Certification of voting machines
Encyclopedia
Various governments require a certification
of voting machine
s.
In the United States
there is only a voluntary federal certification for voting machine
s and each state has ultimate jurisdiction over certification, though most states currently require national certification for the voting systems.
is responsible for certification of the voting machines for federal and European elections. The respective law is the Bundeswahlgeräteverordnung ("Federal voting machine edict"). The only machines certified so far are the Nedap
ESD1 and ESD2.
has assumed federal responsibility for accrediting voting system test laboratories and certifying voting equipment through the Voting System Certification & Laboratory Accreditation Program. The purpose of the program is to independently verify that voting systems comply with the functional capabilities, accessibility, and security requirements necessary to ensure the integrity and reliability of voting system operation, as established in the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines
(VVSG). With this program the National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST) will recommend labs for accreditation through its National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program
(NVLAP).
The VVSG provide a set of specifications and requirements against which voting systems can be tested to determine if the systems provide all of the basic functionality, accessibility and security capabilities required of these systems. In addition, the guidelines establish evaluation criteria for the national certification of voting systems.
The EAC's Technical Guidelines Development Committee
, with technical support from NIST are tasked with developing an initial set of recommendations for each VVSG iteration. After the initial draft guidelines are authored, they are sent to the EAC for review and revision and then released for public comment. Comments are reviewed and considered by the EAC in consultation with NIST in development of the final release.
In 2007, California Secretary of State Debra Bowen
decertified four electronic voting systems
, three of which were conditionally recertified, after a "top-to-bottom review" of the voting machines certified for use in California in March 2007.
. The 2005 VVSG will go into effect 24 months after their final
adoption (December 2007).
) and the National Bureau of Standards (predecessor to the National Institute of Standards and Technology
) resulting in a March 1975 report, Effective Use of Computing Technology in Vote-Tallying, authored by Roy Saltman. This report highlighted "the lack of appropriate technical skills at the State and local level for developing or implementing written standards, against which voting system hardware and software could be evaluated."
The U.S. Congress then directed the Federal Election Commission (FEC), in conjunction with the National Bureau of Standards to create engineering and procedural performance standards for voting systems. Another report, Voting System Standards: A Report on the Feasibility of Developing Voluntary Standards for Voting Equipment was produced in early 1984. In July 1984 the FEC armed with congressionally appropriated funds began a six year task of creating the first national performance and test standards for punchcard, marksense, and direct recording electronic voting systems.
The resulting body of work was the first set of voluntary Voting System Standards issued in 1990.
(NASED) updated the initial Voting System Standards with the 2002 Voting System Standards/Guidelines.
The national testing effort was overseen by NASED’s Voting Systems Board, which is composed of election officials and independent technical advisors. NASED established a process for vendors to submit their equipment to an Independent Test Authority (ITA) for evaluation against the Standards. The NASED has compiled a list of Qualified Voting Systems 12-22-05
mandated the federal certification process be assumed by the EAC. The EAC implemented an interim certification program in July 2006 which provided a means to obtain federal certification for modifications required by state and local election officials administering the 2006 General Election.
In summer 2006 the EAC barred the company Ciber Inc. from approving further voting machines. Federal officials found that it was not following its quality-control procedures and could not document that it was conducting all the required tests. According to the EAC "Ciber, Inc. has applied for interim accreditation, but EAC has not completed its review, so the Ciber application is pending." They have released relevant documentation regarding the Ciber, Inc. application from accreditation.
Product certification
Product certification or product qualification is the process of verifying that a certain product has passed performance tests and quality assurance tests or qualification requirements stipulated in contracts, regulations, or specifications...
of voting machine
Voting machine
Voting machines are the total combination of mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic equipment , that is used to define ballots; to cast and count votes; to report or display election results; and to maintain and produce any audit trail information...
s.
In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
there is only a voluntary federal certification for voting machine
Voting machine
Voting machines are the total combination of mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic equipment , that is used to define ballots; to cast and count votes; to report or display election results; and to maintain and produce any audit trail information...
s and each state has ultimate jurisdiction over certification, though most states currently require national certification for the voting systems.
Germany
In Germany the Physikalisch-Technische BundesanstaltPhysikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt
The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt is based in Braunschweig and Berlin. It is the national institute for natural and engineering sciences and the highest technical authority for metrology and physical safety engineering in Germany....
is responsible for certification of the voting machines for federal and European elections. The respective law is the Bundeswahlgeräteverordnung ("Federal voting machine edict"). The only machines certified so far are the Nedap
Nedap
Nedap is a Netherlands based company. Its principal place of business is Groenlo, the Netherlands. It has subsidiaries in Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Spain, and has been quoted on the Euronext exchange since 1947.The company focuses on developing and supplying...
ESD1 and ESD2.
United States
The US Election Assistance CommissionElection Assistance Commission
The Election Assistance Commission is an independent agency of the United States government created by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 . The Commission serves as a national clearinghouse and resource of information regarding election administration...
has assumed federal responsibility for accrediting voting system test laboratories and certifying voting equipment through the Voting System Certification & Laboratory Accreditation Program. The purpose of the program is to independently verify that voting systems comply with the functional capabilities, accessibility, and security requirements necessary to ensure the integrity and reliability of voting system operation, as established in the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines
Voluntary Voting System Guidelines
The Voluntary Voting System Guidelines are guidelines adopted by the United States Election Assistance Commission for the certification of voting systems...
(VVSG). With this program the National Institute of Standards and Technology
National Institute of Standards and Technology
The National Institute of Standards and Technology , known between 1901 and 1988 as the National Bureau of Standards , is a measurement standards laboratory, otherwise known as a National Metrological Institute , which is a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce...
(NIST) will recommend labs for accreditation through its National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program
National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program
National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program is a National Institute of Standards and Technology program which provides an unbiased third-party test and evaluation program to accredit laboratories in their respective fields to the ISO 17025 standard...
(NVLAP).
The VVSG provide a set of specifications and requirements against which voting systems can be tested to determine if the systems provide all of the basic functionality, accessibility and security capabilities required of these systems. In addition, the guidelines establish evaluation criteria for the national certification of voting systems.
The EAC's Technical Guidelines Development Committee
Technical Guidelines Development Committee
The Technical Guidelines Development Committee of the National Institute of Standards and Technology supports the Election Assistance Commission in the United States by providing recommendations on voluntary standards and guidelines related to voting equipment and technologies...
, with technical support from NIST are tasked with developing an initial set of recommendations for each VVSG iteration. After the initial draft guidelines are authored, they are sent to the EAC for review and revision and then released for public comment. Comments are reviewed and considered by the EAC in consultation with NIST in development of the final release.
In 2007, California Secretary of State Debra Bowen
Debra Bowen
Debra Lynn Bowen , a member of the Democratic Party, has been Secretary of State of California since January 8, 2007. Before that she was a member of the California State Legislature from 1992 to 2006. In March 2008, she was given the Profile in Courage Award by the John F. Kennedy Presidential...
decertified four electronic voting systems
Electronic voting
Electronic voting is a term encompassing several different types of voting, embracing both electronic means of casting a vote and electronic means of counting votes....
, three of which were conditionally recertified, after a "top-to-bottom review" of the voting machines certified for use in California in March 2007.
2007 VVSG
A draft version of the 2007 VVSG is currently being developed by the TGDC and NIST. It is due July 31, 2007.2005 VVSG
The 2005 VVSG, which significantly increased security requirements for voting systems and expanded access, including opportunities to vote privately and independently, for individuals with disabilities, was unanimously adopted by the EAC in December 2005; It was version of the federal certification standards. During the 90-day public comment period, EAC received more than 6,000 comments on the proposed guidelines. These comments and the proposed guidelines are available via the Kennesaw State UniversityKennesaw State University
Kennesaw State University, also referred to as KSU, Kennesaw, or Kennesaw State, is a public, coeducational, comprehensive university that is part of the University System of Georgia. The university's main campus is located in Kennesaw, Georgia, United States, approximately north of Atlanta...
. The 2005 VVSG will go into effect 24 months after their final
adoption (December 2007).
Certification Origins and Roy Saltman
In February 1975 an interagency agreement was formed with General Accounting Office’s Office of Federal Elections (predecessor to the Federal Election CommissionFederal Election Commission
The Federal Election Commission is an independent regulatory agency that was founded in 1975 by the United States Congress to regulate the campaign finance legislation in the United States. It was created in a provision of the 1975 amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act...
) and the National Bureau of Standards (predecessor to the National Institute of Standards and Technology
National Institute of Standards and Technology
The National Institute of Standards and Technology , known between 1901 and 1988 as the National Bureau of Standards , is a measurement standards laboratory, otherwise known as a National Metrological Institute , which is a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce...
) resulting in a March 1975 report, Effective Use of Computing Technology in Vote-Tallying, authored by Roy Saltman. This report highlighted "the lack of appropriate technical skills at the State and local level for developing or implementing written standards, against which voting system hardware and software could be evaluated."
The U.S. Congress then directed the Federal Election Commission (FEC), in conjunction with the National Bureau of Standards to create engineering and procedural performance standards for voting systems. Another report, Voting System Standards: A Report on the Feasibility of Developing Voluntary Standards for Voting Equipment was produced in early 1984. In July 1984 the FEC armed with congressionally appropriated funds began a six year task of creating the first national performance and test standards for punchcard, marksense, and direct recording electronic voting systems.
The resulting body of work was the first set of voluntary Voting System Standards issued in 1990.
FEC and NASED
In addition to their involvement in the origins of national voting certification and testing, the FEC's Office of Election Administration and the National Association of State Election DirectorsNational Association of State Election Directors
The National Association of State Election Directors is a U.S. association that "was formed in 1989 when a group of state election directors and administrators met in Reno, Nevada...
(NASED) updated the initial Voting System Standards with the 2002 Voting System Standards/Guidelines.
The national testing effort was overseen by NASED’s Voting Systems Board, which is composed of election officials and independent technical advisors. NASED established a process for vendors to submit their equipment to an Independent Test Authority (ITA) for evaluation against the Standards. The NASED has compiled a list of Qualified Voting Systems 12-22-05
EAC Interim Voting System Certification Program
The Help America Vote ActHelp America Vote Act
The Help America Vote Act , or HAVA, is a United States federal law which passed in the House 357-48 and 92-2 in the Senate and was signed into law by President Bush on October 29, 2002. Drafted in reaction to the controversy surrounding the 2000 U.S...
mandated the federal certification process be assumed by the EAC. The EAC implemented an interim certification program in July 2006 which provided a means to obtain federal certification for modifications required by state and local election officials administering the 2006 General Election.
In summer 2006 the EAC barred the company Ciber Inc. from approving further voting machines. Federal officials found that it was not following its quality-control procedures and could not document that it was conducting all the required tests. According to the EAC "Ciber, Inc. has applied for interim accreditation, but EAC has not completed its review, so the Ciber application is pending." They have released relevant documentation regarding the Ciber, Inc. application from accreditation.
See also
- Election Assistance CommissionElection Assistance CommissionThe Election Assistance Commission is an independent agency of the United States government created by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 . The Commission serves as a national clearinghouse and resource of information regarding election administration...
- Electronic votingElectronic votingElectronic voting is a term encompassing several different types of voting, embracing both electronic means of casting a vote and electronic means of counting votes....
- Help America Vote ActHelp America Vote ActThe Help America Vote Act , or HAVA, is a United States federal law which passed in the House 357-48 and 92-2 in the Senate and was signed into law by President Bush on October 29, 2002. Drafted in reaction to the controversy surrounding the 2000 U.S...
- Independent verification systems
- National Institute of Standards and Technology
- National Software Reference Library
- Preventing Election fraud: Testing and certification of electronic voting
- Technical Guidelines Development CommitteeTechnical Guidelines Development CommitteeThe Technical Guidelines Development Committee of the National Institute of Standards and Technology supports the Election Assistance Commission in the United States by providing recommendations on voluntary standards and guidelines related to voting equipment and technologies...
of the National Institute of Standards and Technology - Voting machineVoting machineVoting machines are the total combination of mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic equipment , that is used to define ballots; to cast and count votes; to report or display election results; and to maintain and produce any audit trail information...