America Votes by 50 Sets of Rules. We Need a Federal Elections Agency.

Lee Drutman and Charlotte Hill wrote a New York Times op-ed making the case for a Federal Elections Agency.

Despite these problems, the United States lacks a functioning national regulatory body empowered to administer and enforce election laws. The Election Assistance Commission is designed to be bipartisan, with an even number of commissioners from both parties (two Democrats and two Republicans). But amid our hyperpartisan, polarized politics, bipartisan balance has meant deadlock. The commissioners can’t even agree on core issues like how to handle foreign interference: One Republican commissioner even stated that reports of Russian election meddling are “deceptive propaganda perpetrated on the American public.”

Partisanship isn’t the only issue. The commission has been plagued in recent years with unfilled appointments, reduced staff and budget cuts. Perhaps most important, it does not have the authority to make sure its recommendations are followed.

Democrats have proposed democracy reform legislation, known as H.R. 1, which would establish new standards for voting access, integrity and security. This bill could be transformative, but doesn’t go far enough when it comes to making those standards a reality.

A federal elections agency could help oversee and administer the standards for voting access, legislative decisions on redistricting and election security. It could use formal orders, fines, lawsuits and even criminal enforcement actions to make sure that political campaigns are conducted with integrity, elections are not marred by fraud or interference and lawmakers are penalized for attempting to rig the system in their favor.