IV 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 311 

Urging the President and Congress to take actions to fill vacancies on the 

Election Assistance Commission. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 19, 2013 

Mr. HOYER (for himself, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms. 

FUDGE, Mr. HINOJOSA, and Ms. CHU) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on House Administration 

RESOLUTION 

Urging the President and Congress to take actions to fill 

vacancies on the Election Assistance Commission. 

Whereas the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) was established by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) 

on a bipartisan basis, with the approval of 357 Members 

of the House of Representatives and 92 Senators; 

Whereas under section 202 of HAVA (42 U.S.C. 15322), the 

EAC was established to ‘‘serve as a national clearinghouse and resource for the compilation of information 

and review of procedures with respect to the administration of Federal elections’’, and its conferences, reference 

works, and instructional videos have saved State and 

local governments and election officials millions of dollars 

since its establishment; 


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•HRES 311 IH 

Whereas the EAC was established by Congress to help it 

carry out its duty to oversee Federal elections as provided 

in article I, section IV of the Constitution of the United 

States while respecting the primary role of States in the 

administration of elections; 

Whereas EAC’s guidance can help States avoid contested 

elections that can cost tens of millions of dollars and 

2012’s Hurricane Sandy showed how election administrators can need the help that EAC’s Federal experts can 

provide in dealing with unexpected situations such as 

natural disasters, both of which demonstrate the value of 

EAC-produced materials covering Election Management 

Guidelines and Contingency and Disaster Planning and 

of having a Federal agency that election officials can call 

upon for guidance and advice in the event that an election may be affected by unusual circumstances; 

Whereas HAVA strives to ensure that the EAC is bipartisan 

by authorizing ‘‘the Majority Leader of the Senate, the 

Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Minority 

Leader of the Senate, and the Minority Leader of the 

House of Representatives’’ under section 203 of the Act 

(42 U.S.C. 15323) to each submit recommendations to 

the President for nominations of individuals to serve as 

commissioners; and 

Whereas in spite of the great value that the EAC has provided to Federal, State, and particularly local governments in administering their elections efficiently as well 

as effectively, the EAC has been without a working 

quorum of commissioners since 2010 and without any 

commissioners since December 2011, denying the American people the full assistance the Commission can provide: Now, therefore, be it 


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•HRES 311 IH 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) urges the Majority Leader of the Senate, 

3 the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the 

4 Minority Leader of the Senate, and the Minority 

5 Leader of the House of Representatives, to exercise 

6 the authority granted by section 203 of the Help 

7 America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15323) by 

8 each submitting to the President a recommendation 

9 for a candidate to fill their respective vacancies on 

10 the Election Assistance Commission; 

11 (2) urges President Obama to consider such 

12 recommendations promptly and to submit to the 

13 Senate nominations to fill all 4 vacancies; 

14 (3) urges the Committee on Rules and Adminis15 tration of the Senate to hold hearings and votes 

16 promptly on those nominations; and 

17 (4) urges the full Senate to provide each nomi18 nee who is reported favorably by the Committee with 

19 an up-or-down vote on confirmation. 

Æ 


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