NIST Common Data Format Project
John P. Wack
National Institute of Standards and Technology

Common Data Format (CDF)
•	An Extensible Markup Language (XML)-based format designed around the needs of elections
•	Used to communicate between voting devices, e.g.,
•	To export from a voter registration DB to any ePollbook
•	To export voted ballots from voting stations to any EMS
•	To export tabulated results from any EMS
•	Goal is interoperability of data
Benefits of a CDF
•	Anyone can build or sell a device; no manufacturer gets locked out of the market
•	Election officials are empowered to buy whatever devices best suit their need
•	Developers can write applications that make use of the CDF
•	Elections can be audited and analyzed more easily
•	Device certification is possible
•	Voting equipment testing is easier 
•	The transparency of the equipment is greater and more trust of the equipment is possible
IEEE P1622
•	Main goal: specify a standard or set of standards for a common data format for election systems
•	Sponsoring Society: IEEE Computer Society/Standards Activities Board (C/SAB)
•	NIST working with IEEE P1622 to develop a suite of CDF standards
•	Based on an existing international standard, OASIS EML, but being adapted to specific US-election needs
•	Available for free under sponsorship of the IEEE Standards Association
•	Some IEEE interest in creating a committee over P1622 and additional working groups at P1622 level that would deal with other voting-related standards
•	Was proposed recently but requires more thought
•	NIST, EAC, others would need to discuss
NIST/IEEE/OASIS Strategy
•	Work within P1622 and OASIS to produce 1622.x standards, reference them in VVSG updates
•	Develop ‘use case’ standards that target slices of election data
•	UOCAVA blank ballot distribution for FVAP
•	Election results reporting
•	Audit data 
•	Voter registration database export
•	Device logging
•	NIST considering reference implementations for 1622.x testing to facilitate adoption and interoperability
Election Data Scope
Standards Structure
•	Comprehensive parent standard
•	Glossary
•	Models
•	Use case standards residing within
•	Description of use case (coverage of the standard)
•	Data model (UML) and elements descriptions
•	Annexes describe XML schemas and usage
•	UML could be used in generating additional formats as applicable, e.g.,
•	JSON
•	BSON
Why IEEE?
•	A prior incarnation of P1622 was already making progress
•	Therefore, no need to start from scratch with a TGDC effort
•	NIST has a strong history of working with and supporting other SDO efforts
•	No current TGDC process was possible
Pros and Cons
•	A standards committee gives more organizations a seat at the table than with the TGDC
•	But, there are competing interests that have to be managed, thus progress can be slower
•	Workload for NIST is roughly equivalent
Current Status
•	UOCAVA blank ballot distribution standard Jan 2012
•	Assists the US DoD and election officials in making available electronic blank ballots to voters
•	Provides a CDF for describing ballot information and for identifying the correct ballot for a specified election
•	Election results reporting draft Spring 2013
•	Other use cases under discussion
•	Event logging
•	VRDB
•	Audit
For more information
http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/1622

John P. Wack
john.wack@nist.gov