How the Election Assistance Commission tests and certifies voting systems

The Election Assistance Commission explained in a training video how it tests and certifies voting systems under the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG), and what election officials must do to keep systems secure and compliant. The presenter summarized the certification steps, how test laboratories are accredited, and the post-certification monitoring that informs officials about field-reported problems.

The training traces the program to the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002, which established the EAC and tasked it with developing national standards and a federal certification program. "Certified voting systems have been tested to make sure they meet all the requirements in the VVSG," the presenter said, noting that testing is performed by independent test laboratories accredited by the EAC.

Why it matters: Although EAC certification is voluntary at the federal level, many states rely on it. The presenter said that as of 2024, 29 states and the District of Columbia required systems to be EAC-certified or tested to federal standards, and election officials in at least 44 states use EAC-certified systems. Certification and monitoring aim to ensure accuracy, security, transparency, auditability and accessibility across voting technologies.

How the process works: A manufacturer seeking certification submits detailed documentation about hardware, software, configuration options and intended uses. A test laboratory chosen by the vendor prepares a test plan for EAC approval; once approved, the lab conducts a monthslong battery of tests against applicable VVSG requirements. If tests fail, manufacturers must fix the identified elements and have them retested. When all tests pass, documentation is delivered to the EAC for review and a certification decision.

Standards and technical requirements: The VVSG is organized into principles, guidelines and detailed requirements. The presenter described 15 high-level principles and more specific guidelines that guide requirements; VVSG 2.0 contains over 1,000 requirements covering issues such as support for different voting geographies, handling of voter marks, hardware environmental tolerances, and accessibility needs. The training highlighted test assertions that clarify how certain requirements should be tested; for example, a power-outage assertion states a system must operate on backup power for at least two hours without data loss, and retain memory contents when backup power is exhausted.

Updates and public review: Proposed updates to the VVSG are reviewed by subject-matter experts, the EAC standards board and advisory committees and are subject to a 90-day public comment period. Two major versions have been released so far: VVSG 1.0 in 2005 and VVSG 2.0 in 2021.

State and local responsibilities: The presenter emphasized that many states supplement EAC certification with their own testing for state-specific requirements, such as ballot layout or write-in handling. Election officials are responsible for acceptance testing of new systems, routine logic and accuracy testing before each election, protecting physical security and chain of custody for equipment, and staying current on security patches, software upgrades and product advisories.

Resources and monitoring: The EAC offers free resources for election offices and a quality monitoring program for reporting anomalies and tracking certified software and configurations. The presenter encouraged officials to use EAC resources available at eac.gov and to participate in the EAC's monitoring program to report and resolve performance issues.

What’s next: The course concludes with a few review questions and a closing note of thanks to election officials for their role in administering elections.