Technical experts sought for input on voting equipment standards

 

Connecting state and local government leaders

The Election Assistance Commission is filling four slots reserved for experts in its Technical Guidelines Development Committee, which is revising the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines used by states to certify voting equipment. An updated version of the VVSG has been released for public comment.

The Election Assistance Commission, which oversees guidelines for certifying voting equipment, is looking for technical experts to serve on the committee that is rewriting these guidelines.

The Technical Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC) is an advisory panel that provides technical assistance and advice in revising the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG) used by states to certify voting equipment. Created by the Help America Vote Act of 2002, four of the 15 spots on the committee are reserved for technical experts.

“To fill these four expert positions, we are looking for individuals with innovative ideas and expertise from academia and/or the public and private sector,” EAC said in announcing its search. “These individuals will work as part of the TGDC to provide recommendations for the next version of the federal Voluntary Voting System Guidelines.”

EAC, together with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, are in the middle of a major revision of the current guidelines, first adopted in 2005. Because elections are administered by states rather than the federal government the EAC guidelines are voluntary, but a majority of states require compliance with some version of them for their voting systems. The major revision, known as the Next Iteration VVSG or VVST 2.0, is expected to be completed in 2011. But EAC released an interim update of the guidelines known as VVSG 1.1 on June 1 for a 120-day public comment period.

The interim update is intended to improve the efficiency of compliance testing by including new software development and testing protocols and practices. This includes the development of uniform test suites by NIST. This revision will also clarify the standard, providing test labs and voting system manufacturers with a clearer sense of performance and test requirements for EAC certification.

Prior to the creation of EAC, testing and certification of voting systems was overseen by an organization of state election officials using a set of national voting system standards created in 1990 by the Federal Election Commission. In 2002 EAC was given responsibility for updating these standards and overseeing the testing and certification, which resulted in the present set of guidelines.

The guidelines and the testing are intended to address concerns that have arisen in the last decade about the reliability and security of voting systems, particularly electronic systems. As electronic systems have become more widely adopted to avoid the confusion created by mechanical systems with paper ballots in the 2000 election, critics have pointed out that computer-based systems are subject to the same security vulnerabilities and failings as other IT systems.

Public comments made during the development of Next Iteration guidelines showed the need for an interim revision in the VVSG so that needed improvements in the testing process for certification could be made more quickly.

“By revising the guidelines now, the EAC expects to improve the test process over the short term while allowing additional time to develop more complex revisions to be included in the second complete iteration of the guidelines, the VVSG Version 2.0,” EAC said.

The revisions are expected to yield immediate improvements to the test process and be easily implemented, replacing outdated practices with modern, proven methods that improve the development, analysis and testing of voting system logic. They do not require hardware changes or significant software changes. The proposed revisions are limited to usability and accessibility, security, and issues such as software workmanship.

Comments may be e-mailed to votingsystemguidelines@eac.gov or mailed to Voluntary Voting System Guidelines Comments, U.S. Election Assistance Commission, 1225 New York Avenue NW, Suite 1100, Washington DC 20005. In addition, an online comment tool will be available this summer at www.eac.gov.

The final version of VVSG 1.1 is expected to be released late this year.

Members of the development committee serve for four years and are not paid for their work, but travel expenses are reimbursed. The technical experts are considered special governmental employees and are required to submit annual financial disclosure forms to identify potential conflicts of interest. They should have a high level of experience with and knowledge of voting equipment, software engineering, security, cryptography, usability and accessibility needs. Resumes should be submitting by Sept. 8 to Special Assistant, Mary Anne Bradfield at U.S. Election Assistance Commission, 1225 New York Avenue NW, Suite 1100, Washington DC 20005. Additional information on qualifications is available from Bradfield at 202-566-2256, Fax: 202-566-1392, or by e-mail at mbradfieldeac@gmail.com

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.