An individual who can act on behalf of an agency to authorize the issuance of a credential to an applicant. A physical artifact (e.g., identity card, "smart" card) issued to an individual that contains stored identity credentials (e.g., photograph, cryptographic keys, digitized fingerprint representation) so the claimed identity of the cardholder may be verified against the stored credentials by another person (human readable and verifiable) or an automated process (computer readable and verifiable). Source: FIPS PUB 201-1; CNSSI No. 1300
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An individual who can act on behalf of an agency to authorize the issuance of a credential to an applicant. A physical artifact (e.g., identity card, "smart" card) issued to an individual that contains stored identity credentials (e.g., photograph, cryptographic keys, digitized fingerprint representation) so the claimed identity of the cardholder may be verified against the stored credentials by another person (human readable and verifiable) or an automated process (computer readable and verifiable). Source: FIPS PUB 201-1; CNSSI No. 1300
Cite this term
Election Security Glossary. (2026). Personal Identity Verification (piv) Authorizing Official Personal Identity Verification (piv) Card. In Election Security Glossary. Retrieved August 13, 2026, from https://electionsecurityglossary.com/glossary/personal-identity-verification-piv-authorizing-official-personal-identity-verification-piv-card
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