Flaws in voter machines nationwide will not be fixed by the November elections. The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) announced that they will not be able to certify necessary upgrades before the general election. States vary in policies concerning whether or not federal certification of voter machines is required. The certification process slowed down considerably when the Election Assistance Commission began certifying voter machines. Prior to that, it had been performed by the National Association of State Election Directors through a volunteer program they operate. There has been no new equipment certified since the EAC took over the certification process. There have been numerous problems nationwide as a result of faulty machines. The New York Times highlighted some of these problems in a recent article. Chris Nelson, the secretary of state in South Dakota, told the Times that "[i]n 2006 the ballot-marking devices used by disabled voters incorrectly marked 50 to 100 ballots. The machine maker says it has fixed the problem but the state cannot install the fix without certification." The slowdown in certification is forcing many jurisdictions to forego much needed updates to their voter machines. Also, there were many problems with the machines before the EAC took over the certification process. Many groups familiar with the process believe that one reason for the slowdown is that the new standards are much stricter, partially as a result of problems with faulty machines that were not detected earlier. According to the Times, "A draft report out this month by the Government Accountability Office, the Congressional Watchdog, said the current system left states on their own to discover voting machine problems. The report calls for Congress to revise the Help America Vote Act and provide the commission with the authority and resources it needs to resolve problems with machines that were certified before the commission took over the process."