CRS Issue Statement on Voting and Elections

Kevin J. Coleman, Coordinator
Analyst in Elections

Through a series of laws and constitutional amendments, Congress has expanded and safeguarded the voting franchise over the course of more than two centuries. Following the electoral crisis of 2000, Congress again acted to protect the voting process. The Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) represented a historic change in the federal approach because of its scope and an infusion of federal money to improve elections. The law established a series of federal standards for election administration and, for the first time ever, the funding to meet them. But HAVA also resulted in unintended consequences. Many states or localities purchased electronic voting machines to meet the new standards, for example, then abandoned them because of concerns over security. Perhaps most importantly, the new law focused public attention on the voting process, but did not necessarily lead to greater citizen confidence about its functioning.


Date of Report: July 19, 2010
Number of Pages: 3
Order Number: IS40405
Price: $0.00 FREE at http://www.pennyhill.net/documents/voting_and_elections.pdf

Follow us on TWITTER at http://www.twitter.com/alertsPHP or #CRSreports

Document available via e-mail as a pdf file or in paper form.
To order, e-mail Penny Hill Press or call us at 301-253-0881. Provide a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover card number, expiration date, and name on the card. Indicate whether you want e-mail or postal delivery. Phone orders are preferred and receive priority processing.