SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Purpose: Under the authority of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA), the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) developed the Election Supporting Technology Evaluation Program (ESTEP). This Program establishes a protocol for testing critical election-supporting technologies to ensure their conformance with baseline Federal standards for security and accessibility. While participation in this Program is voluntary, EAC certification benefits the public and wider election technology field by supporting State and local election officials, increasing quality control and quality assurance of election-supporting technologies, and increasing voter confidence in the use of these systems.

The VEPBR v1.0 will be used primarily by electronic poll book system manufacturers and Voting System Test Laboratories (VSTLs) as a baseline set of requirements for electronic poll book system security and accessibility to which States or Territories will add ( printed page 78010) their specific requirements, as necessary. Manufacturers will use these requirements when they design and build new e-poll book systems. VSTLs will refer to this document when they develop test plans for the analysis and testing of e-poll book systems to verify whether the system meets these requirements. States and Territories may utilize these requirements as a baseline and include additional requirements, as deemed necessary by their legislation or other regulations.

Public Comments: Please note that comments submitted in response to this Notice are public record. Before including any detailed personal information, you should be aware that your submitted comments, including your personal information, will be available for public review.

Respondents: Election Supporting Technology Manufacturers, Voting System Test Laboratories, State and Local Election Officials.

88 FR 78009