The EAC has been audited and deficiencies found.  The US EAC Office of Inspector General has issued a scathing report of the Election Assistance Commission (EAC).  The Election Assistance Commission is charged with serving as a national resource for administering Federal elections and establishing standards for State and local governments.

Keep in mind that the The EAC has impact on setting standards, providing guideance to states and auditing the use of  Help America Vote Act funding to states.

An excerpt from that report dated March 31, 2009

"...We contracted with Clifton Gunderson LLP (Clifton Gunderson), an independent certified public accounting firm, to audit the U.S. Election Assistance Commission's (Commission) financial statements as of September 30, 2008 and for the year then ended. In conjunction with its audit, Clifton Gunderson noted certain matters involving internal control and other operational matters that should be brought to management's attention.  These matters, which are discussed in the attached letter, are in the addition to those reported in Clifton Gunderson's audit report on the Commissino's financial statements. (Assignment No. I-PA-EAC-01-08) and do not constitute significant deficiencies as defined by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

The EAC gets audited - maybe now they will understand why we want our elections audited. Someone? Buehler. Buehler?

Several online sites are assisting voters by helping them complete their voter registration forms, even down to giving the voters the address to send them in to after printing. The problem - these sites got their information from the EAC, the United States Federal Elections Assistance Commission. And the EAC got it wrong.

Under "where to mail voter registration form" the EAC indicates the states' elections office, when in most states, the registration form needs to be sent to the voters' County Board of Elections.  Many states' deadline to register has already passed. 

From Facing South.  Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Voting Rights Watch: Online registration sites give wrong information for 37 states

In the rush to help new voters register this year, it seems that the McCain and Obama campaigns, as well as at least one other group aimed at young voters -- Rock the Vote -- have been giving out the wrong voter registration information.

What's more, the bad instructions came from the United States Election Commission website -- and voters in 37 states could be affected.

...But the US Election Commission website, on which the others are based, gives the state secretary of state's office or equivalent -- at odds with the proper instructions in 37 states.

According to the HuffPost, states with the wrong information include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia. Voter registration has ended in 19 of those states.

For an example of what could happen, there's Louisiana:

In Louisiana, the Secretary of State's Web site and literature specifically warns against sending the forms there, in underlined letters. It directs that they be sent to the parish (county) registrar.

A Louisiana Secretary of State employee said the forms addressed there would be forwarded to the proper registrar, but there was no guarantee they would get there in time to be processed for the presidential election.

But Obama campaign representatives in Louisiana, who realized the error this week, said they planned to contact the office, hoping to assure that incorrectly addressed forms were released to the proper registrar's offices in time.

BIG hat tip to Facing South, known for their investigative reporting.  Book mark their site and check for their next work.

We hope that state election officials will get these registration forms delivered to the appropriate county offices, but some forms surely won't make it in time.