NOC 16-03

Tight project schedules and other realities of voting system testing and certification have generally made manufacturers choose to move forward with “at risk” testing performed well before test plan approval. This reality conflicts with the requirement that the VSTL inform the EAC in writing once test cases have been completed. The EAC has generally not seen test cases until after test plan approval, even for "at risk" testing that may have occurred much earlier. In order to remedy this situation and to allow the EAC to more productively and appropriately comment on test cases before they have been run, the following clarification is noted: require the VSTLs to notify the EAC in writing and to upload test cases to the VRT when requested by the EAC before any tests have been run using the particular test case or test cases. This process will allow EAC to review test cases proximate to when they will be run and will hopefully eliminate any issues arising from after-the-fact test case review that might cause meaningful and potentially harmful delays in the testing and ultimate certification of the voting system