U.S. Election Assistance Commission

Help America Vote Act - Election Security Program

Combined Budget Worksheet Instructions

General Instructions. The budget worksheet form contains rows for budget category line items and columns for 

costs by program category as listed below. Election Security funds should be budgeted with the total grant award 

in mind. For example, the Election Security program was awarded in 2018 (Year 1) with supplemental funds in 

2020 (Year 2), 2022 (Year 3), and 2023 (Year 4). The combined budget worksheet should document the budget for 

the whole federal amount and associated match. 

Allocate funds to each program category you plan to use the funds for and to the budget line items you plan to 

claim costs against within the program category. In the program categories, enter the federal share in the 

designated columns and the anticipated match for the program category in the row labeled Non-federal Match. 

Enter data only in the green highlighted cells. You will not be allowed to enter data in any other cells on the form. 

The form will calculate totals for each budget line item and each program category in the yellow highlighted cells. 

Use the last column, if desired, to enter other allowable program categories in which your state is planning to 

spend the funds, but please use existing categories as much as possible. You must ensure that those planned 

activities are within the intended purposes of the Congressional authorization. If you are unsure whether your 

planned activities are allowable, contact the Grants office at Grants@eac.gov to discuss.

General Guidance

Please categorize your expenditures in the predefined program categories as much as possible. Only use

the “Other” categories for items that you cannot allocate to specific program categories. Include all budget

line items related to the activity in the category, such as staffing, travel, training, contracts for services, and

maintenance of any systems associated with the category. For example, if you have an annual software

upgrade for your Voter Registration system or conduct training for counties on the system, you should

allocate those expenditures under the Voter Registration System program category.

If you can estimate staff time to allocate to specific categories, please do so. For example, if you can

estimate that a staff person generally spends 50% of their time on Voter Registration Systems and 50% on

Voting Processes, report 50% of the salary costs to each Program Category. This does not mean the staff

person’s timekeeping process must allocate time to different program categories. You can estimate time

spent on each category for the purpose of progress reporting. However, you must still allocate time

separately if a specific staff person is paid with funds from more than one grant, e.g., if you cover a specific

staff person’s salary with funds from both your Section 251 and Election Security grant, the timesheet must

allocate their time to the different grants.

Budget Categories

1. Personnel

2. Fringe Related to Salary

3. Equipment

4. Training

5. Contractual

6. Other (Describe)

7. Other (Describe)

8. Subgrants

9. Total Direct Costs

10. Indirect Costs
Program Categories (Allocated as federal and non-federal shares)

1. Voting Equipment 

2. Voting Processes

3. Voting Registration Systems 

4. Election Auditing

5. Cyber and Physical Security

6. Voter Education

7. Accessibility

8. Other (Describe)

9. Other (Describe)

PROGRAM CATEGORIES DESCRIPTIONS

These descriptions will help you determine how to allocate expenditures to specific predefined program

categories.

1. Voting Equipment: This is a specialized category for software and hardware related to voting equipment

only. It includes funds to local election offices for voting equipment. You can also include any costs related

to the voting equipment program such as specific contracts and services related to voting equipment,

including storage, as described under General Guidance.

2. Voting Processes: Non-voting equipment-related costs to support the voting process including staffing,

maintenance and storage of voting equipment, training on use of the equipment, travel, and equipment

purchased to support the voting process that is not voting equipment, such as copiers with a per unit cost

over $5,000, as described under General Guidance.

3. Voter Registration Systems: Software and hardware related to updating and maintaining the statewide 

voter registration system and processes, service contracts on voting equipment and processes, and all other 

identifiable costs related to the Voter Registration System as described under General Guidance.

4. Election Auditing: All costs associated with post-election auditing, including staffing, etc. as described

under General Guidance.

5. Cyber and Physical Security: All costs associated with cyber and physical security such as security

cameras and as described under General Guidance.

6. Voter Education: Activities related to voter education, including any contracts related to communicating 

voter education through various print, online or other media. Also include here the state toll-free phone 

number expenses for the public to communicate with state and county election offices, including for the public 

to report suspected fraud, as described under General Guidance.

7. Accessibility: All costs associated with ensuring polling places and election-related facilities are fully

accessible as described under General Guidance.

8. Other (write in)

· Costs associated with the pandemic

· Bank Fees

· Audit Fees

· Software and licenses not directly allocable to one of the main program categories

If you have any questions about how to categorize a specific allowable grant cost in these predefined

categories or whether to use Other, please reach out to the EAC Grants Office at Grants@eac.gov for

technical assistance.

Instructions for Specific Cells
1. Name of Organization (Cell B-2): Enter the name of the state and department in cell B-2.

2. Award Type (Cell B-3): The award type “formula” will be selected 

3. Project Period Start Date (Cell B-4): The start date of the budget period is already pre-filled.

4. Project Period End Date (Cell B-5): Leave blank.

5. Other Program Categories Specified by the State (Cells I-14:23 and J-14:23): If you plan to support 

one or more program areas that don’t fit into the existing seven categories, use columns I and J. Enter titles 

for them in cells I-13 and J-13, as needed.

6. State Indirect Cost Rate: If you are claiming indirect costs against the grant, work with staff 

knowledgeable about the state’s rate and its base for application to answer the questions on the form and 

determine the amounts to enter in the line for indirect costs within the appropriate program categories. 

Because the base for application can vary and may not be based on the budget categories on the form, you 

should be prepared to answer questions from EAC staff to explain the calculations.

A. Select your Indirect Cost % in cell E-4

B. Select your Indirect Cost Type in cell E-5

7. Match. The percentage of match required, where applicable, will be prepopulated in cell E-3. EAC 

understands that the non-federal share is planned, and the state has two years from the disbursement date

to make the match available for use. Therefore, while the form includes a section in which to enter 

proposed state match sources in Section C, you are not required to enter data for match at this time if you 

don’t have it. States can submit amendments to the budget once match is identified. The territories of 

American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands, are exempt from match. 

Uploading to GrantSolutions

Follow the separate instructions provided by the EAC on submitting your completed budget worksheet via 

GrantSolutions.

Budget Changes 

EAC recognizes that plans and budgets may change over time. You will be able to request a budget amendment if 

needed. A budget amendment is required if a new category of funding is being added and/or a shift of more than 

10% of the total federal award is being requested between categories.