The U.S. government has barred information-technology firm Ciber from certifying the electronic-voting systems for states, after federal officials noted quality-control issues, according to an article in the New York Times.

After instituting an oversight program in July, officials at the U.S. Election Assistance Commission found that Ciber did not follow quality-control procedures nor document its testing process adequately, according to the news report. The ruling, handed down last summer, barred Ciber from certifying machines, but did not become public until Thursday, the New York Times stated.

The certification of e-voting machines has been widely criticized for its secretive nature and the fact that the voting machine makers themselves pay for the testing process, an action that undermines the independence of the results.

Even though few major issues were noted in November's midterm elections, civil-rights groups continue to criticize the lack of standards in e-voting system testing. E-voting system maker Diebold has most often come under fire--most recently for failing to patch flaws in their system in a timely manner and because security bugs open up some of their machines to a virus attack, according to Princeton University researchers.

Ciber submitted its application to get re-accredited this month and federal officials are studying the application, the company told the New York Times.