Voting systems across the U.S. are reaching end-of-life, with jurisdictions relying on cannibalizing parts from nonworking machines because replacement components are no longer manufactured. Louisiana illustrates the problem as election officials describe the need to keep older equipment running. Research from the Bipartisan Policy Center projects that, if equipment is not replaced, the average age of voting equipment will reach 9.3 years by the next presidential election. Historically, jurisdictions replace equipment around that age, but adoption of newer systems is constrained by slow procurement and limited funding. New systems are beginning to meet Voluntary Voting System Guidelines 2.0, which add security requirements, including mandatory auditable paper records, yet widespread implementation may take decades without a major congressional investment.
"“Replacement parts are no longer manufactured,” Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry told a state Senate committee earlier this year. “Simply put, the [election] system has reached the end of its life cycle.” Election officials in Louisiana describe having to “cannibalize” parts from dead machines to service others, reflecting how aging equipment can become difficult to maintain when manufacturers stop producing components."
"If not replaced, by the next presidential election the average age of voting equipment in the U.S. will be 9.3 years, according to research by the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC). Historically, jurisdictions replace their equipment right around that age, which could be good timing as voting machine manufacturers have just begun to offer systems that conform with the most recent federal election security guidelines."
"But in reality, unless Congress makes a massive financial commitment, the new BPC report finds it could take decades before tabulators and other machines adhering to the new standards are the norm in American elections. “It’s just really slow to make change in the elections industry,” said Will Adler, an elections expert at the Bipartisan Policy Center who co-wrote the report."
"The new standards known as the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines 2.0 (VVSG 2.0) are widely accepted as best practice and include numerous new security requirements, including requiring all systems to include auditable paper records. That practice has already become the norm in recent years, but it is now mandated."
#voting-equipment #election-security #voluntary-voting-system-guidelines-20 #election-administration #federal-funding
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