Meeting highlighted the EAC’s ESTEP and Field Services initiatives to support elections
WASHINGTON, DC— Yesterday, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) announced the first federally certified electronic poll book during the agency’s public hearing on election technology. KNOWiNK’s Poll Pad 3.6 is the first to complete the EAC’s Voluntary Electronic Poll Book Certification Program.
The program was launched in 2024 to evaluate and test the security, accessibility, and usability of electronic poll books across the country and is part of the EAC’s Election Supporting Technology Evaluation Program (ESTEP). Electronic poll books, designed to replace paper poll lists accessing digital voter registration records on a laptop or tablet, are a significant shift in how election officials serve their voters with 84% of jurisdictions across the country now utilizing electronic poll books.
Chairman Ben Hovland, Vice Chair Donald Palmer, Commissioner Thomas Hicks, and Commissioner Christy McCormick issued the following joint statement:
“After years of working with election officials, manufacturers, and test laboratories to develop the Voluntary Electronic Poll Book Certification Program, it is a significant achievement to announce the first federally certified electronic poll book. The demand for national testing of election supporting technology has been repeatedly affirmed by numerous stakeholders, including the Congress, which highlighted the necessity for modern, secure, and reliable election systems. We hope manufacturers and states will participate in the certification program and implement these standards. This is an important moment for the EAC and for the evolving future of election technology.”
The EAC issued this certification on February 18, the day before the agency’s public meeting, “Case Studies on the New Initiatives in the EAC’s Election Technology Division.” KNOWiNK Chief Strategy Officer Steele Shippy was at the meeting to discuss the manufacturer’s experience going through the certification program. He was joined on a panel by Mike Santos, Voting System Test Lab Director of SLI Compliance, and Elizabeth Beatrice, an EAC Election Technology Specialist who leads the electronic poll book testing efforts under ESTEP Director Jay Phelps.
Under the authority of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA), the EAC created ESTEP to establish requirements and guidelines specific to election technologies that are not covered under the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG), which includes electronic poll books, electronic ballot delivery systems, election night reporting systems, and voter registration systems.
The meeting’s second panel focused on the agency’s Field Services Program, which assists states and local jurisdictions in the verification of EAC-certified fielded systems. The program provides the agency with insight into how EAC-certified systems operate in the field and verifies those systems are operating in jurisdictions as the EAC certified them. Dan Cox, Manager of the Field Services Program, spoke on the panel with Nebraska Deputy Secretary of State Wayne Bena and Brian Kruse, Douglas County Election Commissioner. They discussed the successes and lessons learned from their experiences with Field Services in Douglas County, Nebraska.
After hearing the updates and feedback, the EAC Commissioners unanimously approved a recommendation that the Field Services Program continue at the agency.
As outlined in HAVA, the Field Services Program is derived from the EAC Testing and Certification division’s Quality Monitoring Program, where the agency is positioned to assist states and local jurisdictions in the verification of EAC certified fielded systems on an ongoing basis. To best accomplish this, the program has a deployable, full-time staff of subject matter experts to proactively provide a combination of virtual and onsite services and training to help officials.
A recording of the meeting is available on the EAC’s YouTube channel.
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The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) was established by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA). It is an independent, bipartisan commission charged with ensuring safe, secure, accurate, and accessible elections by developing guidance to meet HAVA requirements, adopting voluntary voting system guidelines, and serving as a national clearinghouse of information on election administration. The EAC also accredits testing laboratories, certifies voting systems, and administers HAVA funds. For more information, visit eac.gov.