Standards Board 

Newsletter 

June 2015 

Volume 2, Issue 1 

Executive Board of the Standards Board 

Brad King, IN State, Chair

Sandi Wesolowski, WI Local, Vice-Chair

Edgardo Cortes, VA State, Secretary

Mark Goins, TN State 

Paul Lux, FL Local 

Peggy Nighswonger, WY State 

Gary Poser, MN State 

Jerry Schwarting, SD Local 

Rey Valenzuela, AZ Local 

U.S. Election Assistance Commission 

1335 E West Highway · Suite 4300 · Silver Spring, MD 20910 
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Letter from the Chair 

“The Standards Board is Alive and Well!”

Eighty-seven of the 110 members of the Standards Board gathered on April 28 

and 29 in historic Williamsburg, Virginia to reorganize the Board and move 

forward with the Board’s important work under the Help America Vote Act. We 

elected new Executive Board members and chose new Standards Board 

officers to carry on the day-to-day tasks of the Board as we plan for our next full 

meeting. 

Dozens of members responded enthusiastically to the invitation to serve on 

committees responsible for completing some of the Board’s most immediate 

tasks (such as the US EAC Executive Director Search Committee) or on 

committees whose long-term work is the heart of the reason for the Board’s 

existence (the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines Committee). Other 

members cheerfully volunteered to serve on committees necessary for the 

stable, orderly work of the Board (such as the Bylaws Committee and the 

Nominating Committee). The Executive Board thanks everyone who expressed 

an interest in serving on one or more of these committees, and hopes that you 

will continue to show a lively interest in helping the Board accomplish its 

important work. 

I hope that this e-newsletter will keep all of the Board members up-to-date on 

the activities of the Executive Board and the various Committees. I am certain 

that the momentum we began in Williamsburg will continue in the weeks and 

months ahead. 

Brad King, Chair

Executive Board Meets 

On June 18, the Executive Board conducted its first meeting since we gathered 

in Williamsburg. During its conference call, the Executive Board received 

reports from committees (set forth in this newsletter), and decided to send a 

letter to NIST regarding the work of the Standards Board on the Voluntary 

Voting System Guidelines. The letter to NIST will emphasize the need to have 

a systematic plan for reviewing and revising the individual components of the 

Guidelines, rather than attempting to digest and make recommendations for 

changing the entire 600+ page document “all at one sitting.” The Executive 

Board also decided that publishing this newsletter on a monthly basis was 

desirable at this time to keep all Standards Board members up-to-speed with 
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rapidly changing developments. Now that the EAC, Standards Board, Board of 

Advisors, (and soon, the TGDC) are fully functioning, there will be lots of news 

to share. 

Committee Reports 

Search Committee for EAC Executive Director

The Standards Board Search Committee for the EAC Executive Director has 

done its duty. 

On May 29, Peggy Nighswonger, Chair of the Search Committee, notified the 

EAC Commissioners that the Committee had conducted an in-person meeting 

in Williamsburg, and several conference calls among its members, and was 

forwarding at least three names to the EAC for consideration as candidates for 

the EAC Executive Director’s position. Now that the EAC has received the 

names of these candidates, the process will continue with the EAC taking these 

names (and those submitted by the Board of Advisors) into consideration as 

the EAC Commissioners make their final decision regarding the appointment of 

a person to serve as EAC Executive Director. Many thanks go out to the 

members of the Search Committee who took the time to review lengthy 

applications and resumes and then conduct a thoughtful process to make these 

recommendations. 

Committee Members:

• Peggy Nighswonger (WY), State, Chair

• Edgardo Cortes (VA), State 

• Gail Fenumiai (AK), State 

• Mark Goins (TN), State 

• Steve Harsman (OH), Local 

• Lisa Kimmet (MT), State 

• Jim Silrum (ND), State 

Bylaws Committee
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Wednesday, July 15, 2015 Deadline for Amendment Submissions!

The Bylaws Committee has begun the task of reviewing the Bylaws of the 

Standards Board. If you attended the Williamsburg meeting, you may recall that 

the Committee recommended that the membership re-adopt the Bylaws, as last 

amended on July 27, 2010. This recommendation was approved. Now the 

Committee is asking for your suggestions regarding any amendments which 

the full membership of the Board should consider. 

The Bylaws Amendment Submission form, attached to this e-newsletter, is 

short and we hope easy to complete. Please note that the form must be 

received by EAC Chairwoman Christy McCormick, the Designated Federal 

Officer for the Standards Board, by July 15, 2015.

Over the years, the Bylaws have been amended to help the Standards Board 

implement new and more efficient procedures for conducting its meetings and 

its Executive Board elections. Your own “bright idea” may be the next step in 

improving the way we carry out our work together. 

Committee Members: 

• Sandi Wesolowski (WI), Local, Chair 

• Maryellen Allen (KY), State 

• Lynn Bailey (GA), Local 

• Jackie Gonzales (WY), Local 

• John Merrill (AL), State 

• Gary Poser (MN), State 

• Howard Sholl, Jr. (DE), Local 

Voluntary Voting Systems Guidelines (VVSG) Committee

The VVSG Committee will meet by conference call on Wednesday, June 24 

from 1-2 p.m. EDT to discuss the topics assigned to working groups, such as 

accessibility and usability of voting systems; the broad-ranging goals of NASS 

and NASED concerning voting systems; and software independence. A 

detailed report regarding the Committee’s meeting will appear in the next 

edition of this newsletter. 

Committee members:
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• Paul Lux (FL), Local, Chair 

• Nikki Baines Charlson (MD), State 

• Robert Dezmelyk (NH), Local 

• Lance Gough (IL), Local 

• Keith Ingram (TX), State 

• Brandon Johnson (SD), State 

• Marian Schneider (PA), State 

• A.J. Starling (TN), Local 

• Reynaldo Valenzuela Jr. (AZ), Local 

Next Standards Board Meeting 

Date 

Several members have asked when (and where) the next meeting of the full 

membership of the Standards Board will take place. Although the exact answer 

will depend on factors such as when the Technical Guidelines Development 

Committee (TGDC) is fully functioning again, and what work that the various 

Standards Board committees can accomplish during the next weeks and 

months, the Executive Board has preliminarily considered this question. We 

recognize that 2016 will be a busy year for all of us, but not all of us will be 

busy at the same times. The lengthy and constantly changing primary and 

caucus schedules will make it impossible to select a date for the next meeting 

that will permit every member to attend (or to do so conveniently). Because of 

the large number of Standards Board members, we also need to make certain 

that we will have a quorum of members who can attend. 

In our initial discussion, we identified three windows of opportunity for our next 

meeting (some more optimistic than others). They are, in chronological order, 

the days around October 1, 2015, after January 1, 2016, and around April 15, 

2016. EAC staff is researching certain critical information, such as hotel room 

availability, government rates, and other costs which will be important to 

consider regardless of whether one of these dates, or another date, is 

ultimately selected. Since a new federal fiscal year will begin on October 1, 

2015, we will have to take into consideration whether federal funding is 
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available at that time to conduct our next meeting. We will also take the effect 

of winter weather on air travel into account. 

Your feedback is welcome, as always, in this process. 

Announcements 

Executive Board Conference Call

• Thursday, July 16, 2015, 3 p.m. EDT 

Technical Guidelines Development Committee meeting

• Monday and Tuesday, July 20-21, 2015 

• “Portrait Room”, NIST, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 1000, Gaithersburg, 

MD. 

• For agenda and more information, see http://www.nist.gov/itl/vote/tgdcjuly-20-21-2015.cfm

 

Thanks to Amy Miller from the Indiana Secretary of State's office for her 

assistance with the production of this newsletter.