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U.S. To Certify Labs For Testing E-Voting Machines

Posted by Zonk on from the who-certifies-the-certifiers dept.

InternetVoting writes "In a clear counter to the recent criticisms of secrecy involving Ciber labs the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued recommendations (pdf) to the Election Assistance Commission (EAC). NIST recommends the accreditation of two labs, iBeta Quality Assurance and SysTest Labs. The recommendation, emphasizing the need for transparency, includes on-site assessment reports, lab responses, and on-site reviews for each lab. These reports shed much needed light into the process of voting machine certification. Learn more from the Q&As About NIST Evaluation of Laboratories that Test Voting Systems."

1 of 75 comments (clear)

  1. It's a start, maybe. by fuego451 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    This may be a step in the right direction but, as we have seen so many times, throwing more bureaucracy at a problem usually doesn't help much.

    I simply don't understand the pigheaded stubbornness against using an open source operating system for voting machines. Voting is one of the key elements of our democracy and should be completely transparent. Sure, someone could/would/will find a way to cheat but openness in the process would at lest instill a little more confidence in the overall system.

    I have a question for our Australian brothers and sisters. I know an open source operating system was written for voting machines there which was reported and discussed here on /. (I can't find the news item.). Has it been accepted and is it being used?