The New York Times reported today that the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) edited a report by voting experts "who concluded last year that there was little voter fraud around the nation." The final report claimed that the question of voter fraud was "open to debate."

The EAC was established by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) in 2002 to conduct nonpartisan election research.

Though the original report said that among experts "there is widespread but not unanimous agreement that there is little polling place fraud," the final version of the report released to the public concluded in its executive summary that "there is a great deal of debate on the pervasiveness of fraud."

The topic of voter fraud, usually defined as people misrepresenting themselves at the polls or improperly attempting to register voters, remains a lively division between the two parties. It has played a significant role in the current Congressional investigation into the Bush administration"s firing of eight United States attorneys, several of whom, documents now indicate, were dismissed for being insufficiently aggressive in pursuing voter fraud cases.