EAC - Voluntary Voting System Guidelines

Name : | Bob Terwilliger
Organization : | Snohomish County Auditor’s Office ( Washington)
Post Date : | 9/30/2005
Section Comments
Section : | A1C
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Comment : | One area over which counties and, to a large degree, the state election offices as well have had to rely on has been the area of testing the hardware and software by independent testing laboratories. The requirements for more rigorous testing of the software and hardware set forth in Sections 3 and 4 are long overdue. My only suggestion would be to move rapidly to certify more independent testing authorities and to require their process of testing to be open to the public so that trust can be built within the public regarding the testing process. For example, if there were sufficient testing authorities certified on a regional basis then those interested members of the public or interest groups in a region could attend the testing process to ensure that the standards, as adopted by the EAC, are being adhered to on a regular basis. More openness about the testing of the source code, while at the same time protecting the proprietary interests of the vendors, is a good thing. Also, the records of the software and hardware that have been tested and certified must always be current and what is being used in the local jurisdiction must always correspond to what has been tested and certified. [Statements submitted at EAC public hearing, August 23, 2005, Denver]