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1 1 (February 5, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govecbq0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional ____ ~.Research Service informing the egislative d bate since 1914___________________ Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG): An Overview February 5, 2021 States and localities make most decisions about the voting systems used in U.S. elections, from what equipment to acquire to how to pay for it. Since 1990, however, the federal government has issued voluntary guidance states and localities may use to inform their choices. This Insight examines the current iteration of that guidance, the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG). Origins of the VVSG Issues with voting systems contributed to delays in the resolution of the 2000 presidential election. Congress responded, in part, by including benchmarks for voting systems in the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA; 52 U.S.C. §§20901-21145). Title III of HAVA defined and set some mandatory standards for the voting systems states use in federal elections. The act also provided for development of more detailed voluntary federal guidelines-the VVSG-and creation of a federal program to test and certify voting systems to the guidelines. Responsibility for these tasks was assigned primarily to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC), with roles for the general public, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and three EAC advisory bodies (see Table 1). The EAC largely inherited these responsibilities from the Federal Election Commission (FEC), which issued voluntary federal voting system guidelines in 1990 and 2002, and the National Association of State Election Directors, which oversaw a programto test and qualify systems to the FEC guidelines. As with the FEC guidance-and in contrast to the mandatory standards in Title III-states are not required to use voting systems that meet the VVSG. Voting systems must comply with the guidelines to receive federal certification, however, and states may choose to make some or all of the federal guidelines, testing, or certification mandatory under their own state laws. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN11592 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Membersand Committeesof Congress-

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