EAC - Voluntary Voting System Guidelines

Name : | Harvard "Larry Lomax"
Organization : | Clark County, Nevada
Post Date : | 9/30/2005
Section Comments
Section : | 6.8.4
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Comment : | 6.8.4 Approve or Spoil the Paper Record This is another issue of practicality. This section refers to spoiled electronic ballots. In reality, there are no spoiled electronic ballots. The voter may reject the paper record, but the electronic ballot is not recorded until the voter accepts the paper record and casts the ballot (6.8.4.7 requires this). Thus, there is no way to reconcile the number of spoiled paper records with the number of spoiled electronic records, as the guidance requires, because there are no spoiled electronic records. A spoiled paper record must clearly indicate it was rejected (our system prints VOID) and the printer must not print a bar code. What we have to reconcile after the election are the accepted paper records with the electronic ballots. One final observation in this area is that “spoiled” is a term generally associated with ballots and the paper record is not a ballot unless a state so determines. I believe it would be more appropriate in the guidelines document to use a term such as “reject” or “void” the paper record. The terminology itself I believe contributes to the confusion addressed above. [Statements submitted at EAC public hearing, June 30, 2005, New York]