Federal brief
Agency Information Collection Activities: ESTEP Application for Testing
The Election Assistance Commission wants comment on the form manufacturers will use to submit poll books, voter-registration systems and other election tech for voluntary federal testing. Comments due November 16, 2026. FR 2026-18797.
Beyond the voting machine itself, elections rely on other technology: electronic poll books, voter registration systems, electronic ballot delivery systems and election-night reporting databases. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) has a voluntary program to test those tools, and it is asking for comment on the paperwork that comes with it.
The program is the Election Supporting Technology Evaluation Program, or ESTEP. It evaluates the functionality, security and accessibility of election-supporting technology. The new “ESTEP Application for Testing” form collects key administrative details when a registered manufacturer submits a new or modified product for testing. The EAC says the goal is better technology for federal elections.
By the numbers (EAC estimates, at $78.10 an hour) — First-time submissions: 3 manufacturers, 1 each, 240 hours apiece = 720 hours, $56,232. Repeat submissions: 6 manufacturers, 3 each, 32 hours apiece = 576 hours, $44,985.60. Total: 1,296 hours and $101,217.60 a year. Respondents are technology makers and state and local election officials.
The EAC asks whether the form is needed, whether its estimates are right, and how to make it clearer and less burdensome. Comments are public, so leave out personal details you do not want posted.
Comments are due by 5 p.m. Eastern on Monday, November 16, 2026, at www.regulations.gov (docket EAC-2026-0265), or by mail to the EAC, 633 3rd Street NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20001, Attn: Election Supporting Technology Evaluation Program. The collection is OMB No. 3265-0027. Contact: Elizabeth Beatrice, 202-451-2031.
Federal Register filing: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/09/15/2026-18797/agency-information-collection-activities-estep-application-for-testing
This is a Notice Nearby publisher-desk Federal brief — a short in-house summary of a public federal filing. It is not official agency minutes, not a newspaper story, and not Legal Publication. It does not satisfy a statutory notice requirement.
Source: the official public federal record 2026-18797 · Federal Register · 2026-18797 · 2026-18797.
This is a Notice Nearby publisher-desk Federal brief — a short in-house summary of a public federal filing. It is not official agency minutes, not a newspaper story, and not Legal Publication. It does not satisfy a statutory notice requirement.