The U.S. Election Assistance Commission — the federal agency created after the 2000 election debacle to set voting system standards and administer Help America Vote Act funds — has no members as of this week after President Trump removed its remaining commissioners. The move has election administration watchers across the country, including in Montana, asking what it means for the machinery of the 2026 midterms.
The EAC is a small but consequential agency. It certifies voting equipment, distributes federal grant money to states for election infrastructure, and publishes the national voter registration form. Without a quorum — or any members at all — those functions are in limbo. Montana's Secretary of State office receives EAC-administered funds and operates voting systems that run through the agency's certification process.
Voting rights groups reacted sharply to the removals, describing the gutting of the commission as part of a sustained White House effort to reshape how federal elections are conducted ahead of the midterms. The concern isn't just administrative: the EAC has historically operated as a nonpartisan body with members from both parties, and its sudden vacancy removes that check at a moment when election administration is already a flashpoint nationally.
For Helena voters, the immediate practical effects aren't yet clear. Montana runs its own elections under state law, and Lewis and Clark County election staff handle local logistics independently. But federal certification requirements and grant funding touch Montana's system in ways that could become visible if the EAC vacancy drags on through the fall election cycle. What happens next depends largely on whether the White House moves to fill the seats, leave them empty, or reshape the agency's structure entirely.