[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 107 (Tuesday, June 4, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25793-25794]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-11555]
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ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION
Extension of Comment Period for the Proposed Voluntary Voting
System Guidelines 2.0 Principles and Guidelines
AGENCY: United States Election Assistance Commission.
ACTION: Notice of extension of the comment period for the Voluntary
Voting System Guidelines 2.0 Principles and Guidelines.
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[[Page 25794]]
SUMMARY: In accordance with the Help America Vote Act of 2002, the U.S.
Election Assistance Commission (EAC) is publishing the Voluntary Voting
System Guidelines 2.0 Principles and Guidelines (VVSG 2.0) for public
comment. The VVSG 2.0 Principles and Guidelines provide high level
principles and guidelines to which voting systems can be tested to
determine if they provide basic functionality, accessibility, and
security capabilities.
DATES: The Comment period has been extended to 5:00 p.m. EST on June 7,
2019.
Submission of Comments: The public may submit comments through one
of the two following methods provided by the EAC: (1) By mail to
Voluntary Voting System Guidelines 2.0. Principles and Guidelines
Comments, U.S. Election Assistance Commission, 1335 East-West Highway,
Suite 4300, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910, and (2) via online
submission form at https://www.eac.gov/vvsg-form/. The email address
[email protected] is no longer accepting comments.
In order to allow efficient and effective review of comments the
EAC requests that:
(1) Comments refer to the specific section that is the subject of
the comment.
(2) General comments regarding the entire document or comments that
refer to more than one section be made as specifically as possible so
that EAC can clearly understand to which portion(s) of the documents
the comment refers.
(3) To the extent that a comment suggests a change in the wording
of a Principal or Guideline or section of the guidelines, please
provide proposed language for the suggested change.
To Obtain a Copy of the VVSG Volume Version 2.0 Principles and
Guidelines: A complete copy of the draft VVSG 2.0 Principles and
Guidelines is available from the EAC in electronic format. An
electronic copy can be downloaded in PDF format on the EAC's website,
http://www.eac.gov. In order to obtain a paper copy of the TGDC draft
recommendations please mail a written request to Voluntary Voting
System Guidelines 2.0 Principles and Guidelines Comments, U.S. Election
Assistance Commission, 1335 East-West Highway, Suite 4300, Silver
Spring, Maryland 20910.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jerome Lavoto, Phone (301) 563-3929,
or at https://www.eac.gov/contact/.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As required by Section 222(d) of HAVA the
EAC is placing the proposed VVSG 2.0 Principles and Guidelines as
submitted by the Technical Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC) out
for a 90 public comment period. The EAC is asking for comments
regarding all sections of the Principles and Guidelines including the
proposed Structure of the VVSG 2.0. The Principles and Guidelines will
subsequently be accompanied by Requirements, which will be distributed
to the TGDC, the Standards Board, the Board of Advisors and submitted
for public comment and consideration by the Commission.
The EAC made the decision to undertake the drafting of VVSG 2.0
Principles and Guidelines as a result of feedback received over several
years from a variety of stakeholders including, but not limited to
State and local election officials, voting system manufacturers and
usability, accessibility and security interest groups.
The EAC Technical Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC) proposed
a different structure for developing the VVSG 2.0 than in previous
years. This structure differs significantly from previous versions of
the VVSG because it is a high level principles and guidelines document.
The Principles are high-level system design goals. The Guidelines are a
broad description of the functions that make up a voting system. This
new structure has significantly decreased the size and complexity of
the VVSG from previous versions.
Unlike previous versions of the VVSG, this proposed version
recommends that the Requirements for testing a voting system be
separate and apart from the Principles and Guidelines. As proposed, the
VVSG 2.0 Principles and Guidelines will be accompanied by a separate
document that details the Requirements for how systems can meet the new
Principles and Guidelines in order to obtain certification. The
Requirements will subsequently be accompanied by Test Assertions for
how the accredited test laboratories will validate that the system
complies with the Requirements and the Principles and Guidelines.
The Requirements will be adjunct to the VVSG Principles and
Guidelines itself and will be subject to public review and comment,
including distribution to the EAC's TGDC, Standards Board and Board of
Advisors for comment prior to consideration and implementation by the
Commission.
The TGDC unanimously approved to recommend VVSG 2.0 Principles and
Guidelines on September 12, 2017, and sent the Principles and
Guidelines to the EAC Executive Director via the Director of the
National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST), in the capacity of
the Chair of the TGDC. The Commission will accept comments on the
proposed structure of the VVSG 2.0 Principles and Guidelines as well as
on the content of the Principles and Guidelines.
The Voluntary Voting System Guidelines version 2.0 Principles and
Guidelines (VVSG 2.0), is the fifth iteration of national level voting
system standards. The Federal Election Commission published the first
two sets of federal standards in 1990 and 2002. The EAC then adopted
Version 1.0 of the VVSG on December 13, 2005. In an effort to update
and improve version 1.0 of the VVSG, on March 31, 2015, the EAC
commissioners unanimously approved VVSG 1.1.
* * * * *
Clifford D. Tatum,
General Counsel, U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
[FR Doc. 2019-11555 Filed 6-3-19; 8:45 am]
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