THE FEDERAL ROLE
In 2018, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine published a report called Securing the Vote: Protecting American Democracy. The report "examined the challenges arising out of the 2016 federal election, assessed current technology and standards for voting, and recommended steps that the federal government, state and local governments, election administrators, and vendors of voting technology should take to improve the security of election infrastructure. In doing so, the report provides a vision of voting that is more secure, accessible, reliable, and verifiable." Read the entire report here.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are private, nonprofit institutions that provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, technology, and medicine. The National Academies operate under an 1863 congressional charter to the National Academy of Sciences, signed by President Lincoln.
* The text below is taken directly from the report.
Evidence:
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. "Securing the Vote: Protecting American Democracy." Washington, DC: The National
Academies Press. 2018
Election Administrator and Poll Worker Training
To improve the overall performance of the election process:
The president should nominate and Congress should confirm a full U.S. Election Assistance Commission and ensure that the U.S. Election Assistance Commission has sufficient members to sustain a quorum.
Congress should fully fund the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to carry out its existing functions.
Congress should require state and local election officials to provide the U.S. Election Assistance Commission with data on voting system failures during elections as well as information on other difficulties arising during elections (e.g., long lines, fraudulent voting, intrusions into voter registration databases, etc.). This information should be publicly available.
RECOMMENDATIONS ON SECURING THE FUTURE OF VOTING
Congress should provide appropriate funding to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to carry out the functions assigned to it in the Help America Vote Act of 2002 as well as those articulated in this report.
Congress should authorize and provide appropriate funding to the National Institute of Standards and Technology to carry out its current elections-related functions and to perform the additional functions articulated in this report.
Congress should authorize and fund immediately a major initiative on voting that supports basic, applied, and translational research relevant to the administration, conduct, and performance of elections. This initiative should include academic centers to foster collaboration both across disciplines and with state and local election officials and industry. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission, National Institute of Standards and Technology, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, National Science Foundation, and U.S. Department of Defense should sponsor research to:
Determine means for providing voters with the ability to easily check whether a ballot sent by mail has been dispatched to him or her and, subsequently, whether his or her marked ballot has been received and accepted by the appropriate elections officials.
Evaluate the reliability of various approaches (e.g., signature, biometric, etc.) to voter authentication.
Explore options for testing the usability/comprehensibility of ballot designs created within tight, pre-election timeframes.
Understand the effects of coercion, vote buying, theft, etc., especially among disadvantaged groups, on voting by mail and to devise technologies for reducing this threat.
Determine voter practices regarding the verification of ballot marking device–generated ballots and the likelihood that voters, both with and without disabilities, will recognize errors or omissions.
Assess the potential benefits and risks of Internet voting.
Evaluate end-to-end-verifiable election systems in various election scenarios and assess the potential utility of such systems for Internet voting.
Address any other issues that arise concerning the integrity of U.S. elections.