http://www.cs.uiowa.edu/~jones/voting/colloq/
Jones Talk, Slide 11

The Regulatory Environment

• Counties own and operate machines
  -- Local taxes pay the cost of elections.
  -- Local commissioner of elections runs them.
  -- Few counties are wealthy.

• States determine how elections are conducted
  -- State law governs the technology.
  -- State rules govern conduct of elections.
  -- State boards certify machines for use.

• Federal civil rights law limits states
  -- Right to a secret ballot.
  -- One man, one vote.
  -- Federal election administration in corrupt jurisdictions.

• Federal Election Commission
  -- 1990 Voting Machine Standards
  -- Voluntary standards (mandated by ~32 states)
  -- Independent Testing Authority audits machines and code.
  -- New standard to come soon!
  • Standard is seriously flawed.
  • NIST not involved, FEC focus is not on standards.
  • Information processing standards largely ignored.
  • Vendor driven standardization process.