Committee on House Administration 

2022 Midterms Look Back Series: 

Government Voter Suppression in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania

Testimony: United States Election Assistance Commission (EAC)

Donald Palmer, Commissioner

March 28, 2023

Chairman Steil, Ranking Member Morelle, and members of the Committee, I appreciate the 

opportunity to appear before you today to address the ongoing work of the U.S. Election 

Assistance Commission (EAC) as part of your series on the 2022 midterms. Today, I would like 

to discuss the role of the EAC’s testing and certification program in protecting the integrity of 

voting equipment and materials recently used during the general election in Luzerne County, 

Pennsylvania. Our testing and certification program was successfully administered in the 2022 

midterms and will continue to be instrumental as we support the states and help election officials 

prepare for the 2024 elections. 

Election integrity and cybersecurity of our election systems play a vital role in our national 

security. Every lawfully cast vote counts, and I share your concern for these issues. Thank you 

for conducting this hearing.

In order to provide background into the issues impacting the recent midterms in Luzerne County, 

I would like to discuss the role of the EAC’s Testing and Certification Division. Guided by the 

Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA), this program continues to ensure the security, 

accessibility, and accuracy of voting equipment which helps strengthen America’s confidence in 

elections. Toward this goal, the Commission made considerable progress by fully implementing 

the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG) 2.0 in 2022. This was made possible by the 

ongoing support of Congress, the dedication of EAC staff, industry experts, election officials, 

and the diligence of our Testing and Certification Division. The new VVSG 2.0 incorporates 

technology advancements in cybersecurity, accuracy, accessibility, usability, and auditability. 

In April 2022, the EAC approved the VVSG Lifecycle Policy, which facilitates migration to new 

standards and establishes a prescribed schedule for periodic review of the federal standards going 

forward. This progress, along with the accreditation of two Voting System Test Laboratories 

(VSTL) in late 2022, are critical steps toward the realization of voting systems that are VVSG 

2.0 tested and certified. The EAC has already received an application for one system to be tested 

with VVSG 2.0.

In 2023, the EAC is advancing our testing and certification efforts in several areas. Most 

recently, the agency is working to launch an innovative Field Services Program to help election 

officials strengthen their overall posture and preparedness. This endeavor will bring EAC staff 

on-site to work with local officials on the quality monitoring of election systems.
The new program will help in several ways. First, implementation of field system reviews will 

ensure that the equipment delivered to jurisdictions corresponds to the procurement orders. The 

effort will also analyze the system hardware and software configurations to verify equivalency of 

the equipment to EAC certifications. In addition, our Field Services outreach work will include 

jurisdiction site surveys of voting systems, best practices assessments, collection of system 

census information, and analysis of anomaly reports. When fully staffed, the program will have 

six EAC program experts located across the country. We recently onboarded the Field Services 

Program manager and look forward to building out this initiative.

Another effort of note is our pilot program to evaluate election-supporting technology systems,

which is currently in progress. The EAC is also looking at areas of research in coordination with 

the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for the use of end-to-end verifiable

(E2E) protocols in voting systems. In addition, the EAC is working on modernizing access to 

certified voting machine information.

Regarding the issues that occurred in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, the EAC-certified

configuration utilized by the county requires the use of ballot paper that is specified by the 

manufacturer and tested within the EAC’s program. Approved ballot paper stock information for 

the Dominion Democracy Suite 5.5-A system used in Luzerne County is contained in the 

technical data package for the system and specifies paper manufacturer, type, weight, and 

color/finish. Although election officials must occasionally make difficult ballot supply decisions

in a natural disaster or interruption of supply, we encourage employing other means to the extent 

possible, such as appropriate planning and procuring a sufficient supply of machine-appropriate 

paper and using provisional ballots when necessary.

EAC-accredited VSTLs conduct compliance testing using a range of paper weights, sizes, and 

finishes which are all within the manufacturer specifications. To be certified, all tested systems 

must adhere to the VVSG accuracy and reliability performance standards.

The apparent decision to use an alternative to the specified paper stock was possibly necessitated 

by an unacceptable situation on the ground, and we at the EAC stand ready to help. While 

guidelines and election law pertaining to paper ballot ordering are determined at the state level,

there are areas where we can provide guidance moving forward, particularly in the event of an 

emergency. In addition, states may use HAVA election security grant funding for procuring 

ballot stock that has security features such as watermarks or unique ballot identifiers. We 

recently issued guidance on this matter.

It should be noted that the EAC has closely monitored the paper stock issue and released an alert

in the summer of 2022 pertaining to the nationwide paper shortage. The notice included guidance 

on how to plan for depletions of ballot inventory on Election Day. The EAC also hosted and 

participated in roundtable discussions regarding ballot paper shortage risks and worked with the 

Election Infrastructure Subsector Coordinating Council to create additional guidance regarding 

this issue. All of the resources related to supply chain risks can be found on the EAC website, 

which is regularly updated. The EAC is also launching a portal that will facilitate communication

among election officials that can be used to connect jurisdictions that are close by, have similar 

voting systems, and can potentially share excess ballot stock in the event of a shortage.
Occasionally there will be an election where a locality or a precinct will run out of ballots for 

voters. This is an extremely unfortunate and avoidable situation. The ability to offer a ballot to a 

voter is fundamental to any free and fair election. Every election official I meet is dedicated to 

facilitating the right to vote for their citizens. Unfortunately, mistakes and miscalculations 

periodically occur and need to be remedied.

The EAC pays close attention to all input from jurisdictions across the U.S. and did not receive 

reports of equipment malfunctions related to paper stock during the 2022 midterm election. 

Furthermore, there were no issues concerning paper weight reported during certification testing 

for the system used in Luzerne County. Additional details on the system’s certification and any 

discrepancies found during testing are available on the EAC’s website:

• Dominion Democracy Suite 5.5-A Certification Documentation

• Dominion Democracy Suite 5.5-A Discrepancy Report

There are potential strategies that can be undertaken at the EAC to help address these types of 

problems and uphold each citizen’s right to cast their ballot and have it accurately counted. We 

have carefully reviewed this matter and would like to offer action items in support of election 

officials who need our assistance. 

To specifically address the VVSG 2.0 guidelines regarding paper stock used in voting systems, 

an update would be necessary to require detection mechanisms for ballot paper specifications. 

The EAC will work through the HAVA-mandated process to carefully consider standards 

relating to these issues in a future revision of the VVSG. As part of the VVSG Lifecycle Policy, 

we are currently accepting public comments on Regulations.gov through June 7th for proposed 

changes to the VVSG as part of the annual standards review process. The EAC is happy to add 

any input members of the committee may wish to provide and welcome your input on these 

matters. 

The EAC’s Clearinghouse division also produces additional resources that may serve to better 

inform election officials facing supply issues or best practices to prepare for election day to 

ensure adequate supply of paper ballots. Staffed by former election officials and subject matter 

experts, the Clearinghouse division continues to publish numerous best practices and resources. 

These range from best practices on list maintenance to resources on physical security threats 

against election officials to overall guidance in conducting elections.

To that end, EAC recently released a comprehensive set of modernized Election Management 

Guidelines (EMG). This resource assists local and state election officials in administering 

elections. The updated version covers 19 chapters on topics such as voting system certification, 

system security, accessibility, ballot building, absentee voting, and recounts. Across the election 

landscape, physical security, cybersecurity, and continuity of operations have become essential 

components of national security. The EMG represents a fitting addition to EAC’s growing 

library of resources, which will assist in 2023 and beyond.
In November 2024, citizens of the United States will administer and take part in the nation’s

sixtieth presidential election. Our preparations are already well underway. Election officials, 

voting system manufacturers, and voters have a trusted partner in the EAC. Together, we must

work to improve elections at all levels of government and ensure that issues like those that 

occurred in Luzerne County do not happen again. 

Thank you for your continued support of the EAC and your unwavering commitment to election 

administrators, poll workers, and our nation’s public servants. We look forward to working 

closely with you on these and other important matters. I would be pleased to address any 

questions you may have.