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July 15, 2002
Dear Conferee:
As the Co-Chairs of the U.S. Public Policy Committee of
the Association for Computing Machinery (USACM), we are
writing to provide certain recommendations regarding the
House/Senate Conference on H.R. 3295, legislation to
address voting in our nation.
Relevant election bodies should work with the National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), private
sector standards developers, and the scientific research
community in the development of criteria, standards, test
methods and certification processes to improve our nation's
voting system through the utilization of technology.
Toward that end, we are pleased that the House passed version
of H.R. 3295 includes a role for NIST under part 4, section 261
of the bill. NIST would be invaluable in providing suggestions
of research topics for voting research grants and pilot programs;
reviewing grant applications; monitoring and adjustment of grant
activities; evaluation of complete grants; and producing intramural
research and development on the security of computers, computer
networks, computer data storage used in voting products and systems
as well as methods to detect and prevent fraud.
It is important that the integrity of our nation’s election process
be without blemish to ensure and maintain the democratic system of
government that has sustained the United States for over two-hundred
years. Therefore, as computing professionals we must acknowledge that
there are serious concerns regarding the integrity and reliability of
information technology. For this reason, we recommend a strong focus
on information assurance in each phase of the election process that
employs information technology.
As leading computing professionals from academia, industry and government,
USACM is pleased to offer our unbiased technical expertise to assist
policymakers in the development of computing and information technology
policy. If we can be of assistance to you in your efforts to resolve the
differences between the House and Senate version of H.R. 3295, please
contact the ACM Office of Public Policy at 202-478-6124.
Sincerely,
Barbara Simons, Ph.D.
Eugene H. Spafford, Ph.D.
Co-Chairs
U.S. ACM Public Policy Committee (USACM)
Association for Computing Machinery
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