Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Jan 30, 2001
Election Reform Act of 2001 - Establishes the Election Administration Commission to: (1) develop, update, and adopt voluntary engineering and procedural performance standards for voting systems used in Federal, State, and local elections; (2) advise States regarding compliance with the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act; (3) develop, adopt, and update voluntary procedures for maintaining and enhancing the accessibility of registration facilities, polling places, and voting methods; (4) have primary responsibility to carry out Federal functions under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (the Act); (5) develop, update, and adopt recommendations for voluntary procedures for maintaining and enhancing the administration of Federal, State, and local elections; (6) carry out the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 regarding mail voter registration; (7) make Federal election system information available to the public and media; (8) assemble bipartisan panels of election professionals to assist any State election official, upon request, in review of election or vote counting procedures in Federal, State, and local elections; and (9) compile the official certified results of Federal elections and statistics on national voter registration and turnout.Directs the Commission to: (1) make periodic studies of issues related to election administration; and (2) solicit and review applications from, and award grants to, State and local governments to improve and modernize election administration.Transfers to the Commission all functions that the Office of Election Administration of the Federal Election Commission exercised before enactment of this Act.Establishes the Election Administration Advisory Board to advise the Commission on the best practices in election administration.Amends the Act to mandate certain State actions (currently only recommended) in order to maximize access to the polls by absent uniformed services voters.
Source last updated: Aug 19, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Explore the bill from different angles
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Neutral evidence review
Objective
Analyze S.218 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact
Progressive lens
Examine S.218 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope
Conservative lens
Examine S.218 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power
Liberty lens
Examine S.218 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.