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Election Advisory No. 2019-21

To: County Election Officers
From: Keith Ingram, Director of Elections
 Keith Ingram's signature
Date: October 15, 2019
RE: Texas Certification Procedures for Electronic Pollbooks

In accordance with House Bill 4130 (86th Legislature, 2019) the Texas Secretary of State shall prescribe specific requirements and standards for the certification of an electronic device used to accept voters under Chapter 63 of the Texas Election Code.

To meet this requirement, the Secretary of State has prescribed three separate documents outlining the initial certification process for electronic pollbooks.

  1. Texas Certification Procedures for Electronic Pollbooks: This document outlines the application requirements, certification process, and timeline for completion of the initial certification. It also contains information regarding modifications to certified electronic pollbooks and the timeline for the SOS to modify or amend electronic pollbook standards.

  2. Texas Functional Testing Matrix for Electronic Pollbooks (PDF): This document outlines the functional requirements of the electronic pollbook. This chart will be completed by employee examiners and utilized by the Texas Secretary of State’s office in reviewing electronic pollbook functionality.

  3. Texas Technical Testing Matrix for Electronic Pollbooks (PDF): This document outlines the technical requirements of the electronic pollbook. This chart will be completed by a NIST-certified testing lab for completion of a report that will be provided to the Texas Secretary of State’s office for consideration in making a determination on certification of a given electronic pollbook.

  4. Application for Certification (PDF): This document serves as the application for certification. The application, along with accompanying technical documents, must be submitted to the Texas Secretary of State prior to scheduling the in-person functional examination. Detail are outlined in the Texas Certification Procedures for Electronic Pollbooks document described in number 1 above.

Annual Certification Process

After the completion of the initial round of certifications, the Secretary of State may make modifications to the Technical and Functional Matrices for future electronic pollbook certifications. Any modifications made to the current process will be in place by June 30, 2020 in order to provide vendors adequate time to ensure compliance with the revised standards.

Please contact us at 1-800-252-VOTE(8683) or at elections@sos.texas.gov if you have any questions.

KI:CA