Symposium to Focus on Future of Voting Systems

The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are sponsoring a two-day symposium to explore emerging trends in voting. The symposium will take place Feb. 9 and 10, 2015, at the Department of Commerce's Herbert C. Hoover Building in Washington, D.C.

The symposium will bring together election officials, academics and representatives of voting system manufacturers, voting system test laboratories, standards development organizations, and federal, state and local government.

"Our goal is to foster an inclusive and informative conversation about trends in voting affected by technology, as well as how people interact with that technology," said Mary Brady, who manages NIST's role in supporting the EAC. The 2002 Help America Vote Act established the Technical Guidelines Development Committee, which is chaired by NIST, and directed the institute to assist the commission with the development of voluntary voting system guidelines.

Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and Acting Director of NIST Willie May is scheduled to provide opening remarks at the symposium, along with EAC Commissioners Tom Hicks, Matthew Masterson and Christy McCormick. Tammy Patrick, senior advisor to the Bipartisan Policy Center's Democracy Project, will deliver the keynote address during Monday's sessions.

The first day of the symposium will explore trends in voting systems, including the people, processes and technology. The second day will include ongoing activities in interoperable systems and a series of breakout sessions that will engage the participants in identifying forward-looking technologies across a wide variety of voting topics such as usability, accessibility, auditing and testing.

The symposium is free, but all attendees must preregister. Full details on the event can be found on the NIST website.