Report: All Levels of Government Must Help Sole Voting Problems

How well these systems play their role in an election depends in large part on how well they are managed throughout their life cycles, which begins with defining system standards; includes system design, development, and testing; and concludes with system operations, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Important attributes of the systems’ performance are security, reliability, ease of use, and cost effectiveness, says GAO, the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress.

Since the 2000 national elections, concerns have been raised by various groups regarding the election process, including voting technologies, GAO notes. Cogress in 2002 passed the Help America Vote Act of 2002, which helped replace older voting equipment with more modern electronic voting systems and established the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to lead U.S. election reform efforts.

"In GAO’s view, the challenges faced in acquiring and operating electronic voting systems are not unlike those faced by any technology user—adoption and application of well-defined system standards; effective integration of the technology with the people who operate it and the processes that govern the operation; rigorous and disciplined performance of system security and testing activities; reliable measurement of system performance; and the analytical basis for making informed, economically justified decisions about voting system investment options," the GAO report says.

"These challenges are complicated by other conditions such as the distribution of responsibilities among various organizations and funding opportunities and constraints," it adds. "Given the diffused and decentralized allocation of voting system roles and responsibilities across all levels of government, addressing these challenges will require the combined efforts of all levels of government, under the leadership of the EAC."

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