The National Association of State Election Directors (NASED) is a U.S. association that "was formed in 1989 when a group of state election directors and administrators met in Reno, Nevada. The driving issue at that time that spurred the group to organize was the concern that national networks were releasing presidential election results before all polls had closed.

"The recently enacted Help America Vote Act

Help America Vote Act

The Help America Vote Act , or HAVA, is a United States federal law which passed in the House 357-48 and 92-2 in the Senate and was signed into law by President Bush on October 29, 2002. Drafted in reaction to the controversy surrounding the 2000 U.S...

 has increased the importance for communication and coordination among state election directors", its website states. The association serves "as an exchange of best practices and ideas."

Role in the certification of e-voting machines

NASED has recently received attention for its role in the system for certifying e-voting machines. According to a September 2004 report by the Associated Press, "More than a decade ago, the Federal Election Commission

Federal Election Commission

The Federal Election Commission is an independent regulatory agency that was founded in 1975 by the United States Congress to regulate the campaign finance legislation in the United States. It was created in a provision of the 1975 amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act...

 authorized the National Association of State Election Directors to choose the independent testers."

A company chosen by NASED to act as a tester is known as an Independent Testing Authority (ITA)

Independent Testing Authority

An Independent Testing Authority is a laboratory certified by the United States-based National Association of State Election Directors to test voting systems to the Voting System Standards or the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines in the process of certifying voting systems...

.

External links

• Bill Poovey, "Secretive testing firms certify nation's vote count machines", Associated Press via San Francisco Chronicle, August 22, 2004.
• Frequently Asked Questions About Voting System Standards, Federal Election Commission, May 18, 2001. Discusses relationship between the Election Center, NASED, and the ITAs. Apparently still current as at October 2004.
• NASED Voting Systems Board membership list, Federal Election Commission, December 13, 2001. Apparently still current as at October 2004.
• General Overview for Getting a Voting System Qualified (MS Word document), National Association of State Election Directors via the Election Center's website. (HTML version). Undated, accessed 25 October 2004.