October 24, 2005 (IDG News Service) --
Questions about the security and accuracy of electronic voting systems are likely to continue into the 2006 national elections, because the U.S. government has not yet completed work on electronic voting guidelines, according to a new government report. With lingering concerns about the security of e-voting systems, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) needs to define security policies and set up a machine-certification program to help state and local election officials use e-voting equipment, according to a report issued Friday by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). "Until these efforts are completed, there is a risk that many state and local jurisdictions will rely on voting systems that were not developed, acquired, tested, operated or managed in accordance with rigorous security and reliability standards -- potentially affecting the reliability of future elections and voter confidence in the accuracy of the vote count," the GAO report said. The EAC, established with the Help America Vote Act passed by Congress in 2002, is working on several initiatives to help state and local governments improve their management of e-voting systems, the GAO said. The EAC is working on security and reliability standards and on programs to certify voting machines and accredit independent laboratories to test e-voting systems, the GAO said. But those efforts aren't finished and are "unlikely to have a significant effect in the 2006 federal election cycle," the report said. The EAC "significantly expanded" the security system of proposed voluntary voting system guidelines, the EAC said in response to the GAO report. Those guidelines include a requirement that e-voting machine vendors submit software to the National Software Reference Library, a software repository with which voting officials could examine software for exploits. "GAO asserted that electronic voting systems must be secure and reliable, and EAC agrees," the EAC statement said. "Security has always been a top priority at EAC, and we have already made significant progress on GAO's recommendations." The EAC and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are developing a vulnerability analysis of e-voting systems, the statement said. The EAC also questioned the GAO's reference to security and reliability questions about e-voting systems. The GAO report talks about security and reliability problems experienced, but it "does not provide a context of the pervasiveness or relative obscurity of these issues," the EAC wrote in a letter signed by EAC Chairwoman Gracia Hillman and Vice Chairman Paul DeGregorio. The GAO report relies on documents produced by other people, but the agency didn't substantiate those reports of security and reliability problems, the EAC added. The EAC is just one participant in an effort to ensure safe and reliable elections, added Hillman and
Computerworld Executive Briefing: The Compliance Era
Get this briefing free (a $195 value), for a limited time, courtesy of VeriSign. The new Computerworld report, The Compliance Era, explains why regulatory compliance has zoomed to the top of the IT agenda and shows how real-world IT executives are dealing with the storage, security and privacy challenges. Get this briefing free (a $195 value), for a limited time, courtesy of VeriSign. Download this executive briefing
Implementing VMware Server Virtualization on Juniper Networks Infrastructure
Download this white paper today! (Source: Juniper) This informative white paper provides various server and network design considerations typically associated with the data center environment. By following the recommended implementation guidelines addressed in this paper, successful server virtualization can be accomplished in a cost-effective manner, while still maintaining a highly scalable and reliable network architecture. Download this white paper
Dynamic Data Center and Virtualization Drives Operational Excellence at Emory Healthcare
Dynamic Data Center and Virtualization Drives Operational Excellence at Emory Healthcare View this on demand webcast, compliments of Egenera, for a limited time! Go to the webcast
White Papers
Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services.
Eliminate SPAM, Gain Productivity Learn all about the dangers and the costs of spam in all its forms – from stock-touting to spreadsheet. Also, understand the drawbacks of traditional hardware- and software-based defenses – and the unique benefits of MessageLabs multi-layered, managed Anti-Spam solution; as illustrated by a real-world case study where MessageLabs stopped spam cold.
Download this white paper now! See more Whitepapers
See your link here
Subscribe to
Computerworld 
or
Other Legislation/Regulation Stories
IDG.net
Get this briefing free (a $195 value), for a limited time, courtesy of VeriSign. 
Download this white paper today!
Dynamic Data Center and Virtualization Drives Operational Excellence at Emory Healthcare
Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services. 
Learn all about the dangers and the costs of spam in all its forms – from stock-touting to spreadsheet. Also, understand the drawbacks of traditional hardware- and software-based defenses – and the unique benefits of MessageLabs multi-layered, managed Anti-Spam solution; as illustrated by a real-world case study where MessageLabs stopped spam cold.
Download this white paper now! 
Computerworld