How are the laboratories that test voting systems accredited?
HAVA states that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) assist the EAC through its National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP), which provides recommendations to the EAC regarding laboratory accreditation. After the EAC receives the recommendations from NVLAP, EAC conducts further review of the recommended laboratories to address non-technical issues such as conflict of interest policies, organizational structure, and recordkeeping protocols. After the EAC review, the Commission votes regarding full accreditation. Once the Commission votes to accredit a laboratory it is referred to as a voting system test laboratory (VSTL), and the information is posted at www.eac.gov.
