Briefing for NIST Acting Director James Turner regarding visit from EAC Commissioners March 26, 2008 For internal use only 1

Briefing Purpose and Overview Purpose: to prepare for the EAC visit Overview: 1.Current NIST voting activities and plans 2.EAC concerns 3.Supporting background material 4.Detailed discussion 2

Current Voting Activities Work Plan Funding - $3.25M Assisting the EAC in vetting next VVSG – Met with Standards and Advisory Boards – Assist in resolution of public reviews – Participate in EAC public roundtable discussions – Perform additional research in support of EAC issues Developing test suite for next VVSG – Target areas where tests could apply to VVSG 2005 – Important to build test suite early on Feedback to standard while it can still be updated Helps manufacturers build quality products Preparing guidance for UOCAVA (Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act) issues Continuing NVLAP accreditation of voting system test labs 3

EAC Concerns 1.Changes to next VVSG Perform additional research in support of making major changes to key areas 2.Support for VVSG 2005 Retrofit VVSG 2005 with material from next VVSG Refocus next VVSG test development on VVSG Issues with NVLAP Review management practices of labs Review validity of lab-developed test suites 4

Supporting Background Material 1.HAVA and TGDC 2.Voting Standards and Test Development Activities 3.UOCAVA (Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act) support 4.NVLAP accreditation of voting system test labs 5

HAVA Passed in 2002 in wake of 2000 elections Gave money to states to buy new equipment Created EAC and TGDC to work in conjunction with NIST 6 NIST HAVA Responsibilities Chair TGDC Provide technical support to TGDC in development of VVSG Recommend independent testing labs to EAC for accreditation

2005 Voluntary Voting System Guidelines Created in 9 months Improves the 2002 VSS by addressing: – Human Factors – VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails) – Wireless – Software Distribution and Setup Validation – Conformance, Glossary, Error Rates 7

What is the Next VVSG? Complete re-write of VVSG 2005 More usable, precise standard Will be accompanied by a public test suite under development by NIST Key new items (of concern to EAC): – Software Independence (SI) – The Innovation Class – Open Ended Vulnerability Testing (OEVT) 8

Software Independence Voting systems must be SI – Accuracy of the election must not rely exclusively on the accuracy of the voting system software – Accuracy of the system’s electronic records will be able to be independently audited against an independent voter- verified record (IVVR) – Systems that do this currently are paper-based e.g., optical scan, VVPAT 9

Innovation Class Next VVSG includes an Innovation Class – Allows developers to create new and innovative, possibly paperless, voting system approaches that would still be independently auditable and conform to the next VVSG – May include newer, cryptographic-based systems that potentially promise greater usability and accessibility as well as security – Requires more definition by EAC to develop policy and procedures 10

OEVT Expert security review during conformance testing Involves a red-team* approach to finding problems not caught by other testing Concern expressed by EAC, test labs, election officials over its – repeatability – open-ended nature – potential cost * red team - independent review of voting system security 11

UOCAVA Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act support At request of EAC, NIST writing guidance to assist states in electronic alternatives to postal-based methods for sending registration and ballot materials Smaller effort than standards and testing efforts 12

NVLAP Mandated by HAVA to investigate and recommend voting system test labs to EAC NIST NVLAP has recommended 4 labs to EAC for accreditation as Voting System Test Labs (VSTLs) NVLAP examines labs capability to test voting systems according to standards in place 13

Discussion of EAC Concerns 1.Changes to next VVSG – Perform additional research in support of potential major changes to key areas 2.Support for VVSG 2005 – Retrofit VVSG 2005 with material from next VVSG – Refocus next VVSG test development on VVSG Issues with NVLAP – Review management practices of labs – Review validity of lab-developed test suites 14

1. Changes to Next VVSG EAC has extended public review of next VVSG: – Gathering input from public review, public roundtables – SI and other requirements caused controversy with election officials, Standards Board, manufacturers – Concern with increase in cost of testing EAC asked NIST to perform additional research: (formal letter sent to Mark Skall ) – Alternatives to SI that don’t require paper trails – Impact of certifying parts of voting systems (components) Output of research and recommendations should involve participation of TGDC 15

2. Support for VVSG 2005 EAC may ask NIST to: Add/retrofit material from next VVSG to VVSG 2005 – Possibly: Volume testing, aspects of OEVT Develop a test suite for VVSG 2005 – Says that current tests by labs not adequate, they think a common test suite is needed Concerns – Ambiguous, incomplete, un-testable requirements – Resource re-alignment 16

3. NVLAP 17 EAC has issues with some aspects of VSTL performance Letter sent to Mary Saunders – NVLAP to review how labs utilize appropriately qualified staff for testing – NVLAP to review validity of test methods used by labs

Discussion 18