In my 2012 book, The Voting Wars, I chronicled how Congress created the United States Election Assistance commission in 2002 after the debacle of 2000’s Bush v. Gore, how the agency started out with great promise as one that could rise above partisan squabbles, and how Republicans worked to sabotage the commission almost from the start.

Jessica Huseman picks up the story in this must-read Propublica/Atlantic piece. It is a story of bureaucratic incompetence, Democratic passivity, and Republican malevolence. For those who follow these issues, it is a true American tragedy.