35978 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 132 / Tuesday, July 10, 2001 / Notices 

Petition on or beforeJuly 30, 2001, and 

reply comments on or before August 14, 

2001. Comments may be filed using the 

Commission’s Electronic Comment 

Filing System (ECFS) or by filing paper 

copies. Comments filed through ECFS 

can be sent as an electronic file via the 

Internet to http://www.fcc.gov/e-file/ 

ecfs.hmtl. Only one copy of an 

electronic submission must be filed. In 

completing the transmittal screen, 

commenters should include their full 

name, postal service mailing address, 

and the applicable docket or rulemaking 

number of this proceeding. Parties may 

also submit an electronic comment by 

Interest e-mail. To get filing instructions 

for e-mail comments, commenters 

should send an e-mail to ecfs@fcc.gov, 

and should include the following words 

in the body of the message, ‘‘get form 

[your e-mail address].’’ A sample form 

and directions will be send in reply. 

Parties who choose to file by paper must 

file an original and four copies of each 

filing. 

DATES: Comments are due on or before 

July 30, 2001, and reply comments are 

due on or before August 14, 2001. 

ADDRESSES: All paper filings must be 

sent to the Commission’s Secretary, 

Magalie Roman Salas, Office of the 

Secretary, Federal Communications 

Commission, 445 12th Street, SW., 

Room TW A–325, Washington, DC 

20554. A copy should also be sent to 

Jane Phillips,Room 3 A–200. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jane 

Phillips, 202–418–1310. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

James D. Schlichting, 

Deputy Chief, Wireless Telecommunications 

Bureau. 

[FR Doc. 01–17248 Filed 7–9–01; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

Sunshine Act Meeting 

July 5, 2001. 

Open Commission Meeting, Thursday, 

July 12, 2001 

The Federal Communications 

Commission will hold an Open Meeting 

on the subjects listed below on 

Thursday, July 12, 2001, which is 

scheduled to commence at 9:30 a.m. in 

Room TW–C305, at 445 12th Street, 

SW., Washington, DC. 

Item No., Bureau, and Subject 

1—Common Carrier—Title: Deployment of 

Wireline Services Offering Advanced 

Telecommunications Capability (CC 

Docket No. 98–147). Summary: The 

Commission will consider a Fourth Report 

and Order concerning the collocation 

obligations of incumbent LECs. 

2—Common Carrier—Title: Implementation 

of Further Streamlining Measures for 

Domestic Section 214 Authorizations. 

Summary: The Commission will consider a 

Declaratory Ruling and Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking concerning streamlining the 

process for common carriers to gain 

authorization pursuant to Section 214 of 

the Communications Act of 1934, as 

amended, to transfer domestic interstate 

transmission lines through an acquisition 

of corporate control. 

3—International—Title: Presentation on the 

Status of the U.S. International Services 

Market. Summary: The International 

Bureau will make a presentation detailing 

changes in the international services 

market over the past several years, and 

resulting decreases in consumer prices and 

increases in volume of calls and capacity. 

Additional information concerning 

this meeting may be obtained from 

Maureen Pertino or David Fiske, Office 

of Media Relations, telephone number 

(202) 418–0500; TTY (202) 418–2555. 

Copies of materials adopted at this 

meeting can be purchased from the 

FCC’s duplicating contractor, 

International Transcription Services, 

Inc. (ITS, Inc.) at (202) 857–3800; fax 

(202) 857–3805 and 857–3184; or TTY 

(202) 293–8810. These copies are 

available in paper format and alternative 

media, including large print/type; 

digital disk; and audio tape. ITS may be 

reached by e-mail: 

its_inc@ix.netco.com. Their Internet 

address is http://www.itsdocs.com/. 

This meeting can be viewed over 

George Mason University’s Capitol 

Connection. The Capitol Connection 

also will carry the meeting live via the 

Internet. For information on these 

services call (703) 993–3100. The audio 

portion of the meeting will be broadcast 

live on the Internet via the FCC’s 

Internet audio broadcast page at <http:/ 

/www.fcc.gov/realaudio/>. The meeting 

can also be heard via telephone, for a 

fee, from National Narrowcast Network, 

telephone (202) 966–2211 or fax (202) 

966–1770. Audio and video tapes of this 

meeting can be purchased from Infocus, 

341 Victory Drive, Herndon, VA 20170, 

telephone (703) 834–0100; fax number 

(703) 834–0111. 

Federal Communications Commission. 

Magalie Roman Salas, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 01–17346 Filed 7–6–01; 2:16 pm] 

BILLING CODE 6712–01–M 

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION 

[Notice 2001–9] 

Voluntary Standards for Computerized 

Voting Systems 

AGENCY: Federal Election Commission. 

ACTION: Notice with request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Election 

Commission (the ‘‘FEC’’) requests 

comments on proposed revisions to the 

1990 national voluntary performance 

standards for computerized voting 

systems. Please note that the draft 

revised Standards do not represent a 

final decision by the Commission, nor 

do they include proposed revised test 

standards. The FEC will publish a 

notice when the proposed revised test 

standards are available for comment, 

and another notice when the final 

revised performance and test 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 September 10, 2001. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of the draft revised 

performance 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 picked up 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. 

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, with printed copy follow-up 

to ensure legibility. Electronic mail 

comments should be sent to 

VSS@fec.gov. See the Supplementary 

Information that follows for file formats 

and other information about filing 

comments electronically. 

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 132 / Tuesday, July 10, 2001 / Notices 35979 

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: The FEC 

issued the first national voluntary 

voting system standards in response to 

various States’ requests for assistance, 

after a number of voting system failures 

in the field. The FEC’s Office of Election 

Administration undertook this activity 

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 of 

information and review of procedures 

with respect to the administration of 

Federal elections.’’ 

The FEC began developing the first 

performance standards and test criteria 

for computer based voting systems in 

1984, subsequent to two studies. The 

first study was the 1975 publication 

entitled ‘‘Effective Use of Computing 

Technology in Vote Tallying’’, which 

was prepared jointly by the National 

Bureau of Standards (now the National 

Institute of Standards and Technology) 

and the FEC’s predecessor at the 

General Accounting Office. This report 

concluded that one of the primary 

causes for computer-related election 

problems was a lack of appropriate 

technical skills at the State and local 

level for developing or implementing 

complex written standards, against 

which voting system hardware and 

software could be tested. The second 

report was a Congressionally mandated 

feasibility study published in 1982 and 

entitled ‘‘Voting System Standards: A 

Report to the Congress on the 

Development of Voluntary Engineering 

and Procedural Performance Standards 

for Voting Systems’’. This document, 

produced by the FEC in cooperation 

with the National Bureau of Standards, 

cited a substantial number of technical 

and management problems that affected 

the integrity of the vote counting 

process. It also detailed the need and 

desirability of having a federal agency 

develop voluntary national technical 

standards and test criteria for voting 

systems other than mechanical lever or 

hand-counted paper ballot systems. 

The original Standards took six years 

to develop. A series of public meetings 

were held. State and local election 

officials, representatives of voting 

system vendors, technical consultants, 

and others reviewed drafts of the 

proposed criteria. A notice soliciting 

comments from the public was 

published in the Federal Register on 

August 8, 1989. 54 FR 32479. The FEC 

reviewed all responses to the notice and 

incorporated corrections and suitable 

suggestions. Notice of the final 

Standards was published in the Federal 

Register on February 5, 1990. 55 FR 

3764. 

Thirty-seven States now report that 

they have implemented, or intend soon 

to adopt, the Standards. While most 

States apply the Standards only to 

newly acquired voting systems, States 

may also consider using the Standards 

to test existing voting systems. The 

National Association of State Election 

Directors (‘‘NASED’’) oversees the 

national testing of voting systems by 

independent test authorities using the 

Standards. The Election Center, a 

private membership association of 

election officials, serves as Secretariat 

for the NASED testing program. 

Today, election officials are better 

assured that the voting systems they 

procure will work accurately and 

reliably. Voting system failures are on 

the decline, and now tend to involve 

pre-standard equipment, untested 

equipment configurations, or the 

mismanagement of tested equipment. 

Nevertheless, after ten years of use, 

the Standards need revision. The 

technologies used to develop voting 

systems and way the voting process is 

administered had evolved and continue 

to evolve. The needs of the disabled 

community have been widely 

recognized. In addition, voting system 

vendors, NASED independent test 

authorities, States, and local 

jurisdictions have gained much 

experience in using the Standards and 

have identified areas for refinement. 

The FEC initiated this particular 

revision process in the fall of 1999, after 

conducting an analysis to pinpoint 

where revisions were needed and to 

estimate associated costs. The 

production of draft revised Standards 

involved technical consultants, 

representatives of the two NASED 

certified independent test authorities, 

State and local election officials who are 

members of the NASED committee that 

oversees the testing process, and the 

Executive Director of The Election 

Center. Voting system vendors were also 

given the opportunity to comment on 

problems with the current Standards, 

the focus of and framework for the 

revised Standards, and an early draft of 

the functional requirements for the 

revised Standards. 

The proposed revised Standards 

separate the original performance 

standards and test criteria, which had 

been presented together as one large 

volume, into two volumes to better suit 

the needs of different user groups. 

‘‘Volume I: Voting System Performance 

Standards’’ provides an introduction to 

the Standards, describes the functional 

and technical requirements for voting 

systems, and includes a summary of the 

testing process. ‘‘Volume II: Voting 

System Test Standards’’ will provide 

details of the test process in terms of 

information to be submitted by the 

vendor, testing conducted by the 

independent test authorities, and 

criteria for passing the individual tests 

of the test process. 

To improve readability, the revised 

performance standards also have been 

reorganized to clearly identify 

individual elements as either mandatory 

requirements or recommended 

guidelines or practices. They focus on 

voting system functionality, identifying 

requirements common to all types of 

voting systems and those that apply 

only to subclasses of voting systems 

(e.g.; paper based versus all electronic, 

central count versus precinct count). 

The proposed performance standards 

provide expanded coverage of certain 

automated election management 

functions that interface with vote 

recording and tabulating systems; both 

on the front end during the preparation 

of ballots and the election-specific 

coding of software and on the back end 

during vote consolidation and reporting. 

They augment coverage of system 

requirements for feedback to the voter, 

audit trails, telecommunications, 

security, and the documentation of 

vendor quality assurance practices. 

They also provide new coverage for 

Internet voting, accessibility for 

disabled voters, and documentation of 

the vendor’s process for managing 

voting system development and 

changes. The Commission encourages 

detailed comments on these new and 

expanded areas. 

The proposed performance standards 

no longer describe fundamental 

professional systems development 

processes. They do not address election 

practices and procedures that are not 

under the control of the vendor, 

although vendors will be required to 

document actions, materials, and 

environmental considerations necessary 

to properly secure, use, transport, and 

maintain their specific voting systems. 

This version of the performance 

standards also does not address many 

specific human interface considerations, 

except for the accessibility of 

information technology components to 

the disabled and some general 

provisions for ballot presentation, 

feedback to the voter, and warning 

signals. The FEC has requested funds to 

enhance existing documents and 

develop new ones to address these 

matters. 

35980 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 132 / Tuesday, July 10, 2001 / Notices 

The proposed performance standards 

also do not cover election 

administration databases and 

information technology that are not 

involved in ballot preparation, election 

coding of software, vote recording and 

tabulation, or vote consolidation and 

reporting (e.g.; databases used to 

manage voter registration, absentee 

balloting requests, precinct boundaries, 

poll worker remuneration, etc.). Further 

discussion of the reasons for these 

exclusions is contained in the Overview 

document that accompanies the 

proposed Standards. 

The FEC is now making the draft 

‘‘Volume I: Voting System Performance 

Standards’’ available for comment. This 

fall, the Commission plans to publish a 

notice in the Federal Register to 

announce when the draft ‘‘Volume II: 

Voting System Test Standards’’ is 

available for comment. The Commission 

will evaluate comments received on 

both volumes to determine what 

additional refinements are warranted. 

Following this process, a notice will be 

published in the Federal Register 

announcing the availability of the final 

documents. Assuming a continuous 

funding stream, the Commission 

anticipates a final issuance date no later 

than April 2002 and will recommend to 

the States, voting system vendors, and 

independent test authorities an effective 

date of July 1, 2002. 

Electronic Access and Filing Addresses 

Comments may be submitted by 

sending electronic messages to 

VSS@fec.gov. The FEC also accepts 

comments in electronic mail 

attachments and on disk that are in 

Word 5.0, or earlier version, file format. 

Commenters should avoid the use of 

special characters or encryption. When 

possible, commenters should reference 

the section to which a particular 

comment relates. Comments on the need 

to address issues not covered by this 

draft should identify the scope of what 

needs to be addressed as specifically as 

possible. 

Persons sending comments by 

electronic mail must include their full 

name, electronic mail address and 

postal service address within the text of 

their comments. Comments that do not 

contain the full name, electronic mail 

address and postal service address of 

the commenter will not be considered. 

Dated: July 3, 2001. 

Danny L. McDonald, 

Chairman, Federal Election Commission. 

[FR Doc. 01–17110 Filed 7–9–01; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6715–01–P 

FEDERAL EMERGENCY 

MANAGEMENT AGENCY 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Submission for OMB review; 

Comment Request 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The Federal Emergency 

Management Agency has submitted the 

following proposed information 

collection to the Office of Management 

and Budget for review and clearance in 

accordance with the requirements of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 

U.S.C. 3507). 

Title: National Fire Academy 

Executive Fire Officer Program 

Application Form. 

Type of Information Collection: 

Revision of a currently approved 

collection. 

OMB Number: 3067–0194. 

Abstract: FEMA Form 95–22, National 

Fire Academy Executive Fire Officer 

Program Application for Admission is 

used by respondents who are seniorlevel (executive) fire officers to apply 

into the National Fire Academy’s 

Executive Fire Officer Program. FEMA 

uses the application form for effective 

screening/selection of applicants/ 

students. 

Affected Public: State, Local or Tribal 

Government and individuals or 

households. 

Number of Respondents: 300. 

Estimated Time per Respondent: 1 

hour. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

Hours: 300. 

Frequency of Response: On Occasion. 

Comments: Interested persons are 

invited to submit written comments on 

the proposed information collection to 

the Desk Officer for the Federal 

Emergency Management Agency, Office 

of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

Office of Management and Budget, 

Washington, DC 20503 within 30 days 

of the date of this notice. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Requests for additional information or 

copies of the information collection 

should be made to Muriel B. Anderson, 

Chief, Records Management Section, 

Program Services and Systems Branch, 

Facilities and Services Management 

Division, Administration and Resources 

Planning Directorate, Federal 

Emergency Management Agency, 500 C 

Street, SW, Room 316, Washington, DC 

20472, telephone number (202) 646– 

2625 or facsimile number (202) 646– 

3347, or email 

muriel.anderson@fema.gov. 

Dated: July 2, 2001. 

Muriel B. Anderson, 

Acting Director, Program Services and 

Systems Branch, Facilities and Services 

Management Division, Administration and 

Resources Planning Directorate. 

[FR Doc. 01–17123 Filed 7–9–01; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6718–01–P 

FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS 

AUTHORITY 

Membership of the Federal Labor 

Relations Authority’s Senior Executive 

Service Performance Review Board 

AGENCY: Federal Labor Relations 

Authority. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the 

members of the Performance Review 

Board. 

DATE: July 10, 2001. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michele Pilipovich, Human Resources 

Director, Federal Labor Relations 

Authority (FLRA), 607 Fourteenth 

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20424– 

0001; (202) 482–6690, extension 423. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

4314(c)(1) through (5) of title 5, U.S.C., 

requires that each agency establish, in 

accordance with the regulations 

prescribed by the Office of Personnel 

Management, one or more Performance 

Review Boards. The Boards shall review 

and evaluate the initial appraisal of a 

senior executive’s performance by the 

supervisor, along with any 

recommendations to the appointing 

authority relative to the performance of 

the senior executive. 

The following persons will serve on 

the FLRA’s Performance Review Board: 

Solly Thomas, Office of the Executive 

Director, FLRA 

James Petrucci, Office of the General 

Counsel, FLRA 

Gloria Joseph, National Labor 

Relations Board 

Stephen Crable, National Mediation 

Board 

Brian Flores, Federal Mediation and 

Conciliation Service. 

Dated: July 5, 2001. 

Michele Pilipovich, 

Human Resources Director. 

[FR Doc. 01–17225 Filed 7–9–01; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6727–01–P