EAC - Voluntary Voting System Guidelines

Name : | Stanley A. Klein
Organization : | N/A
Post Date : | 9/30/2005
General Comments
Comment : | * Electrostatic discharge (ESD) is known to wreak havoc with improperly protected electronic systems. ESD effects on DRE voting systems can include machine crashes, screen freezes, votes switched between candidates, and complete loss of recorded votes, as well as latent damage that can cause trouble years later. The issue is compounded by components (such as touchscreens) and procedures (such as removal of machine memory modules as part of vote totaling processes) that are especially vulnerable to the effects of ESD. This draft VVSG adopts language first introduced in the 2002 update to the FEC standard requiring testing for ESD protection. However, the test voltage level specified is less than half the typical ESD voltage that can be expected to occur in a carpeted polling place on an election day with relative humidity under 25%.