[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 245 (Thursday, December 20, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65708-65710]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-31293]
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FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION
[Notice 2001-19]
Voluntary Standards for Computerized Voting Systems
AGENCY: Federal Election Commission.
ACTION: Notice with request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Federal Election Commission (the ``FEC'') requests
comments on the second draft of the revisions to the 1990 national
voluntary performance standards for computerized voting systems and the
first draft of the revisions to the 1990 national test standards.
Please note that these drafts do not represent a final decision by the
Commission. The FEC will publish a Federal Register notice when both
volumes of the final revised standards are issued. Note also that the
text of the final documents will not become part of the Code of Federal
Regulations because they are intended only as guidelines for states and
voting system vendors. States may mandate the specifications and
procedures through their own statutes, regulations, or administrative
rules. Voting system vendors may voluntarily adhere to the standards to
ensure the reliability, accuracy, and integrity of their products.
Further information is provided in the supplementary information that
follows.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 1, 2002.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the draft revised performance and test standards
may be found on the Federal Election Commission's Web site at
www.fec.gov/elections.html, or may be requested by contacting the
Office of Election Administration, Federal Election Commission, 999 E.
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20463. They may also be requested in person
at the Office of Election Administration, 800 N. Capital St., NW.,
Washington, DC, Suite 600.
All comments should be addressed to Ms. Penelope Bonsall, Director,
Office of Election Administration, and must be submitted in either
written or electronic form. Because no anonymous submissions will be
considered, all submissions must include the commenter's full name,
postal mail address, and electronic mail address if submitted by e-
mail. Written comments should be sent to the Office of Election
Administration, Federal Election Commission, 999 E. Street, NW.,
Washington, DC 20463. Faxed comments should be sent to (202) 219-8500,
although it is advisable to send a printed copy to ensure legibility.
Comments can be submitted electronically to [email protected]. It is
suggested that electronic comments that are submitted as attachments
use Microsoft Word and that all comments avoid the use of special
characters or encryption. Comments can be submitted through the close
of business on February 1, 2002
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Penelope Bonsall, Director, Office
of Election Administration, 999 E. Street, NW., Washington, DC 20463;
Telephone: (202) 694-1095; Toll free (800) 424-9530, extension 1095.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 1990, the FEC and its Office of Election
Administration promulgated standards for computerized election
equipment pursuant to its responsibilities under 2 U.S.C 438(a)(10),
which requires the FEC to ``serve as a national clearinghouse for the
compilation and review of procedures with respect to the administration
of Federal elections.'' The resulting product is the Voting System
Standards (the ``Standards'').
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Although voluntary, the Standards have been adopted in 38 states in
whole or in part and are used to design systems and procure equipment
to meet the needs of diverse jurisdictions serving a wide variety of
voting populations and election formats.
The Standards are designed to provide technical specifications and
documentation requirements to vendors that intend to sell systems in
the states that require compliance with the Standards. In order to show
compliance, a vendor must submit its system for qualification testing.
The qualification testing is done through an Independent Testing
Authority (``ITA'') that has been certified by the National Association
of State Election Directors (``NASED''). Once a system has completed
the ITA process, it receives a NASED Qualified identification number.
In order to maintain its status as a NASED qualified system, the
hardware and software must be identical to the hardware and software
tested by the ITA.
The Standards are designed to guide development of computerized
voting systems. To this extent, the only voting systems that are
addressed in the Standards are electronic DRE systems and paper-based
systems that utilize electronic technology to count ballots. The
Standards do not address lever machines systems, as there are currently
no manufacturers that design systems using such machines.
Periodic revisions to the Standards are necessary to reflect the
development of emerging technology in voting systems and design
innovations. Increasingly, voting system vendors are designing systems
that use electronic and telecommunications components not addressed in
the original standards. As a result, proposed revisions have been
developed by the FEC that reflect the technologies contemplated by the
voting system industry. Also, the Standards acknowledge the impact of
the Americans with Disabilities Act and provide specifications so that
voting system vendors can design systems that allow a voter with a
disability to exercise his or her democratically protected right to
vote.
Additionally, the revised Standards incorporate a broadened
understanding of what constitutes a voting system by including not just
the machine used by voters to cast ballots, but also certain components
of the Election Management System (EMS), the telecommunications system
(where applicable), and the ballot counting system. The revised
Standards augment the requirements for the EMS, addressing preparation
of the ballot, election-specific coding of software, and vote
consolidation and reporting processes. The Standards do not provide
guidance to computerized election database systems that are not part of
the voting system itself. Such systems include voter registration
databases and other consolidated databases used by election officials.
The FEC's Office of Election Administration has produced other
documents, available upon request, that can assist election officials
and other interested parties in developing and maintaining such
systems.
The FEC recognizes that human interface considerations are an
integral part of developing an accurate, reliable voting system. The
FEC has allocated funds to investigate human factors issues and is
developing specifications that can be used in conjunction with both the
Standards and other FEC operational and management guidelines to ensure
that human factors considerations are given an important place in the
development and procurement of voting systems.
The 1990 Standards were released as a single volume. However, the
new Standards are divided into two volumes, both included in this
release. Volume I provides functional and technical requirements for a
number of system types and configurations. Volume II provides testing
specifications for the requirements of Volume I.
On July 10, 2001, the Commission published a Federal Register
notice requesting comments on the first draft of Volume I of the
revised Standards. 66 FR 35978. Public comment was significant in both
volume and content. Over 350 comments from over 40 commentators
provided ideas and approaches to the Standards that greatly enhance
their use by vendors, election officials, and voters. Because of this
feedback, substantive changes were made to Volume I and a second draft
of this document is being released for additional public comment.
Although many of the comments on Volume I were helpful in devising the
content of Volume II, this will be the first opportunity for the public
to comment on its specific content.
The documents released with this notice include an Overview
document, Volume I of the Standards (containing nine sections and three
appendices), and Volume II of the Standards (containing seven sections
and four appendices). The overview document explains in detail the
history of the Standards project, provides a description of how the
Standards fit into the election vending process, and gives an
explanation of the reasoning behind the inclusions and exclusions of
various systems, requirements, and test methods. Volume I of the
Standards contains functional requirements (Section 2) that outline
system benchmarks. The Standards also anticipate an increased demand
for equipment that meets the needs of people with disabilities. In
order to address these needs, the FEC consulted with the Access Board,
the federal agency that developed access guidelines for federal
information technology, to produce specific requirements to help guide
vendors in the development of systems that increase accessibility to
voters with disabilities (Section 2.6).
The Standards provide specific requirements for system software
(Section 3) and hardware (Section 4). Additionally, the Standards
anticipate that voting systems will move increasingly towards the use
of telecommunications to cast ballots, consolidate vote data, and
report results. As such, two sections of Volume I of the Standards
outline requirements to guide selection of proper telecommunications
equipment (Section 5) and ensure that the introduction of
telecommunications equipment does not compromise the security and
secrecy demanded by the election process (Section 6). Section 6 also
addresses security and secrecy requirements for a voting system's
software, hardware, and administrative procedures (as specified by the
vendor).
Volume I of the Standards also provides information on quality
assurance (Section 7) and configuration management issues (Section 8).
These sections are tailored towards the unique needs of the election
system industry, and are designed to provide guidance in sound
management practices without posing an undue burden on small companies
that have traditionally formed the backbone of the election system
industry.
Section 9 of Volume I of the Standards provides an introduction and
overview to the testing process necessary for a system to be qualified.
The testing processes and specifications themselves are found in the
body of Volume II.
Ultimately, the Standards are only a component of the necessary
steps to ensure reliable, accurate, and secure elections. A qualified
system has passed certain benchmarks for accuracy and reliability, but
this is not sufficient to ensure overall system reliability unless
jurisdictions who purchase the system use sound procurement and
management practices to ensure that the system's security, accuracy,
and reliability are protected during the election cycle itself. Because
such practices are related to the actions of
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voting officials rather than vendors, they are clearly outside the
scope of the Standards. However, the Standards mandate a significant
amount of disclosure from vendors in order to provide a clear
understanding to election officials of how the system can be optimally
operated.
The FEC invites all interested parties to submit comments. It is
requested that each commenter indicate if he or she is willing to
appear before the Commission. The FEC asks that, where appropriate,
submitted comments reference the specific sections of the Standards
that are germane to the submitted comment. Additionally, the FEC
requests that comments regarding specific content be accompanied by
specific suggestions for alterations to language or technical
specifications, so that the Commission may consider changes that best
reflect the intent of the commenter. Comments suggesting the use of
alternate industry standards should provide the standard industry
reference.
Dated: December 14, 2001.
Karl Sandstrom,
Commissioner, Federal Election Commission.
[FR Doc. 01-31293 Filed 12-19-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6715-01-P