Report to Congressional Requesters
United States General Accounting Office
GAO
October 2001
ELECTIONS
Status and Use of
Federal Voting
Equipment Standards
GAO-02-52
Page i
GAO-02-52 Voting Equipment Standards
Letter
1
Results in Brief
2
Background
4
FEC Has Developed Voting Equipment Standards but Has Not
Maintained Them
6
NASED’s Process for Testing and Qualifying Voting Equipment
12
Conclusions
15
Matters for Congressional Consideration
16
Recommendations for Executive Action
16
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation
16
Appendix I
Objectives, Scope, and Methodology
19
Appendix II
Comments From the Federal Election Commission
21
Appendix III
System Requirements and Supporting Life-Cycle
Processes and Our Analysis
27
Tables
Table 1: Types of Requirements and Processes Satisfied in FEC’s
1990 Voting Equipment Standards
10
Table 2: Types of Requirements and Processes Not Satisfied in
FEC’s 1990 Standards but Satisfied in the Draft Standards
11
Table 3: NASED Qualified Equipment by Voting Equipment
Category
15
Figures
Figure 1: States That Require the Use of FEC’s Voting Equipment
Standards
7
Figure 2: FEC’s Revised Standards Development Time Frame
8
Figure 3: Simplified Diagram of the Voting Equipment Standards
Development and Implementation Process
13
Contents
Page 1
GAO-02-52 Voting Equipment Standards
October 15, 2001
The Honorable Thomas Daschle
Majority Leader
The Honorable Trent Lott
Minority Leader
United States Senate
The Honorable Christopher J. Dodd
Chairman
The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Ranking Minority Member
Committee on Rules and Administration
United States Senate
Events surrounding the last presidential election have brought to light a
number of issues about the conduct of elections that extend to the people,
processes, and technology used to administer these elections. We were
asked by several congressional committees and members to review
aspects of elections throughout the United States. In response, we are
issuing a series of reports. To date, we have issued reports on the scope of
congressiona