Category Overview

Balloting — Election Security Glossary

55 election security terms in the Balloting category, with definitions sourced from NIST, CISA, EAC, and 30+ authoritative documents.

Browse all 55 terms in Balloting

Machine Readable Mark

Mark in a contest selection position of a paper ballot that meets requirements for detection by a scanner.

High consensus2 sources

Official Ballot

A ballot "distributed by the election officer to the election judges to be given to voters to record their votes." Utah Code §20A-1-102(41).

Low consensus2 sources

Paper Ballot Sheet

A single piece of paper that forms part of a paper ballot.

High consensus2 sources

Presentable Ballot Style

Ballot style that includes all presentational details required to generate a ballot.

High consensus2 sources

Proposition

An "initiative, referendum, or constitutional amendment submitted at an election to the public for vote." Alaska Stat.

Low consensus2 sources

Public Measure

QUESTION. Any "question authorized or required by law to be submitted to the voters at an election." Iowa Code §39.3(10).

Low consensus2 sources

Recallable Ballot

Recorded ballot that can be individually retrieved and included or excluded from further processing.

High consensus2 sources

Return Envelope

An "envelope that is printed with spaces for the name and address of, and a self-affirmation to be signed by, an voting in a ELECTION, that contains a ELIGIBLE ELECTOR MAIL BALLOT…

Low consensus2 sources

Secrecy Sleeve

A paper, envelope, or folder that encloses a ballot to maintain the secrecy of how a voter marked their ballot.

Low consensus2 sources

Secret Ballot Envelope

The "envelope used by a voter to enclose the voted absentee ballot when voting by a mail absentee ballot or at the precincts." Hawaii Admin.

Low consensus2 sources

Ticket

The "list of candidates for each political party or for each group of petitioners." Utah Code §20A-1-102(74).

Low consensus2 sources

Unmarked Ballot

An issued ballot without any selections made.

Low consensus2 sources

By ESG Editorial Team · Drawing on EAC, NIST, usability research, and 25+ sources on ballot design and processing

Balloting covers the full lifecycle of a ballot: its design, its production, the way a voter marks it, the way it is cast, the way it is secured, and the way it is ultimately processed for tabulation. Each step in that lifecycle is a place where design decisions, accessibility considerations, and security controls come together.

Why this category matters for election security is that a ballot is the physical embodiment of voter intent. A misdesigned ballot can confuse voters and produce undervotes. An inaccessible ballot can deny equal participation. A ballot that is not properly secured between precinct and tabulation can be lost, damaged, or tampered with. The whole machinery of election administration exists to ensure that what voters marked is what gets counted.

Ballot design is a discipline in its own right. The principles of clear typography, intuitive layout, and consistent positioning of contests have been studied and codified. The use of color, the placement of instructions, the handling of write-in candidates, the treatment of overvotes and undervotes. These are not aesthetic choices. They are accessibility and accuracy choices, with security implications.

The terminology in this category covers the entire ballot lifecycle. The concepts here describe what happens between the moment a voter enters the booth and the moment a ballot is scanned for counting.

Key Concepts

Ballot

The physical or electronic medium on which a voter records their choices in an election.

Overvote

A condition in which a voter marks more choices for a contest than are permitted, resulting in the ballot or contest not being counted.

Undervote

A condition in which a voter marks fewer choices for a contest than are available.

Ballot Marking Device

A device that allows voters to mark their choices on an electronic interface, then prints a human-readable paper ballot.

Provisional Ballot

A ballot cast by a voter whose eligibility is unresolved at the time of voting, held separately and counted only if eligibility is later confirmed.

How These Terms Relate

These concepts together describe the journey of a ballot from design through tabulation. Balloting is the most visible part of election administration: it is what voters see and touch and interact with. The terminology here covers every step of that interaction. The unifying theme is that every choice, from the typography of the ballot to the handling of overvotes, has implications for accessibility, accuracy, and trust. None of these are aesthetic decisions in isolation.