EAC Releases Findings of Voting Fraud and Voter Intimidation Study

No consensus on the regularity of voting fraud and voting intimidation found
Agency accepts recommendations to conduct a comprehensive study on elections crimes

WASHINGTON - The United States Election Assistance Commission (EAC) today voted on the findings of the "Voting Fraud and Voter Intimidation Study" and accepted recommendations to conduct a comprehensive assessment of all claims, charges and prosecutions of voting crimes.

The study represents the first phase of the information gathering process and includes a working definition of election crimes. EAC will now proceed with the second phase, a more comprehensive data-driven survey and study of elections crimes and voter intimidation. The new phase will offer consistency to the study and will identify a common definition of the issue for dialogue among elections officials, civil rights and voter advocacy groups, law enforcement officials, attorneys and the public.

The recommendations accepted by EAC today include:

Survey Chief Elections Officers to Review and Assess Administrative Complaints: EAC will survey the states' chief election officers regarding complaints that have been filed, investigated and resolved since January 1, 2004.

Survey State Election Crime Investigation Units Regarding Complaints Filed and Referred: EAC will gather information on the numbers and types of complaints that have been received by, investigated, and ultimately referred to local or state law enforcement by election crime investigation units since January 1, 2004.

Survey Law Enforcement and Prosecutorial Agencies Regarding Complaints and Charge of Voting Crimes: EAC will survey law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies at the local, state and federal level to determine the number and types of complaints, charges, or indictments, and pleas or convictions of election crimes since January 1, 2004.

Analyze Survey Data in Light of State Laws and Procedures: EAC will use the reliable data gathered from each survey group to analyze the effectiveness of fraud prevention and reporting measures.

In order to arrive at the findings, EAC consultants reviewed existing studies, articles, reports and case law on voting fraud and intimidation and conducted interviews with experts in the field regarding their experiences and research. According to the findings, while there is currently no consensus on the frequency of voting fraud and voter intimidation, most participants agreed that absentee balloting is subject to the greatest proportion of fraudulent acts, followed by vote buying and voter registration fraud.

Following today's vote to approve the survey recommendations, EAC will begin a comprehensive survey and subsequent study on voting fraud and voter intimidation based on hard data. Section 241 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) mandates that EAC research and study various issues related to the administration of elections. During Fiscal Year 2006, EAC in consultation with the Standards Board and Board of Advisors selected voting fraud and voter intimidation from a list of potential research topics that serve to improve the administration of elections for federal office.

For the EAC's full report on the Voting Fraud and Voter Intimidation Study or to view testimony from today's hearing, visit www.eac.gov.

EAC is an independent bipartisan commission created by HAVA. It is charged with administering payments to states and developing guidance to meet HAVA requirements, implementing election administration improvements, adopting voluntary voting system guidelines, accrediting voting system test laboratories and certifying voting equipment and serving as a national clearinghouse and resource of information regarding election administration. The three EAC commissioners are Paul DeGregorio, chairman; Donetta Davidson and Gracia Hillman. One vacancy currently exists.