Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Search Publications

NIST Authors in Bold

Displaying 1 - 25 of 36

Cybersecurity Framework Election Infrastructure Profile

February 1, 2024
Author(s)
Gema Howell, Mary C. Brady, Julie Snyder, David Weitzel, M. Schneider, Christina Sames, Joshua Franklin
This document is a Cybersecurity Framework Profile developed for voting equipment and information systems supporting elections. This Election Infrastructure Profile can be utilized by election administrators and IT professionals managing election

Administering Accessible Vote by Mail Systems

January 25, 2023
Author(s)
Lynn Baumeister, Whitney Quesenbery, Sharon J. Laskowski
Accessible vote by mail (AVBM) provides options for voters with disabilities to complete their absentee or vote by mail ballots independently and privately. AVBM is especially important for voters with print disabilities that make it difficult to read or

Handbook for VVSG 2.0 Usability and Accessibility Test Strategies

January 25, 2023
Author(s)
Whitney Quesenbery, Sharon J. Laskowski
This document provides guidance and resources for how to test voting systems against the usability and accessibility requirements in the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG) 2.0. The requirements include Principles 2.2 and 5 through 8. The goal of

Ballot Definition Common Data Format Specification

January 24, 2023
Author(s)
Benjamin Long, John Dziurlaj
This publication describes a ballot definition common data format for the interchange of logical and physical ballot style information. It contains a UML (Unified Modeling Language) model of the election data and a JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) and XML

Micro Common Data Format Specification

January 23, 2023
Author(s)
Benjamin Long, John Dziurlaj
This specification describes a data format for space-constrained environments, such as the placement of machine readable data on paper. The specification is responsive to a need for interoperability in several key voting system scenarios in which the use

Gap Analysis for Key Interoperability Scenarios in Election Technology

August 1, 2022
Author(s)
John Dziurlaj, Benjamin Long
This document describes potential use-cases for data interoperability in election technology components not previously considered in past efforts. Such components include on-demand ballot printing systems, remote ballot marking systems and electronic poll

Recommendations for Voting System Interoperability

August 1, 2022
Author(s)
John Dziurlaj, Benjamin Long
There is currently no common data format for ballot styles and associated use-cases. This white paper investigates this and other potential interoperability gaps within the voting system in a holistic manner, by considering previous voting interoperability

Election Results Common Data Format Specification Revision 2.0

December 3, 2019
Author(s)
John P. Wack
This publication describes an election results common data format specification for pre-election setup information and post-election results reporting. It contains a UML model of the election data and an XML format derived from the UML model. It also

Cast Vote Records Common Data Format Specification Version 1.0

November 19, 2019
Author(s)
John P. Wack
This document is a specification for a common data format for cast vote records (CVR) produced by vote-capture devices such as ballot scanners. It supports the interoperable export of CVRs from these devices and the interoperable import and export of CVRs

Voter Records Interchange Common Data Format Specification Version 1.0

November 14, 2019
Author(s)
John P. Wack
This document presents a specification for voter records data interchange related to voter registration, i.e., registration requests from online voter registration made to voter registration systems, and responses to the requests returning from the voter

Election Results Common Data Format Specification

February 9, 2016
Author(s)
John P. Wack, Kim Brace, Samuel Dana, Herb Deutsch, John Dziurlaj, Ian Piper, Don Rehill, Richard M. Rivello, Sarah Whitt
This publication describes an election results common data format specification for pre-election setup information and post-election results reporting. It contains a UML model of the election data and an XML format derived from the UML model. It also

Cloud-based Accessibility for Voting Applications

December 22, 2015
Author(s)
Shanee T. Dawkins, Sharon J. Laskowski
Since its creation, the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) of the U.S. Department of Education (ED) has supported the development of new technologies for enhancing access for people with disabilities. Current research and

Systematic Measurement of Marginal Mark Types on Voting Ballots

July 24, 2015
Author(s)
Andrea V. Bajcsy, Ya-Shian Li-Baboud, Mary C. Brady
The presence of marginal marks on voting ballots is a ubiquitous problem in voting systems and it is a common source of dispute during federal and state-level elections. As of today, marginal marks are neither clearly countable as votes or as non-votes by

Personalized Voting: The Intersection of Cloud and Mobility

July 21, 2015
Author(s)
Shanee T. Dawkins, Sharon J. Laskowski
Current research and development being conducted by the international Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure Consortium (GPII) is to create technology for cloud-based accessibility. Using this new technology, users of computer systems can create personal

The IEEE VSSC/1622: Voting System Standards

September 15, 2014
Author(s)
John P. Wack
This article presents an overview of the IEEE VSSC/1622 and its working groups. It contains information as to why a common data format for voting systems is needed and how VSSC/1622 standards will improve voting system operations and use. It contains

Information System Security Best Practices for UOCAVA-Supporting Systems

September 15, 2011
Author(s)
Andrew R. Regenscheid, Geoff Beier, Santosh Chokhani, Paul Hoffman, Jim Knoke, Scott Shorter
IT systems used to support UOCAVA voting face a variety of threats. If IT systems are not selected, configured and managed using security practices commensurate with the importance of the services they provide and the sensitivity of the data they handle, a

Security Considerations for Remote Electronic UOCAVA Voting

February 21, 2011
Author(s)
Nelson Hastings, Rene Peralta, Stefan Popoveniuc, Andrew Regenscheid
This whitepaper for the Technical Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC) identifies desirable security properties of remote electronic voting systems, potential benefits and threats to these systems, and current and emerging technical approaches for
Displaying 1 - 25 of 36