The House Administration Committee’s GOP majority voted Tuesday to eliminate an independent commission that helps states improve election systems and to cut a public financing program for presidential candidates, despite opposition from voting rights advocates.

The 6-3 vote to progress legislation that would end the bipartisan U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) fell along party lines, with all three of the committee’s Democrats voting against the measures. Rep. Gregg Harper (R-MS), the committee’s chairman, introduced HR 634, the Election Assistance Commission Termination Act, in January.

The EAC “is charged with supporting state and local election officials in their efforts to ensure accessible, accurate and secure elections,” according to USA.gov. Among its other responsibilities, the EAC tests and certifies voting systems and maintains the national voter registration form. The commission was created to address problems identified after the 2000 presidential elections.

Harper said Tuesday that the commission had “outlived” its usefulness, according to USA Today.

Rep. Robert Brady (D-PA), the committee’s ranking Democrat, expressed his opposition to the eliminating the EAC ahead of the vote, noting that the commission provided “key support” to states and municipalities during the 2016 elections, when hackers tried to access voter registration databases in many states.

“This is a time when we should be focused on strengthening the only federal agency charged with making elections work for all Americans, not trying to eliminate it,” Brady said.

Thomas Hicks, one of the EAC commissioners, told ThinkProgress that eliminating the commission would be “a huge mistake,” adding that according to his read of the bill, “it just eliminates the agency but doesn’t move the responsibilities around.”

The Administration Committee also voted Tuesday for HR 133, which would end the Presidential Election Campaign Fund (PECF) and reallocate any funding left in the system. The fund “matches the fundraising of eligible presidential candidates in primary and general elections, for those who choose to take it,” according to FiveThirtyEight.

The Brennan Center for Justice in a letter to the House Administration Committee called the measure “an unacceptable response to last year’s election, in which voters made clear they are unhappy with the influence of big money over our politics, and desire a more responsive government.”

“Instead of eliminating the Presidential Election Campaign Fund, Congress should respond to voters’ frustration with the dominance of large and often secret spending in our elections by amending the system so it gives everyday citizens a chance to increase their voice and influence,” the letter said.

It is not clear when or if the House will move forward with the legislation, according to the Associated Press.

A coalition of 38 organizations and individuals sent a letter Monday to the committee urging its members not to vote to eliminate the commission or the campaign fund. Among the signatories were the NAACP, People for the American Way, the Fair Elections Legal Network, and the Voting Rights Institute.

“These two bills could profoundly impact the way we administer and finance national elections,” the letter said. “At stake is the survival of the public financing system for presidential elections and a commission that plays a vitally important role in standardizing and modernizing election administration.”

Voting rights advocates blasted the House committee’s vote against the EAC, noting that it was taking steps that would hinder—not further—efforts to strengthen election security.

Chris Carson, president of the League of Women Voters of the U.S., called the measure “an irresponsible decision by the House Administrations Committee.

“Rather than eliminating the EAC, Congress should provide the agency with resources and a renewed commitment to sponsoring and encouraging information sharing among state and local officials, EAC committees, the non-partisan voting rights community, technical experts and others, ” Carson said in a statement.

“At a time when the vast majority of the country’s voting machines are outdated and in need of replacement, and after an election in which foreign criminals already tried to hack state voter registration systems, eliminating the EAC poses a risky and irresponsible threat to our election infrastructure,” Wendy Weiser, director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, said in a statement.

The vote against the election commission comes on the heels of President Trump’s announcement this week that Vice President Pence would spearhead a commission to investigate the president’s baseless claims of widespread illegal voting.