EAC - Voluntary Voting System Guidelines

Name : | Linda H. Lamone
Organization : | Maryland State Board of Elections
Post Date : | 9/30/2005
General Comments
Comment : | Thank you for the opportunity to provide comment on the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG). I am providing these comments solely in my capacity as Maryland's Chief Election Official. Before offering my comments on the Guidelines, I would like to commend the Technical Guidelines Development Committee and the staff of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Election Assistance Commission for their monumental efforts. The proposed guidelines move the voting system standards forward and provide a solid foundation for future updates and revisions. General Comments Throughout the Guidelines, there are mandatory requirements and optional or recommended actions. While the recommendations are useful to election officials and voting system vendors, the Guidelines should include only mandatory requirements.! Recommendations or best practices for both election officials and voting system vendors would be more appropriately placed in an appendix to the Guidelines. In fact, at least one of the recommendations (Section 2.2.7.1.2.2.3.4 (p. 2-20)) is also listed in Appendix C as a best practice.