EAC - Voluntary Voting System Guidelines

Name : | Harvard "Larry" Lomax
Organization : | Clark County Nevada
Post Date : | 9/30/2005
Section Comments
Section : | 6.8.2.2
Page no. : |
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Comment : | 6.8.2.2 Font size This is an issue of practicality. It is simply not realistic to require the printer to print in large font sizes. Larger font sizes use up more inches of paper for each ballot…thereby requiring larger printers and larger rolls of paper...thereby driving up costs and increasing the logistical challenges delivering, handling and retrieving the printers. A minimum standard of 3 mm is reasonable. The printer we use prints in 10-point font, just under 3 mm. In our 2004 presidential election, a roll of paper nearly the length of a football field supported 146 voters’ printouts (remember that half the paper on the roll is unusable because, with a spool-to-spool printer, the each voter’s selections must scroll out of view before the next voter uses the printer). One hundred and forty six voters on a roll was sufficient to ensure we did not have to change paper during the day. Not having to change the paper roll was much more significant than it might seem, because it meant we did not have to train hundreds of poll workers on how to change the paper rolls and we did not have to deal with the issue of storing used paper rolls at a polling place on election day. At the end of the day, we simple had the poll workers bring in the printers, which remained sealed with the paper rolls inside, with their other election materials. For voters who need a larger font size, the realistic solution is a magnification. We placed a magnifier at every machine that increased our 10-point font to approximately 20-point font. As I stated before, we have had about a half million voters vote using the VVPAT and font size has not been an issue. Although some voters commented that the print was small, I have yet to receive a single complaint. [Statements submitted at EAC public hearing, June 30, 2005, New York]