The Center for Election Confidence (CEC) submitted comments to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) concerning proposed revisions to regulations governing grants issued by the federal government, including election grant funds.
CEC’s comments focus on three aspects of the proposal that directly affect election administration: the treatment of nonprofit organizations seeking federal grants, the protection of Help America Vote Act (HAVA) formula funding, and restrictions on using federal award funds for voter-registration campaigns and related political activities.
CEC supports the proposal’s broader effort to improve transparency, accountability, and oversight of federal awards. Federal election funds should be used only for the lawful public purposes authorized by Congress and should not subsidize unrelated political advocacy, lobbying, or voter-mobilization activities.
Nonprofit Eligibility Should Be Based on the Proposed Project
The proposed regulations would permit federal agencies to restrict certain grant opportunities based on whole categories of tax-exempt organizations. For example, an agency could limit eligibility to organizations recognized under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and exclude all organizations recognized under section 501(c)(4).
CEC cautions that tax status alone should not replace a careful evaluation of the proposed project, the governing statute, the applicant’s compliance history, and the safeguards imposed on the award.
“A tax-exempt classification describes an organization’s permissible purposes; it is not a substitute for examining the proposed activity, the authorizing statute, the applicant’s compliance history, or the safeguards attached to the award.”
CEC urges OMB and the EAC to require objective, program-specific reasons before excluding an entire category of nonprofit organizations. Agencies should also consider whether ordinary grant controls – including segregated accounts, project-specific budgets, audits, certifications, and cost-allocation procedures – can adequately ensure that federal funds are used only for the authorized project.
However, if such classifications are used, CEC supports requiring agencies to disclose any such limitations clearly in grant announcements. Applicants should not be required to devote time and resources to a proposal only to learn later that their tax classification made them ineligible.
HAVA Formula Grants Should Be Protected
CEC also asks OMB and the EAC to clarify that HAVA grants distributed to states and territories according to formulas established by Congress are not subject to the proposal’s expanded discretionary-termination authority.
States rely on HAVA funding to plan multiyear election-security, cybersecurity, accessibility, equipment, and election-administration projects. Formula awards with specific criteria authorized by Congress should not be terminated merely because an agency or administration later adopts different policy preferences.
This protection would not excuse misuse or noncompliance. Recipients would remain responsible for satisfying HAVA, the conditions of the award, audit requirements, and other applicable laws. The clarification would simply preserve the distinction between discretionary grants and funds Congress directed agencies to distribute according to those statutory formulas.
For genuinely discretionary EAC grants, CEC recommends requiring a clear written explanation before termination. The explanation should identify the program objective that is allegedly no longer being served, the facts supporting that determination, and whether a narrower corrective action could protect the government’s interests.
Federal Funds Should Not Finance Voter-Mobilization Campaigns
CEC generally supports the proposed restriction on using federal award funds for voter-registration campaigns, voter-registration drives, issue advocacy, influence campaigns, and similar activities.
Federal election-administration dollars should support the neutral administration of elections—not efforts to shape the electorate for political, ideological, or organizational purposes.
CEC concludes that carefully tailored nonprofit-eligibility standards, express protection for statutory-formula HAVA grants, and firm restrictions on political uses of federal funds would strengthen accountability while reducing uncertainty for nonprofit applicants, election officials, and the EAC.