Election Assistance Commission 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) Section 231 directs the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to provide for the testing, certification, decertification and recertification of voting systems. HAVA Section 221 mandates the development of voluntary voting system guidelines to support this process. In 2004, the EAC formed the Technical Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC) to create an initial set of recommendations for the guidelines. The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) chairs the TGDC and NIST staff provides technical support for the TGDC's work. This committee of fifteen experts began their work in July 2004 and submitted their recommendations to the EAC in May 2005. EAC reviewed and revised these recommendations and published its proposed Voluntary Voting System Guidelines in June 2005, 70 FR 37378 (June 29, 2005), beginning the ninety-day public comment period. The Commission adopted the 2005 Voluntary Voting System Guidelines on December 13, 2005. The Guidelines published here will be used to test voting systems for national certification.