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U.S. ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION

1335 East West Highway, Suite 4300

Silver Spring, MD 20910

March 31, 2015 Contact: Bryan Whitener

 (301) 563-3961

EAC Updates Federal Voting System Guidelines

SILVER SPRING, MD – The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) today approved updates to 

the standards used to test America’s voting systems. Commissioners adopted revisions to the decade-old 

voluntary voting system guidelines (VVSG) and approved updates to the EAC’s voting system testing 

program manuals. After their confirmation in January—and after four years without the required quorum 

of members to adopt policies—the EAC’s new commissioners made updating the standards and policies 

for testing voting systems their top priority.

“These revisions improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the testing and certification 

process,” said EAC Chairwoman Christy McCormick. “These updates allow us to get new voting 

systems or modifications to systems out more quickly to those election officials who desperately 

need them. We’re also focusing on what we can do to foster best practices, reduce risks and 

engender the confidence of the electorate,” McCormick said.

“The 2016 election cycle is here. Since Day one, the three of us have agreed that we must 

operate with a sense of urgency, time is not a luxury." stated Vice-chair Hicks. "The EAC 

must do all it can to provide guidance for the election process to run smoothly. Our 

stakeholders have made it clear that they are depending upon the EAC to offer the technical 

guidance and expertise only it can provide. Moving forward with the VVSG 1.1 standards 

helps to provide some of that guidance."

“Old voting technology is a huge challenge facing election officials across the country,”

said EAC Commissioner Matthew Masterson. “Our process must be responsive to their 

needs so problems in the field are identified and resolved quickly.”

Adopted by the EAC in 2005, the VVSG provide a set of specifications and requirements against which 

voting systems can be tested to determine if they possess the requisite functionality, accessibility and 

security capabilities. In addition, the guidelines establish evaluation criteria for the national certification 

of voting systems. 

The commissioners’ unanimous approval of revisions to the VVSG serves to clarify the guidelines to 

make them more testable; enable the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to create 

test suites for the proposed revisions; and improve portions of the guidelines that were out of date and 

could be updated without requiring massive programmatic changes. With today’s decision, the EAC

improved the consistency and efficiency of the testing process, which will lead to cost savings for both 

election officials and manufacturers. With these changes complete, the commission will look to move 

forward with writing a new set of guidelines. 

In other business, commissioners approved updates to the EAC’s Testing and Certification Program 

Manual, 2.0 and Voting System Test Laboratory Program Manual, 2.0. The manuals, which were first
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adopted in 2006 and 2008, respectively, will improve the efficiency and speed of the testing and 

certification of voting systems with the added goal of reduced cost.

The commissioners also acted on advisory opinion requests from state and local election offices related 

to the expenditure of federal funds distributed for election improvements under the Help America Vote 

Act (HAVA).

About EAC’s Guidelines

A proposed revision to the 2005 guidelines was offered during a 120-day public comment period in the 

summer of 2009. Since that time, the EAC’s Testing & Certification Program discovered additional best 

practices, experienced anomalies and deficiencies with voting systems entering the Testing and 

Certification Program, and clarified many ambiguities with the standard. Changes were made after the 

initial 120-day public comment period to address these issues, and then reopened for an additional 130-

day public comment period which ended in January, 2013. 

For more information on changes made since the initial public comment period, please see the Federal 

Register notice. All comments received were reviewed and will be available with final VVSG 1.1 

guidelines in the next few weeks at www.eac.gov as well as published in the Federal Register.

These guidelines are voluntary. States may adopt them entirely, in part or not at all. States may also 

choose to enact stricter performance requirements for voting systems. Currently, 47 states use some or 

all of EAC's standards, testing and certification program.

History of Voting Standards and Guidelines

The Help America Vote Act instructed EAC to develop voluntary voting system guidelines -- 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.

On December 13, 2005, EAC unanimously adopted the 2005 Voluntary Voting System Guidelines 

(VVSG), which significantly increased security requirements for voting systems and expand access, 

including opportunities to vote privately and independently, for individuals with disabilities.

The 2005 guidelines updated and augmented the 2002 Voting System Standards, as required by HAVA, 

to address advancements in election practices and computer technologies. The 2005 Voluntary Voting 

System Guidelines (VVSG 1.0) represented the third iteration of standards for voting systems. The first 

set was developed in 1990 by the Federal Election Commission (FEC), and were updated in 2002.

History of Voting System Testing & Certification

The National Association of State Election Directors (NASED), a nonpartisan, volunteer organization 

consisting of election directors, began testing voting systems against FEC standards in 1994. HAVA 

mandated that EAC accredit voting system test laboratories and certify voting equipment, marking the 

first time the federal government has offered these services to the states. Participation by states in EAC’s 

certification program is voluntary. The EAC’s full accreditation and certification program became 

effective in January 2007.

HAVA Requirements for Voting Systems

Section 301(a) of HAVA sets forth the standards that voting systems used in federal elections must meet 

regardless of whether they choose to adopt the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines.

The 301(a) requirements state that all voting systems must be able to perform the following functions: 

(1) allow the voter to review selections before casting a ballot; (2) allow the voter to change selections 

before casting a final vote; (3) notify the voter when more selections are made than permitted; (4) 

provide for the production of a permanent paper record suitable to be used in a manual recount; (5) 

provide voters with disabilities, the same opportunity for access and participation (including privacy and 
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independence); (6) provide accessibility in minority languages for voters with limited English 

proficiency as required by Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965; and (7) provide for an error 

rate in operating the voting system that is no greater than the error rate set forth the 2002 Voting System 

Standards.

For more information about Tuesday's public meeting, see the agenda documents and watch the archived 

webcast.

EAC is an independent bipartisan commission created by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002. HAVA was passed by 

the U.S. Congress to make sweeping reforms to the nation's voting process, address improvements to voting systems and 

voter access that were identified following the 2000 election, and to provide federal funding to states for new voting 

equipment. HAVA mandates that EAC test and certify voting equipment, maintain the National Voter Registration form, 

conduct research and administer a national clearinghouse on elections that includes shared practices, information for voters 

and other resources to improve elections. HAVA specifies that EAC’s four commissioners are nominated by the President on 

recommendations from the majority and minority leadership in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate. No more than two 

commissioners may belong to the same political party. Once confirmed by the full Senate, commissioners may serve two 

consecutive terms. Any action by the commissioners requires the approval at least three of its members. Currently, there is 

one vacancy on the commission. More information is available at EAC.gov.

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