Trump Fires Bipartisan Election Commissioners as Election Security Concerns Mount

President Donald Trump fired EAC Chairman Thomas Hicks and Commissioner Benjamin Hovland by email on July 9, after accepting Vice Chair Christy McCormick's resignation on June 9, leaving the federal commission charged with helping states safeguard voting systems with no sitting commissioners less than four months before the 2026 midterm elections. Congress created the EAC as an independent federal agency through the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to help state and local officials run elections.

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes called the action "irresponsible and dangerous," saying it "undermines the integrity of nonpartisan election administration."

What the EAC Does

The EAC runs the national voluntary testing and certification program that accredits independent laboratories to test voting systems and grants federal certification when systems meet security, accessibility and functional requirements. It writes and maintains the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines, which lay out those requirements. The agency can decertify systems that no longer meet its standards and oversee recertification when systems are modified or updated. As of 2021, SLI Compliance and Pro V&V were the only laboratories authorized to certify voting systems in the United States.

States are not required by federal law to take part, but many have incorporated EAC compliance into their own election laws. Thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia have laws or rules requiring some part of the federal voting-system testing and certification program. As of 2024, 29 states and the District of Columbia required voting systems to be EAC-certified or tested to federal standards. Election officials in at least 44 states use EAC-certified systems.

The commission has also allocated more than $1 billion in security grants for state and local election infrastructure.

Who Was Removed

The commissioners Trump removed were not outside political operatives. Hicks was nominated by President Barack Obama, confirmed by the Senate on Dec. 16, 2014, sworn in on Jan. 13, 2015, and began his term as chairman on Feb. 24, 2026. Before joining the EAC, Hicks served as Senior Elections Counsel and Minority Elections Counsel on the U.S. House Committee on House Administration from 2003 to 2014. Hovland was nominated by Trump, confirmed unanimously by the Senate and sworn in on Feb. 4, 2019. McCormick was nominated by Obama, confirmed by the Senate on Dec. 16, 2014, sworn in on Jan. 13, 2015, and began her term as vice chair on Feb. 24, 2026. All three were unanimously confirmed by the Senate, including Hovland, Trump's own appointee.

Sen. Mark Warner said the reported removal of every remaining commissioner shortly before the midterms demanded an immediate explanation and raised "profound concerns about political interference in the institutions that support our elections."

Trump's move followed the Supreme Court's June 29 decision in Trump v. Slaughter, in which the court ruled 6-3 that presidents have at-will removal authority over commissioners of most independent agencies, overturning the 1935 precedent Humphrey's Executor v. United States. The ruling affects roughly 24 multi-member independent agencies, including the FTC, FCC, NRC, FERC, CPSC, NLRB, EEOC and SEC. The White House cited the decision as its legal basis for dismissing the EAC commissioners.

A White House official told reporters the president "reserves the right to remove individuals that may not be totally aligned with the important task of securing America's elections and ensuring every legal vote is counted," framing the firings as part of an effort to safeguard elections from fraud and abuse.

What the Vacancies Mean for 2026

Agency rules require at least three commissioners to approve official actions, including updates to the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines and accreditation of voting-system testing laboratories. Without commissioners, testing and certification of election software and hardware could stall, updates to certification standards could be blocked, and new security grants could be halted.

The EAC is developing a Voluntary National Election Workforce Framework, expanding its Learning Lab Certification Program for election officials and implementing voting-system penetration-testing requirements mandated by the FY26 National Defense Authorization Act. None can be formally approved or advanced without commissioner votes. Staff can continue distributing already appropriated Help America Vote Act grant funds, but they cannot approve new grant programs, change standards or expand funding initiatives until at least three commissioners are reappointed.

Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar said, "Secretaries of state and other administrators will now have to fill the gap left by the sidelined federal body."

Impact on Election Integrity

The gap is especially consequential in states whose laws explicitly tie new voting equipment to EAC approval. Tennessee and Ohio are among the states requiring full EAC certification for new voting equipment. Tennessee also requires new precinct-based optical scanners to be EAC-certified as meeting applicable Voluntary Voting System Guidelines.

Voting-rights advocates, Democratic lawmakers and election officials say the leadership vacuum arrives amid cyber threats, foreign influence operations and persistent campaigns to erode confidence in elections. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said the administration is "dead set on causing chaos for our election officials across this country." Voter advocacy groups and Democratic state election officials have likewise called the move reckless and irresponsible.

Most election officials are not changing their 2026 plans, yet experts warn that a prolonged leadership vacuum could weaken the EAC and ultimately harm public trust in U.S. elections. Pamela Smith, president and CEO of Verified Voting, said, "Election administration is carried out by thousands of state and local officials and will continue unchanged despite the purge." Pamela Smith also said that "while the departures prevent the EAC from taking actions that require commissioner approval, critical functions such as voting system testing and certification can proceed under the existing framework." David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, said, "Much of the EAC's 2026 work is already complete."

Broader Context

The removals have been widely described as part of a broader Trump administration effort to bring election oversight and voting systems under greater White House control. The bipartisan design of agencies such as the EAC has long served as a check on partisan manipulation of technical decisions governing voting infrastructure. With no commissioners in place and the midterm cycle accelerating, the question facing voters is what happens to the integrity of American elections when the president removes the bipartisan officials tasked with protecting the systems that count their votes.