Coggins did note that the guidelines are a moving target. The EAC is already re-evaluating the 2005 standards, and new criteria will likely be released later this year, she said.

The EAC is tasked with creating a framework to help states comply with the Help America Vote Act, which Congress passed in 2002 to improve federal, state and local voting processes. The law directed states to replace manual voting systems with electronic ones and tasked the EAC with developing a national program for the testing, certification and decertification of e-voting machines.

The EAC does not require that states use only e-voting machines that it certifies. However, some states, including New York, do mandate that all machines be certified by the agency.

The NIST approval of the iBeta and SysTest processes, announced on Jan. 18, is the latest milestone in a process that has been mostly in a state of flux since the EAC's creation in 2002.

Before that, accrediting test labs and certifying voting machines was done on a voluntary basis by the National Association of State Election Directors, using guidelines issued by the Federal Election Commission (FEC), which oversees election laws.