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2008

Election Technology Council Issues Public Comments to the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines Currently Before the United States Election Assistance Commission.   Press Release, Public Comments

The Election Technology Council has released its public comments to the draft Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG) currently before the United States Election Assistance Commission.  The first round of public comments have come to a close and the EAC will now be working to address the concerns expressed within the draft document with another round of public comments to follow prior to the VVSG official adoption.  Adherence to federal voting system standards is strictly voluntary by the states, however approximately 40 states currently require their voting systems to achieve federal certification. 

“The current draft of the VVSG represents a document that is entirely driven in policy rather than in recognition of the need for clear performance and security requirements,” stated David Beirne, Executive Director of the Election Technology Council.   “Rather than focusing on improving deficiencies within the previous two versions of voting system standards, the EAC is now forced to consider a policy document which will either revolutionize the voting experience for the average American voter or result in producing vast market failure,” Beirne added.

ETC Executive Director Addresses NACo/NACRC Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C. Two sessions featured remarks from the Executive Director.  The first addressed preparing for the 2008 General Election for local election officials and outlined the steps that can be taken to safeguard the integrity of the upcoming election cycle. The second session addressed county election officials and detailed current challenges facing the voting industry and their commitment to effective service delivery. Download a copy of the Executive Director's remarks to NACRC and to NACo.

ETC Executive Director participates in Technology Summit hosted by the National Association of Counties (NACo)-Prior to NACo's Legislative Conference, a Technology Summit was held with attendees representing various county information technology officers from around the country.  The ETC Executive Director outlined the need for county officials to work together in election administration given the intense scrutiny for election officials and the increasingly technical nature of the field. Download a copy of the Executive Director's remarks.

ETC Issues Industry Guidelines for Safeguarding the Vote during the 2008 Election Cycle-The ETC issued its own set of best practices for local election officials to employ in 2008 to address both perceived and real threats to voting systems.  Recent security reviews have neglected to incorporate real procedures to mitigate perceived and real threats so this document is intended to help local election officials as they protect the integrity of their elections through prevention and detection. Press Release, Full Document.

2007

Executive Director Participates in Pew/Electionline Media Summit-Chicago, IL

Media personnel from the midwest were invited to hear about the big issues confronting the 2008 Election Cycle. The Executive Director spoke to the big issues facing the industry including misrepresentation of ebbing voter confidence, the challenging regulatory environment and the lack of a clear consensus on the use of threat models with electronic voting systems.

For a copy of the Executive Director's Powerpoint presentation, click here.

Election Technology Council Provides Testimony on Draft Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG)--

The Executive Director of the Election Technology Council (ETC) provided testimony to the United States Election Assistance Commission on the newest draft of the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG).  "The newest draft of the VVSG is very aggressive in its prescriptions for voting system designs rather than establishing performance protocols", said David Beirne, Executive Director of the ETC.  "In our estimation, the overall development of the VVSG has been greatly weakened through the lack of industry representation.  The ETC is concerned that while the VVSG are labeled "voluntary", they are de facto regulations.  Accordingly, the ETC members believe it is critical that they be afforded an opportunity to participate in the process in the same manner that other regulated businesses have access in their respective industries."...more

ETC Issues Document Concerning Durability of Thermal Paper Records--

In recent years, the voting system industry has responded to concerns from their customers and marketed a paper based auditing mechanism as a means for voters to verify their vote selections.  Typically, this industry response has taken the form of a thermal reel-to-reel printer attachment and is commonly referred to as a Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT).  As the leading association for voting system manufacturers in the United States it is important to document industry practices and their ability to satisfy all appropriate document retention schedules...more.

Executive Director Participates in NCSL Panel Discussion on Election Integrity

The Executive Director of the Election Technology Council was recently invited to participate in a panel discussion entitled "Election Integrity" at the Annual Meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures.  For an electronic video of the Executive Director's remarks and the entire discussion, please visit the following link:

http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/index.php?main_page=product_video_info&products_id=200338-1&tID=5

This is an 1 1/2 hour program.  The Executive Director of the Election Technology Council provided comments first and a good Q&A session follows. 

ETC Issues Guidelines for States conducting "Top-to-Bottom" Reviews--Election administration is an interdisciplinary field requiring a broad knowledge of election law, public administration, and a strong technical background.  For those jurisdictions pursuing comprehensive reviews of voting systems, please refer to the ETC's published guidelines on how to conduct a "true" system review...more

ETC Publishes Guidance to Congress on Potential Amendments to HAVA

ETC Issues Statement on potential amendments to the Help America Vote Act of 2002 being considered by the current Congress.  The proposed language creates a mandate for new technologies not presently in existence.  New product development requires 54 months for an ideal development, certification, and implementation and the current proposed compliance dates are not adequate...more

2006

Chairman John Groh's Testimony Before the United States Election Assistance Commission regarding the projected transition to the 2005 Voluntary Voting System Guidelines...more