SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1. Short Title: The Voting Technology Standards Act of 2001.
Section 2. Defines technical standards as performance-based standards and the testing specifications necessary to ensure that voting products and systems meet those standards. Defines voting products and systems to include those products and systems used in every stage of the voting process, from voter registration through recounts and archiving.
Section 3. Establishes a Commission to develop voluntary technical standards to ensure the “usability, accuracy, integrity, and security” of voting products and systems used in the United States. Standards must be published within 9 months after the date of enactment. After every Federal general election, the Commission shall review and update standards as necessary.
The Commission shall be chaired by the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and include at least two representatives from the National Association of State Elections Directors (NASED), a member of the American National Standards Institute, and local election officials. Funding and technical support for the Commission will be provided by NIST. Commissioners serve staggered terms of 6 year.
Section 4. Directs NIST to accredit non-Federal laboratories to test and certify that voting products and systems conform to the Commission’s standards.
Section 5. The bill directs NIST to disseminate voluntary technical standards; maintain and make available the list of accredited laboratories; maintain and make available a list of certified U.S. voting products and systems to assist in the implementation of the standards.
Section 6. Establishes a program for research and development to support the development of voluntary technical standards, in areas including computer and data storage security, voter privacy protection, internet voting, and human factors, including assistive technologies for persons with disabilities.
Section 7. Requires the Commission to issue a report to Congress within one year of the enactment of the Act.