Regulation — Election Security Glossary
2 election security terms in the Regulation category, with definitions sourced from NIST, CISA, EAC, and 30+ authoritative documents.
By ESG Editorial Team · Drawing on EAC, FEC, state agencies, and 25+ sources on election regulation
Election regulation is the rule-making and oversight activity of bodies that govern election administration. It includes the federal Election Assistance Commission (EAC), which publishes voluntary guidance and certifies voting systems; state election boards and secretaries of state, which adopt and enforce state election law; and the federal agencies that issue regulations touching election administration, including the Federal Election Commission and the Department of Justice.
Why this category matters for election security is that regulation establishes the formal rules within which election administration operates. The laws that govern voter registration, the standards that voting systems must meet, the procedures for canvassing and certification, the requirements for accessibility and language access: all of these come from regulatory bodies. The quality of regulation shapes the quality of elections.
Election regulation in the United States is highly decentralized. Federal rules establish a baseline (HAVA, NVRA, ADA, UOCAVA, VRA). State constitutions and codes add layers. Local jurisdictions add their own. The result is a complex landscape in which election officials must navigate federal, state, and local requirements simultaneously.
The terminology in this category covers both the regulatory bodies and the processes they use. The concepts here are institutional. They describe the formal structures through which election rules are made and enforced.
How These Terms Relate
These concepts together describe the regulatory environment in which election administration operates. The terminology covers both the regulatory bodies and the processes they use. The unifying theme is that regulation is formal but not uniform. The federal baseline sets a floor, state law adds layers, and local jurisdictions may add their own. Election officials navigate this layered environment every day, and the quality of the regulations they work under shapes the quality of the elections they administer.
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