Fraud Reporting FAQs

Fraud is defined as the wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain. Fraud includes false representation of fact, making false statements, or concealment of information.

Waste is defined as the thoughtless or careless expenditure, mismanagement, or abuse of resources to the detriment (or potential detriment) of the U.S. government. Waste also includes incurring unnecessary costs resulting from inefficient or ineffective practices, systems, or controls.

Abuse is defined as excessive or improper use of a thing, or to use something in a manner contrary to the natural or legal rules for its use. Abuse can occur in financial or non-financial settings.

EAC OIG’s mission is to safeguard the federal investment in our electoral system by conducting objective and meaningful oversight. The purpose of the OIG hotline is to receive complaints of waste, fraud, or abuse in EAC programs or operations, or by recipients of federal funds distributed by the EAC. 

Complainants can reach EAC OIG in a variety of ways:

Online Form (Recommended): The form is available here.

Email: eacoig@eac.gov

Phone: (202) 451-2852

EAC OIG has the authority to investigate allegations of waste, fraud, and abuse in EAC programs and grants. This includes (but is not limited to): Help America Vote Act grants, the EAC voting system testing and certification program, and internal EAC operations.

When making your complaint, please explain how your allegation relates to the operations, programs, or employees of the EAC. We are generally unable to investigate claims that do not have a connection to the EAC.

To assist EAC OIG in investigating your complaint, we recommend the complaint:

• Details how the allegation is connected to the Election Assistance Commission, its grants, its employees, its programs, or its contractors.
• Specifically answers who the complaint is against, what happened, when it happened, and where it happened.
• Explains how the complainant is aware of the alleged wrongdoing (through direct knowledge, second hand information, via news outlets, etc.).

All reports made to EAC OIG are reviewed by our staff, and if you chose to leave your contact information, a representative from EAC OIG may contact you for additional information, if it is necessary to investigate the complaint. 

Not all complaints that we receive result in an investigation. 

In general, EAC OIG does not comment to the public on the status of a specific complaint.

All complaints submitted to the EAC OIG hotline are treated with high sensitivity and EAC OIG will provide anyone protected under federal whistleblower statutes the protections required under law.

Note: You do not have to identify yourself when submitting a complaint. You have the option to remain anonymous. However, if you choose to remain anonymous, please note that the lack of contact information will prevent further communication between you and OIG and potentially impact our ability to perform a comprehensive review of the allegations. If you wish to enter your complaint anonymously, please take care to withhold any personally identifiable information from your complaint narrative and from any attachments.

EAC OIG generally does not have the capacity or legal authority to investigate allegations of voter fraud, campaign finance violations, voting irregularities, and complaints related to other federal agencies. Furthermore, EAC OIG generally does not have the authority to investigate violations of state law.

However, other outlets are available to receive your complaint:

• If you believe you have encountered misinformation or disinformation, voter intimidation, or voter fraud please contact your state or local election office. Directories for state and local election offices are available at eac.gov/vote. In some cases, it may also be appropriate to contact other federal agencies. Visit https://www.eac.gov/voters/other-national-contact-information for additional detail.
• Allegations involving campaign contributions should be reported to the Federal Election Commission.
• Allegations concerning the political activities of federal employees should be reported to the Office of Special Counsel.