EAC - Voluntary Voting System Guidelines

Name : | Sanford Morganstein
Organization : | N/A
Post Date : | 9/27/2005
Glossary Comments
Glossary Term : | Electronically-Assisted Ballot Marker (EBM)
Definition : |
Comment : | Machines that provide assistance to voters who are visually impaired, who have difficulty reading English, or in other cases where a voter has difficulty correctly marking by hand a preprinted paper ballot that is to be counted in optical scan systems. The device marks, or helps to mark selected vote choices on a previously inserted, preprinted paper ballot. The machine then provides audio, tactile, or visual feedback to the voter on what choices they have made on the ballot. The resulting ballots are later tabulated on the same unit that processes ordinary hand-marked paper ballots. We think this definition can be improved by recognizing the plain meaning of the words "Electronically-Assisted Ballot Marker". It simply means marking a ballot. It does not, and in our opinion, should not, imply that the ballot that is marked is "pre-preprinted." During IEEE discussions, the Populex system was clearly seen as an "EBM" and it does not mark a pre-printed ballot. It creates a ballot out of blank paper. Similarly, the last sentence makes an implication that is not always true. EBMs may tabulate a ballot on an arbitrary device, not necessarily one that processes ordinary hand marked ballots.