WASHINGTON, DC—Today, the Commissioners of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) issued a joint statement on North Carolina becoming the first state to adopt the agency’s Voluntary Electronic Poll Book Certification requirements for its own certification program:
“This milestone underscores the value of having a federal election technology certification program to support safe, secure, accurate, and accessible elections and comes just weeks after announcing the first federally certified electronic poll book,” said EAC Chairman Donald Palmer, Vice Chair Thomas Hicks, Commissioner Christy McCormick, and Commissioner Ben Hovland. “North Carolina is leading the way for other states to adopt the Voluntary Electronic Poll Book Certification Program requirements that evaluate the integrity and security of electronic poll books. The North Carolina State Board of Elections helped pave the way for this EAC program as a pilot participant and provided electronic poll book systems to further the EAC’s research efforts on their capability to comply with federal requirements. The Board’s participation and feedback was invaluable as the EAC refined requirements and implementation of this program. Since most election jurisdictions utilize electronic poll books, the EAC hopes this federal certification program informs future policy decisions and encourages other states and manufacturers to implement these standards to better serve election officials and voters.”
Electronic poll books, designed to replace paper poll lists by accessing digital voter registration records on a laptop or tablet, are a significant shift in how election officials serve their voters. About 84% of jurisdictions across the country utilize electronic poll books. As of 2025, all 100 counties in North Carolina use electronic poll books to check in voters for in-person early voting, and most use a combination of electronic and paper poll books for Election Day voting, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.
The EAC launched the Voluntary Electronic Poll Book Certification Program in 2024 to evaluate and test the security, accessibility, and usability of this technology across the country and is part of the agency’s Election Supporting Technology Evaluation Program (ESTEP). KNOWiNK’s Poll Pad 3.6 is the first system to complete the EAC’s Voluntary Electronic Poll Book Certification Program, which was announced during the agency’s February 19 public hearing on election technology.
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.
More information on the Voluntary Electronic Poll Book Certification Program is available at eac.gov.
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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.