WASHINGTON, D.C., June 24, 2005 – Testifying today before the Subcommittee on Environment, Technology, and Standards, an expert panel of witnesses explained the importance of strengthening the standards for voting systems and the way those systems are tested.

The witnesses, representing state elections officials, private testing companies, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), said that NIST has the expertise to develop the standards and testing procedures necessary to prevent potential problems with the nation’s voting systems.

“It is crucial that voting systems be easy to use, accurate, verifiable, secure, and reliable,” said Subcommittee Chairman Vernon Ehlers (R-MI). “Each election season, a small number of newly-deployed voting machines fail to perform properly in the field, causing confusion in the polling places and concerns over the potential loss of votes. Because these machines have already been tested and certified against Federal Election Commission standards, these incidents have raised questions about the reliability of the testing process, the credibility of standards against which the machines are tested, and the laboratories that carry out the tests. We must resolve this issue soon because states are already receiving billions of federal dollars under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) to modernize their voting systems.”

Ehlers wrote the standards-setting and testing provisions that were later incorporated into HAVA.

Subcommittee Ranking Minority Member Mark Udall (D-CO) said, “I don’t doubt that with time and money, NIST – as the head of the Technical Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC) – could develop a rigorous set of standards, testing criteria, and an independent lab testing system. But we are less than four months from the next elections. If there are any problems in November, we will spend years rebuilding the public’s confidence in our voting systems. We need to ensure that voters can depend on the voting equipment they use to be safe and reliable.” The TGDC, established by HAVA, will be headed by NIST to draft voting standards.

Under HAVA, the development of standards and testing regimens for voting systems passed to NIST from the Federal Election Commission and the National Association of State Elections Directors (NASED). HAVA also gives NIST a central role in accrediting testing labs for voting systems, also known as Independent Testing Authorities (ITAs).

Mr. Thomas Wilkey, Chairman of the ITA Committee of NASED, told the Subcommittee he was “so gratified” with NIST’s involvement saying, “NIST brings the very best experts in technology to the table in developing standards.”

Ms. Carolyn Coggins, Director of ITA Services for SysTest Labs, LLC, an ITA, said that to have confidence in voting equipment, you must first have confidence in testing and voting standards. She said that the current standards could use revision and clarification.

Dr. Michael Shamos, Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Melon University, emphasized that it was critical that NIST’s standards development process be as open as possible to ensure public input and resulting trust in the standards produced. Shamos, who previously served as an Examiner of Electronic Voting Systems for Pennsylvania, said, “I propose that standards for the process of voting be developed on a completely open and public participatory basis.... Members of the public should be free to contribute ideas and criticism at any time and be assured that the standards body will evaluate and respond to them.”

NIST’s Acting Director, Dr. Hratch Semerjian, assured the Subcommittee that the standards development process would be conducted in just such an open manner as Dr. Shamos suggested. He added that public participation is a hallmark of NIST’s standards development processes and is important for building public trust. He said, in fact, that NIST has already “started to meet with members of the ‘elections community,’ ranging from disability advocacy groups, voting advocacy groups, researchers, state and local election officials, and vendors to learn about their concerns.”

Chairman Ehlers expressed his concern that Congress did not provide NIST the necessary resources to carry out its numerous responsibilities set out in HAVA. He said that he would push for greater funding next year.

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