F Terms — Election Security Glossary

A formalization of the security determination for authorizing access to a specific type of classified or sensitive information, based on specified access requirements, a determination of the individua…

Mathematically-precise statement of a security policy. (CNSSI-4009) (NISTIR)

One of the two functions of the block cipher algorithm that is determined by the choice of a cryptographic key. The term “forward cipher operation” is used for TDEA, while the term “forward transforma…

Repeated switching of frequencies during radio transmission according to a specified algorithm, to minimize unauthorized interception or jamming of telecommunications. (CNSSI-4009) (NISTIR)

The process of encrypting all the data on the hard disk drive used to boot a computer, including the computer’s operating system, and permitting access to the data only after successful authentication…

Complete diagnostic repair, modification, and overhaul of COMSEC equipment, including repair of defective assemblies by piece part replacement. See Limited Maintenance. (CNSSI-4009) (NISTIR)

Segment of security testing in which advertised security mechanisms of an information system are tested under operational conditions. (CNSSI-4009) (NISTIR)

A government-wide program that provides a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud products and services

Standards issued by US Government for use in government agencies. FIPS 140 covers encryption standards.

An acronym for Federal Information Processing Standards Publication. FIPS publications (PUB) are issued by NIST after approval by the Secretary of Commerce. (SP 800-64) (NISTIR)

An ethical hacking technique used to gather as much data as possible about a specific targeted computer system, an infrastructure and networks to identify opportunities to penetrate them

A standard network protocol used to transfer computer files between a client and server on a computer network, usually the Internet. Election offices will upload and download files, such as sample bal…

The Federal Voting Assistance Program refers to a program of the U. S. Department of Defense through which the Uniformed Overseas and Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) is administered. The Directo…

A cloud-computing service that allows customers to execute code in response to events, without managing the complex infrastructure

Joining allows Facebook users who share common interests to be connected and communicate in one place

For business accounts and public figures to create an online presence; offers advertising features

A base or building, access to which is physically controlled by U. S. citizens or resident aliens who are authorized U. S. Government or U. S. Government contractor employees.

A mode of termination of system functions that prevents damage to specified system resources and system entities (i.e., specified data, property, and life) when a failure occurs or is detected in the …

A mode of termination of system functions that prevents loss of secure state when a failure occurs or is detected in the system (but the failure still might cause damage to some system resource or sys…

Selective termination of affected, non-essential system functions when a failure occurs or is detected in the system. See fail safe and fail secure for comparison.

A ballot cast by a voter who was not on the list of eligible voters, whose information was incomplete or not accurate, or who had already received a ballot in the mail and was allowed to vote. Fail-sa…

A voter who was not on the list of eligible voters, whose information was incomplete or not accurate, or who had already received a ballot in the mail but was allowed to vote. Fail-safe ballots are us…

A method under the NVRA “by which a registered voter who has changed his address within the same jurisdiction may vote at any polling place w ithin that jurisdiction, even if his name is not on the ro…

The capability to switch over automatically (typically without human intervention or warning) to a redundant or standby information system upon the failure or abnormal termination of the previously ac…

A ballot for use in FAIL-SAFE VOTING. “There must be provi ded for each voting place a number of failsafe ballots, or ballots contai ning only the races for federal, statewide, countywide, and municip…

The inability of a system or component to perform its required functions within specified performance requirements.

Type of incident in which unauthorized access to data results from hardware or software failure.

Methodology used to detect imminent hardware or software failure and provide fail safe or fail soft recovery.

Ratio of the number of failures that occur to the volume of data processed.

A “method by which a registered voter who has changed his address within the same jurisdiction may vote at any polling place within that jurisdiction, even if his name is not on the roster of register…

Proportion of verification transactions with wrongful claims of identity that are incorrectly confirmed.

When a biometric system incorrectly identifies a biometric subject or incorrectly authenticates a biometric subject against a claimed identity.

The probability that a biometric system will incorrectly identify an individual or will fail to reject an impostor. The rate given normally assumes passive impostor attempts. SOURCE: SP 800-76

A covert operation designed to deceive; the deception creates the appearance of a particular party, group, or nation being responsible for some activity, disguising the actual source of responsibility

A crime defined in HAVA. “Any individual who knowingly commits fraud or knowingly makes a false statement with respect to the natu ralization, citizenry, or alien registry of such individual in violat…

“A MARK on a ballot that meets the legal definition of an ACCEPTABBLE MARK but that is, on some occasion, not detected by a vote tabulating machine as a vote. False negative marks may be MARGINAL MARK…

An alert that incorrectly indicates that malicious activity is occurring. (SP 800-61) (NISTIR)

“A MARK on a ballot that does not meet the legal definition of an ACCEPTABBLE MARK but that is, on some occasion, detected by a vote tabula ting machine as a vote. False positive marks may be MARGINAL…

Proportion of verification transactions with truthful claims of identity that are incorrectly denied.

The failure of a biometric system to identify a biometric subject or to verify the legitimate claimed identity of a biometric subject.

The probability that a biometric system will fail to identify an applicant, or verify the legitimate claimed identity of an applicant. (SP 800-76) (NISTIR)

“False swearing consists of taking an oath required by the Election Code with the knowledge that the thing or matter sworn to is not true and correct.” Wyo. Stat. §22-26-108.

False voting consists of: (i) Voting, or offering to vote, with the knowledge of not being a qualified elector entitled to vote at the election; (ii) Voting, or offering to vote, in the name of anothe…

Real news stories that are subtly altered in order to provoke outrage, often includes the plagiarization of complete articles with only the date of publication changed so that readers are made to beli…

The crime of falsifying election documents “consists of performing any of the following acts with the intent to deceive or mislead an elector or an election official:(i) Printing, distributing or disp…

Russian cyberespionage group, also known as APT 28

Flaw in design or implementation that may result in the qualities or behavior of the voting system deviating from the qualities or behavior that are anticipated, including those specified in the VVSG …

A top-down, deductive failure analysis in which an undesired state of a system (top event) is analyzed using Boolean logic to combine a series of lower-level events. An analytical approach whereby an …

A system that continues to operate after the failure of a computer or network component.

An “ABSENTEE BALLOT processed by facsimile transmission.” Hawaii Admin. Regs. §2-53-1. Faxed ballots are permitted in several states, including Alaska.

Information Security Management Act (FISMA) Title III of the E-Government Act requiring each federal agency to develop, document, and implement an agency-wide program to provide information security f…

See executive agency.

FEDERAL ELECTION. Federal Postcard Absentee Ballot Application The “official post card form, containing both an absentee voter registration application and an absentee ballot application, for use by t…

The Federal Bridge certification authority (CA) consists of a collection of public key infrastructure (PKI) components (Certificate Authorities, Directories, Certificate Policies and Certificate Pract…

The Federal Bridge Certification Authority Membrane consists of a collection of Public Key Infrastructure components including a variety of Certification Authority PKI products, Databases, CA specific…

The Federal Bridge Certification Authority Operational Authority is the organization selected by the Federal Public Key Infrastructure Policy Authority to be responsible for operating the Federal Brid…

Any primary, general, runoff, or special election in which a candidate for Federal office (President, Senator, or Representative) appears on the ballot.

Strict limits on the amount of money a particular corporation, union, or private individual could give to a candidate in a federal election. It also required candidates and political action committees…

Independent agency responsible for administering and enforcing laws that cover federal election campaigns. The FEC oversees the public financing of presidential elections, ensures public disclosure of…

A U. S. federal inspector general (IG) is the head of an independent, non-partisan organization established within each executive branch agency assigned to audit the agency’s operation in order to dis…

(FEA) A business-based framework that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) developed for government-wide improvement in developing enterprise architectures (EAs) by providing a common framework t…

A standard for adoption and use by federal departments and agencies that has been developed within the Information Technology Laboratory and published by the National Institute of Standards and Techno…

Standards for federal computer systems developed by NIST. These standards are developed when there are no existing industry standards to address federal requirements for system interoperability, porta…

A statute (Title III, P. L. 107-347) that requires agencies to assess risk to information systems and provide information security protections commensurate with the risk. FISMA also requires that agen…

An information system used or operated by an executive agency, by a contractor of an executive agency, or by another organization on behalf of an executive agency.

(FISSEA) An organization whose members come from federal agencies, industry, and academic institutions devoted to improving the IT security awareness and knowledge within the federal government and it…

The Voting Rights Act permits federal observers to monitor procedures in polling places and at sites where ballots are counted in eligible political subdivisions.

United States President, member of the U. S. Senate, or member of the House of Representatives.

President, member of the U. S. Senate, or member of the House of Representatives.

Federal POST CARD Application

Among the challenges military and overseas voters face are the wide variability in rules and procedures governing registration and voting across states. The FPCA serves as a uniform registration and b…

The Federal PKI Policy Authority is a federal government body responsible for setting, implementing, and administering policy decisions regarding interagency PKI interoperability that uses the FBCA. (…

Active-duty military and family members and individuals, who vote while living abroad.

Ballot of active-duty military and family members and individuals, who vote while living abroad.

Assistance available from the Federal Voting Assistance Program to voters serving in the military and overseas civilians.

Voting Assistance Officers (VAOs) work to ensure that military and overseas voters understand their voting rights, how to register to vote absentee, and have access to accurate nonpartisan voting info…

(VAOs) work to ensure that military and overseas voters understand their voting rights, how to register to vote absentee, and have access to accurate nonpartisan voting information and assistance. VAO…

Voter assistance and education program to ensure that members of the U. S. armed forces, their eligible family members, and U. S. citizens overseas are aware of their right to vote and have the tools …

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting.

Federal VOTING SYSTEM Standards

The Federal minimum standards that each voting system used in an election for Federal office must meet.

A blank ballot provided by the Federal Voting Assistance Program by which military and overseas voters can vote by writing in their choices and returning the ballot to their elections office.

Indigenous tribal entities that are recognized as having a government-to-government relationship with the United States, with the responsibilities, powers, limitations, and obligations attached to tha…

This refers to a voting system's ability to provide a voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT). The voter's choices are displayed under glass or plastic (out of reach of the voter to avoid manipulat…

A capability to limit network traffic between networks and/or information systems.

(optical scan) An error condition in which the mechanism that feeds BALLOTS into the scanner jams.

A crime regarded as more serious than a misdemeanor and usually punishable by loss of voting rights for a period of time.

See MASCULINE.

“The Secretary of State may appoint a field exam iner who shall instruct and assist municipal election officials …” Me. Rev. Stat. §21-A-608.

A RACE in which more than one candidate is to be elected. Also MULTI-SEAT CONTEST, VOTE- FOR-MANY.

A set of wireless software and hardware technologies that will produce a significant improvement in data speed, volume, and latency (delay in data transfer) over fourth-gener- ation (4G and 4G LTE) ne…

A collection of related data, stored on media. Files will be identified by a system-valid filename.

The process of encrypting individual files on a storage medium and permitting access to the encrypted data only after proper authentication is provided. (SP 800-111) (NISTIR)

1. A mismatch between the internal file header and its external extension; or 2. A file name inconsistent with the content of the file (e.g., renaming a graphics file with a non-graphical extension. (…

Aggregate of processes and procedures designed to inhibit unauthorized access, contamination, elimination, modification, or destruction of a file or any of its contents.

Means by which access to computer files is limited to authorized users only. (CNSSI-4009) (NISTIR)

The specific kind of information contained in a file, usually designated with a file

The act of completing the required paperwork to declare a person's intent to become a candidate for public office.

The last day to file election or voting documents for a specific election and process. Examples include paperwork to circulate a petition, to file paperwork to become a candidate, or to file campaign …

The process of submitting election paperwork via the internet.

The amount of money due when filing election paperwork, such as when filing to become a candidate for public office.

An “officer authorized by law to receive de signations and declarations of candidacy, certificates and acceptances of nomination or any other nomination papers.” Nev. Rev. Stat. §293.057.

Formally submitting a petition to the governing authority.

A COMSEC item used to transfer or store key in electronic form or to insert key into cryptographic equipment. The “Common Fill Devices” are the KYK-13, and KYK-15. Electronic fill devices include, but…

The Oval On certain ballots, voters are instructed to fill in an oval to vote for a candidate or measure, instead of marking an X or connecting an arrow.

On certain ballots, voters are instructed to fill in an oval to vote for a candidate or measure, instead of marking an X or connecting an arrow.

The “canvass from which the official result of an election is determined.” Texas Elec. Code §1.005(5).

The final consideration of ballots cast in an election. The results of the final count are the official results, barring a judicial recount. For provincial government elections, the final count includ…

The entity that is most responsible for the placement of a product or service into the stream of commerce.

With respect to ABSENTEE BALLOTS, the “reading of ballots by an electronic vote tallying system, but does not include tabulation.” Wash. Admin. Code §434-240-225(2). Cf. INITIAL PROCESSING.

The final action a voter takes in selecting contest options and irrevocably confirming their intent to vote as selected.

Reports that detail information about the source, type, amount, or value of the incomes of public officials and candidates for public office, required to be filed by a governing authority.

To “determine and deliver a FINDING.” 2007 VVSG.

Result of a formal evaluation by a test lab or accredited expert.

A “Secretary of State certified vendor which pr ocesses sheets or unfinished ballot cards to make ballot cards to be used in California elections.” Cal. Regs. §20205

A security method (e.g., cryptographic algorithm, cryptographic key generation algorithm or key distribution technique, random number generator, authentication technique, or evaluation criteria) that …

A cryptographic module validated by the Cryptographic Module Validation Program (CMVP) to meet requirements specified in FIPS 140-2 (as amended).

Key management protocol based on public key cryptography. (CNSSI-4009) (NISTIR)

A gateway system designed to prevent unauthorized access to a private network or intranet that is connected to the internet.

The component that controls a firewall’s handling of a call. The firewall control proxy can instruct the firewall to open specific ports that are needed by a call, and direct the firewall to close the…

Computer programming stored in programmable read-only memory thus becoming a permanent part of the computing device. It is created and tested like software.

In Louisiana, the first assistant secretary may perform all of the elect oral functions of the SECRETARY OF STATE. La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §18:421.

The simplest form of plurality/majority electoral system, using single-member districts and candidate-centred voting. The winning candidate is the one who gains more votes than any other candidate, ev…

An initial PRIMARY ELECTION. In case a state requires the winner to achieve a majority a SECOND PRIMARY may need to be held as a RUNOFF ELECTION. “In each year in which a general election is held, a f…

A RECOUNT in which “all ballots that were originally counted by the optical scan equipment are to be counted again by the opti cal scan equipment producing another MACHINE COUNT.” 8 N. C. Admin. Code …

A voter who registers to vote or votes for the first time in a federal election. Pursuant to the Help America Vote Act, these voters must provide identification before they can vote.

The first time that a citizen registers to vote.

The first time that a citizen votes.

A report that details political contributions and expenses required to be filed by a governing authority.

COMSEC facility COMSEC facility located in an immobile structure or aboard a ship.

When a person lawfully and habitually uses a living quarters a majority of the week, it is considered a fixed residence for voting purposes, and the voter is referred to as a fixed resident.

A non-volatile electronic memory device that reta ins data even when its electrical power is removed.

Error of commission, omission, or oversight in an information system that may allow protection mechanisms to be bypassed. (CNSSI-4009) (NISTIR)

System analysis and penetration technique in which the specification and documentation for an information system are analyzed to produce a list of hypothetical flaws. This list is prioritized on the b…

FLEEING VOTER, although “fled” is more appropriate since the voter’s status of fleeing is usually not realized by poll workers until she has fled.

A voter who departs the voting booth prior to registering her vote and cannot be recalled, possibly leaving the voting machine in a state such that the fleeing voter’s partial choices are visible to t…

An attack that attempts to cause a failure in a system by providing more input than the system can process properly.

(opscan) A sheet of optical scan paper that is sca nned to indicate that the results of a particular precinct should be deleted or “flushed,” generally because of a counting error.

The act of directed (focused) attention to a party or parties alleged to have violated Department/Agency (D/A) acceptable use' policies and agreements for NSS. The alleged violation may be caused by t…

A test methodology that assumes some knowledge of the internal structure and implementation detail of the assessment object. Also known as gray box testing.

When a person “likes” a Facebook page or connects with a social-media account, they will automatically see updates in their news feed

Family or assortment of characters of a given size and style, e.g., 9-point Bodoni modern. See type font.

An election procedure that can only be used on the day of an election.

An accurate bit-for-bit reproduction of the information contained on an electronic device or associated media, whose validity and integrity has been verified using an accepted algorithm.

A professional who locates, identifies, collects, analyzes, and examines data while preserving the integrity and maintaining a strict chain of custody of information discovered. (SP 800-72) (NISTIR)

Digital media that is completely wiped of all data, including nonessential and residual data, scanned for malware, and verified before use. (SP 800-86) (NISTIR)

The practice of gathering, retaining, and analyzing computer-related data for investigative purposes in a manner that maintains the integrity of the data.

A Fork Bomb works by using the fork() call to create a new process which is a copy of the original. By doing this repeatedly, all available processes on the machine can be taken up.

A formalization of the security determination for authorizing access to a specific type of classified or controlled unclassified information (CUI) categories or subcategories based on specified access…

Software development strategy that proves security design specifications. (CNSSI-4009) (NISTIR)

Software engineering method used to specify, develop, and verify the software through application of a rigorous mathematically based notation and language.

A description of specific behaviors or security policies using formal languages, thus enabling the correctness of those behaviors/policies to be formally proven.

Complete and convincing mathematical argument presenting the full logical justification for each proof step and for the truth of a theorem or set of theorems. (CNSSI-4009) (NISTIR)

A “term used to distinguish the pattern of pres coring of unfinished ballot cards or ballot cards (e.g. 312-, 228-, 52-Hole).” Cal. Regs. §20206

The function that transforms the payload, associated data, and nonce into a sequence of complete blocks. (SP 800-38C) (NISTIR)

Means of proving a person's identity, especially in the form of official papers. Common examples include Driver's Licenses, Passports and other Government issued documents.

The misrepresentation or alteration of the true results of an election.

A direct phone line set up to report voting issues.

A form of voter fraud in which someone registers to vote or registers someone else to vote using fictional information, or when they are ineligible to register to vote.

A form of List PR in which voters may vote for a party or grouping and in addition for one or more candidates, whether or not those candidates are nominated by that party or grouping. Also known as pa…

The right to cast a ballot without threat of violence, manipulation, harassment, or fear.

A method of counting WRITE-INS, in which a vote is tabulated whether or not the name written is also listed on the ballot.

Repeated switching of frequencies during radio transmission according to a specified algorithm, to minimize unauthorized interception or jamming of telecommunications.

A tally of Vote Counts carried out by Human Interpretation of Voter Marks on the original paper record for every ballot cast in the contest.

A “ RECOUNT of all the precincts in which votes we re cast for the nomination or office for which a candidate received a vote or on any meas ure that appeared on the ballot.” O. R. S. §258.006(6).

Cf. MULTI-FACED BALLOT, PAGING BALLOT MACHINE.

Complete diagnostic repair, modification, and overhaul of COMSEC equipment, including repair of defective assemblies by piece part replacement. See limited maintenance.

Exhaustive verification of every system function and combination of functions cited in the vendor’s documentation. The FCA verifies the accuracy and completeness of the system’s voter manual, operatio…

Test performed to verify or validate the accomplishment of a function or a series of functions.

Segment of quality assurance testing in which advertised security mechanisms of an information system are tested against a specification.

“For voting systems that create more than one re presentation of the voter’s ballot (such as one electronic and one on paper), the fundamental repr esentation is the representation that is used for th…

To seek financial support for a political candidate, campaign, or organization for the purpose of influencing an electoral outcome.