{
  "id": "RS21156",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RS21156",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 317408,
      "date": "2005-08-24",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T19:33:50.752029",
      "title": "Federal Voting Systems Standards and Guidelines: Congressional Deliberations",
      "summary": "This report discusses deliberations and issues relating to the Federal Election Commission's\n(FEC)\nVoluntary Voting System Standards (VSS) and their replacement, the Voluntary Voting System\nGuidelines (VVSG). States, not the federal government, regulate the voting technologies they use.\nHowever, in response to concerns raised in the 1970s and 1980s about the then largely unregulated\nvoting technology industry, Congress funded development by the FEC of voluntary standards for\ncomputer-based voting systems but did not establish them specifically by statute. Legislation\ndirecting the FEC to perform a study on the VSS was enacted in 1979. The study was released in\n1984. The VSS themselves were approved in 1990. They were developed for both hardware and\nsoftware and included functional and documentation requirements, performance characteristics, and\ntesting procedures. A certification program was established in 1994 by National Association of State\nElection Directors (NASED). It used independent testing authorities (ITAs) to evaluate hardware\nand software. Most states have adopted the VSS in whole or in part. Some may nevertheless have\nolder voting systems in use that have not been certified, such as paper ballots, lever machines, and\nsome older computer-based systems. An update of the VSS was completed in 2002. The Help\nAmerica Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA,  P.L. 107-252 ) codified the standards, now called guidelines, and\nprovides a mechanism for regular updating of them by the Election Assistance Commission (EAC)\nestablished by the act. The EAC is also responsible for administering voluntary certification of\nvoting systems by independent testing laboratories, replacing the NASED program. HAVA also\ngives the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) a substantial advisory role in the\ndevelopment of the VVSG and accreditation of testing laboratories. This report will be updated in\nresponse to relevant events. See also  CRS Report RS20898 ,  Elections Reform: Overview and\nIssues .",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
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}