The State Board of Elections invites the public to comment on an administrative rule proposed to provide procedures for certain authorized individuals to access proprietary information for voting systems certified for use in North Carolina.
The proposed rule is about the process by which a person, authorized by Voting systems: powers and duties of State Board (N.C.G.S. § 163-165.7), may access, review, and examine information that voting system vendors place in escrow as part of the state certification of their voting systems. This escrowed information includes proprietary and highly sensitive information of voting systems, including the source code for voting machines and election management systems and their software.
The proposed rule is designed to ensure that authorized individuals may review this information without risking the disclosure of proprietary or competitive information belonging to voting system vendors or the disclosure of features of voting systems that could be exploited by malicious actors.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has designated elections infrastructure, including voting systems, as critical national infrastructure. Because North Carolina is one of many states that use the same or similar voting systems, the access that the state provides through this process has implications for the security and integrity of elections nationwide.
Rule Text: Authorized Access to Voting System Information in Escrow (08 NCAC 04 .0308) (PDF)
The public comment period opens Monday, July 3, 2023, and closes at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023.
Members of the public may comment on the rules in any of the following ways:
- Online: Public Comment Portal: Voting Systems Escrow Access Rule
- Email: rulemaking.sboe@ncsbe.gov
- Mail: Attn: Rulemaking Coordinator, P.O. Box 27255, Raleigh, NC 27611-7255
A virtual public hearing will be held at 11 a.m. on July 20, 2023. To join the public hearing:
- Online: Webex
- Access code: 2430 539 9957#
- Passcode: NCSBE (62723 from phones and video systems)
- By Phone: (415) 655-0003
- Access code: 2430 539 9957#
- Passcode: 62723#
Comments will be compiled and submitted to the State Board before its final consideration of the proposed rule.
For more information about the rulemaking process, please visit Rulemaking.