Election Administration — Election Security Glossary
1,121 election security terms in the Election Administration category, with definitions sourced from NIST, CISA, EAC, and 30+ authoritative documents.
Browse all 1,121 terms in Election Administration
Commit
A unified set of changes to Source Code, usually adding one feature, fixing one bug, or any other incremental, well encapsulated piece of work.
Committee On Foreign Investment In The United States
U.S. government's interagency committee authorized to review certain transactions involving foreign investment in the United States and certain real estate transactions, in order…
Common Industry Format (cif)
Refers to the format described in ANSI/INCITS 354-2001 "Common Industry Format (CIF) for Usability Test Reports.".
Common Vulnerabilities And Exploits
The generic name for known cybersecurity vulnerabilities that have been catalogued by the CVE program.
Communal Roll
A register of electors for which the qualification for registration is a determinable criterion such as, religion, ethnicity, language or gender.
Community Defense Model
A set or real-world analyses used to design, prioritize, implement, and improve an enterprise's cybersecurity program.
Compensatory Seats
The List PR seats in a Mixed Member Proportional system which are awarded to parties or groupings to correct disproportionality in their representation in the results of elections…
Competency Order
An order issued by a court determining whether a person has the mentally capacity to vote.
Computer Emergency/incident Response Team (cert/cirt)
A group of individuals, usually consisting of security analysts, organized to develop, recommend, and coordinate immediate mitigation actions for containment, eradication, and…
Computer Judge
Vote center election worker who checks the voter's ID and signature, and processes the voter in the electronic poll book.
Conditional Voter Registration
Some states use this term to define the action of an individual registering and casting a provisional ballot after the statutory deadline, but whose eligibility or registration…
Conduct An Election
The act of managing, running, and overseeing an election.
By ESG Editorial Team · Drawing on NIST, EAC, CISA, and 29 authoritative sources on election security
Election administration encompasses the systems, procedures, and personnel through which elections are planned, executed, and certified. It is the operational backbone of democratic governance. The machinery through which voter intent is captured, protected, and counted. The terminology of election administration reflects decades of state and federal law, professional standards set by the Election Assistance Commission, and lessons learned from real-world incidents.
Why this category matters for election security is fundamental: an election system can only be secure if the procedures that govern its operation are clear, documented, and consistently followed. Administrators must understand ballot design standards to prevent voter confusion and miscounting. Poll workers require training protocols that ensure they can detect and prevent irregularities. Chain of custody procedures protect ballots and equipment from the moment they enter the polling place until results are certified. Post-election processes (canvassing, auditing, and recounts) provide the mechanisms through which voters and election officials can verify that the system worked as intended.
The integrity safeguards that distinguish legitimate elections from disputed ones are largely procedural. The Help America Vote Act of 2002 and subsequent state election codes establish minimum requirements for many of these practices, yet implementation varies significantly across jurisdictions. A poll worker in one state may follow different procedures than one in another, and election officials often confront gaps between what their jurisdiction's law requires and what their systems can realistically deliver.
Understanding this category's terminology is essential for officials implementing compliance frameworks, journalists covering election operations, and academics studying the mechanics of electoral administration. The concepts here reflect the operational reality that election security is not only a technical problem. It is an administrative one, solved through documented procedures, trained personnel, and auditable processes that can withstand scrutiny before, during, and after every election.
Key Concepts
Chain Of Custody
The documented sequence of transfers of ballots, equipment, and materials from one authorized person to another, establishing accountability and preventing tampering.
Canvassing
The official process of reviewing and certifying all ballots cast in an election, including provisional ballots and absentee votes, before declaring results.
Logic And Accuracy Testing
Pre-election testing of voting systems to ensure they accurately record and count votes as programmed, typically performed on electronic and optical scan equipment.
Poll Worker
A temporary election official assigned to a polling place responsible for voter check-in, ballot distribution, machine operation, and procedural compliance.
Ballot Format
The layout, typography, and instructions of a ballot that affect voter comprehension, ballot marking accuracy, and system compatibility.
Provisional Ballot
A ballot cast by a person whose eligibility cannot be immediately verified at the polling place, verified later during canvassing before being counted.
Ballot Marking Device
Equipment that assists voters in selecting choices and may print a voter-verifiable paper record of their selections, required to be accessible under HAVA.
Post Election Audit
A structured review of election results against source documents such as paper ballots to verify that the recorded result matches votes actually cast.
Election Night Reporting Systems (enr)
The unofficial release of vote totals on election night before the formal canvass is complete, subject to change as remaining ballots are processed and verified.
How These Terms Relate
These concepts form an integrated system designed to ensure accuracy and accountability at every stage of an election. Ballot design determines whether voters can clearly express their intent and whether systems can reliably interpret markings. Poll worker training and operations ensure that ballots are distributed and cast according to law, with proper records maintained. Chain of custody procedures protect ballots from marking through tabulation, creating an auditable trail. Logic and accuracy testing verifies that equipment will count votes correctly before they are cast. Canvassing brings all ballots (including provisional and absentee votes) into a unified, reviewed count. Post-election audits provide the mechanism by which election officials and observers can verify that the system actually produced the correct result. These elements are interdependent: a weakness in any one of them creates vulnerability in the entire system.
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