronger and we must continue the work 

of making it better. 

— BENJAMIN HOVLAND 

CHAIRMAN 

U.S. ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION 

Chairman Hovland speaking at the 2020 

Elections Summit 
 

 

Above: EAC Commissioners attend the 2020 Elections, Disability, Accessibility, & Security Forum on 

February 20, 2020.

MEET THE COMMISSIONERS 

As outlined in HAVA, the Commission is comprised of four members appointed by the 

President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Commission selects a chair 

and vice chair from among its members, representing different political parties, for one-year 

terms. Any action which the Commission is authorized to carry out under HAVA may be 

carried out only with the approval of at least three of its members. 

Commissioner Benjamin Hovland was named to the position of Chairman on February 23, 

2020, replacing Commissioner Christy McCormick who had served in that role during the 

preceding year. Commissioner Donald Palmer assumed the position of Vice Chair on the 

same date, replacing Commissioner Hovland. 
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

Benjamin Hovland 

CHAIRMAN 

Benjamin Hovland was confirmed by unanimous consent of the United States Senate on January 

2, 2019 to serve on the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Mr. Hovland currently serves as 

Chairman of the EAC and he also serves as the Designated Federal Officer for the Technical 

Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC). 

Mr. Hovland’s 20-year career in elections has been shaped by his commitment to improving election 

administration and removing barriers to voting. Most recently, he served as Acting Chief Counsel 

for the U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, where he was a driving force behind 

Congress appropriating $380 million in Help America Vote Act funds to enhance election security 

to the states in 2018. While at the Senate, he focused on the federal government’s role in election 

administration and campaign finance regulation. He organized several hearings on election security 

preparations and improving election administration. He was integral to restoring a quorum at the 

EAC in 2015. Earlier in his career, as the Deputy General Counsel for the Missouri Secretary of 

State’s office, he focused on legal issues related to the administration of state and federal elections, 

including recounts, poll worker training, voter registration list maintenance, statewide database 

matching, voter education resources and ballot initiative litigation. 
8 

Donald Palmer 

VICE CHAIR 

Donald Palmer was nominated by President Donald J. Trump and confirmed by unanimous consent 

of the United States Senate on January 2, 2019 to serve as an EAC Commissioner. 

Mr. Palmer is a former Bipartisan Policy Center Fellow where he advanced the recommendations 

of the Presidential Commission on Election Administration. Mr. Palmer is a former Secretary of 

the Virginia State Board of Elections and served as the Commonwealth’s Chief Election Official 

from 2011 to 2014. During his tenure, he implemented an online voter registration system and 

joined Virginia as a founding member of the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), 

a nonprofit organization with the sole mission of assisting states to improve the accuracy of 

America’s voter rolls and increase access to voter registration for all eligible citizens. He also served 

as Florida’s Director of Elections where he successfully transitioned the state from electronic 

voting machines to paper-based digital voting machines prior to the 2008 presidential election 

and expanded the Florida voting system state certification program. Prior to his work in election 

administration, he served as a trial attorney with the Voting Section in the U.S. Department of 

Justice’s Civil Rights Division, where he enforced the nation’s federal voting laws. Palmer is a 

military veteran, retiring from the U.S. Navy after two decades as an intelligence officer and judge 

advocate general. 

Mr. Palmer earned his J.D. at the Stetson University College of Law and his master’s degree at 

George Washington University. 
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

Thomas Hicks 

COMMISSIONER 

Thomas Hicks has served as EAC Chairman for two terms and as Vice Chairman for an additional 

two terms. During his time with the Commission, Mr. Hicks has focused his efforts on voting 

accessibility, including developing a guide to voting rights for voters with disabilities and creating 

a help desk to address ballot delivery issues for overseas voters. Prior to his appointment with the 

EAC, Mr. Hicks served as a senior elections counsel and minority elections counsel on the U.S. 

House of Representatives Committee on House Administration, a senior lobbyist and policy analyst 

for Common Cause, and as a special assistant and legislative assistant in the Office of Congressional 

Relations for the Office of Personnel Management during the Clinton administration.

Mr. Hicks received his J.D. from the Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law and 

his B.A. in Government from Clark University (Worcester, MA). He also studied at the University of 

London (London, England) and law at the University of Adelaide (Adelaide, Australia). 
10 

Christy McCormick 

COMMISSIONER 

Christy McCormick was nominated by President Barack H. Obama and confirmed by unanimous 

consent of the United States Senate on December 16, 2014 to serve on the U.S. Election Assistance 

Commission (EAC). 

Prior to her appointment with the EAC, Ms. McCormick served as a Senior Trial Attorney in the 

Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ), a position 

she held from 2006 until joining the Commission. Ms. McCormick was detailed by the Deputy 

Attorney General to be Senior Attorney Advisor and Acting Deputy Rule of Law Coordinator in the 

Office of the Rule of Law Coordinator at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq from 2009 to 2010, 

where she worked as the U.S. elections expert overseeing the Iraq national elections (including an 

extensive election re-count), as well as on numerous U.S. and coalition Rule of Law efforts.

Prior to joining the USDOJ, Ms. McCormick served as a Judicial Clerk to the Honorable Elizabeth 

A. McClanahan in the Court of Appeals of Virginia from 2003 to 2006. Ms. McCormick was an

Assistant Attorney General and Assistant to the Solicitor General in the Office of the Attorney

General of Virginia from 2001 to 2003. She was a member of the U.S. Supreme Court legal teams

for Black v. Virginia (defending the Commonwealth’s criminal statute against cross-burning) and

Hicks v. Virginia (defending a 1st amendment challenge to a state trespassing policy), as well as in

cases on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. She was a Judicial Law Clerk in

Virginia’s Seventh Judicial Circuit Court from 1999 to 2001.

Ms. McCormick received her B.A. from the University of Buffalo, a J.D. with honors from the George 

Mason University School of Law (now Antonin Scalia Law School), and also attended the William & 

Mary School of Law. 
 

 

Above: EAC Executive Director Mona Harrington

LETTER FROM THE 

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 

Following seven months serving as the Acting Executive Director, I was humbled and honored 

to assume the position of permanently leading the EAC in June of 2020. I transitioned into this 

role amid a global pandemic while focused on significantly growing the agency and enhancing its

mission. As I took over the role as Executive Director, the reality that the COVID-19 pandemic had no 

immediate end in sight was setting in. Never could we have imagined what the next several months 

would bring. It has been everything except business as usual. 

COVID-19 further complicated preparations for an election promising record-breaking turnout. 

From day one of the crisis, the EAC has remained open for business, quickly adopting new methods 

and protocols to complete essential mission requirements for stakeholders who needed our programs 

during this difficult time. The number one reason we achieved this is plain and simple: the dedicated

staff of the U.S. EAC. I am extremely proud of our EAC employees and how they continue to work

hard on behalf of our stakeholders. Each day brought on new challenges and everyone stepped up to 

make it work. 

The EAC met the challenge of the moment, played an integral part in ensuring a 

smooth 2020 election, and continued to advance work that will secure our elections in 

the years to come. 
12 

This report captures key developments and 

successes in 2020. We’re committed to build 

on past work and seek to learn, think about, 

and plan for how and where it can have the 

greatest cumulative and lasting impacts. Our 

team is small but mighty, and the committed 

professionals in every EAC department 

supported our mission to help election officials 

improve the administration of elections and 

help Americans vote. They also supported one 

another, agency leaders, and partners, going 

above and beyond expectations, all while 

navigating a uniquely challenging environment. 

EAC’s FY2020 activities largely focused on its 

response to the unprecedented challenges of the 

COVID-19 pandemic during the primary and 

general election seasons. The EAC disbursed, 

$825,000,000 in CARES Act and HAVA security

grant funding, despite the lack of additional 

supplemental funds for the agency. COVID-19 

also required a shift in guidance and assistance 

we provided election officials. We worked closely 

with federal partners including DHS/CISA, 

CDC, FBI, and others on guidance for election 

officials, and spearheaded the collection and 

distribution of lessons learned from the 2020 

primary elections. 

As we committed to you last year, we have 

worked to make critical strides in advancing 

VVSG 2.0 toward completion. Beginning 

in February when the Technical Guidelines 

Development Committee (TGDC) approved 

VVSG 2.0 requirements, EAC staff worked in 

coordination with the National Institute of 

Standards and Technology (NIST) to advance 

the guidelines through the required process in 

an effort to submit final versions of the VVSG 

2.0 to the Commissioners for adoption in the 

early part of 2021. 

The achievements and progress this year were 

made possible only after the EAC expanded 

our staff and expertise, while retaining high 

performing staff. We recently filled the mission 

critical roles of General Counsel, Director of 

Communications, Director of Finance, Chief 

Information Officer, Chief Information Security 

Officer, Grants Manager, and several critical 

support positions throughout the agency. In 

total, the agency added or filled 20 permanent 

roles in 2020. Additionally, we completed the 

relocation of agency headquarters from Silver 

Spring, Maryland, to Washington D.C. 

We utilized our position as the only 

federal agency solely focused on 

election administration to amplify 

the voices of local and state election 

officials while providing direct support 

for their efforts. Our new Cyber Access 

and Security Program (CAS) provided 

the states with cyber resources and 

training. We launched National Poll 

Worker Recruitment Day to encourage 

a new generation of poll workers to 

meet the challenge of the times and 

ensure election officials had a sufficient 

workforce for the November election. We 

also held virtual events and responded to 

press inquiries to dispel misinformation 

and served as a trusted source to better 

educate voters. 

Going forward, we know the pandemic 

highlighted areas the EAC needs to enhance, 

such as expanding the clearinghouse 

function, approving the VVSG 2.0, 

additional grant oversight, building 

partnerships, expanding accessibility, and 

implementing a testing and certification of 

non-voting technology. We are committed to 

seeing our small but mighty agency meet its 

full potential and address these challenges. 

The EAC will continue to grow and improve 

the support we give election officials. Our 

mission has never been more critical, and 

more than ever, we stand prepared to serve 

election officials and the American people. 
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

Thank you to the EAC Commissioners for their support and trust in me to lead this agency. We 

would like to thank election officials for a well-run election and our community partners for their 

continued support through their collaboration. We would like to thank our EAC staff who have been 

the consummate team players and unhesitatingly stepped up during these difficult times of such 

uncertainty and confusion. 

We truly appreciate all of you. There is so much truth in the Helen Keller quote, “Alone we can do so 

little, together we can do so much” 

— MONA HARRINGTON 

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 

U.S. ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION 
GENERAL COUNSEL’S UPDATE 

As required by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) Section 207(4), the following section documents 

all votes taken by the Commission through September 30, 2020 for the preceding fiscal year. The 

following also includes votes taken through the calendar year. 

Tally Votes Result 

of Vote 

Decided 

by 

a Vote of 

Date 

Transmitted 

Certified

Date 

Adopting policy to exempt the Office of 

Inspector General from the EAC Performance 

Management Program 

Adopted 4-0 10/7/2019 10/09/2019 

Approval of the U.S. Election Assistance 

Commission Succession Plan Adopted 3-0 10/16/2019 10/18/2019 

Amendment to the Technical Guidelines 

Development Committee Charter 

Not 

Adopted 1-0 10/16/2019 10/18/2019 

Appointment approval of Mona Harrington 

as the U.S. Election Assistance Commission 

Executive Director for a term of four (4) years 

and the appointment approval of Kevin Rayburn 

as the U.S. Election Assistance Commission 

General Counsel for a term of four (4) years 

Adopted 4-0 6/3/2020 6/3/2020 

Adopting the 2020 Guide to the Election 

Administration and Voting Survey Adopted 4-0 8/10/2020 8/10/2020 

Approval of the Resolution Declaring Election 

Official and Election Worker Appreciation Week Adopted 4-0 10/29/2020 10/29/2020 

14 
 

 

Above: The Commissioners present Louisiana Secretary of State R. Kyle Ardoin, with a 2019 Clearie 

Award for the category Most Creative or Original ‘I Voted’ Sticker.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

Our Mission: 

Helping America

Vote 

In November 2017, the EAC adopted the 

following mission and vision statements for 

the agency. 

Mission Statement: The U.S. Election 

Assistance Commission helps election 

officials improve the administration of 

elections and helps Americans participate 

in the voting process. 

Vision Statement: A trusted, proactive, 

and responsive federal agency that helps 

election officials administer and voters 

participate in elections. 

Per Section 207 of the Help America Vote Act 

of 2002 (HAVA), the U.S. Election Assistance 

Commission (EAC) is required to submit an 

Annual Report to Congress. This report details 

the agency’s activities during the FY2020, as 

well as the 2020 calendar year, and our efforts

to further the mission of the EAC. 

Despite budget constraints, the COVID-19 

pandemic, onboarding staff virtually, and

managing the relocation of our headquarters, 

the EAC had significant accomplishments

and made major contributions that helped to 

ensure a successful 2020 election. During the 

past year, the EAC grew to a team of about 

44, including Commissioners and staff, with

a $15 million ($11.271 million for salaries 

and expenses) FY2020 budget. 2020 was an 

election year beyond anyone’s ability to plan. 

The EAC stretched its available resources, 

while fulfilling its mission to serve election

officials and voters.
16 

To better understand some of the fiscal 

challenges faced by the EAC, it is important 

to know the agency’s recent funding history. 

Between 2010 and 2019, the EAC’s budget 

declined by nearly 50%. In January 2017, the 

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 

designated the nation’s election administration 

infrastructure as critical infrastructure. As a 

result, the EAC played a key role in helping DHS 

create and co-chair the Executive Committee 

of the Government Coordinating Council 

(GCC) that would help secure and monitor the 

security of the nation’s elections. In Fiscal Year 

(FY) 2018, the EAC had a one-time increase 

of $500,000 in Salaries and Expenses (S&E) 

to support the administration of the $380 

million of new HAVA Grants that were directly 

disbursed to states. However, in FY2019, the 

EAC received its lowest appropriation of $7.95 

million for S&E. Overall, with the added critical 

infrastructure responsibilities, ongoing grant 

oversight, a full quorum of Commissioners 

(the first time since 2010), a reduced staff 

and decreasing budget, the EAC faced many 

challenges heading into the 2020 

presidential election. 

In FY2020, Congress acknowledged the 

limited resources and appropriated the EAC 

$15,171,000 ($11.271 million for S&E), the 

highest since 2011 and a 40% increase from the 

year before. In addition, the agency received 

$425 million in election security grant funds 

to disburse directly to states. In late March 

2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, 

Congress appropriated an additional $400 

million in CARES Act grant funding for the EAC 

to disburse to states. These appropriations did 

not include additional supplemental funds for 

the agency. 

Vice Chair Palmer met with Florida Secretary 

of State Laurel Lee to discuss the Coronavirus 

challenge and the EAC and Florida collaborating 

on security of election systems and dealing with 

emergency situations to meet the needs of voters on 

Election Day.
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

Despite not having received supplemental 

funding for the pandemic that the EAC 

requested in March, EAC’s FY2020 activities 

largely focused on its response to the 

unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 

pandemic. The agency’s full range of activities 

and achievements are detailed in this report. 

Some 2020 highlights that demonstrate how 

EAC staff stretched resources and assisted 

election officials include:

a. disbursing and administering $400

million in emergency CARES Act funding

to the states to prevent, prepare for, and

respond to the coronavirus for the 2020

federal election cycle. Disbursement was

accomplished within 30 days, with only one

full-time grants staff member;

b. disbursing and administering $425 million

in new HAVA security grants funding

to the states for election administration

enhancements. EAC was also able to award

those funds within 45 days and with less

than one full-time grants staff member;

c. producing and publishing EAC resources

as well as guidance alongside our federal

partners, (Department of Homeland Security

[DHS]/Cybersecurity and Infrastructure

Security Agency [CISA], Centers for

Disease Control [CDC], Federal Bureau

of Investigations [FBI], etc.) including a

wide range of COVID-19 resources to assist

states in the administration of safe, secure,

accurate, and accessible elections, with

guidance related to mail/absentee voting, inperson voting, and other safety, accessibility,

and security topics related to responding to

the pandemic;

d. assembling the new Cyber Access and

Security Program (CAS) which assists states

with cyber resources and training;

e. engaging the Center for Tech and Civic

Life to provide three tailored cybersecurity

courses at no cost to state and local election

officials across the country;

f. advancing the VVSG including collection

of public comments, hearings, as well as

numerous other critical steps toward the

adoption of the VVSG 2.0;

g. holding 38 events including two all-day,

in-person events early in the year, and 36

virtual hearings, roundtable discussions,

webinars, and interviews. Events included

election officials from 29 states and federal

partners, subject matter experts, and

advocates from across the country;

h. responding to over 200 congressional

inquiries about grants and EAC

programming and operations, in addition to

submitting reports required by federal law;

i. virtually onboarding 32 staff and interns,

nearly doubling staff to enhance the EAC

mission;

j. addressing election officials’ critical shortage

of poll workers after the primaries by

launching National Poll Worker Recruitment

Day and standing up the dedicated website

www.helpamericavote.gov to help Americans

contact their local election officials to serve;

k. sending 43 press releases and generating

over 10,000 press mentions to dispel

misinformation and serve as a trusted source

to better educate voters;

l. implementing infrastructure security

safeguards to enhance, modernize, and

implement a cost-effective technology

adhering to Federal Information Security

Modernization Act (FISMA) standards; and

m. facilitating a relocation of the EAC office

space to Washington, DC including

coordination of technology, critical

infrastructure, and physical equipment

moves during pandemic conditions.
18 

Throughout 2020, the EAC made significant 

advances in agency capacity, expertise, and 

programming during a global pandemic. EAC 

staff created new and innovative programming 

to ensure the agency continued to serve its 

mission of helping election officials to improve 

election administration despite complications 

created by COVID-19. Through providing direct 

assistance to election officials, gathering and 

distributing best practices, and coordinating 

closely with its federal counterparts, the EAC 

directly contributed to the success of the 2020 

election while rebuilding the agency. EAC 

programming and operations were expanded to 

address this unique moment in history with key 

activities described below. 

Grants Administration 

Since the EAC was established, the agency 

has distributed and supported the effective 

administration of more than $4 billion in 

HAVA funds. In 2020, EAC Grants staff 

were tasked with doubling the funds they 

administered despite receiving no additional 

funds for grants administration. EAC staff 

supported the effective administration of 

previously awarded HAVA Section 101 and 

251 grants, $425 million in new HAVA 

election security grants, and $400 million 

in Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic 

Security Act (CARES Act) funds to prevent, 

prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus 

for the 2020 federal election cycle. To 

meet the emergent situation, CARES Act 

supplemental appropriation funding was 

distributed by the EAC within 30 days to 

provide states with additional resources to 

protect the 2020 elections from the effects of 

the novel coronavirus. 

In addition to distributing funds, EAC 

Grants staff provided extensive training and 

technical assistance to states as it planned 

to implement the HAVA and CARES Act 

funding. This assistance was developed at 

the height of confusion during the COVID-19 

pandemic. Grants staff also responded to over 

85 inquiries from Congress while directly 

assisting election officials in all states and 

territories. This report includes information 

on grant allocations, how states planned to 

and expended funds, and ongoing reporting of 

remaining funds. Charts detailing remaining 

funds are available in the appendix. 

Responding to COVID-19 

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic greatly 

expanded the demands on EAC staff, essentially

supplanting much of the workload of the agency 

to responding to the crisis while assisting election 

officials in planning for and conducting elections

during the pandemic. The EAC distributed and 

administered the aforementioned $400 million in 

CARES Act grants, worked in coordination with 

federal partners and election industry experts 

to provide resources for election officials, and

created new programs to offer direct assistance to

election officials while continuing to advance the

strategic plan of the agency as envisioned prior to 

the global pandemic. Through these efforts, the

EAC played an instrumental role in ensuring the 

success of the 2020 election by helping election 

officials respond to the pandemic.

The EAC chaired the Election Infrastructure 

Government Coordinating Council (GCC) 

and Subsector Coordinating Council’s (SCC) 

Joint COVID Working Group. Working 

group membership included the National 

Association of Secretaries of State (NASS), 

National Association of State Election Directors 

(NASED), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure 

Security Agency (CISA), election officials, 

election technology experts, and election 

experts. The working group released an 

extensive series of best practices documents and 

the EAC led the development of the “Lessons 

Learned from the 2020 Primary” series, 

outlining best practices directly from election 

officials. These and other resources were 

included along with other COVID-19 resources 

the EAC developed and compiled at EAC.gov. 
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

Beginning in March, the EAC hosted a series of 

virtual events, interviews, and virtual hearings 

to collect and share best practices. Topics 

ranged from preparing for increased absentee 

ballot applications to emergency election laws 

and utilizing the National Guard in election 

administration. Through a quick pivot in the 

programming of the agency, the EAC was able 

to serve election officials and American voters 

throughout the planning and execution of 

responses to COVID-19. 

The 2020 Election: Assisting 

Election Officials and Voters

“We, as the only federal agency

completely dedicated to election 

administration, have confidence in the

state and local election administrators 

who ran the 2020 election and the 

voting systems certified by the EAC.” Joint Statement from the EAC 

Commissioners, December 3, 2020 

The EAC began 2020 by supporting election 

officials and voters in anticipation of the 2020

presidential primaries and general election. 

This included coordination and information 

sharing on election security with election 

officials and federal partners, launching new

programs to provide training to election 

officials, engaging with stakeholders across

the country, and supporting voter registration. 

Commissioners engaged directly with election 

officials through pre-COVID visits and virtual

events following the outbreak of the pandemic. 

Through Election Day, the EAC hosted two 

in-person events pre-COVID, three virtual 

hearings, five virtual roundtables, 17 webinars,

seven events focused on the CARES Act, and 

four events focused on accessibility. 

Election officials were facing severe poll worker 

shortages ahead of the 2020 presidential 

election, amplified by the coronavirus pandemic. 

To address this concern, the EAC launched the 

first National Poll Worker Recruitment Day. The 

day was a huge success, garnering national 

attention and highlighting the need for poll 

workers across the United States. Importantly, 

there was bipartisan support of the day with 37 

state election offices participating.

EAC staff also directly assisted voters through 

the election response team program. EAC staff 

received over 4,000 calls from voters between 

September and Election Day and over 2,000 

emails from voters over the course of the 

year. These calls and emails covered a range 

of election-related topics and allowed EAC 

staff to provide direct assistance to voters and 

combat disinformation or misinformation by 

highlighting trusted information from election 

officials in the voters’ states. 

The EAC has played a crucial role in voter 

registration since its inception as HAVA 

mandates EAC maintain the National Mail 

Voter Registration Form (also known as the 

NVRA Form or Federal Form). In 2020, the 

EAC continued to serve American voters in 

maintaining the form and managed updates to 

NVRA forms for Iowa, Nevada, Pennsylvania, 

and Tennessee. 
20 

The EAC supported voter registration 

efforts through promotion of National Voter 

Registration Day and celebrating the 100th 

anniversary of the 19th Amendment extending 

the right to vote to women. Additionally, the 

EAC and General Services Administration (GSA) 

collaborated on increasing the functionality 

of the vote.gov website, working together to 

maintain the site and increase engagement by 

voters and external organizations. 

October 24 was the inaugural Vote Early Day. 

The EAC was a premier partner in this effort to 

ensure Americans understood the options in 

their state to cast their ballot early. In addition 

to the EAC’s social media promotion of the day 

and where to find information on early voting, 

Chairman Hovland also participated in a Reddit 

“Ask Me Anything” event and other activities to 

help reach voters. 

The EAC also participated in and promoted a 

campaign driven by the National Association of 

Secretaries of State, “#trustedinfo2020,” which 

recommended voters rely on election officials for

trusted information on elections and voting. 

Commissioner Hicks presents the Clearie Award to 

Ann Arbor, Michigan, for Outstanding Innovations 

in Election Administration for their Line 

Management Project. 

Enhancing Election Security 

One area where the EAC provides direct 

support to election officials is building strong 

cybersecurity protections of elections. In 2020, 

the EAC took great strides towards securing 

our elections by creating the Cyber Access and 

Security Program (CAS) focused on election 

security. This program provides cybersecurity 

resources, best practices, and training to 

improve the posture and resilience of state and 

local election offices. An important part of this 

program has been the addition of staff who have 

a range of experience in the cybersecurity and 

elections fields. 

Beginning in June, online cybersecurity training 

was offered at no cost and developed specifically 

for election officials through a partnership with 

the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL). Over 

300 state and local election officials from 31 

states completed the training, which remains 

available until May 2021. 

The EAC also launched Risk Management 

and Crisis Management online workshops for 

state and territorial election officials. In late 

summer, the EAC hosted a joint CISA online 

risk management tool on its website allowing 

election officials at the local level to easily 

measure and mitigate risks to their specific 

environments. CAS updated materials currently 

posted to the EAC website and developed new 

material related to vulnerability disclosure 

programs, social engineering mitigation, and 

case studies. The creation of CAS has allowed 

the EAC to strategically advance cybersecurity 

protections in 2020 with an eye on future 

innovations and programming. 

In June, the EAC also announced its 

partnership with the Center for Internet 

Security, Inc. (CIS®) to pilot a technology 

verification program focused on non-voting

election technology including electronic poll 

books, election night reporting websites, 

and electronic ballot delivery systems: Rapid 

Architecture-Based Election Technology 
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

Verification, or “RABET-V.” The EAC hopes

this program will evolve into a permanent 

program or inform similar efforts to further

secure our elections systems from potential 

foreign or domestic threats. 

Setting New National Standards 

for Voting Systems 

As outlined in HAVA, core functions of the EAC 

include adopting and modifying the Voluntary 

Voting System Guidelines (VVSG), testing and 

certifying voting systems against these voluntary 

guidelines, and accrediting Voting System Test 

Laboratories (VSTLs). 

The EAC took numerous actions to advance the 

newest version of the VVSG, which is commonly 

referred to as the VVSG 2.0. The VVSG 2.0, 

once implemented, will help state and local 

election officials improve election security 

and allow manufacturers to develop updated 

voting technology. On February 7, the EAC’s 

Technical Guidelines Development Committee 

(TGDC) voted on recommending the VVSG 2.0 

Requirements to the EAC’s Executive Director, 

marking the first of several important steps 

toward approval of VVSG 2.0. Since then, the 

EAC continued the HAVA-mandated process 

with contributions from the National Institute 

of Standards and Technology (NIST), public 

comments and three virtual hearings, as well as 

comments and input from the EAC Standards 

Board and the Board of Advisors. Concurrently, 

EAC staff revised the Testing and Certification 

and Voting System Test Laboratories Program 

Manuals, and drafted VVSG 2.0 test assertions 

and sunset and implementation policies as we 

move toward adoption of the VVSG 2.0. 

In 2020, the Testing and Certification Program 

certified 10 voting systems and approved 49 

engineering change orders related to fielded 

voting systems. 

The Testing and Certification Program 

also monitors EAC-registered voting 

system manufacturers and EAC-accredited 

VSTLs. Under this program, the Testing 

and Certification Program conducted three 

investigations in 2020. 

Additionally, this year the EAC launched a 

new Election Day war room spearheaded 

by Testing and Certification staff to gather 

information from registered manufacturers on 

issues reported by media or election officials. 

Five of the eight manufacturers participated in 

these calls (Dominion, ES&S, Hart InterCivic, 

MicroVote, and Smartmatic). This effort is 

ongoing, and staff are following up with election 

officials and voting system manufacturers to 

obtain information on claims of irregularities 

reported in the media during the general 

election. 

Leveraging Data 

The Election Administration and Voting 

Survey (EAVS) is the most comprehensive 

election administration survey in the United 

States. Conducted every two years following 

the federal general election, the 2020 EAVS is 

capturing data from nearly 6,500 local election 

jurisdictions across all 50 states, the District 

of Columbia, and U.S. territories. For the first

time in 2020, EAVS will capture data reflecting

election administration in the Northern 

Mariana Islands. 

This year’s EAVS will be the most 

comprehensive look at an historic election 

which saw dramatic shifts in voting patterns 

and election administration in a pandemic 

environment. The EAC Research division 

undertook numerous programs to improve the 

2020 EAVS and the report will be released in 

June 2021. 

EAVS data played an integral role in educating 

the public ahead of the 2020 election. In 

addition to EAVS data use in numerous pieces, 

EAC research staff provided information to the 

press and public to ensure accurate information 

was used in reporting on preparations for the 

November election. 
22 

Promoting Accessibility 

HAVA contained landmark provisions 

requiring the secure, private, and independent 

casting of ballots for people with disabilities. 

Since then, the EAC has worked to assist 

election officials in removing obstacles for

voters with disabilities through the collection 

and promotion of best practices, hosting events 

to discuss and evaluate the barriers that still 

exist, and launching innovative research and 

programming aimed at directly assisting voters 

with disabilities. EAC staff and Commissioners

worked to ensure the onset of the COVID-19 

pandemic did not exacerbate voting difficulties

for voters with disabilities. 

The EAC hosted the “2020 Elections: 

Disability, Accessibility, and Security Forum” 

bringing together state and local election 

officials, people with disabilities, disability

advocates, and election security experts to 

discuss concerns regarding accessibility and 

security and to advance solutions. The event 

featured discussions on pressing issues to 

voters with disabilities and election officials

amidst growing security needs. Following the 

conclusion of the primary election season, EAC 

staff also created best practices for empowering

voters with disabilities to ensure shifts in 

election administration undertaken to combat 

the spread of COVID-19 did not inadvertently 

prevent voters with disabilities from 

meaningfully and independently participating 

in the 2020 election. 

During the fall of 2020, the EAC spearheaded 

an accessibility survey for the 2020 general 

election. The EAC worked closely with a team 

of experienced researchers from Rutgers 

University to organize the survey, which 

launched immediately after the general 

election. Results will be available in early 2021. 

Highlighting Best Practices 

Under HAVA, the EAC is charged with serving as 

a clearinghouse for election administration 

information. The Clearinghouse Awards, also 

referred to as the “Clearies,” honor the 

enterprising spirit and hard work of election 

officials across the country. In the challenging

circumstances created by COVID-19, this year’s 

awards highlight the resourcefulness of officials

implementing new safety precautions in the 2020 

elections and adjusting to increased mail and 

absentee voting. The award schedule was shifted 

with award winners expected in early 2021. 

“The EAC is a critical agency in regard

to creating... a universal clearinghouse 

as well as an ability to provide 

guidance and best practices.” Maggie Toulouse Oliver

New Mexico Secretary of State and 

NASS President 

Bipartisan Policy Center: The 2020 

Voting Experience and Goals for 

Reform, December 15, 2020 
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

Agency Development 

On June 3, EAC Commissioners unanimously 

voted to approve the appointments of Mona 

Harrington as Executive Director and Kevin 

Rayburn as General Counsel. 

With a full complement of commissioners and 

new leadership within the agency, the EAC 

continued to modernize operations and rebuild 

a depleted agency in 2020. The agency filled 

mission critical roles in Communications, 

Finance, Grants, and the Office of the Chief 

Information Officer as well as several critical 

support positions throughout the agency. This 

focused effort to restore the EAC to full capacity 

while expanding the level of expertise within the 

workforce was crucial in allowing the EAC to 

meaningfully support election officials this year. 

The agency continued its multi-year technology 

upgrade plan while launching valuable 

cybersecurity programming for election officials. 

The Cyber Access and Security Program, in 

addition to providing valuable resources to 

election officials, also worked to increase the 

cybersecurity posture of the EAC. The program 

provides quarterly cybersecurity training to 

all agency personnel and conducts monthly 

phishing exercises. The combination of training 

and exercises has reduced the agency’s phishing 

click-through rate observed during these 

exercises from almost 40% to less than 1%. 

Following Congressional appropriations to 

the agency in FY2020, EAC staff were able 

to facilitate a return of the EAC office to 

Washington, DC. The relocation, from the 

agency’s previous location in Silver Spring, 

Maryland, was undertaken during 

pandemic conditions. 

Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos and Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin opened the 2020 

Elections Summit. 
 

 

Above: In February, Vice Chair Palmer and Commissioner Hicks addressed the U.S. Department of State’s 

International Visitor Leadership Program, U.S. Electoral Process: A Multi-Regional Project at the 

U.S. Institute of Peace.

ADMINISTERING HAVA FUNDS 

Distributing and Administering HAVA Funds 

Since the EAC was established, the agency has distributed and supported the effective 

administration of more than $4 billion in HAVA funds. 

HAVA Election Security Grants 

On December 20, 2019, President Donald J. Trump signed into law the Consolidated

Appropriations Act of 2020, which included $425 million in new HAVA election security

grants that will be distributed to state election offices by the EAC. Discussions with the

U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) overturned the previous determination

that limited the HAVA Election Security funds to a five-year period. The funds are now

available to the states until expended. The EAC then consolidated the 2018 and 2020

Election Security funds into one grant. This brings the total Election Security grant

funding to $805 million. Going forward this will reduce the burden on the states for

tracking and reporting on these funds. 
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

The EAC supported the effective administration 

of the HAVA election security grants throughout 

2020. In their federal financial reports 

submitted in December 2020, states reported 

using these funds in FY2020 to respond to the 

pandemic, replace voting equipment, secure 

and modernize voter registration databases, 

conduct cybersecurity vulnerability assessments, 

implement cybersecurity best practices, and 

pilot and conduct postelection audits, among 

other uses. 

Through September 2020, the states collectively 

reported spending roughly 29 percent of the 

$804,978,602 million distributed. 

The Election Security grant narratives, 

budgets and reports can be found at: 

eac.gov/payments-and-grants/electionsecurity-funds. 

Previously Awarded HAVA 

Funds (Section 101 and 251) 

The EAC continued to support states’ 

expenditures of previously awarded HAVA 

Section 101 and 251 grants in 2020. 

By the end of 2019, 14 states had expended all 

of their Section 251 funds and 31 states had 

expended all of their Section 101 funds. Those 

grants are closed and were not active in 2020. 

Please see Appendix for a complete listing of Security Grant spending by state. 
26 

In 2020, the EAC continued to support states’ 

expenditures in 41 states with open Section 

251 grants and 24 states with open Section 101 

grants. By September 2020, 33 of the 41 states 

with open 251 grants had expended more than 

95% percent of their funds (22 of them at 99 

or 100 percent of the funds), five states had 

expended between 80 and 95 percent, and three 

states had expended less than 80 percent. For 

the 24 states with open Section 101 grants, 19 

states had spent more than 98 percent, one state 

had expended 96 percent, and four states had 

expended 80 percent or less. See state-by-state 

expenditure tables in Appendix. 

Throughout 2020, the EAC continued the closeout process with six states for their previously 

awarded HAVA Section 101 and/or 251 funds. 

Closing out previously expended funds eases 

the recordkeeping burden on states, shortening 

the period during which they are required to 

maintain grant files. EAC intends to perform an 

administrative closeout process with states every 

five years. By the end of 2020, five additional 

states had expended all of their Section 251 

funds and three states had expended all of their 

101 funds. Those states submitted their final 

financial reports and the Grants office will close 

those grants. 

Oversight and Monitoring 

The EAC is mandated to monitor and provide 

oversight for all HAVA grants. During FY2020, 

staff reviewed Federal Financial Reports (FFRs)

and accompanying narrative reports submitted by 

the states for their HAVA Section 101 grants for 

activities to improve administration of elections, 

251 Requirements Payment funds and the Election 

Security grants. 

The CARES Act required states to submit reports 

on expenditures within 20 days of each primary 

and the general election. The EAC developed an 

efficient process to review and aggregate those

reports and submit them to Congress within 

three days of the grantees’ deadline, as required 

by the CARES Act. During FY2020, the Office

of Grants Management submitted reports to 

Congress related to primaries conducted by the 

states between March 28, 2020 and September 

30, 2020, the end of the fiscal year. In FY2021, the

EAC will report on expenditures under the grant in 

support of the 2020 general election on November 

3 from all 56 states and territories. The EAC will 

continue to oversee the expenditure of the funds 

and is developing a process to identify all funds 

remaining unspent as of December 31, 2020, 

to be returned to the U.S. Treasury. 

In November 2019, the EAC’s Office of the

Inspector General launched audits of six states 

(Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, 

New Mexico, and West Virginia) regarding 

their use of the 2018 HAVA funds. COVID-19 

closures, rescheduling of primary elections, 

the need to adapt the audits for remote testing, 

and the tremendous efforts required of the

states to conduct the general election during 

a pandemic delayed the six audits from their 

originally targeted completion dates. The audits 

are expected to be finished and the final reports

issued in the first calendar quarter of 2021. The

EAC is providing ongoing training and technical 

assistance to support states and their localities in 

effectively managing federal funds. The agency

has worked with the OIG to resolve and close out 

audit findings. 
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

 

Training and Technical 

Assistance 

EAC staff members provide technical assistance 

to the states as they plan and implement their 

use of federal funds. During FY2020, staff 

conducted remote technical assistance to states 

and developed tailored guidance around the 

CARES funding and use of other HAVA funding 

under the pandemic. 

Specifically, the EAC developed Frequently

Asked Questions (FAQs), written guidance, and 

webinars to train grantees on the new CARES 

funding and the additional Election Security 

funds. The Office of Grants Management

responded to a high volume of inquiries 

regarding allowable, allocable, reasonable 

and necessary expenditures and activities for 

the funding. 

New guidance and training were also created to 

support the change in reporting requirements 

and mechanisms for the grantee progress and 

financial reports. 

The EAC also coordinated indirect cost rate 

negotiations for states with the Department of 

Health and Human Services. 

Modernizing

Grants 

Management 

The EAC hired a full-time grants manager 

to lead and support the increased 

responsibilities for the agency and will 

be adding one more full-time grants 

employee in FY2021. 

To assist states in the reporting process 

and help EAC staff manage and distribute 

the reports, the agency developed an 

electronic format for submission and 

review of grantee progress reports. The 

format was piloted for the 20-day CARES 

reporting and is now implemented for 

progress reports across all HAVA grants. 

The agency also transitioned from a 

manual paper submission process to 

electronic submission of grantee Federal 

Financial Reports in the Payment 

Management System operated by the 

Program Support Center at the U.S. 

Department of Health and Human 

Services. The system was live for the 

report submissions due December 2020. 

In addition, the EAC is now fully 

compliant with requirements to post grant 

funding in USASpending and has updated 

policies and procedures for submission of 

the data. 

Finally, the agency received Paperwork 

Reduction Act approval from OMB 

for both progress and financial report 

information collection instruments and is 

compliant with this requirement. 
 

 

Above: In February 2020, Commissioners McCormick and Palmer gave a presentation on the EAC and our role to 

the Arizona House Committee on Elections. During the same trip, the commissioners visited with Elections Officials 

in Coconino, Maricopa, and Pima Counties. 

RESPONDING TO THE 

COVID-19 PANDEMIC 

Like many state and local election officials

and our federal counterparts, the onset of 

the COVID-19 pandemic required the EAC 

to immediately shift to a completely remote 

workforce. The crisis also greatly expanded the 

demands on EAC staff, essentially supplanting

much of their workload with responding to the 

crisis. Agency staff continued assisting election

officials in planning for and conducting

elections during the pandemic. The EAC 

distributed and administered $400 million 

in CARES Act grants in addition to the $425 

million in HAVA Security funds already being 

administered, worked in coordination with 

federal partners and election industry experts 

to provide resources for election officials,

and created new programs to offer direct

assistance to election officials while continuing

to advance the strategic plan of the agency as 

envisioned prior to the global pandemic. 

Speakers in the EAC CARES Act Interview Series included 

local election officials and election experts.
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

CARES Act Grants 

On March 27, 2020, President Donald J. Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic 

Security Act (CARES Act) into law. The Act included $400 million in new HAVA emergency funds, 

made available to states to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus for the 2020 federal 

election cycle. This supplemental appropriation funding, awarded by the EAC within 30 days, 

provided states with additional resources to protect the 2020 elections from the effects of the 

novel coronavirus. 

The CARES Act provided the funds to the EAC under Section 101 of the HAVA which authorizes the 

EAC to provide funds to states to “improve the administration of federal elections.” Therefore, the EAC 

followed the requirements of Section 101 to allocate the funds to the states to address issues arising 

from the pandemic during the remaining primaries and the general election in November 2020. The 

EAC disbursed $397,205,287 (99.30%) of the obligated $400,000,000 based on the requests for 

those funds by the states. Some states requested less than their full allocation due to concerns over 

meeting the required 20% match. The funds could only be used for costs associated with the pandemic 

during the 2020 election season, including Presidential and Congressional primaries that took place in 

advance of the general election. 
30 

States must report to the EAC on how they 

used the funds within 20 days of each primary 

and after the general election. The submitted 

reports are posted on the CARES page of the EAC 

website: eac.gov/payments-and-grants/2020-

cares-act-grants. States had until December 31, 

2020 to expend federal funds and have until 

March 27, 2022 to meet the 20% match. The first

CARES Financial and Progress reports for the 

period ending December 31, 2020 will be due on 

February 28, 2021. 

These funds came at a critical time and had an 

immediate impact on election preparation. States 

were able to apply pre-award costs from the 

start of the pandemic. The Commission made 

all funding request letters public for the election 

community and the American people to have the 

particulars on how the states and territories were 

planning on using their funds. It is essential as 

part of the EAC’s clearinghouse function that the 

states and territories have access to the wealth 

of ideas and innovative approaches contained in 

other states’ requests as they planned their own 

use of the funds. It is equally essential that the 

voting public know how states are using these 

federal funds. 

“We’re very thankful for the extra funds

from the federal government to help 

to allow [county election officials] to 

increase their staff, to increase their 

equipment, and increase in every way 

shape and form the ability for them to 

manage that extra volume.” Kathy Boockvar

Secretary of the Commonwealth of 

Pennsylvania, CARES Act Interview 

May 19, 2020. 

“[T]his stimulus funding is enabling

Kentucky to move lightyears ahead 

on transitioning away from DREs 

and more towards paper balloting 

systems which I think increases 

public confidence not just now 

but afterward.” Michael Adams 

Kentucky Secretary of State, CARES 

Act Interview, May 19, 2020 
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

Most states provided the funds to local election 

jurisdictions, which identified the specific needs 

resulting from the pandemic. To date, the needs 

identified generally result from much higher 

levels of voting by mail than anticipated. Over 

70% of the states specifically mentioned using 

the funds to cover higher costs to print, mail, 

and process mail-in ballots. About 75% also 

used the funds to provide personal protective 

equipment (PPE) to poll workers and to staff 

who processed mail-in ballots. States that 

already had high percentages of mail-in ballots 

anticipated spending the funds on additional 

office space for processing mail-in ballots to 

ensure staff and others could maintain physical 

distance during processing and for personal 

protective gear. 

Plans for CARES Act grants are available 

now within the request letters at EAC.gov 

Joint COVID Working Group 

The COVID-19 pandemic required dramatic 

shifts in the planning for and operations of 

elections in 2020. In response to the pandemic, 

the EAC chaired the Election Infrastructure 

Government Coordinating Council (GCC) 

and Subsector Coordinating Council’s (SCC) 

Joint COVID Working Group. Working group 

membership included the Cybersecurity and 

Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the 

National Association of Secretaries of State 

(NASS), the National Association of State 

Election Directors (NASED), election officials, 

election technology experts, and election 

experts. The working group formed in March 

to provide guidance for state and local election 

officials on best practices to administer and 

secure election infrastructure in light of the 

COVID-19 pandemic. 

The GCC and SCC released three series of 

documents to assist election officials in 2020: 

“Preparing for Absentee and Mail Voting,” 

“Preparing for In-Person Voting,” and “Lessons 

Learned from the 2020 Primary Elections.” 

The EAC led on writing the multi-document, 

“Lessons Learned from the 2020 Primary” 

series, outlining best practices and lessons 

learned from the 2020 primaries directly from 

election officials. The documents covered topics 

including recruiting poll workers, identifying 

and setting up polling locations, preparing 

for increased absentee or vote by mail, and 

communicating with the public and the media. 

Drawing from EAC CARES Act videos, hearings, 

and interviews, the documents included 

important information directly from election 

officials across the country and highlighted that 

while every jurisdiction faced similar challenges, 

they met the moment with creativity 

and innovation. 
32 

“This election was a terrific example

of counties, state agencies, and the 

federal government working together.” Paul Pate 

Iowa Secretary of State, EAC Virtual 

Hearing on Lessons Learned During the 

2020 Primary Election, July 8, 2020 

Best Practices During COVID-19 

COVID-19 created immediate issues for election 

officials conducting presidential and congressional

primaries beginning in March. To better serve 

election officials and voters, the EAC began

developing guidance and hosting a series of virtual 

events to collect and promote best practices. 

Beginning on March 20, the Commissioners 

hosted two series of interviews with state and 

local election officials and election experts to

help prepare officials to administer an election

during the pandemic. The first interview program

focused on absentee and mail ballots. The five

following interviews highlighted best practices 

on planning for increased vote by mail capacity, 

improving communications for increased vote 

by mail, handling an increase of absentee or 

mail ballots, and handling absentee ballot 

requests. The second interview series covered 

considerations for CARES Act Funding. During 

four interviews, election officials shared how they

spent or planned to spend CARES Act funding to 

execute their elections while keeping staff, poll

workers, and voters safe. 

The evolution of the pandemic made clear that 

preparations would need to continue for a unique 

2020 election. The EAC held its first virtual public

hearing on “Election Response to COVID-19: 

Administering Elections During the Coronavirus 

Crisis” on April 22. The public hearing included 

discussion of considerations for increased 

absentee and mail voting, considerations for 

in-person voting, and an update on CARES Act 

funding. The hearing was followed one week later 

by a virtual interview on “Emergency Election 

Laws and COVID-19.” 

The EAC continued to host virtual events and 

interviews throughout the summer to highlight 

best practices, including a virtual public hearing 

on “Lessons Learned from the 2020 Primaries.” 

Officials shared what they had learned from their

primaries while highlighting concerns leading 

to November. 

Two interviews led by Vice Chair Palmer 

addressed how election offices in Iowa and

Wisconsin utilized the National Guard for the 

2020 primaries. State election officials and leaders

from the states’ National Guard units outlined 

how they utilized the National Guard for filling

major gaps in poll worker staffing, cybersecurity

strategies and preparation, and distribution of 

personal protective equipment. 

Speakers at the webinar “Utilizing the National 

Guard in Wisconsin” on July 2, 2020.

Speakers at the webinar “Utilizing the National 

Guard in Iowa” on July 28, 2020.
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

“The National Guard can help us avoid 

an election catastrophe this November” 

“By preparing now for the activation

and training of these valuable 

reinforcements, governors can 

address a looming emergency 

situation and allow election 

administrators the additional flexibility 

to focus on the myriad of other tasks 

necessary to ensure a smooth voting 

process for Americans.” Vice Chair Donald Palmer 

Roll Call rollcall.com/2020/08/28/

the-national-guard-can-help-usavoid-an-election-catastrophe-thisnovember/, August 28, 2020 

As Election Day approached, a number of 

factors had the potential to create confusion on 

the reporting of unofficial election results in the

media on election night, including the different

state laws for counting ballots that were cast 

absentee or by mail, the increasing numbers of 

absentee and mail ballot applications for such 

ballots, and the evolving nature of COVID-19 

levels across the country. The EAC convened 

a roundtable on October 20 with Secretaries 

of State, a leading election law expert, and 

a representative of the Associated Press to 

discuss the reporting of unofficial election

results, the process to certify election results, 

and the impact that COVID-19 could have on 

these calculations. The event was one example 

of the EAC helping to educate the public ahead 

of Election Day to promote trusted information 

and combat misinformation and disinformation

before it began. 

EAC Events in 2020 

2 In-person events pre-COVID

3 Virtual Hearings

5 Virtual Roundtables

4 Events focused on Accessibility

7 CARES Act Virtual Events

17 Webinars

The EAC provided feedback to the Centers for 

Disease Control (CDC) for their online resource 

“Considerations for Election Polling Locations 

and Voters.” The guidance is co-branded with 

the EAC and provides general guidelines and 

specific recommendations to prevent the spread 

of COVID-19 at polling locations. The EAC used 

those guidelines as a basis for a video produced 

with the District of Columbia Board of Elections. 

The video shows what these recommendations 

look like when put into practice at a polling 

location and features curbside voting, proper 

cleaning of voting and other equipment, and the 

use of masks. 

COVID-19 Online Resources 

On March 11, the EAC developed a COVID-19 

resource page of the EAC.gov website. As the 

crisis evolved, the EAC began devoting the top 

of the EAC homepage to critical COVID-19 

information on April 2. With these adjustments, 

the EAC created an easily accessible and 

navigable resource page for election officials 

and voters with questions about elections 

during the pandemic. In addition to the 16 Joint 

COVID Working Group documents, resources 

included voting machine cleaning guidance from 

voting machine vendors, tips for empowering 

voters with disabilities during COVID-19, and 

information on utilizing CARES Act funds. 
34 

EAC.gov’s Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources page

With inquiries to the EAC from election 

officials, voters, and the press skyrocketing due 

to the pandemic, the COVID-19 resource page 

streamlined the dissemination of information 

to these groups, helping to ensure that accurate 

information was easy to find and report as 

elections approached. 

In addition to EAC developed information, 

guidance from other federal agencies such as the 

CDC, DHS, Federal Emergency Management 

Agency (FEMA), and U.S. Postal Service (USPS) 

were shared on the EAC’s COVID-19 portal. 

Finally, information specific to voters such as

health and safety guidance, voter registration 

contact information and deadlines, absentee and 

mail-in voting options, and poll worker signup 

information was aggregated and made available 

through our website. 

“How to Avoid COVID while Voting” 

“[Voters should] think about how

they’re going to engage and know 

what their options are. Every state 

has an option to vote by mail or 

absentee ballot. ” EAC Chairman Ben Hovland, 

Scientific American, 

scientificamerican.com/article/howto-avoid-covid-while-voting/ 
 

 

Above: Chairman Hovland with panel members Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, Michigan Secretary of State 

Jocelyn Benson, Tammy Patrick from the Democracy Fund, and Meghan Kelly from the Federal Voting Assistance 

Program at the 2020 Elections Summit.

THE 2020 ELECTION: 

ASSISTING ELECTION 

OFFICIALS AND VOTERS 

The EAC began 2020 supporting election 

officials and voters in anticipation of the 2020 

presidential primaries and general election. 

This included coordination and information 

sharing on election security with election 

officials and federal partners, launching new 

programs to provide training to election 

officials, engaging with stakeholders across the 

country, and supporting voter registration. 

State election officials and advocates affirmed

their support of the EAC’s mission in 2020. On 

July 21, the National Association of Secretaries 

of State allowed a previously passed resolution 

asking Congress not to fund or further 

authorize the EAC to expire. On December 10, a 

group of 41 civic engagement, disability rights, 

and civil rights organizations submitted a letter 

to members of Congress calling for increased 

funding to allow the EAC to fulfill its mission

and obligations under HAVA. On December 

17, a bipartisan group of 17 Secretaries of 

State signed a letter to members of Congress 

in support of robust funding of the EAC for 

FY2021. 

“...as the chief election officials of

our respective states, we encourage 

robust funds be allocated to the 

EAC for fiscal year 2021 for various 

initiatives... ” from the letter issued by the 

bipartisan group of 17 Secretaries 

of State. 
36 

Congressional and Media Inquiries 

While the EAC was prepared for an increase in interest due to the 2020 election, the onset 

of COVID-19 and the distribution of CARES Act funds created a higher level of interest from 

Congress and the press. EAC Commissioners and staff considered ensuring accurate information 

was conveyed about the ways the pandemic was impacting elections as essential to combating 

misinformation and disinformation and worked extensively with the press to ensure that trusted 

information was communicated. 

The EAC: 

• responded to seven Congressional

committee inquiries and responded to

numerous other requests on programming and

operations,

• submitted reports required by federal law

and for transparency including:

о 2019 EAC DATA Act Report (November 8,

2019)

о Quarterly FISMA CIO Data Call (January

15, April 15, July 15, and October 15, 2020)

о Quarterly Risk Management Assessment

(RMA) (January 15, April 15, July 15, and 

October 15, 2020) 

о FISMA Annual CIO Metrics (January 15, 

2020) 

о 2019 Annual Report to Congress (January 

31, 2020) 

о No Fear Act (January 31, April 30, July 31, 

and October 31, 2020) 

о Annual Report to the Director of OPM 

(February 1, 2020) 

о Annual Agency Ethics Program 

Questionnaire (February 3, 2020) 

о Congressional Budget Justifications

(February 10, 2020) 

о FY19 Freedom of Information Act Report 

(March 2, 2020) 

о Federal Electronic Records & Email 

Management Report (March 10, 2020) 

о Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)

Report (March 12, 2020) 

о Records Management Self-Assessment 

(RMSA) Report (March 12, 2020) 

о Confidential Financial Disclosure Reporting

(Internal Submission Only-April 17, 2020) 

о Senior Federal Travel Reporting (April 30, 

2020; October 31, 2020) 

о Public Financial Disclosure Reporting (May 

15, 2020) 

о Mid-year expenditures to Congress 

(informal) (May 20, 2020) 

о 1353 Travel Reporting (May 31, 2020 and 

November 30, 2020) 

о Pandemic Response Accountability 

Committee (quarterly reports for CARES) 

» Plans for Use of CARES Act Report

(due June 25, 2020)

» Quarterly Report (July 10 and October

10, 2020) 

о Management Directive 715 (July 17, 2020) 

о USASpending Upload for DATA Act 

(September 1, 2020 and October 22, 2020) 

о Grants Annual report (as of 9/30/19) 

finalized for website on September 20,

2020 

о BOD 18-02 Data Call (Quarterly High Value 

Assets List Update) (September 30, 2020) 

о Senior Agency Officials for Records

Management (SAORM) Report (October 1, 

2020) 

о SAOP FISMA Metrics (October 15, 2020) 

о EEO Form 462 Report (October 30, 2020) 

о Annual FISMA Reporting (October 31, 

2020) 
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

о FY20 Freedom of Information Act Report 

(November 13, 2020) 

о 20-Day CARES Act Reports (November 23,

2020, and 23 days after each state’s 2020 

primary) 

о Premium Class Travel Reporting 

(November 30, 2020) 

о Travel Reporting Information Profile

(November 30, 2020) 

о 2020 Federal Advisory Committee Act 

Annual Report (December 4, 2020) 

о Telework Report (December 15, 2020) 

о 2020 Agency Financial Report (December 

29, 2020) 

• responded to over 90 Congressional

inquiries on grants, and

• sent 43 press releases, received over

500 media requests, and generated over

10,000 press mentions

• 

On January 9, 2020, Commissioner Donald 

Palmer testifying at the Committee on House

Administration hearing “2020 Election 

Security-Perspectives From Voting System 

Vendors And Experts.”

EAC Commissioners testified before Congress on

four occasions in 2020 including: 

Vice Chair Donald Palmer (then 

Commissioner), 2020 Election Security -

Perspectives From Voting System Vendors And 

Experts: Hearing Before H. Comm. on House 

Admin., 116th Cong. (2020) (statement of 

Donald Palmer, Commissioner, U.S. Election 

Assistance Comm’n). 

• Vice Chair Donald Palmer, Voting Safely in a

Pandemic: Hearing Before the H. Comm. on

House Admin., 116th Cong. (2020) (statement

of Donald Palmer, Vice Chair, U.S. Election

Assistance Comm’n).

• Chairman Ben Hovland, Voting Rights

And Election Administration: Combating

Misinformation In The 2020 Election: Hearing

Before the H. Comm. on House Admin., 116th

Cong. (2020) (statement of Benjamin Hovland,

Chair, U.S. Election Assistance Comm’n).

• Vice Chair Donald Palmer, Examining

Irregularities in the 2020 Election: Hearing

Before the S. Comm. on Homeland Sec. and

Gov’t Affairs, 116th Cong. (2020) (statement

of Donald Palmer, Vice Chair, U.S. Election

Assistance Comm’n).

On October 6, 2020, Chairman Ben Hovland 

testified at the Committee on House 

Administration’s hearing “Voting Rights 

and Election Administration: Combating 

Misinformation in the 2020 Election.”
38 

2020 Elections Summit 

Commissioner Christy McCormick moderates a panel on securing the 2020 elections with 

panelists Geoff Hale of CISA, Texas Director of Elections Keith Ingram, Escambia County Florida 

Supervisor of Elections David Stafford, and Ron Bushar of FireEye at the 2020 Elections Summit.

On January 14, the EAC hosted the “2020 

Elections Summit.” This all-day event brought 

together local, state, and federal officials along

with experts in elections, cybersecurity, and 

accessibility to discuss preparation for the 

2020 election. The Summit was held at the 

National Press Club in Washington, DC and was 

attended by over 200 people. The event was also 

livestreamed on the EAC’s YouTube page with 

videos of each panel uploaded after the event. 

The goal of the Summit was to highlight important 

issues facing state and local election officials as

they prepared for the 2020 primaries and general 

election. At that point, no one knew the impact the 

pandemic would have on elections. 

EAC Commissioners moderated four panels 

throughout the day addressing preparations 

for a high turnout in November, resource 

management to avoid the creation of long 

lines, foreign interference and the intelligence 

community’s efforts to coordinate a response

to threats, ensuring accessibility in the election 

Shelby Pierson, Election Threats Executive, 

given an update from the Office of the Directo

of National Intelligence at the 2020 Elections 

Summit.

r 

Commissioner Hicks, speaking at the 2020 

Elections Summit, displays the EAC produced 

federal voting rights Braille card.
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and 

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson 

discuss how to prepare for high voter turnout 

at the 2020 Elections Summit.

for people with disabilities or limited English 

proficiency, protecting election infrastructure from

cybersecurity threats, deploying new equipment, 

and poll worker recruitment and retention 

strategies. Panelists included state and local election 

officials from Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida,

Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, Texas, Vermont, 

and Virginia, as well as advocates, cybersecurity 

experts, and other subject matter experts. Shelby 

Pierson, Election Threats Executive for the Office of 

the Director of National Intelligence also gave 

remarks during the event. 

Engaging the Elections Community 

When invited by stakeholders or election officials,

Commissioners will travel to engage directly 

with the elections community. Commissioners 

began 2020 with these visits prior to COVID-19 

preventing travel. This direct engagement provides 

a benefit to the agency and to election officials,

requiring EAC Commissioners and staff to create

new opportunities to directly engage following the 

halting of travel. 

Despite the effects of the pandemic, EAC

Commissioners and staff stayed in regular contact

with election officials from around the country.

Through virtual events and interviews, EAC 

Commissioners worked directly with state and 

local election officials from about 29 states and the

District of Columbia in 2020 after the onset of the 

COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, Commissioners 

and staff spent Election Day working closely with

local, state, and federal partners to monitor for 

attacks on election infrastructure or operations. 

EAC staff directly assist voters through the

election response team program. Each year 

the EAC answers calls and emails directly from 

voters, helping them to navigate questions about 

registration and voting options. The 2020 election 

presented unique concerns for voters as they 

navigated new voting options in their states while 

attempting to stay safe during the pandemic. EAC 

staff received over 4,000 calls and over 2,000

emails from voters over the course of the year. 
40 

National Poll Worker 

Recruitment Day 

After hosting a series of virtual hearings and 

roundtable discussions designed to help election 

administrators share best practices for how they 

responded to the COVID-19 pandemic during 

the spring and summer elections, the EAC found 

election officials were facing severe poll worker

shortages ahead of the 2020 presidential election. 

Poll worker recruitment poses a unique set of 

challenges during typical election cycles, and these 

challenges were amplified for election officials

during the coronavirus pandemic. In 2018, about 

70% of EAVS survey respondents reported that 

hiring a sufficient number of poll workers was

“very difficult” or “somewhat difficult.” 

Following the 2020 primary election cycle, an 

increased number of election officials shared

challenges they faced recruiting, hiring, and 

training an adequate number of poll workers, and 

expressed concerns for November. Historically, 

the majority of poll workers have been over the 

age of 60 – falling into the vulnerable populations 

for more severe complications from COVID-19 

according to guidelines from the Centers for 

Disease Control. With the 2020 presidential 

election months away, and the need for assistance 

established, the EAC designated September 

1, 2020 as the first National Poll Worker

Recruitment Day. 

The EAC was able to successfully promote the 

event, engage with external supporters, and 

provide supplemental promotional tools to make 

the day a success. The EAC acquired the URL, 

HelpAmericaVote.gov, that redirected to a page on 

the EAC’s website. The page included information 

for voters interested in signing up as poll worker, 

how to partner for the day, and a link to additional 

resources for election officials. The lookup tool

on the page offered information about being a

poll worker in specific jurisdictions including

hours, requirements, pay, and information 

on how to apply. If a local application was not 

available online, the tool provided a link to a state 

application. If a state application was not available, 

visitors could fill out a form to email to the local

office. The EAC does not retain any personal

information entered on that form and didn’t track 

how many people left the EAC site via links to 

their state or local election office. However, the

EAC does know hundreds of thousands of people 

visited the site leading up to National Poll Worker 

Recruitment Day and afterward. 

Social media was crucial for 

sharing information about National 

Poll Worker Recruitment Day. The 

EAC created the BeAPollWorker Twitter 

account and Help America Vote: Be A Poll 

Worker Facebook page for the program. 

• 5,000 Twitter interactions with

#NationalPollWorkerRecruitmentDay

• 3,106 likes and reactions to social

media posts

• 2,500 Twitter interactions with

#HelpAmericaVote

• 980 organic followers across social

media platforms

• 75 Tweets during the campaign

• 41 Facebook posts during the campaign
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

National Poll Worker Recruitment Day Social Media Highlights 
42 

The lookup tool on 

HelpAmericaVote.gov was also 

heavily utilized on the day. 

• 78,548 page views with 743 visitors 

submitting information to local 

election offices on September 1

• 511,293 page views from August 1 to 

December 21 

• 210,000 visitors between August 1 and 

September 30 

• Over 6,900 people used the tool to 

submit their information to local 

election offices from August 1 through 

November 6. 

• 686,789 page views for EAC’s Become 

a Poll Worker page from August 1 to 

December 21. Most of that traffic was 

from organic searches. For example, 

a Google search for “how to become a 

poll worker” gives this EAC page as the 

top result. 

The first National Poll Worker Recruitment 

Day was a huge success. The day garnered 

national attention and highlighted the need for 

poll workers across the United States. There 

was bipartisan support of the day with 37 state 

election offices, and a wide range of businesses, 

nonprofit organizations, politicians, and public 

figures participating. Some election officials also 

utilized the sample press release from the toolkit 

while others engaged with local news media 

outlets to promote the day. A media advisory 

released by supporter Power the Polls states that 

they were able to recruit 100,000 potential poll 

workers on National Poll Worker Recruitment 

Day alone. 

Interest in signing up to be a poll worker has 

continued and EAC staff have been responding 

to emails and phone calls since National Poll 

Worker Recruitment Day. EAC staff have 

responded to almost 1,000 email inquiries from 

the public through November 2020. The EAC 

hopes to continue this successful initiative on 

a biennial basis ahead of every federal general 

election cycle. 

Supporting Voter Registration 

and Education 

In December 2019, the EAC entered into a 

memorandum of understanding with the 

General Services Administration (GSA) to 

increase the information and functionality of 

the vote.gov website and ensure the accuracy of 

the voter registration information hosted on the 

site. EAC staff acted as subject matter experts 

and collected voter registration deadlines and 

information for all 50 states, the District of 

Columbia, and the U.S. territories. In addition 

to the voter registration deadlines for each 

jurisdiction, the site also provides links to online 

voter registration tools where available, other 

voter registration options, and links where 

visitors can check their voter registration. This 

information directs visitors to the webpages for 

state election offices.

“Voter education has been key. The 

partnerships to facilitate that voter 

education has been key. And quite 

frankly, organizations like the EAC 

and NASS that have brought us 

together to share best practices have 

also been critical this year. ” Jocelyn Benson

Michigan Secretary of State, EAC 

Roundtable Discussion: Voter 

Registration During the COVID-19 

Pandemic, September 18, 2020 
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

Throughout 2020, EAC and GSA collaborated 

on maintaining the site as well as working 

with external organizations to use vote.gov 

as a trusted source of information for voter 

registration. In the year leading up to Election 

Day 2020, over 7 million people visited 

vote.gov with 282,000 visits on National 

Voter Registration Day 2020. 

In July 2019, the EAC adopted a resolution 

recognizing the fourth Tuesday of each 

September as National Voter Registration Day. 

In 2020, as part of our ongoing effort to promote

voter registration information, the EAC joined 

over 5,000 partners in this national effort on

September 22. An estimated 1.5 million voters 

registered or updated their voter registrations for 

National Voter Registration Day. 

The EAC also maintains the National Mail Voter 

Registration Application Form, also known 

as the NVRA form or the federal form, which 

is made available to the public on the EAC 

website and vote.gov. The NVRA form is used by 

millions of people each election cycle, including 

through prominent third-party online platforms 

that support voter registration. The NVRA form 

makes voter registration easier for Americans, 

and the requirements of the NVRA mandate file 

maintenance and registration procedures that 

support individuals’ right to vote. 

States can update their NVRA form by sending 

a request on official letterhead explaining what 

changes they are requesting and clarifying 

any changes in state laws involved. The EAC’s 

Executive Director, General Counsel, and 

Research Division work to ensure changes 

are accurate and translated into 15 languages 

(Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, English, French, 

Haitian Creole, Hindi, Japanese, Khmer, 

Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog 

and Vietnamese). In 2020, the EAC managed 

updates to NVRA forms for Iowa, Nevada, 

Pennsylvania and Tennessee. 

2020 also marked the centennial anniversary of 

the 19th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. 

The amendment, which began the recognition of 

the right to vote for women, states that the right 

to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the 

United States or any state on account of sex. In 

celebration of this milestone, the EAC produced 

a video highlighting the anniversary as women 

who work at the EAC stated what the right to 

vote means to them. 

” 

Voter registration is just the first step in the 

voting process. Based on recommendations 

from our Boards, the EAC also established Voter 

Preparation Week. The goal of the initiative was 

to help voters ensure they were “vote ready” by 

checking their voter registration and exploring 

the options available in their state to cast a 

ballot. The social media campaign focused on a 

different aspect of the voting process each day 

from October 13 to 16. 

“This time of reflection on the passage 

of the 19th Amendment granting 

women the right to vote, reminds us of 

just how far we’ve come in the United 

States and how our country truly does 

try to right its previous wrongs. Election 

officials work every day to continue this 

legacy and to ensure that every eligible 

voter has the right to cast a ballot and 

that it will count. We celebrate 100 

years of women in voting, and we 

continue to work to ensure fair, safe, 

secure, and accessible elections.

EAC Commissioner Christy McCormick

in the EAC’s 19th Amendment 

anniversary celebration video. 
44 

As a trusted source of information, the EAC wanted to make sure the state-specific resources on 

EAC.gov are updated and could be a one-stop resource for visitors. In 2020, the EAC continued to 

update and improve EAC.gov with dynamic and engaging content resulting in 3.4 million users on 

the website, with over 6.4 million page views. At EAC.gov/vote, staff added state and local election 

office contact information, voter registration forms and look up tools, absentee/mail and early 

voting information, and ballot tracking and polling location look up tools. All information directs 

visitors to state election office websites and tools, and the site was one of the EAC’s most visited 

pages this cycle. 
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

Election Infrastructure Subsector Government Coordinating Council 

Following the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) designation of election infrastructure 

as critical infrastructure in January 2017, the EAC played a key role in helping establish the 

Government Coordinating Council (GCC) for the elections subsector. The GCC enables local, state, 

and federal governments to share information and collaborate on best practices to mitigate and 

counter threats to election infrastructure. As outlined in the GCC’s October 2017 charter, the EAC 

Chair serves on the GCC’s executive committee, the Vice Chair serves as a voting member, and 

the remaining two commissioners serve as ex officio, non-voting members. In addition, six voting 

members of the GCC are drawn from the EAC’s three advisory boards. 

Led by the EAC Chair on the GCC executive committee, the EAC actively participated in and supported 

the work of the GCC to share information and strengthen election infrastructure throughout 2020. As 

of December 2020, EAC-affiliated members of the GCC are listed in the table below.

GCC MEMBERS FROM THE EAC AND EAC ADVISORY BOARDS 

BENJAMIN HOVLAND EAC Chairman Member, Executive

Committee Representative 

DONALD PALMER EAC Vice Chair Member 

JUDD CHOATE 

Director, Division of Elections, Colorado; 

selected by EAC Technical Guidelines 

Development Committee 

Member 

NEAL KELLEY 

Registrar of Voters, Orange County, California; 

selected by EAC Technical Guidelines 

Development Committee 

Member 

SARAH BALL 

JOHNSON 

City Clerk, Colorado Springs, Colorado; 

selected by EAC Board of Advisors Member

LINDA LAMONE Administrator of Elections, Maryland State Board 

of Elections; selected by EAC Board of Advisors Member 

MARK GOINS Coordinator of Elections, Tennessee; selected by

EAC Standards Board Member

DEBORAH ERICKSON 

Administrative Services Director, 

Crow Wing County, Minnesota; selected 

by EAC Standards Board 

Member

THOMAS HICKS EAC Commissioner Member (ex officio)

CHRISTY McCORMICK EAC Commissioner Member (ex officio)
 

 

Above: Commissioner Hicks, Vice Chair Palmer, Commissioner McCormick at the Colorado Secretary of State’s Election 

Preparedness for Infrastructure and Cybersecurity (EPIC) Tabletop exercise.

ENHANCING ELECTION 

SECURITY 

In 2020, the EAC created the Cyber Access and Security Program (CAS) focused on election 

security. This program provides cybersecurity resources, best practices, and training to improve the 

posture and resilience of state and local election offices. Since it was established, CAS staff updated 

and added to the resources available through the EAC’s Election Security Preparedness portal and 

works with other federal and state organizations such as The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure 

Security Agency (CISA), National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS), and National 

Association of State Election Directors (NASED) to ensure that the information the EAC provides 

works with other tools and information available to state and local election officials. 
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

Through its partnership efforts, the program has made no-cost online election-focused

cybersecurity training available to all election officials. The training has been completed by

election workers in 31 states. 

Training has been completed by elections officials and staff in 31 states.

Additionally, the program has produced webinars and white papers on cyber risk and crisis 

management and is hosting the CISA-developed election security risk profile tool. Finally, the 

program worked with CISA, FBI, and NIST to create the first of its kind risk assessment of remote 

voting technologies. The assessment provides valuable and easy to consume information on the 

risks inherent with certain ballot delivery and return technologies, allowing election administrators 

to make informed decisions.

In its role in assisting election officials, the EAC Testing and Certification Program assisted Indiana, 

Pennsylvania, and Ohio with conducting risk-limiting audit (RLA) pilots. RLAs are post-election 

audits that some states use as part of their election verification processes. The EAC also issued a 

paper outlining the types of post-election audits and best practices to educate voters and the media 

on the audits that would be occurring after Election Day.
 

 

Above: Vice Chair Palmer speaking at the 2020 Elections Summit during the panel “Overcoming Election Day and 

Poll Worker Challenges.”

SETTING NEW NATIONAL 

STANDARDS FOR VOTING 

SYSTEMS 

As outlined in HAVA, core functions of the EAC include adopting and modifying the

Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG), testing and certifying voting systems against

these voluntary guidelines, and accrediting Voting System Test Laboratories (VSTLs). The

EAC adopted the first iteration of the VVSG, 1.0, in 2005, adopted VVSG 1.1 in 2015, and is

currently advancing the next generation of guidelines known as VVSG 2.0. At present, there

are 71 EAC-certified voting system configurations from 7 manufacturers. The EAC currently

works with two accredited VSTLs. 

Ongoing Voting System Testing and Certification

In 2020, the Testing and Certification Program hired two new team members to bring the 

total number of Testing and Certification staff to four. The program updated the oft-referenced 

“State Requirements and the U.S. Election Assistance Commission Voting System Testing and 

Certification Program” document and developed a map to display where EAC-certified voting 

systems are used. The program certified 10 voting systems and approved 49 engineering change 

orders related to fielded voting systems. 
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

2020 CERTIFIED VOTING SYSTEMS 

MANUFACTURER VOTING SYSTEM DATE CERTIFIED 

Clear Ballot Group ClearVote 2.0 October 21, 2019 

MicroVote EMS 4.3-A January 16, 2020 

Hart InterCivic Verity Voting 2.4 February 21, 2020 

ES&S EVS 6.0.4.3 March 11, 2020 

MicroVote EMS 4.4 May 5, 2020 

Dominion Democracy Suite 5.5-C July 9, 2020 

ES&S EVS 6.1.1.0 July 27, 2020 

ES&S EVS 6.0.3.0 July 27, 2020 

Hart InterCivic Verity Voting 2.5 September 9, 2020 

MicroVote EMS 4.41 September 21, 2020 

VOTING SYSTEMS UNDER TESTING 

MANUFACTURER VOTING SYSTEM DATE CERTIFIED 

Unisyn OpenElect 2.2 August 31, 2020 

Monitoring Voting System Manufacturers and Laboratories 

The Testing and Certification Program is responsible for monitoring EAC-registered voting system 

manufacturers and EAC-accredited VSTLs. As a part of this work, the Testing and Certification 

Program conducted three investigations of ES&S in 2020: uncertified DS200 firmware in EACcertified voting equipment, misrepresentation of EAC certification in ES&S marketing material, and 

mismatched hash values on fielded EAC-certified ExpressVote devices. 

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Testing and Certification Program had planned to audit both 

VSTLs and several manufacturing facilities. These activities, including voting system field reviews, 

will be conducted in 2021. 

VVSG 2.0 2020 Review Timeline, part 1 
50 

Advancing VVSG 2.0 

“Each step toward final approval of VVSG 2.0 is another step toward improving

election security. The final VVSG requirements will enable manufacturers to develop 

updated, improved, accessible, and secure voting technology.” Chairman Ben Hovland, press release announcing public comment period and 

hearings on VVSG 2.0, March 24, 2020 

The EAC took numerous actions to advance VVSG 2.0. The agency hosted three virtual hearings 

during Spring 2020 to hear from our stakeholders. The EAC Testing and Certification Program led the

VVSG 2.0 project management to prepare for implementation upon finalization of new standards.

EAC Advancement of VVSG 2.0: 

• Public Comments – The EAC collaborated with NIST’s Voting Systems Program

to review 1,660 public comments and revise the VVSG 2.0 draft requirements.

• VVSG 2.0 Test Assertions – The EAC drafted test assertions to align with

requirements to be implemented by the Testing and Certification Program.

• Testing and Certification Program Manual – The Testing and Certification

Program Manual was revised to include testing requirements and update processes

and procedures associated with VVSG 2.0.

• Voting System Test Laboratory (VSTL) Program Manual – The VSTL Program

Manual was revised to update processes and procedures associated with VVSG 2.0.

• VVSG 2.0 Implementation Policy – Created to address 1) sunsetting previous version

of the VVSG, 2) provide a path to upgrade voting systems, and 3) provide a path to

decertification of outdated

voting systems.

VVSG 2.0 2020 Review Timeline, part 2 
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

Upon adoption, VVSG 2.0 would be the fifth

iteration of national-level voting system 

standards. VVSG 2.0 offers a new approach to

the organization of the guidelines and seeks to 

address the next generation of voting equipment. 

It contains new and expanded material in many 

areas, including reliability and quality, usability

and accessibility, security, and testing. The

Federal Election Commission (FEC) published 

the first two sets of federal standards in 1990

and 2002. The EAC then adopted Version 1.0 

of the VVSG on December 13, 2005. In an effort

to update and improve version 1.0 of the VVSG, 

on March 31, 2015, the EAC commissioners 

unanimously approved VVSG 1.1. 

EAC Commissioners participate in the VVSGG 

Virtual Hearing 2 on May 6, 2020. 

“The EAC joined the project’s steering

committee from the start as we see 

a need for jurisdictions across the 

U.S. to have a consistent way to 

evaluate the capabilities and security 

of manufacturers’ non-voting election 

technology. This program will inform

the EAC on ways to complement the 

existing testing and certification of 

voting systems.” EAC Vice Chair Donald Palmer 

Non-Voting Election Technology 

Testing Pilot Program 

In June, the EAC announced its partnership 

with the Center for Internet Security, Inc. 

(CIS®) to pilot a technology verification program 

focused on non-voting election technology 

including electronic poll books, election night 

reporting websites, and electronic ballot 

delivery systems. The program, entitled “Rapid 

Architecture-Based Election Technology 

Verification,” or RABET-V, relies on a riskbased approach that allows rapid verification of 

manufacturers’ security claims. 

The RABET-V pilot program supports agile 

software development with a verification process 

that anticipates and supports rapid product 

changes. Goals of the pilot program include 

incentivizing high-quality, modern design of IT 

systems updated in smaller, more manageable 

cycles at reduced cost of verification and reverification with more reliable and consistent 

outcomes for purchasers of these systems. 

In addition to the EAC, state election leaders 

from Indiana, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, 

Texas, Wisconsin, and the Federal Voting 

Assistance Program (FVAP) will participate in 

the pilot program. The program is supported 

by technical expertise from Carnegie Mellon 

University, NIST, and the Open Web Application 

Security Project (OWASP). Four non-voting 

election system manufacturers have already 

signed up for the pilot: Scytl, VR Systems, 

KNOWiNK, and VotingWorks. 

Chairman Hovland with Los Angeles County 

Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan. 
 

 

Above: Chairman Hovland speaks on a panel with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger at the Bipartisan 

Policy Center.

LEVERAGING DATA 

The 2020 EAVS and 

Policy Survey 

The Election Administration and Voting 

Survey (EAVS) is the most comprehensive 

election administration survey in the United 

States. Conducted every two years following 

the federal general election, the 2020 EAVS 

is capturing data from nearly 6,500 local 

election jurisdictions across all 50 states, the 

District of Columbia, and U.S. territories. 

For the first time in 2020, EAVS will capture 

data reflecting election administration in the 

Northern Mariana Islands. The EAVS collects 

state-by-state, jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction data 

on a wide variety of election administration 

topics, including voter registration, military 

and overseas voting, domestic civilian by-mail 

voting, polling operations, provisional ballots, 

voter participation, and election technology. 

The EAC partners with the Federal Voting 

Assistance Program (FVAP) to collect data 

on military and overseas voters through the 

EAVS. The Policy Survey is administered 

just prior to the EAVS, in order to gather 

information from states about their election 

laws, definitions, and procedures. This year is 

the second administration of the Policy Survey. 

The Policy Survey is being used as a checkpoint 

for the verification of EAVS input from local 

jurisdictions. For example, EAC researchers 

will be able to reconcile local jurisdictions that 

report allowing same-day voter registration 

through EAVS with whether or not their state 

reported that same-day voter registration is 

permitted through the Policy Survey. 
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

The EAC Research Division included two 

key enhancements for the administration 

of the 2020 EAVS. The EAC reached out to 

2018 EAVS’ points of contact at the state and 

local level to conduct needs assessments and 

discuss what improvements would benefit data 

collection in 2020. The EAC also conducted 

usability testing to ensure better navigation of 

the online template for state and local users. 

The EAC continues to include stakeholder input 

in EAVS enhancements for on-going success. 

Based on feedback from the needs assessment, 

EAVS will be available to states earlier in the 

survey administration process. The availability 

of the dedicated EAVS helpdesk will also be 

extended. State and local officials requested 

more technical support and EAC is working to 

provide this. 

During the planning and preparation for 2020 

EAVS, the EAC Research Division released draft 

survey instruments for input from the general 

public, scholars, and other stakeholders. The 

60-day public comment period for the 2020 

EAVS started October 8, 2019 and ended on 

December 6, 2019, while the 30-day public 

comment period started February 11, 2020 and 

ended on March 12, 2020. Thirteen comments 

were received in the 60-day period and seven 

comments were received in the 30-day period. 

Proposed changes to the instruments are 

analyzed for relevance to the survey’s scope and 

impact on the quality of data, amongst other 

metrics prior to consideration for inclusion in 

the final draft. 

EAVS in Use: The Importance of 

EAVS data in 2020 

Since the onset of the COVID pandemic, the 

EAC Research Division has responded to 

hundreds of data-related requests from the 

general public and news media. Generally, the 

increase in interest centered around EAVS 

sections C and D, which capture data on Voting 

by Mail and Poll Workers. EAVS data was 

used in numerous news articles and by EAC 

Commissioners to present evidence-based 

talking points to the public during a time of 

concern about election administration. The 

Research Division continues to field these 

inquiries and anticipate interest will continue 

with the release of the upcoming 2020 EAVS 

data and report. 

“In the 2018 general election, around sixin-ten U.S. poll workers (58%) were ages

61 and older, including roughly a quarter

(27%) who were over 70, according

to a Pew Research Center analysis 

of government data from that year’s 

Election Administration and Voting 

Survey (EAVS), a biennial study of states’ 

administration of federal elections.” Pew Research Center, April 2020 

“Using the EAVS, we tested the early 

voting hypothesis in Georgia and 

Louisiana, which have robust early 

voting programs and have been 

closing polling places over the past 

several years.” Brennan Center’s Waiting to Vote 

report, June 2020 
54 

2020 EAVS and Policy Survey will be paramount 

in identifying election administration trends and 

highlighting any impact due to COVID, such as 

changes in state-level election laws, definitions, 

and procedures. The following is the 2020 EAVS 

and Policy Survey timeline: 

2020 EAVS AND POLICY 

SURVEY TIMELINE 

Policy Survey questions 

available August 2020

Policy Survey data 

submission due November 2020 

EAVS data collection 

templates available November 2020 

EAVS submission due February 2021 

State-submission due March 2021 

Public release of report 

and data June 2021 

The 2018 EAVS Comprehensive Report

to Congress

In December 2019, the EAC released the 

2018 EAVS Data Interactive. The EAVS Data 

Interactive is an online tool that allows visitors 

to explore, visualize, and compare election 

jurisdictions’ EAVS responses. In addition to 

the EAVS Data Interactive, the EAC released 

state-specific data briefs. Data briefs are onepage snapshots of key EAVS and Policy Survey 

data points. Both efforts are part of the agency’s 

efforts to make EAVS data more accessible and 

useful. These innovations will be available for 

the 2020 EAVS. 

Election Administration 

Research and Beyond 

As mandated by HAVA, the EAC serves as a 

national clearinghouse and resource for the 

compilation of information and review of 

procedures with respect to the administration of 

federal elections. In service of this clearinghouse 

function, the EAC Research team conducted 

interviews with small groups of state and 

local election officials, and experts in the field 

to learn more about GIS mapping and voter 

assignments, statewide voter registration 

databases and things to consider for the 

anticipated increase volume of mail-in voting. 

Conducting small research projects on these 

topics assisted EAC staff with the development 

of talking points that promote the effective 

administration of federal elections and 

providing relevant feedback to information 

inquiries that were not specifically EAVS 

related. During the 2020 election cycle, the EAC 

Research team responded efficiently to over 710 

questions from domestic and overseas voters 

across 43 states and six countries regarding 

voter registration. 
 

 

Above: EAC Commissioners presenting the National Council on Independent Living executive members 

Jim Dickson, Kelly Buckland, and FranSha Anderson with their 2019 Clearie for Improving Accessibility

for Voters with Disabilities.

PROMOTING ACCESSIBILITY 

It is estimated that more than 38.3 million Americans with disabilities, roughly one-sixth of 

the electorate, were eligible to vote in the 2020 general election. This growing demographic 

encompasses a broad range of voters, including those with mobility, visual, communicative, 

physical, or cognitive impairments. 

HAVA contained landmark provisions requiring the secure, private, and independent casting 

of ballots for people with disabilities. Since then, the EAC has worked to assist election officials 

in removing obstacles for voters with disabilities through the collection and promotion of best 

practices, hosting events to discuss and evaluate the barriers that still exist, and launching 

innovative research and programming aimed at directly assisting voters with disabilities. 

The EAC celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 

2020. The ADA and HAVA play a critical role in ensuring equal access to the ballot for people 

with disabilities. 

“With the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the U.S. Election

Assistance Commission (EAC) celebrates the landmark legislation that gave equal

access to the ballot box for all voters, and we recommit our efforts to promote full

compliance according to both the ADA and the Help American Vote Act (HAVA) in

order to have fully accessible elections. There is still much to be done.” Joint statement from the EAC Commissioners for the 30th Anniversary of the ADA, 

July 27, 2020 
56 

Commissioner Thomas Hicks moderates a panel discussing ensuring accessibility in elections with panelists 

Michelle Bishop (Voting Rights Specialist for National Disability Rights Network), Barry Stephenson (Chair 

of the Board of Registrars for Jefferson County, Alabama), Terrica Jennings (ADA Coordinator for District 

of Columbia Board of Elections), and Patty Hansen (Recorder for Coconino County, Arizona) at the 2020 

Elections Summit.

Events Focused on Accessibility 

2020 ELECTIONS SUMMIT 

In January, the EAC hosted the 2020 Elections Summit. This all-day event brought together local, 

state, and federal officials along with experts in elections, cybersecurity, and accessibility to discuss 

preparation for the 2020 election. The Summit featured a panel focused on ensuring accessibility

in elections. Election officials and accessibility advocates discussed serving voters with disabilities 

and those with limited English proficiency, and compliance with accessibility requirements in the

ADA, HAVA, and Voting Rights Act. 

DISABILITY, ACCESSIBILITY, AND SECURITY FORUM 

In February, the EAC hosted the “2020 Elections: Disability, Accessibility, and Security Forum,” 

bringing together state and local election officials, people with disabilities, disability advocates, and 

election security experts to discuss growing concerns regarding accessibility and security and to 

advance solutions. The day-long gathering featured discussions on pressing issues to voters with 

disabilities and election officials amidst growing security needs.

Over 100 people from across the country attended in-person and hundreds more watched the 

livestream on YouTube. 
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

2020 Elections Disability, Accessibility, and 

Security Forum 

Throughout the forum, EAC Commissioners, 

subject matter experts, and audience members 

discussed the crucial topics of heightened election 

security and how it must not negatively impact 

the voting rights of people with disabilities. 

“People with disabilities face various

challenges and barriers when it comes 

to voting; from inaccessible election 

websites to physical access to polling 

places. We must do better. ” EAC Commissioner Thomas Hicks 

at the 2020 Elections: Disability, 

Accessibility, and Security Forum 

Vice Chair Palmer with panel member Gema 

Howell from National Institute of Standards 

and Technology at the 2020 Elections Disability, 

Accessibility, and Security Forum

The event featured four discussion sessions 

focused on important issue areas including 2020 

elections and voters with disabilities, ballotmarking devices, best practices in accessibility, 

vote by mail, paper ballots, cutting-edge assistive 

voting technology, and polling place access. 

VIRTUAL EVENTS 

Following the shift to virtual events, the 

EAC hosted a series of virtual roundtables to 

discuss assisting voters with disabilities. The 

roundtables, hosted by Commissioner Thomas 

Hicks, brought together disability advocates and 

election officials in June and July to address best 

practices for engaging voters with disabilities 

in 2020. The participants discussed a range of 

topics including voting during the COVID-19 

pandemic, utilizing electronic ballot delivery, 

transportation issues, engaging people with 

disabilities when developing voting procedures, 

and the future of election accessibility. 

Military and overseas voters, and their families, 

face unique obstacles to requesting, receiving, 

and returning ballots. To highlight best practices 

and assist election officials in addressing the 

needs of these votes, the accessibility roundtable 

series concluded with a roundtable focused on 

the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee 

Voting Act (UOCAVA) and Accessibility during 

the COVID-19 pandemic. The event included 

lessons learned from serving UOCAVA voters 

and voters with disabilities in the primaries and 

adjusting to ensure access for these voters in the 

2020 general election. 
58 

Distributing Best Practices 

While election officials have made great strides in ensuring accessibility for voters with disabilities

following the passage of HAVA, the COVID-19 pandemic created additional complications for 

election officials. To assist officials in addressing accessibility as they adjusted their procedures for

in-person and by mail voting, the EAC developed guidance entitled “Tips for Empowering Voters with 

Disabilities in the 2020 General Election and COVID-19 Crisis.” The best practices document included 

information on communicating voting options, early voting, in-person accessible voting, absentee and 

mail voting, and making lines and wait times work for voters with disabilities. 

EAC Disability Survey 

During the fall of 2020, the EAC spearheaded an accessibility survey for the 2020 general election. 

The EAC worked closely with a team of experienced researchers from Rutgers University to 

organize the survey, which launched immediately after the general election. The survey enlisted 

more than 2,500 respondents including approximately 1,750 voters with varying disabilities. The 

comprehensive study focused on several important areas such as polling place access, mail and 

absentee voting accessibility, COVID-19 obstacles, and civic participation. 

The data and outcomes will be crucial as election officials adopt new voting technologies and 

address the ever-growing accessibility needs of an aging demographic. Survey results will be used 

by the EAC to assess voting experiences in the 2020 elections, assist election officials, and develop 

policy recommendations for improving the voting process in future elections. The information will 

provide indispensable feedback for election officials and advocacy groups, ultimately empowering 

disenfranchised voters. Full study findings will be made available on the EAC’s website in early 

February 2021. 

Commissioner Hicks with DC Board of Elections

Executive Director Alice Miller and Kelly Buckland

from the National Council on Independent Living

at the 2020 Elections Disability, Accessibility, and 

Security Forum.

Commissioner McCormick and Chairman Hovland 

at the 2020 Elections Disability, Accessibility, and 

Security Forum. 
 

 

Above: Chairman Hovland and Commissioner McCormick present Joseph Gloria, Registrar of Voters for Clark 

County, Nevada, with a 2019 Clearie Award for the category “Most Creative or Original ‘I Voted’ Sticker.”

HIGHLIGHTING BEST 

PRACTICES 

Under HAVA, the EAC is charged with serving as a clearinghouse for election administration 

information. The Clearinghouse Awards, also referred to as the “Clearies,” honor the 

enterprising spirit and hard work of election officials across the country. In the challenging 

circumstances created by COVID-19, this year’s awards highlight the resourcefulness 

of officials implementing new safety precautions in the 2020 elections and adjusting to 

increased mail and absentee voting. 

2020 Clearies 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Improving Accessibility for Voters with Disabilities; 

Outstanding Innovations in Elections; 

Best Practices in Recruiting, Retaining, and Training Poll Workers; 

Creative and Original “I Voted” Stickers; and 

Outstanding Innovation in Election Cybersecurity and Technology.* 

*New category for 2020
60 

The Clearies have grown since their inception in 2016 as the EAC continues to add categories and 

receive increasing levels of submissions. These awards will continue to serve as a touchstone for 

honoring the “can-do” spirit of election officials across the nation. 

“Election officials did an amazing job this fall as they navigated unprecedented health

concerns due to COVID-19, a substantial increase in early and mail or absentee voting,

and poll worker shortages. The best practices developed from 2020 will be highly 

valuable for future elections.” EAC Chairman Ben Hovland 

The timeline for the 2020 Clearies was adjusted to recognize the demands placed on election 

officials during the 2020 election. The judging panel, consisting of members of the EAC Standards 

Board and Board of Advisors, are currently evaluating the submissions. The EAC will announce the 

winners in the coming weeks and looks forward to upholding these innovations as best practices in 

the future. 

The EAC Commissioners present Gail Fenumiai, Director of the Alaska Division of Elections with 

their 2019 Clearie Award for the category “Most Creative or Original ‘I Voted’ Sticker.” 
 

 

Above: Then EAC Acting Executive Director, Mona Harrington with an election worker in Fairfax County, VA 

on Super Tuesday 2020. 

EAC AGENCY DEVELOPMENT 

With a full complement of commissioners and new leadership within the agency, the EAC 

continued to modernize operations in 2020. The agency filled mission critical roles in

Communications, Finance, Grants, and the Office of the Chief Information Officer as well as

several critical support positions throughout the agency. EAC staff on-boarded 32 employees

during full remote operations, representing a 132% increase in agency personnel. This included 

a wide variety of mission-critical positions. Overall, 20 staff members and 12 interns joined

the organization under the cloud of a global pandemic. Staff positions included Director of

Communications, Chief Information Officer and Chief Information Security Officer, Deputy

Chief Information Security Officer, Senior Advisor to the Executive Director, Grants Manager

and several critical support positions in the communications, cyber security, IT, administrative 

and election technology fields.

The pandemic necessitated the agency’s first virtual orientation and oath of office for new

employees. Under the leadership of the then-Acting Executive Director, all Divisions participated 

in the development of EAC’s first-ever Agency-wide orientation for new hires to introduce them

to each Division’s roles, responsibilities and connection to the EAC mission. The EAC has also 

begun a process of reviewing and updating policies and operating procedures to best serve the 

expanded workforce of the agency and the current developments in election administration. 
62 

New Agency Leadership 

On June 3, EAC Commissioners unanimously voted to approve the appointments of Mona Harrington 

as Executive Director and Kevin Rayburn as General Counsel. 

“This unanimous vote of the Commission shows the confidence we have in these

great candidates to lead the EAC into its next chapter.” 

Chairman Ben Hovland, June 10, 2020 

Ms. Harrington was named Acting Executive 

Director of the EAC in October 2019. During 

this time, she strategically reorganized the agency 

and directed a significant hiring initiative to recruit

talent and fill numerous key personnel positions.

She has also directed the distribution of over $425 

million in security grant funds and $400 million 

in CARES Act COVID-19 response funds to the 

states. Recently, Ms. Harrington assembled a new 

cyber-team to assist EAC stakeholders leading up to 

the 2020 election, and she directed an immediate 

response to COVID-19, providing online resources 

to election officials as they prepared to administer

elections during the pandemic. Ms. Harrington 

directed numerous events addressing election 

administration topics such as accessibility, security, 

and the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines. 

Prior to her Acting Executive Director role, Ms. 

Harrington served as the Chief Information 

and Security Officer at the EAC, beginning in

2018. While in that role, she was credited with 

modernizing the network and improving the EAC 

security posture of IT systems and infrastructure, as 

well as coordinating and leading multiple parallel 

initiatives to modernize and secure systems. 

Mr. Rayburn brings a decade of experience 

as an attorney in various capacities in the 

public and private sectors. Most recently, he 

served as the Deputy Elections Director and Deputy 

General Counsel for the Georgia Secretary of State’s 

Office, where he provided guidance to state and

local election officials on election administration

and law, ensured compliance with state sunshine 

laws, helped reform the state’s election code and 

regulations, and was an integral part in modernizing 

the state’s voting equipment. He also collaborated 

with national experts to implement post-election 

audits in Georgia. In his previous role, Mr. Rayburn 

also served as an advisor to the EAC EAVS working 

group, the Bipartisan Policy Center Task Force on 

Counting Votes, the Center for Election Innovation 

and Research, and the MIT Election Data and 

Science Lab. 
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

Technology Upgrade 

The agency continued its multi-year technology 

upgrade plan while launching valuable 

cybersecurity programming for election officials. 

The Cyber Access and Security Program (CAS), 

in addition to providing valuable resources to 

election officials, also worked to increase the 

cybersecurity posture of the EAC. The program 

provides quarterly cybersecurity training to 

all agency personnel and conducts monthly 

phishing exercises. The combination of training 

and exercises has reduced the agency’s phishing 

click-through rate observed during these 

exercises from almost 40% to less than 1%. 

The EAC was also able to move forward with 

productivity and security enhancements to 

its infrastructure including the integration 

of collaboration tools with existing cloud 

infrastructure that will allow streamlining and 

automation of internal processes and record 

keeping. Security improvements include 

enhanced capabilities to automate patching 

of all servers and endpoints, including mobile 

devices, as well as improving compliance with 

standards and overall governance. Much of 

this capability was improved by the EAC’s 

previous investments in cloud infrastructure 

and converting staff from desktop computers 

to laptops in addition to the hard work and 

dedication of the IT staff.

Office Relocation

On December 20, 2019, Congress passed the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020, 

which included $2.4 million for the EAC to 

relocate its offices. The funding was originally 

approved through OMB’s Passback Justification, 

from November 2018. The EAC’s space in 

Silver Spring, Maryland was not conducive 

for meetings, conferences and events. The 

agency was forced to rent adequate space 

(often preparing two venues for events to 

accommodate the overflow) and procure other 

required equipment and services to host these 

events, taxing financial resources and staff time, 

and limiting the EAC’s ability to fund program 

activities. With the EAC staff increasing by 

132%, there was not enough space for employees 

to perform their work. 

This year, EAC staff led the initiative to plan 

and implement the return of EAC offices to 

Washington, DC. The administrative and 

financial staff worked tirelessly to obligate 

the move funds and partner with GSA to plan 

and implement a move during a time that was 

sub-optimal for the agency given the challenges 

presented by the global COVID-19 pandemic. 

Staff coordinated with multiple contractors, 

facilities staff, movers, and other entities to 

facilitate a successful move directly on the heels 

of the 2020 presidential election. The agency’s 

new headquarters includes space for a dedicated 

hearing room and space to host EAC events and 

conferences, along with expanded space for the 

growing EAC workforce. 

EAC IT staff worked countless hours on-site 

during hazardous pandemic conditions to 

ensure the proper disposal and surplus of 

unused equipment and furniture. They also 

coordinated with and oversaw the activities 

of movers to transport remaining equipment 

and furniture to the new office location. At the 

new Washington, DC offices, IT staff worked to 

setup critical network infrastructure including 

network and telephone connectivity, physical 

access control and security measures, and LAN 

room HVAC capacity. As the buildout of the new 

office space continues, IT staff are working to 

design audio/visual capabilities for the hearing 

room and continued expansion of physical 

security measures responsive to updated 

floorplans. All critical infrastructure move 

activities were completed with no interruptions 

to network or telephone service for the agency 

and staff were able to surge hotline phone 

capacity in response to significantly increased 

call volume related to the 2020 presidential 

election without interrupting move activities. 
64 

Intern Program 

The EAC launched a robust intern program for current students interested in elections. Twelve 

interns from across the country attending Harvard University, William & Mary Law School, 

Georgetown University, Auburn University, and the University of Minnesota were acclimated to the 

EAC and provided with assignments that married their theoretical studies with hands-on missioncritical projects in anticipation of the Presidential election. 

EAC Appropriations 

On December 20, 2019, President Donald J. Trump signed into law the Consolidated 

Appropriations Act of 2020, which provided the EAC with $15.171 million for FY2020, including a 

$1.5 million transfer to NIST and $2.4 million for relocation expenses. Excluding the NIST transfers 

and appropriations slated for relocation, this reflected a $3.321 million increase in appropriations 

for EAC expenses from FY2019. 

On December 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 

2021, which provided the EAC with $17 million for FY2021, including a $1.5 million transfer to 

NIST. Excluding the NIST transfer and the funding appropriated for the EAC relocation expenses, 

this reflects a $4.23 million increase in general appropriations for EAC expenses from FY2020. 
 

 

Above: In February 2020, Commissioner McCormick visited the Arizona House of Representatives. She and 

Vice Chair Palmer also gave a presentation to the Arizona House Committee on Elections during this trip. 

EAC ADVISORY & 

OVERSIGHT BOARDS 

As outlined in HAVA, the EAC is advised by three federal advisory committees: the 

Technical Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC), the Standards Board, and the Board 

of Advisors. With technical support from the National Institute of Standards and Technology 

(NIST), the TGDC assists the EAC Executive Director in the development of the Voluntary 

Voting System Guidelines. The Standards Board and the Board of Advisors each review the 

Voluntary Voting System Guidelines prior to adoption, as well as other voluntary guidance 

under HAVA Title III. Additionally, EAC studies and other activities to promote effective 

administration of federal elections must be carried out in consultation with the Standards 

Board and the Board of Advisors. Finally, the EAC Executive Director and staff must consult 

with the Standards Board and Board of Advisors in preparing the program goals, long-term 

plans, mission statements, and related matters for the Commission. 
66 

Technical Guidelines 

Development Committee 

(TGDC) 

Chaired by the director of NIST, the TGDC 

is comprised of 14 other members appointed 

jointly by the EAC and the director of NIST. 

EAC Chairman Benjamin Hovland serves as the 

Designated Federal Officer (DFO) for the TGDC. 

Chairman Hovland was appointed DFO on 

February 22, 2019. The EAC hosted the TGDC’s 

annual meeting virtually on February 7, 2020. 

The TGDC also held a virtual meeting on August 

12, 2020 to discuss the comments and updates 

for the proposed VVSG 2.0 Requirements. The 

meeting was livestreamed on the EAC’s YouTube 

page and open to the public. The TGDC was 

comprised of the following members at the end 

of 2020. 

TGDC Chair Walter Copan.

WALTER COPAN (CHAIR) National Institute of Standards and Technology 

LORI AUGINO National Association of State Election Directors 

JUDD CHOATE National Association of State Election Directors 

MCDERMOT COUTTS Technical Expert 

ROBERT GILES EAC Standards Board 

DIANE GOLDEN Technical Expert 

MARC GUTHRIE Access Board 

GEOFF HALE Technical Expert 

NEAL KELLEY EAC Board of Advisors 

LINDA LAMONE EAC Board of Advisors 

PAUL LUX EAC Standards Board 

SACHIN PAVITHRAN Access Board 

MARY SAUNDERS American National Standards Institute 

DAVID WAGNER Technical Expert 
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

Standards Board 

The Standards Board is a 110-member board comprised of 55 state and local election officials 

selected by their respective chief state election official with a defined process to ensure input from 

the state’s association of local election officials. HAVA prohibits any two members representing the 

same state to be members of the same political party. The board selects nine members to serve as an 

executive board, of which not more than five are state election officials not more than five are local 

election officials and not more than five are members of the same political party. 

EAC Vice Chair Donald Palmer serves as the Designated Federal Officer (DFO) for the Standards 

Board. Vice Chair Palmer was appointed DFO on February 22, 2019. The EAC organized the 

Standards Board’s annual meeting virtually on July 31, 2020. The meeting was livestreamed on the 

EAC’s YouTube page and open to the public. The Standards Board was comprised of the following 

members at the end of 2020. 

Previous Standards Board Chairman Brad King Current Standards Board Chairman Reynaldo 

Valenzuela Jr.
68 

Standards Board Members 

STATE OR TERRITORY STATE ELECTION OFFICIAL LOCAL ELECTION OFFICIAL 

ALABAMA 

The Honorable John H. Merrill 

Alabama Secretary of State 

James Tatum 

Probate Judge 

Bullock County 

ALASKA 

Gail Fenumiai 

Director 

Alaska Division of Elections 

Carol Thompson 

Absentee and Petition Manager 

Alaska Division of Elections 

AMERICAN SAMOA 

Uiagalelei Lealofi

Commissioner of Elections 

American Samoa Election Office

Fiti Tavai 

Division Head 

IT/Data Systems & UOCAVA 

Division, American Samoa Election 

Office

ARIZONA 

Janine Petty 

Assistant Director of Elections 

Services 

Office of the Arizona Secretary of 

State 

Reynaldo Valenzuela Jr. 

Director of Elections 

Maricopa County, Arizona 

ARKANSAS 

The Honorable John Thurston 

Arkansas Secretary of State 

Melanie Clark 

County Clerk 

Jackson County, Arkansas 

CALIFORNIA 

Susan Lapsley 

Deputy Secretary of State, 

California 

Neal Kelley 

Registrar of Voters 

Orange County, California 

COLORADO 

Dwight K. Shellman III 

County Support Manager 

Colorado Department of State 

Elections Division 

Rene Loy 

Chief Deputy Clerk 

Delta County, Colorado 

CONNECTICUT 

The Honorable Denise Merrill 

Connecticut Secretary of State 

Lisbeth Becker 

Registrar of Voters 

Town of Glastonbury, Connecticut 

DELAWARE 

Anthony Albence 

State Election Commissioner, 

Delaware 

Howard G. Sholl, Jr.

Deputy Director

Department of Elections for New

Castle County, Delaware 

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 

Alice P. Miller, Esq. 

Executive Director 

District of Columbia Board of 

Elections 

Michael D. Gill, Esq. 

Board Member 

District of Columbia Board of 

Elections 
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

Standards Board Members 

STATE OR TERRITORY STATE ELECTION OFFICIAL LOCAL ELECTION OFFICIAL 

FLORIDA 

Maria Matthews 

Division Director 

Florida Division of Elections 

Paul Lux 

Supervisor of Elections 

Okaloosa County, Florida 

GEORGIA 

The Honorable Bradford 

Raffensperger

Georgia Secretary of State 

Nancy Boren 

Director of Elections and Voter 

Registration 

Columbus, Georgia 

GUAM 

Maria I.D. Pangelinan 

Executive Director 

Guam Election Commission 

Joseph P. Iseke 

Election Program Coordinator 

Guam Election Commission 

HAWAII 

Kristen Uyeda 

Section Head, Ballot Operations 

Hawaii Office of Elections

Pat Nakamoto 

Election Administrator 

Hawaii County, Hawaii 

IDAHO 

Lisa Power 

Business Analyst 

Idaho Secretary of State 

Patty Weeks 

County Clerk 

Nez Perce County, Idaho 

ILLINOIS 

Bernadette Matthews 

Assistant Executive Director 

Illinois State Board of Elections 

Lance Gough 

Executive Director 

Chicago Board of Election 

Commissioners 

INDIANA 

J. Bradley King

Director

Indiana Election Division

Vacant 

IOWA Christy Wilson 

Deputy Secretary of State 

Dennis Parrott 

Auditor 

Jasper County, Iowa 

KANSAS 

The Honorable Scott Schwab 

Kansas Secretary of State 

Jameson Shew 

County Clerk 

Douglas County, Kansas 

KENTUCKY 

Jared Dearing 

Executive Director 

Kentucky State Board of Elections 

Kenny Barger 

County Clerk 

Madison County, Kentucky 

LOUISIANA The Honorable R. Kyle Ardoin 

Louisiana Secretary of State 

Mike Spence 

Clerk of Court

Caddo Parish, Louisiana 
70 

Standards Board Members 

STATE OR TERRITORY STATE ELECTION OFFICIAL LOCAL ELECTION OFFICIAL 

MAINE Julie L. Flynn 

Maine Deputy Secretary of State 

Katherine L. Jones 

Clerk 

Portland City, Maine 

MARYLAND 

Nikki Baines Charlson 

Deputy Administrator 

Maryland State Board of Elections

Guy Mickley 

Election Director 

Howard County Board of Elections,

Maryland 

MASSACHUSETTS 

Michelle K. Tassinari 

Director/Legal Counsel 

Massachusetts Office of 

Secretary of the Commonwealth, 

Election Division 

Andrew Dowd 

Town Clerk 

Northborough, Massachusetts 

MICHIGAN The Honorable Jocelyn Benson 

Michigan Secretary of State 

Justin Roebuck 

County Clerk/Register of Deeds 

Ottawa County, Michigan 

MINNESOTA 

David Maeda 

Director of Elections 

Office of the Minnesota 

Secretary of State 

Debby Erickson 

Administrative Services Director 

Crow Wing County, Minnesota 

MISSISSIPPI 

The Honorable Michael Watson 

Mississippi Secretary of State 

Durward Stanton 

Circuit Clerk 

Carroll County, Mississippi 

MISSOURI 

The Honorable John R. (Jay) 

Ashcroft 

Missouri Secretary of State 

Batina Dodge 

County Clerk 

Scotland County, Missouri 

MONTANA 

Dana Corson 

Director of Elections and Voter

Services 

Montana Secretary of State 

Rina Fontana Moore 

County Clerk and Recorder 

Cascade County, Montana 

NEBRASKA 

Heather Doxon 

Training and Implementation 

Coordinator 

State of Nebraska Elections 

Division 

David Shively 

Election Commissioner 

Lancaster County, Nebraska 
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

Standards Board Members 

STATE OR TERRITORY STATE ELECTION OFFICIAL LOCAL ELECTION OFFICIAL 

NEVADA 

The Honorable Barbara K. 

Cegavske 

Nevada Secretary of State 

Joseph P. Gloria 

Registrar of Voters 

Clark County, Nevada 

NEW HAMPSHIRE 

Anthony Stevens 

New Hampshire Assistant Secretary 

of State 

Robert Dezmelyk 

Moderator 

Town of Newton, New Hampshire 

NEW JERSEY 

Robert Giles 

Director 

New Jersey Division of Elections 

Linda Von Nessi 

Clerk of Elections 

Essex County, New Jersey 

NEW MEXICO 

Mandy Vigil 

Elections Director 

New Mexico Secretary of State 

David Kunko 

County Clerk 

Chaves County, New Mexico 

NEW YORK 

Douglas A. Kellner 

Commissioner, Co-Chair 

New York State Board of Elections 

Rachel L. Bledi 

Commissioner 

Albany County Board of Elections, 

New York 

NORTH CAROLINA Vacant 

Michael Dickerson 

Director of Elections 

Mecklenburg County, North 

Carolina 

NORTH DAKOTA 

Brian Newby 

Election Director 

North Dakota Secretary of State 

DeAnn Buckhouse 

Election Coordinator 

Cass County, North Dakota 

OHIO 

Amanda Grandjean 

Director of Elections 

Ohio Secretary of State 

Steve Harsman 

Deputy Director 

Montgomery County Board of 

Elections, Ohio 

OKLAHOMA 

Carol Morris 

Director, Ballot Generation Services 

Oklahoma State Election Board 

Jana Maddux 

Secretary 

Rogers County Election Board, 

Oklahoma 

OREGON 

Stephen N. Trout 

Former Director of Elections 

Oregon Secretary of State 

Derrin (Dag) Robinson 

County Clerk 

Harney County, Oregon 
72 

Standards Board Members 

STATE OR TERRITORY STATE ELECTION OFFICIAL LOCAL ELECTION OFFICIAL 

PENNSYLVANIA 

Jessica Myers 

Director of Policy 

Pennsylvania Department of State 

Randall O. Wenger 

Chief Clerk/Chief Registrar 

Board of Elections and Registration 

Commission, Lancaster County, 

Pennsylvania 

PUERTO RICO 

Ramón Allende Santos 

Ayudante del Comisionado, Puerto 

Rico 

Walter Vélez Martinez 

Secretario 

Urb. Monte Elena 

RHODE ISLAND 

Rob Rock 

Director of Elections 

Rhode Island Secretary of State 

Kathy Placencia 

Administrator of Elections 

City of Providence, Rhode Island 

SOUTH CAROLINA 

Marci Andino 

Executive Director 

South Carolina State Election 

Commission 

David Alford 

Director 

Board of Voter Registration and 

Elections, Florence County, South 

Carolina 

SOUTH DAKOTA 

Rachel Soulek 

HAVA Coordinator 

South Dakota Secretary of State 

Carri Crum 

County Auditor 

Clay County, South Dakota 

TENNESSEE 

Mark Goins 

Coordinator of Elections 

Tennessee Secretary of State 

Vacant 

TEXAS 

Keith Ingram 

Director 

Texas Secretary of State, Elections 

Division 

Dana DeBeauvoir 

County Clerk 

Travis County, Texas 

UTAH 

Justin Lee 

Director of Elections 

Lieutenant Governor of the 

State of Utah 

Sherrie Swensen 

County Clerk 

Salt Lake County, Utah 

VERMONT 

William Senning 

Director of Elections and Campaign 

Finance 

Vermont Secretary of State 

Sandra “Sandy” Pinsonault, 

MMC 

Town Clerk 

Dorset, Vermont 
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

Standards Board Members 

STATE OR TERRITORY STATE ELECTION OFFICIAL LOCAL ELECTION OFFICIAL 

VIRGIN ISLANDS 

Lisa Harris Moorhead 

Member 

Virgin Islands Board of Elections 

Kevermay Douglas 

Deputy Supervisor of Elections 

Virgin Islands 

VIRGINIA 

Christopher E. “Chris” Piper 

Commissioner 

Virginia Department of Elections 

Brenda Cabrera 

Director of Elections 

City of Fairfax, Virginia 

WASHINGTON 

Stuart Holmes 

Election Information Services 

Supervisor 

Washington Secretary of State’s 

Office

Jerry Pettit 

County Auditor 

Kittitas County, Washington 

WEST VIRGINIA 

Brittany Westfall 

SVRS Coordinator of Elections 

West Virginia Secretary of State 

Brian Wood 

County Clerk 

Putnam County, West Virginia 

WISCONSIN 

Meagan Wolfe 

Administrator 

Wisconsin Elections Commission 

Barbara K.D. Goeckner 

Deputy Clerk/Treasurer/ 

Administrator 

Village of Cambridge, Wisconsin 

WYOMING 

Kai Schon 

Wyoming State Election Director

Jackie R. Gonzales 

County Clerk 

Albany County, Wyoming 

Board of Advisors 

The Board of Advisors is a 35-member board 

composed of representatives from the National 

Governors Association; National Conference 

of State Legislatures; National Association of 

Secretaries of State; National Association of 

State Election Directors; National Association 

of Counties; the International Association 

of Government Officials (created from the 

merger of the National Association of County 

Recorders, Election Officials and Clerks, and the 

International Association of Clerks, Recorders, 

Election Officials and Treasurers); Election 

Center; U.S. Commission on Civil Rights; and 

the Architectural and Transportation Barriers 

Compliance Board. Other members include 

representatives from the U.S. Department 

of Justice, Office of Public Integrity and the 

Civil Rights Division; the director of the 

U.S. Department of Defense Federal Voting 

Assistance Program; four professionals from the 

field of science and technology, one appointed 

by each the Speaker and Minority Leader of the 

U.S. Senate; the Speaker and Minority Leader 

of the U.S. House of Representatives. The chairs 

and ranking minority members of the U.S. 

House of Representatives Committee on House 

Administration and the U.S. Senate Committee 

on Rules and Administration each appoint two 

members representing voter interests. 
74 

EAC Commissioner 

Thomas Hicks serves as the 

Designated Federal Officer 

(DFO) for the Board of 

Advisors. Commissioner 

Hicks was appointed DFO 

on February 22, 2019. 

The EAC organized the 

Board of Advisors’ annual 

meeting virtually on June 

16, 2020. The meeting was 

livestreamed on the EAC’s 

YouTube page and open to 

the public. The Board of 

Advisors was comprised of 

the following members at 

the end of 2020. 

Board of Advisors Chairman Michael Yaki

BOARD OF ADVISORS MEMBERS 

MEMBER POSITION APPOINTING ENTITY 

JEFFREY MCLEOD 

Director 

Center for Best Practice’s Homeland 

Security and Public Safety Division 

National Governors 

Association 

SHAUN RAHMEYER 

Administrator 

Nevada Office of Cyber Defense 

Coordination 

National Governors 

Association 

SENATOR KATHY BERNIER Senator

Wisconsin State Legislature 

National Conference of State 

Legislatures 

SENATOR DANIEL 

IVEY-SOTO 

Senator 

New Mexico State Legislature 

National Conference of State 

Legislatures 

THE HONORABLE PAUL 

PATE 

Iowa Secretary of State 

NASS Immediate Past President 

National Association of 

Secretaries of State 

THE HONORABLE JIM 

CONDOS 

Vermont Secretary of State serving on 

behalf of NASS President 

National Association of 

Secretaries of State 
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

BOARD OF ADVISORS MEMBERS 

MEMBER POSITION APPOINTING ENTITY 

KEITH INGRAM 

Director 

Elections Division 

Texas Secretary of State 

National Association of State 

Election Directors 

LINDA LAMONE Administrator of Elections 

Maryland State Board of Elections 

National Association of State 

Election Directors 

RICKY HATCH Clerk/Auditor

Weber County, Utah 

National Association of 

Counties 

ALYSOUN MCLAUGHLIN 

Deputy Election Director 

Montgomery County Board of 

Elections, Maryland 

National Association of 

Counties 

TINA BARTON City Clerk

City of Rochester Hills, Michigan U.S. Conference of Mayors 

ELIZABETH (LIZ) HOWARD 

Counsel 

Brennan Center for Justice 

Democracy Program 

U.S. Conference of Mayors 

TIM MATTICE Executive Director

The Election Center The Election Center 

DEAN LOGAN Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk 

Los Angeles County, California The Election Center 

MICHAEL WINN Director of Elections

Harris County, Texas 

International Association of 

Government Officials

NEAL KELLEY Registrar of Voters 

Orange County, California 

International Association of 

Government Officials

MICHAEL YAKI Commissioner

U.S. Commission on Civil Rights 

U.S. Commission on Civil 

Rights 

DAVID KLADNEY Commissioner 

U.S. Commission on Civil Rights 

U.S. Commission on Civil 

Rights 

MARC GUTHRIE Public Member

U.S. Access Board 

Architectural and

Transportation Barrier

Compliance Board 
76 

BOARD OF ADVISORS MEMBERS 

MEMBER POSITION APPOINTING ENTITY 

SACHIN PAVITHRAN Public Board Member 

U.S. Access Board 

Architectural and 

Transportation Barrier 

Compliance Board 

RICHARD PILGER 

Director 

Election Crimes Branch, U.S. 

Department of Justice 

Chief, Office of Public 

Integrity, U.S. Department of 

Justice 

CHRIS HERREN 

Chief 

Civil Rights Division Voting Section, 

U.S. Department of Justice 

Chief, Voting Section 

Civil Rights Division, U.S. 

Department of Justice 

DAVID BEIRNE 

Director 

Federal Voting Assistance Program, 

U.S. Department of Defense 

Director, Federal Voting 

Assistance Program, U.S. 

Department of Defense 

PHILIP B. STARK 

Associate Dean, Professor of 

Statistics 

University of California Department 

of Statistics 

Speaker of the House 

ELLIOT BERKE Managing Partner 

Berke Farah LLP House Minority Leader 

SARAH BALL JOHNSON City Clerk 

Colorado Springs, Colorado Senate Majority Leader 

DR. BARBARA SIMONS Association for Computing 

Machinery Senate Minority Leader 

GREGORY MOORE President 

GTM Consulting Services, LLC 

House Committee on 

Administration - Chair 

LAWRENCE NORDEN 

Deputy Director 

Brennan Center for Justice 

Democracy Program 

House Committee on 

Administration - Chair 

JOHN FOGARTY 

Senior Counsel 

Government and Regulatory Affairs 

Practice Group, Clark Hill PLC 

House Committee on 

Administration - Ranking 

Member 
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

BOARD OF ADVISORS MEMBERS 

MEMBER POSITION APPOINTING ENTITY 

DON GRAY County Clerk 

Sangamon County 

House Committee on 

Administration - Ranking 

Member 

JAMES DICKSON 

Co-Chair 

Voting Rights Task Force, National 

Council on Independent Living 

Senate Committee on Rules 

and Administration - Chair 

MARK RITCHIE 

President 

Minnesota World’s Fair Bid 

Committee 

Senate Committee on Rules 

and Administration - Chair 

LINDA NIENDICK County Clerk 

Lafayette County, Missouri 

Senate Committee on Rules 

and Administration - Ranking 

Member 

SHANE SCHOELLER County Clerk 

Greene County, Missouri 

Senate Committee on Rules 

and Administration - Ranking 

Member 
APPENDIX

Election Security Federal Expenditures as of 9/30/20

STATE AWARD EXPENDITURES PERCENT EXPENDED

ALABAMA $13,088,416 $3,353,653 26%

ALASKA $6,000,000 $4,370,858 73%

AMERICAN 

SAMOA $1,200,000 $451,170 38%

ARIZONA $15,860,974 $8,483,595 53%

ARKANSAS $9,503,000 $9,503,000 100%

CALIFORNIA $73,502,386 $5,535,494 8%

COLORADO $13,476,843 $919,265 7%

CONNECTICUT* $10,876,298 $919,703 8%

* The total expended is based on 2019 data. FY2020 data had not been received as of 1/6/2021.

** There was no award in 2019 for Northern Mariana Islands. FY2020 data had not been received

as of 1/6/2021.
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

STATE AWARD EXPENDITURES PERCENT EXPENDED

DELAWARE* $6,036,503 $3,000,000 50%

DISTRICT OF 

COLUMBIA $6,000,000 $4,487,398 75%

FLORIDA $40,800,785 $21,257,468 52%

GEORGIA $21,907,178 $7,918,749 36%

GUAM $1,200,000 $474,223 40%

HAWAII $6,642,675 $196,885 3%

IDAHO $6,854,176 $2,282,864 33%

ILLINOIS $28,132,930 $3,944,493 14%

INDIANA $16,140,537 $8,816,793 55%

IOWA $9,786,087 $2,060,619 21%

KANSAS $9,308,516 $19,200 0%

KENTUCKY* $12,265,189 $3,612,874 29%

LOUISIANA $12,512,099 $0 0%

MAINE $6,643,743 $277,290 4%

MARYLAND $15,010,079 $3,916,466 26%

MASSACHUSETTS $16,769,740 $3,624,331 22%

MICHIGAN $22,760,697 $2,441,648 11%

MINNESOTA $14,014,282 $1,101,579 8%

MISSISSIPPI $9,521,137 $2,707,333 28%

MISSOURI $15,365,191 $2,549,269 17%

MONTANA $6,133,535 $1,397,056 23%

* The total expended is based on 2019 data. FY2020 data had not been received as of 1/6/2021.

** There was no award in 2019 for Northern Mariana Islands. FY2020 data had not been received as of

1/6/2021.

Election Security Federal Expenditures as of 9/30/20
80

STATE AWARD EXPENDITURES PERCENT EXPENDED

NEBRASKA $7,422,268 $1,534,553 21%

NEVADA $9,083,287 $1,698,658 19%

NEW 

HAMPSHIRE* $6,582,633 $821,841 12%

NEW JERSEY $20,740,675 $1,398,513 7%

NEW MEXICO $7,853,131 $1,572,204 20%

NEW YORK $41,431,856 $11,836,838 29%

NORTH 

CAROLINA* $22,050,678 $0 0%

NORTH DAKOTA $6,000,000 $0 0%

NORTHERN 

MARIANA 

ISLANDS**

$600,000 $0 0%

OHIO $25,907,133 $15,467,638 60%

OKLAHOMA $11,036,835 $1,001,673 9%

OREGON $11,392,029 $1,252,542 11%

PENNSYLVANIA $28,651,723 $25,640,601 89%

PUERTO RICO $7,818,846 $815,165 10%

RHODE ISLAND $6,216,180 $2,807,362 45%

SOUTH 

CAROLINA $12,833,985 $3,558,045 28%

SOUTH DAKOTA $6,000,000 $2,949,445 49%

TENNESSEE $16,077,418 $3,934,283 24%

TEXAS $49,449,807 $19,691,460 40%

* The total expended is based on 2019 data. FY2020 data had not been received as of 1/6/2021.

** There was no award in 2019 for Northern Mariana Islands. FY2020 data had not been received as of

1/6/2021.

Election Security Federal Expenditures as of 9/30/20
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

STATE AWARD EXPENDITURES PERCENT EXPENDED

U.S. VIRGIN 

ISLANDS $1,200,000 $872,961 73%

UTAH $8,714,983 $1,305,161 15%

VERMONT $6,000,000 $1,112,883 19%

VIRGINIA $19,301,044 $4,727,727 24%

WASHINGTON $16,805,723 $5,818,635 35%

WEST VIRGINIA $7,666,930 $3,673,459 48%

WISCONSIN $14,828,442 $7,106,064 48%

WYOMING $6,000,000 $2,541,606 42%

Total $804,978,602 $232,762,593 29%

* The total expended is based on 2019 data. FY2020 data had not been received as of 1/6/2021.

** There was no award in 2019 for Northern Mariana Islands. FY2020 data had not been received as of

1/6/2021.

Section 101 Federal Expenditures as of 9/30/2020

Data is from 24 states with active grants. Thirty-one state grants are closed. 

STATE AWARD EXPENDITURES PERCENT EXPENDED

ALABAMA $4,989,605 $4,823,431 96.7%

ALASKA $5,000,000 $5,000,000 100.0%

ARIZONA** $5,451,369 $2,095,600 38.4%

CALIFORNIA $26,804,708 $26,804,708 100.0%

DELAWARE** $5,000,000 $5,000,000 100.0%

GEORGIA $7,816,328 $7,816,328 100.0%

HAWAII $5,000,000 $5,000,000 100.0%

ILLINOIS $11,129,030 $10,984,970 98.7%

Election Security Federal Expenditures as of 9/30/20
82

STATE AWARD EXPENDITURES PERCENT EXPENDED

INDIANA** $6,230,481 $6,230,481 100.0%

KANSAS $5,000,000 $3,959,832 79.2%

KENTUCKY $4,699,196 $4,699,196 100.0%

MAINE $5,000,000 $5,000,000 100.0%

MICHIGAN $9,207,323 $9,207,323 100.0%

MONTANA $5,000,000 $5,000,000 100.0%

NEW 

HAMPSHIRE* $5,000,000 $2,463,272 49.3%

NEW JERSEY** $8,141,208 $8,141,208 100.0%

NEW YORK $16,494,325 $13,257,473 80.4%

NORTH 

CAROLINA $7,887,740 $7,882,129 99.9%

PUERTO RICO $3,151,144 $3,151,144 100.0%

SOUTH 

CAROLINA $4,652,412 $4,652,412 100.0%

SOUTH DAKOTA $5,000,000 $5,000,000 100.0%

TENNESSEE $6,004,507 $5,933,099 98.8%

TEXAS $17,206,595 $17,069,299 99.2%

WYOMING $5,000,000 $5,000,000 100.0%

Total $184,865,971 $174,171,905 94.22%

Section 101 Federal Expenditures as of 9/30/2020

* The total expended is based on 2019 data. FY2020 data had not been received as of 1/6/2021.

** There was no award in 2019 for Northern Mariana Islands. FY2020 data had not been received as of

1/6/2021.
2020 EAC Annual Report: Serving America’s Election Officials and Voters

Section 251 Federal Expenditures as of 9/30/2020

Data is from 41 states with active grants. Fourteen state grants are closed. 

STATE AWARD EXPENDITURES PERCENT EXPENDED

ALABAMA $40,247,219 $40,227,898 100.0%

ALASKA $13,021,803 $12,724,036 97.7%

ARIZONA** $45,516,688 $45,516,688 100.0%

ARKANSAS $24,245,457 $24,245,457 100.0%

CALIFORNIA $296,305,593 $276,695,564 93.4%

COLORADO $38,767,048 $38,253,371 98.7%

CONNECTICUT* $31,109,847 $31,095,157 100.0%

DELAWARE** $13,021,803 $12,298,302 94.4%

DISTRICT OF 

COLUMBIA $13,028,257 $13,028,257 100.0%

FLORIDA $148,633,048 $148,633,048 100.0%

GEORGIA $72,641,827 $68,140,405 93.8%

GUAM** $2,319,361 $2,319,361 100.0%

HAWAII $13,028,257 $12,971,881 99.6%

IDAHO $13,021,803 $13,021,803 100.0%

ILLINOIS $110,597,147 $109,436,204 99.0%

INDIANA $54,440,282 $54,277,323 99.7%

KANSAS $24,033,425 $24,033,425 100.0%

KENTUCKY $36,919,261 $30,406,135 82.4%

MAINE $13,028,257 $13,028,257 100.0%

MASSACHUSETTS $58,589,549 $37,766,703 64.5%

MICHIGAN $88,575,455 $88,575,455 100.0%

* The total expended is based on 2019 data. FY2020 data had not been received as of 1/6/2021.

** There was no award in 2019 for Northern Mariana Islands. FY2020 data had not been received as of

1/6/2021.
84

STATE AWARD EXPENDITURES PERCENT EXPENDED

MINNESOTA $43,962,194 $43,962,194 100.0%

MISSISSIPPI $25,164,294 $25,152,465 100.0%

MISSOURI $50,394,880 $50,394,880 100.0%

NEW 

HAMPSHIRE* $13,028,257 $10,410,561 79.9%

NEW YORK $172,076,865 $169,354,678 98.4%

NORTH 

CAROLINA* $73,460,046 $71,755,810 97.7%

OKLAHOMA $31,043,081 $31,043,081 100.0%

OREGON $31,243,106 $31,243,106 100.0%

PENNSYLVANIA $112,821,809 $112,140,337 99.4%

PUERTO RICO $5,868,252 $5,649,494 96.3%

RHODE ISLAND $13,028,257 $13,021,803 100.0%

SOUTH 

CAROLINA $36,384,617 $36,384,617 100.0%

SOUTH DAKOTA $13,028,257 $13,028,257 100.0%

TENNESSEE $51,877,745 $25,711,600 49.6%

U. S. VIRGIN 

ISLANDS** $2,319,361 $2,319,353 100.0%

UTAH $18,491,597 $17,857,518 96.6%

VERMONT $12,453,257 $10,084,337 81.0%

WASHINGTON $52,955,253 $52,955,253 100.0%

WEST VIRGINIA $17,184,961 $16,771,183 97.6%

WYOMING $13,028,257 $13,028,257 100.0%

Total $1,940,905,731 $1,848,963,515 95.3%

Section 251 Federal Expenditures as of 9/30/2020

* The total expended is based on 2019 data. FY2020 data had not been received as of 1/6/2021.

** There was no award in 2019 for Northern Mariana Islands. FY2020 data had not been received as of

1/6/2021.

EAC.gov