On the eve of the government shutdown, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) quietly posted a press release to its website. While the announcement didn’t spark much notice, it could result in severe consequences for future elections.
And it’s causing concern that the commission — a bipartisan body whose mission is to help states administer elections more effectively — is taking its orders from President Donald Trump. That kind of partisanship and capitulation could pose a serious threat to the midterms.
The press release said the EAC met with the voting system manufacturers to initiate a formal review of equipment running commercial software that has reached “end-of-life” for “potential decommissioning.” The bipartisan quartet of commissioners included a statement boasting that “[r]emoving systems from active certification” would improve the sustainability of election technology. In other words, the EAC is taking steps to decertify election equipment that uses old software that no longer receives security updates. …