The Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG) are guidelines adopted by the United States Election Assistance Commission (EAC) for the certification of voting systems. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's Technical Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC) drafts the VVSG and gives them to the EAC in draft form for their adoption.

History

The Election Assistance Commission was created by the 2002 Help America Vote Act, itself a response to the punch card ballot and multiple ballot style issues that surrounded the 2000 presidential election. The resulting guidelines were intended to provide consistency in the integrity of voting systems. Writing in 2013, researchers at Auburn University critiqued the guidelines as needing to be paired with funding for states to participate. They argued that the more sophisticated states participated in the voluntary certification while most adapted parts of the guidelines or opted out altogether.

Timeline

Guidelines (2021)

Released in 2021, the VVSG 2.0 guidelines "allow for an improved and consistent voter experience, enabling all voters to vote privately and independently, ensuring votes are marked, verified and cast as intended, and that the final count represents the true will of the voters."

The voting system

"Equipment (including hardware, firmware, and software), materials, and documentation used to enact the following functions of an election: All voting systems must also: === Principles ===

High Quality Design

High Quality Implementation

Transparent

Interoperable

Equivalent and Consistent Voter Access

Voter Privacy

Marked, Verified, and Cast as Intended

Robust, Safe, Usable, and Accessible

Auditable

Ballot Secrecy

Access Control

Physical Security

Data Protection

System Integrity

Detection and Monitoring