A downtown Denver company is one of just two firms in the nation to receive interim approval from the federal government to test voting-machine hardware and software under a new set of standards.
In August, SysTest Labs became the first company to earn accreditation from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, which was established by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to review the administration of federal elections.
Brian Phillips, president of SysTest, said he hopes other companies gain the accreditation.
“It would benefit the public to have a number of places doing the testing,” Phillips said. “We don’t expect to have a monopoly on the market. However, each of these companies should be doing it the very same way.”
He noted that SysTest has performed testing for three of the four largest voting-machine makers: ES&S, Hart InterCivic and Sequoia Voting Systems.
Phillips said privately held SysTest generates about 30 percent of its revenue from testing voting-machine hardware and software. Formed in 1996, the company employs or contracts with 90 people locally.
The company began testing voting machines in 2001, in part because so few companies were doing the work at the time.
“It was right up our alley,” Phillips aid.
SysTest also has performed software testing and quality assurance for a variety of state offices and companies, including the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Microsoft Corp., Coors Brewing Co. of Golden and Qwest of Denver.
SysTest was approved for testing voting-system software and hardware. Wyle Laboratories Inc., based in El Segundo, Calif., received accreditation for hardware testing.
Staff writer Will Shanley can be reached at 303-954-1260 or wshanley@denverpost.com.
