---
kind: "section"
citation: "52 U.S.C. § 20981"
title: "52"
title_heading: "Voting and Elections"
number: "20981"
heading: "Periodic studies of election administration issues"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/52/20981"
units:
  - "Subtitle II — Voting Assistance and Election Administration"
  - "Chapter 209 — Election Administration Improvement"
  - "Subchapter II — Commission"
  - "Part C — Studies and Other Activities To Promote Effective Administration of Federal Elections"
---

# §20981. Periodic studies of election administration issues

- (a) **In general—** On such periodic basis as the Commission may determine, the Commission shall conduct and make available to the public studies regarding the [election](/usc/52/20502.md?p=1) administration issues described in [subsection (b)](#b), with the goal of promoting methods of voting and administering [elections](/usc/52/20502.md?p=1) which—
  - (1) will be the most convenient, [accessible](/usc/52/20107.md?p=1), and easy to use for voters, including members of the [uniformed services](/usc/52/20310.md?p=7) and [overseas voters](/usc/52/20310.md?p=5), individuals with disabilities, including the blind and visually impaired, and voters with limited proficiency in the English language;
  - (2) will yield the most accurate, secure, and expeditious system for voting and tabulating [election](/usc/52/20502.md?p=1) results;
  - (3) will be nondiscriminatory and afford each registered and eligible voter an equal opportunity to vote and to have that vote counted; and
  - (4) will be efficient and cost-effective for use.
- (b) **Election administration issues described—** For purposes of [subsection (a)](#a), the [election](/usc/52/20502.md?p=1) administration issues described in this subsection are as follows:
  - (1) Methods and mechanisms of [election](/usc/52/20502.md?p=1) technology and voting systems used in voting and counting votes in [elections](/usc/52/20502.md?p=1) for [Federal office](/usc/52/20310.md?p=3), including the over-vote and under-vote notification capabilities of such technology and systems.
  - (2) Ballot designs for [elections](/usc/52/20502.md?p=1) for [Federal office](/usc/52/20310.md?p=3).
  - (3) Methods of voter registration, maintaining secure and accurate lists of registered voters (including the establishment of a centralized, interactive, statewide voter registration list linked to relevant agencies and all polling sites), and ensuring that registered voters appear on the voter registration list at the appropriate polling site.
  - (4) Methods of conducting provisional voting.
  - (5) Methods of ensuring the accessibility of voting, registration, polling places, and voting equipment to all voters, including individuals with disabilities (including the blind and visually impaired), Native American or Alaska Native citizens, and voters with limited proficiency in the English language.
  - (6) Nationwide statistics and methods of identifying, deterring, and investigating voting fraud in [elections](/usc/52/20502.md?p=1) for [Federal office](/usc/52/20310.md?p=3).
  - (7) Identifying, deterring, and investigating methods of voter intimidation.
  - (8) Methods of recruiting, training, and improving the performance of poll workers.
  - (9) Methods of educating voters about the process of registering to vote and voting, the operation of voting mechanisms, the location of polling places, and all other aspects of participating in [elections](/usc/52/20502.md?p=1).
  - (10) The feasibility and advisability of conducting [elections](/usc/52/20502.md?p=1) for [Federal office](/usc/52/20310.md?p=3) on different days, at different places, and during different hours, including the advisability of establishing a uniform poll closing time and establishing—
    - (A) a legal public holiday under [section 6103 of title 5](/usc/5/6103.md) as the date on which general [elections](/usc/52/20502.md?p=1) for [Federal office](/usc/52/20310.md?p=3) are held;
    - (B) the Tuesday next after the 1st Monday in November, in every even numbered year, as a legal public holiday under such section;
    - (C) a date other than the Tuesday next after the 1st Monday in November, in every even numbered year as the date on which general [elections](/usc/52/20502.md?p=1) for [Federal office](/usc/52/20310.md?p=3) are held; and
    - (D) any date described in [subparagraph (C)](#b-10-C) as a legal public holiday under such section.
  - (11) Federal and [State](/usc/52/20107.md?p=5) laws governing the eligibility of persons to vote.
  - (12) Ways that the Federal Government can best assist [State](/usc/52/20107.md?p=5) and local authorities to improve the administration of [elections](/usc/52/20502.md?p=1) for [Federal office](/usc/52/20310.md?p=3) and what levels of funding would be necessary to provide such assistance.
  - (13)
    - (A) The laws and procedures used by each [State](/usc/52/20107.md?p=5) that govern—
      - (i) recounts of ballots cast in [elections](/usc/52/20502.md?p=1) for [Federal office](/usc/52/20310.md?p=3);
      - (ii) contests of determinations regarding whether votes are counted in such [elections](/usc/52/20502.md?p=1); and
      - (iii) standards that define what will constitute a vote on each type of voting equipment used in the [State](/usc/52/20107.md?p=5) to conduct [elections](/usc/52/20502.md?p=1) for [Federal office](/usc/52/20310.md?p=3).
    - (B) The best practices (as identified by the Commission) that are used by [States](/usc/52/20107.md?p=5) with respect to the recounts and contests described in clause (i).
    - (C) Whether or not there is a need for more consistency among [State](/usc/52/20107.md?p=5) recount and contest procedures used with respect to [elections](/usc/52/20502.md?p=1) for [Federal office](/usc/52/20310.md?p=3).
  - (14) The technical feasibility of providing voting materials in eight or more languages for voters who speak those languages and who have limited English proficiency.
  - (15) Matters particularly relevant to voting and administering [elections](/usc/52/20502.md?p=1) in rural and urban areas.
  - (16) Methods of voter registration for members of the [uniformed services](/usc/52/20310.md?p=7) and [overseas voters](/usc/52/20310.md?p=5), and methods of ensuring that such voters receive timely ballots that will be properly and expeditiously handled and counted.
  - (17) The best methods for establishing voting system performance benchmarks, expressed as a percentage of residual vote in the Federal contest at the top of the ballot.
  - (18) Broadcasting practices that may result in the broadcast of false information concerning the location or time of operation of a polling place.
  - (19) Such other matters as the Commission determines are appropriate.
- (c) **Reports—** The Commission shall submit to the President and to the Committee on House Administration of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate a report on each study conducted under [subsection (a)](#a) together with such recommendations for administrative and legislative action as the Commission determines is appropriate.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 107–252, title II, § 241, Oct. 29, 2002, 116 Stat. 1686.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### Codification

Section was formerly classified to section 15381 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Election Data Collection Grants

Pub. L. 110–161, div. D, title V, § 501, Dec. 26, 2007, 121 Stat. 1997, required the Election Assistance Commission to establish an election data collection grant program.