1、Congressional Research Service The Library of CongressCRS Report for CongressReceived through the CRS WebOrder Code RS21156Updated August 24, 2005Federal Voting Systems Standards andGuidelines: Congressional Deliberationsnae redactedSenior Specialist in Science and TechnologyResources, Science, and
2、Industry DivisionSummaryThis report discusses deliberations and issues relating to the Federal ElectionCommissions (FEC) Voluntary Voting System Standards (VSS) and their replacement,the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG). States, not the federal government,regulate the voting technologies th
3、ey use. However, in response to concerns raised in the1970s and 1980s about the then largely unregulated voting technology industry,Congress funded development by the FEC of voluntary standards for computer-basedvoting systems but did not establish them specifically by statute. Legislation directing
4、the FEC to perform a study on the VSS was enacted in 1979. The study was released in1984. The VSS themselves were approved in 1990. They were developed for bothhardware and software and included functional and documentation requirements,performance characteristics, and testing procedures. A certific
