EAC - Voluntary Voting System Guidelines

Name : | Sanford Morganstein
Organization : | Populex Corporation
Post Date : | 8/26/2005
Glossary Comments
Glossary Term : | Voter Verification
Definition : |
Comment : | Finally, we present a general comment that is not related to any specific section. The draft VVSG (properly, in our view) has an important focus on “ voter verification.” Yet, it is not clear what “voter verification” is. Voter verification is not defined in the glossary (although system validation and verification is). For example, in a handmarked ballot, incomplete erasures or stray marks may cause a ballot to be tabulated in a way that the voter did not intend. Some will consider such hand-marked ballots voter-verified because the voter may visually inspect such ballots. Also, to some, “voter verification” may simply mean identifying whether there are overvotes or undervotes on a ballot. The glossary provides no guidance. The first substantial reference to “verification” we find in the VVSG occurs in § 2.2.6 on page 2-22: “If the normal procedure includes VVPAT, the Acc-VS should provide features that enable voters who are blind to perform this verification. If a state requires the paper record produced by the VVPAT to be the official ballot, then the Acc-VS shall provide features that enable visually impaired voters to review the paper record.”