As a former Chairman of the Federal Election Commission, a former member of the Advisory Board of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC), and a lifelong advocate for election integrity, I strongly support President Donald J. Trump’s recent decision to remove all commissioners from the Election Assistance Commission. This bold step aligns with the Constitution’s clear vision of elections administered by the states, not micromanaged by unelected federal bureaucrats in Washington.
The EAC was created in 2002 under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) in response to the controversies of the 2000 election. While well-intentioned on paper, it has evolved into an unnecessary federal intrusion into an area the Framers deliberately reserved for the states. Article I, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution grants Congress limited authority to regulate the “Times, Places and Manner” of federal elections, but this power has always been understood as secondary to the states’ primary role. The EAC has blurred those lines, inserting itself as a de facto national election overseer through guidelines, certifications, and grants that influence how states conduct their most fundamental duty.
Worse, the EAC has played a significant role in propping up electronic voting systems that have eroded public confidence in our elections. By developing and promoting Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG) that favor complex, proprietary machines, the Commission has steered states toward technology that is difficult for average citizens to audit or verify. Americans deserve elections they can trust with their own eyes. Paper ballots, counted by hand under bipartisan observation on a single Election Day, remain the gold standard for transparency and security. They minimize opportunities for tampering, eliminate reliance on unaccountable vendors, and restore the simple, verifiable process that served our republic for generations.
President Trump’s action recognizes a hard truth: federal agencies like the EAC, often captured by special interests and insulated from accountability, have contributed to the very problems they were meant to solve. Electronic systems, pushed in part through federal incentives and standards, have fueled skepticism—particularly among conservatives who have witnessed irregularities, delayed results, and a lack of transparency in recent cycles. By clearing out the commissioners, the President is signaling that it is time to return power to the states and the people, where it belongs.
This move is not about disrupting elections; it is about securing them. States retain full authority to administer their own voting systems, and many already exceed federal “voluntary” standards with stronger, more transparent practices. Eliminating the EAC’s bureaucratic overlay will encourage innovation at the state level, favoring proven, auditable methods like same-day, in-person voting with paper records. It will also save taxpayer dollars currently funneled into an agency whose core functions can be absorbed by existing state efforts or eliminated altogether.
Critics on the left will decry this as an attack on “democracy,” but the real threat to democracy is a centralized federal apparatus that distances voters from the process and undermines faith in the outcome. True election integrity demands decentralization, sunlight, and simplicity. President Trump understands this. His decision to reset the EAC is a victory for federalism and a direct rebuke to those who prioritize technology and bureaucracy over the sacred right of citizens to choose their leaders through verifiable means.
As someone who has spent decades fighting in the trenches of election law—to enforce campaign finance rules fairly at the FEC, to defend Texas election laws, and to champion reforms that put voters first—I applaud the President. Now is the moment for Congress and the states to build on this momentum: enact nationwide paper ballot requirements, eliminate expansive mail-in schemes that invite fraud, and enshrine Election Day as the singular, secure day for Americans to exercise their franchise.
The American people have waited long enough. With President Trump leading the charge, we are reclaiming elections as the cornerstone of our constitutional republic; transparent, trustworthy, and firmly in the hands of We the People.
