Prep for NIST/EAC Meeting: Status and Issues

1. Prep for NIST/EAC Meeting:Status and Issues February 24, 2006 Mark Skall Chief, SDCT ITL

2. Content • Background • Recap of 2005 Activities • New VVSG Work • Issues

3. Background: NIST “Help America Vote Act” Responsibilities Chair Technical Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC) Provide technical support to TGDC in the development of voluntary voting system guidelines including: Human factors Security Methods to detect and prevent fraud Accredit testing labs (NVLAP)

4. Activities Since 9/05 TGDC Meeting October 2005: NIST Threat Analysis for Voting Systems Workshop November 2005: VVSG 2007 Timeline approved by EAC November/December 2005: Assisted EAC in VVSG Comments Resolution December 2005: Final VVSG adopted Dec 13, 2005 EAC to publish final version February 2006 January/February: Continued VVSG 2007 development Preparation for March 2006 TGDC meeting SOW signed

5. Threat Analysis Workshop • Held October 2005, NIST • Goal was to arrive at general agreement on justifications for security requirements • Most major players from academia and election community • All threats and analysis were public • General agreement that the workshop was effective at focusing work on specific threats (as opposed to speculation) • Follow-on planned for June, 2006 with George Washington U. • Extensive threat analysis report being considered with Brennan Center • Recommendations for voting system requirements • Recommendations for election officials

6. VVSG 2005 Comments Resolution • EAC asked NIST for assistance • Significant 45 day effort, led by EAC • NIST analyzed comments and provided input, EAC made final determinations • Many (50%) are to be addressed in 2007 version • NIST awaiting all comments/resolutions from EAC for use in 2007 development

7. Final 2005 VVSG • Final version expected to be published in Federal Register within next weeks

8. VVSG 2007 Timeline • Reached agreement with EAC on general timeline of VVSG development • Final delivery date is July 2007 • Staged modules of new requirements • VVPAT – April 2006 • Usability – July 2006 (may now be Fall 2006) • IV (Independent Verification) – Jan, 2007 • EAC will handle subsequent public reviews and comments for each module • Ramifications of time/effort required for NIST staff unknown

9. Major Goals for VVSG 2007 • A comprehensive standards guideline, a complete rewrite of 2002 VSS with updated and expanded material, to: • Provide complete and comprehensive guideline for vendors and test labs • Provide clear, usable requirements discussion with associated test methods • Address security and human factors developments since 2002 VSS • Respond to all TGDC Jan’05 resolutions • Must also address comments submitted for VVSG 2005

10. VVSG 2007 Overview • 4 major sections (plus large overview): • A product standard, containing general and voting-activity related requirements (e.g., setup, cast, count, …) • A terminology standard (NIST glossary) • A standard on data to be provided by testing authorities or the vendor • A testing standard including all test methods, testing requirements, evaluation guidelines, test cases, etc.

11. Current Status • Work underway in HFP, CRT, and STS • More outreach to EAC, election community, and vendors • Preparation for March TGDC meeting

12. Outreach Efforts • NIST reaching out to vendors, election community for input and data • ITAA-sponsored vendor teleconferences • Q&As with vendors on accuracy and security issues • Presentations/talks at NASS, NASED, The Election Center, State governments • Involvement with NSF-funded ACCURATE group • More workshops planned (e.g., threat analysis, cryptographic voting protocols)

13. ACCURATE • A Center for Correct, Usable, Reliable, Auditable, and Transparent Elections • Funded by NSF for 7.5M • Mainly academic researchers • Research appears useful to NIST requirements development • NIST invited to attend ACCURATE workshops, Sharon Laskowski on ACCURATE board • Closer working relationships planned

14. Current HFP Work • Lab populated with systems from major vendors – for usability research and metrics development • Working with contractors on white papers, usability benchmarks • Tests involve human subjects, required for accuracy and time-to-vote requirements • Issues with usability module for July, 2006

15. HFP White Papers for TGDC Meeting • "Progress Report on the Development of a User-Based Conformance Test for the Usability of Voting Equipment” • "Overview of Proposed Human Performance Metrics for Voting Systems“ • "Guidelines for Writing Clear Instructions and Messages for Voters and Poll Workers“ • "Ballot Design Guidance"

16. Current CRT Work • Various VSS and VVSG 2005 issue resolution • Requirements conformance specification • Definition of voting system classes, conformance definitions • Test methods development • Voting by activity requirements development • Pre-voting, casting, counting, reporting requirements • Performance and workmanship requirements development • Continued glossary development

17. CRT Deliverables for TGDC Meeting • Hardware/Software performance requirements • Workmanship requirements • Casting, counting, reporting requirements

18. Current STS Work • Requirements development for general security • Access control, cryptography • Open-ended testing white paper • IV research, VVPAT update • Threat Analysis workshop • Outreach with ACCURATE, other groups

19. STS Deliverables for TGDC Meeting • Access Control requirements • General Cryptography requirements • Open-Ended Testing requirements • VVPAT update

20. Possible EAC Issues • NVLAP voting system test lab accreditation issues • EAC Internet Voting requests • Revisiting the timeline

21. NVLAP Issues • 3 potential test labs scheduled for pre-assessments in March, April, May • 3 day on-site visits • NVLAP requests EAC, extensive NIST involvement • NIST to recommend labs to EAC within 12 months of VVSG 2005 publish (in FR?) • Optimistic schedule is Winter, 2006 • Possible 4th lab for next round of pre-assessments • EAC has interim approach to use existing ITAs • EAC implication that NVLAP is behind schedule – not true • EAC implication that NVLAP-level accreditation of existing ITAs occurred earlier – not true

22. Internet Voting • Unclear what EAC needs or requires • TGDC, security community against Internet voting • NIST staff fully occupied with current deliverables

23. Timeline • EAC may wish to revisit timeline • Need to coordinate module reviews with TGDC, Standards Board meetings • Election cycles impact meeting schedules • EAC may favor certain material for earlier development over other material