League Petitions Senate for Election Assistance Appropriations

December 10, 2020

 

The Honorable Richard Shelby

Chairman

Senate Committee on Appropriations

Washington, D.C. 20510

 

The Honorable Patrick Leahy Vice Chairman

Senate Committee on Appropriations

Washington, D.C. 20510

 

The Honorable John Kennedy

Chairman

Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government

Senate Committee on Appropriations

Washington, D.C. 20510

 

The Honorable Christopher Coons

Ranking Member

Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government

Senate Committee on Appropriations

Washington, D.C. 20510

 

Dear Chairman Shelby, Vice Chairman Leahy, Chairman Kennedy, and Ranking Member Coons:

On behalf of the 41 undersigned organizations, we urge Senate appropriators to include the House-passed $19.1 million1 for the operating and programmatic expenses of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) in any end-of-year funding package. This figure represents $6.3 million more than the $12.8 million proposed in the Senate-introduced bill. The shortfall in the Senate bill has huge implications for the EAC’s ability to fulfill its obligations under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).

Congress entrusted the EAC with providing federal support to states to improve the security and reliability of our elections. The EAC must be sufficiently funded in order to carry out this mission and fulfill its statutory obligations under HAVA, one of our major federal election laws. The agency plays a crucial federal role for administering and dispersing federal grants to states to improve and strengthen the resiliency of the nation’s election infrastructure. A fully resourced EAC is critical to advance the goals of HAVA and support state and local election administrators in the performance of their responsibilities to America’s voters. These important functions under HAVA include the painstaking work of updating the voluntary voting system guidelines, testing and certification of voting systems, election data collection, and research and studies on core election administration issues such as methods of convenient and accessible voting, ballot design, provisional voting, voter education, and poll worker performance.

We urge Congress to support the $19.1 million appropriated for the EAC in the House-passed bill to ensure the agency is funded at an adequate level. If you have any questions, please contact Sonia Gill at [email protected].

Sincerely,

American Civil Liberties Union American

Council of the Blind

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)

Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC

Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs

Autistic Self Advocacy Network

Brady

Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law

Campaign Legal Center

Clean Elections Texas

Common Cause

Democracy 21

Democracy Fund Voice Demos

End Citizens United / Let America Vote Action Fund

Fair Elections Center

Human Rights Campaign

Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

Lawyers for Good Government (L4GG)

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

League of Women Voters of the United States

NAACP

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF)

National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities

National Council of Jewish Women

National Disability Rights Network (NDRN)

NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice

New American Leaders Action Fund

OSET Institute, Inc.

Paralyzed Veterans of America

People For the American Way

Planned Parenthood Action Fund

Public Citizen

Secure Elections Network

Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE)

Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

Sierra Club

SPLC Action Fund

Union for Reform Judaism

Verified Voting

The Workers Circle