U.S. Election Assistance Commission

What U.S. Election Assistance Commission does

The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) is an independent, bipartisan federal agency established by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002, headquartered in Washington, DC. It is the only federal agency solely focused on election administration, operating with a small staff (11-50) under a four-Commissioner governance structure appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Its core mandate covers three functional pillars: (1) developing federal voting system standards through the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG 1.0, 1.1, and 2.0), (2) testing and certifying voting systems via the Testing & Certification (T&C), Election Supporting Technology Evaluation Program (ESTEP), and Field Services (FSP) programs at accredited Voting System Test Labs, and (3) serving as the national clearinghouse for election administration information, distributing toolkits, guides, training, and research to all 50 states, four territories, and DC.

The EAC's product portfolio is best understood as a curated suite of programs and resources rather than a unified software product. Major offerings include the EAC Learning Lab (now offering professional certification), the biennial Election Administration and Voting Survey (EAVS), the Accessible Voting Technology Initiative (AVTI), 26 Quick Start Guides, Election Management Guidelines spanning 19 chapters, Language Access Resources with 1,843+ translated election terms in 20+ languages, Election Security Preparedness resources co-developed with CISA, and the National Clearinghouse Awards (Clearies) program recognizing innovation across nine categories. Technology outputs include the Election Security Risk Profile Tool (joint with CISA), the Accessible Voting Machines Calculator (with the University of Rhode Island), and an AI Toolkit for Election Officials addressing AI-generated content risks.

The EAC does not operate a commercial business model and generates no revenue. All resources, training, and certification services are provided free of charge to election officials and voters. Funding flows from annual federal appropriations, and the EAC administers HAVA grant programs that pass funds to states for election infrastructure, voting system upgrades, and cybersecurity measures. Customers are distributed across 8,000+ election jurisdictions, with primary segments being state and local election officials, voters (including UOCAVA military/overseas and voters with disabilities), and federal partners (CISA, NIST, FVAP, DOJ, DHS). The EAC's value proposition rests on its unique statutory authority as the sole federal standards body for voting systems and as the mandated clearinghouse, supported by deep integrations with NIST, CISA, Mandiant, Rutgers University, and other partners.

Name

U.S. Election Assistance Commission

Legal name

U.S. Election Assistance Commission

Website

https://eac.gov

Company type

Public

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The U.S. Election Assistance Commission is the only federal agency solely focused on election administration, developing voting system certification standards (VVSG) and serving as the national clearinghouse for 8,000+ state and local election jurisdictions. It is funded by federal appropriations and distributes HAVA grants, training, toolkits, and research resources at no cost.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Federal Election Administration

NAICS

Public Administration (92)

akta.pro primary industry

Electoral Support & Election Observation (BPADAGAA)

Keywords

• Election administration services
• Voting system certification
• Election security resources
• Election official training
• Voter accessibility programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Silver Spring

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Federal Appropriations and HAVA Grants: The EAC is funded through annual federal appropriations and distributes Help America Vote Act (HAVA) grant funds to states for election administration improvements, voting system upgrades, and cybersecurity measures. The agency does not generate commercial revenue.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) is an independent, bipartisan federal commission that serves as the national clearinghouse for election administration under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002. It develops Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG), operates testing and certification programs for voting systems, distributes HAVA grants to states, and provides professional training, toolkits, and accessibility resources to state and local election officials and voters.

Product overview

The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) is an independent, bipartisan federal agency that serves as the national clearinghouse for election administration. Rather than a unified software product, EAC offers a portfolio of programs and resources organized around core functions: voting system testing and certification (T&C, ESTEP, FSP), professional development (Learning Lab with certification, Quick Start Guides, Toolkits), research and data collection (EAVS surveys, Rutgers partnership studies), and resource dissemination (Clearinghouse Awards, VVSG guidelines, security resources). These offerings work together to support election officials across the entire election cycle—from equipment certification through security preparedness, accessibility, language access, poll worker training, and post-election auditing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Voting System Testing & Certification Program (T&C) Federal program that evaluates election hardware and software against Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG) standards through testing at accredited Voting System Test Labs (VSTL).
• Election Supporting Technology Evaluation Program (ESTEP) Federal program providing testing, certification, and support for election-supporting technologies that assist in election administration.
• Field Services Program (FSP) Program that assists states and local jurisdictions in post-certification activities including systems verification and ongoing support for voting systems.
• Election Management Guidelines (EMG) Comprehensive guidelines covering 19 chapters to assist state and local election officials in effectively managing and administering elections, including security, accessibility, ballot building, and post-election audits.
• EAC Learning Lab Online platform providing free on-demand training on election administration topics, now offering professional certification for election officials completing the program.
• Election Administration and Voting Survey (EAVS) Comprehensive biennial survey collecting state-by-state data on election administration topics, serving as the most comprehensive nationwide data source on U.S. elections.
• National Clearinghouse Awards (Clearies) Annual awards program recognizing innovative election administration efforts across nine categories including Security, HAVA Grants, Communications, Contingency Planning, Accessibility, and Poll Workers.
• Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG) Federal standards (VVSG 1.0, 1.1, and 2.0) against which voting systems are tested and certified, representing a forward-looking approach acknowledging evolving election technology landscapes.
• Accessible Voting Technology Initiative (AVTI) Initiative supporting accessibility research on transformative technologies for voters with disabilities, having produced over 45 solutions for assisting voters with disabilities.
• Quick Start Guides

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 330 jurisdictions covered under VRA language assistance requirements served with translated materials
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEAC works jointly with CISA on election security initiatives including the Election Infrastructure Incident Response Communications Guide, quarterly Election Threat Intelligence Briefings with Mandiant, and the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC). CISA developed the Protecting U.S. Elections: A Cybersecurity Toolkit in partnership with EAC and distributes free cybersecurity services and tools for election officials.
• MandiantcoreTechnology or IntegrationEAC partners with Mandiant to host quarterly Election Threat Intelligence Briefings for election officials, IT, and cyber staff, covering observed cyber activity, threat landscapes, and strategic outlook for election security.
• Rutgers UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEAC collaborates with Rutgers University researchers on studies analyzing voting experiences of voters with disabilities, including the 2020, 2022, and ongoing disability and voting accessibility studies conducted under HAVA's clearinghouse and research mandates.
• National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNIST co-develops the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG) with EAC and provides technical support for UOCAVA remote electronic voting pilot programs. NIST contributes election terminology glossaries and security best practices documents for election officials.
• Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFVAP, part of the U.S. Department of Defense, works with EAC on military and overseas citizen voting (UOCAVA). The MOVE Act mandated that EAC and NIST provide guidelines and best practices to support FVAP's remote electronic voting pilot programs.
• Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEAC partnered with CTCL to offer no-cost online cybersecurity training for all election officials and election-related staff, delivered through CTCL's platform in three courses: Cybersecurity 101, 201, and 301.
• U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), FBI, and EACcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJointly created the 2024 U.S. Federal Elections: The Insider Threat report outlining election security-related insider threat examples, potential scenarios, and mitigation recommendations for election officials.
• U.S. Department of JusticecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEAC coordinates with DOJ on UOCAVA enforcement, voting rights provisions, and federal observer programs. DOJ provides legal context for Voting Rights Act language minority requirements and enforcement actions.
• MITREminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMITRE developed Recommended Security Controls for Voter Registration systems, providing actionable security controls for state and local governments maintaining voter registration systems.
• Center for Internet SecurityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCIS publishes the Handbook for Election Infrastructure Security and developed the Election Infrastructure Assessment Tool (EIAT) to help election officials conduct security self-assessments.
• University of Rhode Island's Engineering for Democracy InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to develop the Accessible Voting Machines Calculator, helping election officials and policymakers determine optimal accessible voting machine deployment numbers for minimal wait times.
• National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNCSL produces resources on election security state policies, exploring election processes and procedures, and identifying options for state legislators to improve election security.
• U.S. Census BureaucoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCensus Bureau determinations under Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act publish which jurisdictions must provide language assistance. EAC uses Census data for language access designations and mapping.
• National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEAC and NCSL jointly developed 'Helping America Vote: Election Administration in the United States 2024,' a comprehensive nonpartisan guide on how elections are managed across the country.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Election Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC): Run by the Center for Internet Security (CIS), it provides operational threat intelligence to election officials in partnership with EAC. Direct peer in the election-cybersecurity sub-segment where EAC's preparedness resources are distributed.
• Federal Election Commission (FEC): Independent federal agency that administers and enforces campaign finance law. It is the closest sister agency to the EAC in mission scope (federal elections) and structure (independent bipartisan commission), making it the most direct institutional peer.
• Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA): Federal agency co-developing election security resources and toolkits with EAC (e.g., Election Security Risk Profile Tool, Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative). Its election security subsector work makes it a co-functioning federal peer rather than a competitor.
• National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST): Co-develops the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG) with EAC and supports UOCAVA pilots. NIST's standards co-development role places it in a directly comparable technical-standards capacity to EAC's core product.
• Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP): Department of Defense program responsible for absentee voting for Uniformed and Overseas Citizens. EAC and FVAP have a direct operational partnership on UOCAVA resources, making FVAP a tightly scoped peer in voter services for a specific population.

Regional players

• International IDEA: Intergovernmental organization supporting democratic elections and providing comparative data on election administration worldwide. Comparable to EAC's clearinghouse/methodology role but operating globally rather than U.S.-only.

Broad incumbents

• International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES): Nonprofit that provides technical assistance on election administration globally. Comparable to EAC in professionalizing election administration and producing practitioner-facing guidance, though focused on non-U.S. contexts.
• National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS): Nonpartisan professional association of state secretaries of state, many of whom are chief state election officials. Comparable as a national convener of the election official community and co-developer (with EAC and NCSL) of election administration guides.
• National Association of State Election Directors (NASED): Membership organization of state-level election directors that works closely with EAC on testing/certification and election administration best practices. Comparable to EAC in serving election officials but organized as a member-driven association rather than a federal agency.

Others

• Verified Voting: U.S. nonprofit advocating for verifiably secure election technology. Operates in an adjacent advocacy and standards-monitoring niche to EAC's certification and VVSG work, but does not deliver federal programs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/EACgov
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCpN6i0g2rlF4ITWhwvBwwZw
• Facebookfacebook.com/eacgov1
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/u-s-election-assistance-commission
• Instagraminstagram.com/us.eac

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about U.S. Election Assistance Commission