How the EAC Versions Its Voting System Certification Manuals

The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) runs its voting-system certification program on two separate manuals, and both are version-controlled: the Voting System Testing and Certification Program Manual, Version 3.0, effective November 15, 2022 (T&C Manual Version 3.0), and the Voting System Test Laboratory Program Manual, Version 3.1, effective March 9, 2026 (VSTL Manual Version 3.1). The EAC’s public Manuals and Forms page lists the current edition of each manual separately from prior editions explicitly labeled “(Discontinued)” and from a distinct “Draft Manuals” section (EAC Manuals and Forms).

This original record-reading guide is a general reading aid, not cited evidence. It does not depict a source record; the article text and source links provide the facts.

Key points

• The Testing and Certification (T&C) Program Manual currently in force is “Voting System Testing and Certification Program Manual Version 3.0 / Effective November 15, 2022” (T&C Manual Version 3.0).
• The Voting System Test Laboratory (VSTL) Program Manual currently in force is “Voting System Test Laboratory Program Manual Version 3.1 / Effective March 9, 2026” (VSTL Manual Version 3.1).
• The EAC’s Manuals and Forms register marks earlier T&C editions as “Version 2.0 (Discontinued)” and “Version 1.0 (Discontinued)” (EAC Manuals and Forms), keeping them visible but distinct from the current edition.
• That same register separately lists “Testing and Certification Program Manual Version 3.1 - Draft Redline.pdf” under Draft Manuals (EAC Manuals and Forms) — a draft entry, not a listed effective edition.
• Two other EAC records show how the agency cites the current T&C manual by version and section number, not just by title.

Two program manuals, two version tracks

The EAC’s voting-system certification work is split across two documents that version independently of each other and do not move in lockstep. The T&C manual governs certification requirements for voting systems themselves (T&C Manual Version 3.0), while the VSTL manual governs the separate program for the laboratories that do the testing (VSTL Manual Version 3.1).

Each manual’s version number and effective date is printed directly on the document itself, as already cited above, rather than being assigned from a shared version track.

Current, discontinued, and draft editions

The EAC’s Manuals and Forms page (EAC Manuals and Forms) is the public register readers can use to tell which edition of a manual is current. It lists prior T&C editions with explicit discontinued labels — “Version 2.0 (Discontinued)” and “Version 1.0 (Discontinued)” — so a reader can see that those versions are no longer the active manual without those older files being removed from the page entirely.

Separately, the same register carries a “Draft Manuals” section that includes “Testing and Certification Program Manual Version 3.1 - Draft Redline.pdf.” That draft entry is shelved apart from the list of current and discontinued editions — the register does not present it as an adopted, effective manual.

Citing the manual elsewhere

Two other public EAC pages show the T&C manual’s version number and section structure being used as a citation anchor elsewhere in the agency’s records. The EAC’s Notices of Clarification page lists Notice of Clarification 26-01 as filed against “Version 3.0, Section 8” of the T&C manual (EAC Notices of Clarification) — citing both the exact version and the specific section it addresses.

Separately, the EAC’s Requests for Interpretation page tells submitters that “more information on the policy, requirements, and procedures for submitting an RFI can be found under section 9 of the EAC Voting System Testing and Certification Program Manual, Version 3.0” (EAC Requests for Interpretation). Both citations point to the same current T&C edition — Version 3.0 — using its section numbers as the reference point, which is consistent with how the manual is identified on the Manuals and Forms page itself.

What this article does not answer

This article describes how the EAC’s manuals are versioned and cited on its own public pages — it does not say which manual version, or which certification procedures, any specific voting system was actually tested or certified under; that depends on records for the individual system, not on the manual register. It also does not make any claim about a voting system’s accuracy, security, or performance, since these manuals govern administrative certification procedure only. As of the source pages checked here, “Testing and Certification Program Manual Version 3.1 - Draft Redline.pdf” appears only under the Manuals and Forms page’s Draft Manuals section, so this article does not assert that Version 3.1 of the T&C manual has been formally adopted as an effective edition. Finally, Notice of Clarification 26-01 — cited above only as filed against Version 3.0, Section 8 — addresses a subject this article does not describe, verify, or otherwise characterize; that is a separate, unresolved question.

Source links

https://www.eac.gov/voting-equipment/manuals-and-forms https://www.eac.gov/sites/default/files/TestingCertification/Testing%20and%20Certification%20Program%20Manual%20Version%203.0%20(2).pdf https://www.eac.gov/sites/default/files/2026-03/VSTL_Program_Manual_Version_3.1.pdf https://www.eac.gov/voting-equipment/notices-clarification https://www.eac.gov/voting-equipment/requests-interpretation