Help America Vote Act

The Help America Vote Act of 2002 is a United States federal law passed with broad bipartisan support in Congress and signed by President George W. Bush on October 29, 2002, in response to the disputed 2000 presidential election in Florida, where mechanical failures in punch card and lever voting machines left large numbers of votes uncounted or disputed. The act required states to replace outdated voting equipment, to build statewide computerized voter registration databases, and to meet new minimum standards for election administration, and it created the federal Election Assistance Commission to oversee compliance. Congress allocated 325 million dollars in federal funding to help states replace older voting systems. The law also set new accessibility requirements intended to allow voters with disabilities to vote independently.