Errata Statement

Issued January 2005

Mark S. Frankel, Making Each Vote Count: A Research Agenda for Electronic Voting
(Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2004)

The description of the duties of the Election Assistance Committee (EAC) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on page eight, beginning with the first full paragraph, contains errors that are corrected below in italics. The footnotes in the original publication are not included here.

PAGE 8

The current process of testing voting machines, certifying equipment, and designing standards to meet Federal Voting Systems Standards (FVSS) are performed by Independent Test Authorities (ITA), laboratories accredited by the National Association of State Election Directors (NASED).* A transition from the NASED accreditation program to a joint NIST/EAC accreditation program is in the planning stage, but not yet implemented. Under HAVA, NIST will eventually recommend to the EAC non-federal laboratories that conform to international standards through its National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation program. Upon acceptance of the recommendations, the EAC will accredit the laboratories to test and certify voting equipment. A report of research findings and initial recommendations for new voluntary voting system guidelines must be submitted to the EAC by the Technical Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC) in April of 2005. These TGDC recommendations may address testing and certification issues relevant to the laboratory accreditation program. At the December 2003 Symposium on Building Trust and Confidence in Voting Systems hosted by NIST, attendees from across the electoral spectrum agreed that improving the voting process, especially in conjunction with the new voting technology, depended upon an analysis of the entire voting system from beginning to end. Congress appropriated a separate $500,000 for the NIST effort, but the funds were depleted by December 2003. HAVA legislation does not, however, mandate states to follow any guidelines, basic requirements, and technical standards recommended by NIST for voting machines until January 1, 2006, even though federal funds were available for states to replace their punchcard and lever machines with the new electronic machines by the November 2004 election.

In addition to recommending laboratories to the EAC, NIST is specifically mandated by HAVA "to ensure the usability and accuracy of voting products and systems, including methods to improve access for individuals with disabilities (including blindness) and individuals with limited proficiency in the English language and to reduce voter error and the number of spoiled ballots in elections." NIST has focused its efforts on assessing "the areas of human factors research and human-machine interaction," with special attention to access for individuals with disabilities or limited proficiency in the English language. It documented its findings and recommendations in a report submitted to Congress in April 2004 on "Improving the Usability and Accessibility of Voting Systems and Products." The report describes how research and best practices from the human factors, human-machine and human- computer interaction, and usability engineering disciplines can improve usability and accessibility of electronic voting machines. The new machines, however, are not required to meet the specific standards developed for the disabled until January 1, 2007. NIST will receive $2.5 million specifically targeted for research in fiscal year 2005, even though EAC commissioners requested $10 million from appropriators in July 2004.

* National Association of State Election Directors (NASED), "General Overview for Getting a Voting System Qualified," http://www.nased.org/certification.htm

Allan C. Eustis, Project Leader of NIST Voting Systems Standards, is acknowledged for his assistance in making these corrections.

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