EAC - Voluntary Voting System Guidelines

Name : | Deborah Markowitz
Organization : | State of Vermont - Sec. of State
Post Date : | 9/30/2005
General Comments
Comment : | Those states and counties that use a paper based voting system will rely on The Voluntary Voting System Guidelines to ensure that the equipment we purchase to mark ballots is of good quality, is well conceived and can perform the required tasks accurately, consistently and securely in an election environment. Although these systems are computer based, they do not record votes and the actual ballot is verified by the voter before it is cast. Specifically, failures to adequately program this equipment and mistakes in configuring the programs can easily be caught prior to an election through pre-testing practices. Since these systems do not record votes the privacy concerns, vote integrity concerns and the need to create an audit trail are different than for other computer based voting systems. Also, because the voter verifies that the ballot is correct before casting the paper ballot, the system's accuracy will be ensured by the voter, and the paper ballot can be easily and reliably used for recounts.