§20981 — Title 52 Voting and Elections | U.S. Code

§20981 Periodic Studies of Election Administration Issues

Title 52 › Subtitle Subtitle II— Voting Assistance and Election Administration › Chapter 209— ELECTION ADMINISTRATION IMPROVEMENT › Subchapter II— COMMISSION › Part C— Studies and Other Activities To Promote Effective Administration of Federal Elections › § 20981

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

A federal commission must regularly study how elections are run and share those studies with the public. The studies must look for ways to make voting easy and accessible for everyone (including military and overseas voters, people with disabilities, and people with limited English), accurate and secure, fair so every eligible voter has an equal chance to vote and have that vote counted, and efficient and cost-effective. The studies cover many topics, including voting machines and their alerts, ballot design, voter registration and secure statewide lists, provisional voting, accessibility for people with disabilities and Native American or Alaska Native citizens, ways to detect and investigate fraud and voter intimidation, poll worker training, voter education, whether to change election days or hours (including a uniform poll closing time or making election day a federal public holiday under section 6103 of title 5 or keeping/moving the current date—the Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even-numbered years), voting eligibility laws, how the Federal Government can help states and what funding is needed, State recount and contest rules and standards for what counts as a vote, whether recount rules should be more consistent, the feasibility of providing voting materials in eight or more languages, issues for rural and urban areas, ways to get timely ballots to military and overseas voters, performance benchmarks measured as a percentage of residual vote for the top federal contest on the ballot, broadcasting that could give false polling-place information, and any other election topics the commission finds appropriate. After each study, the commission must send a report with any recommended actions to the President, the Committee on House Administration, and the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate.

Title 52, §20981

Voting and Elections — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)On such periodic basis as the Commission may determine, the Commission shall conduct and make available to the public studies regarding the election administration issues described in subsection (b), with the goal of promoting methods of voting and administering elections which—

(1)will be the most convenient, accessible, and easy to use for voters, including members of the uniformed services and overseas voters, individuals with disabilities, including the blind and visually impaired, and voters with limited proficiency in the English language;

(2)will yield the most accurate, secure, and expeditious system for voting and tabulating election results;

(3)will be nondiscriminatory and afford each registered and eligible voter an equal opportunity to vote and to have that vote counted; and

(4)will be efficient and cost-effective for use.

(b)For purposes of subsection (a), the election administration issues described in this subsection are as follows:

(1)Methods and mechanisms of election technology and voting systems used in voting and counting votes in elections for Federal office, including the over-vote and under-vote notification capabilities of such technology and systems.

(2)Ballot designs for elections for Federal office.

(3)Methods of voter registration, maintaining secure and accurate lists of registered voters (including the establishment of a centralized, interactive, statewide voter registration list linked to relevant agencies and all polling sites), and ensuring that registered voters appear on the voter registration list at the appropriate polling site.

(4)Methods of conducting provisional voting.

(5)Methods of ensuring the accessibility of voting, registration, polling places, and voting equipment to all voters, including individuals with disabilities (including the blind and visually impaired), Native American or Alaska Native citizens, and voters with limited proficiency in the English language.

(6)Nationwide statistics and methods of identifying, deterring, and investigating voting fraud in elections for Federal office.

(7)Identifying, deterring, and investigating methods of voter intimidation.

(8)Methods of recruiting, training, and improving the performance of poll workers.

(9)Methods of educating voters about the process of registering to vote and voting, the operation of voting mechanisms, the location of polling places, and all other aspects of participating in elections.

(10)The feasibility and advisability of conducting elections for Federal office on different days, at different places, and during different hours, including the advisability of establishing a uniform poll closing time and establishing—

(A)a legal public holiday under section 6103 of title 5 as the date on which general elections for Federal office are held;

(B)the Tuesday next after the 1st Monday in November, in every even numbered year, as a legal public holiday under such section;

(C)a date other than the Tuesday next after the 1st Monday in November, in every even numbered year as the date on which general elections for Federal office are held; and

(D)any date described in subparagraph (C) as a legal public holiday under such section.

(11)Federal and State laws governing the eligibility of persons to vote.

(12)Ways that the Federal Government can best assist State and local authorities to improve the administration of elections for Federal office and what levels of funding would be necessary to provide such assistance.

(13)(A)The laws and procedures used by each State that govern—

(i)recounts of ballots cast in elections for Federal office;

(ii)contests of determinations regarding whether votes are counted in such elections; and

(iii)standards that define what will constitute a vote on each type of voting equipment used in the State to conduct elections for Federal office.

(B)The best practices (as identified by the Commission) that are used by States with respect to the recounts and contests described in clause (i).

(C)Whether or not there is a need for more consistency among State recount and contest procedures used with respect to elections for Federal office.

(14)The technical feasibility of providing voting materials in eight or more languages for voters who speak those languages and who have limited English proficiency.

(15)Matters particularly relevant to voting and administering elections in rural and urban areas.

(16)Methods of voter registration for members of the uniformed services and overseas voters, and methods of ensuring that such voters receive timely ballots that will be properly and expeditiously handled and counted.

(17)The best methods for establishing voting system performance benchmarks, expressed as a percentage of residual vote in the Federal contest at the top of the ballot.

(18)Broadcasting practices that may result in the broadcast of false information concerning the location or time of operation of a polling place.

(19)Such other matters as the Commission determines are appropriate.

(c)The Commission shall submit to the President and to the Committee on House Administration of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate a report on each study conducted under subsection (a) together with such recommendations for administrative and legislative action as the Commission determines is appropriate.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was formerly classified to section 15381 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Election Data Collection Grants Pub. L. 110–161, div. D, title V, § 501, Dec. 26, 2007, 121 Stat. 1997, required the Election Assistance Commission to establish an election data collection grant program.