Paul S. DeGregorio, chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC), will discuss “Making Sure Every Vote Was Counted: Evaluating Election Administration in the 2006 Elections” on Friday, Dec. 1, at 4 p.m. in the 12th-Floor Lounge, Lowenstein Center, Lincoln Center campus. The talk is sponsored by Fordham University’s Center for Electoral Politics and Democracy and the Elections and Campaign Management Program. Attendees should R.S.V.P. to bordenga@fordham.edu.
DeGregorio was a special assistant to President Ronald Reagan and served as an assistant to Missouri Attorney General John Ashcroft. Nominated by President George W. Bush, he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2003 to serve an initial two-year term on the EAC, and served as the agency’s vice chairman in 2005 before being elected chair. He has focused his efforts on EAC’s mandates to review state election reform plans and establish new voluntary voting system guidelines, develop best practices in election administration, provide guidance and advisories to election officials and conduct studies on election reform issues.
Prior to his appointment with EAC, DeGregorio served as chief operating officer of the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES), where he provided technical assistance in election administration in the former Soviet republics, Eastern Europe, and several African and Asian nations. DeGregorio also led a team that supplied technical advice in Florida and Missouri during the November 2002 elections.
From 1985 to 1993, DeGregorio served as director of elections for St. Louis County, Missouri’s largest jurisdiction. During his tenure, he instituted changes in voter registration, training, accessibility, counting, and management procedures. He served as co-chair of the Missouri Election Reform Commission in 2001.
