Category Overview

Voting Systems — Election Security Glossary

1,792 election security terms in the Voting Systems category, with definitions sourced from NIST, CISA, EAC, and 30+ authoritative documents.

Browse all 1,792 terms in Voting Systems

Board Of Canvass

A Delaware body composed of JUDGES, which counts the vote in each SUPERIOR COURT county and verifies the results.

Medium consensus1 source

Board Of Civil Authority

A Vermont body consisting, "in the case of a town, the selectmen and town clerk and the justices residing therein; in the case of a city, the mayor, aldermen, city clerk and…

Medium consensus1 source

Board Of Election Commissioners

A county body exercising authority over elections.

Medium consensus1 source

Board Of Election Supervisors

In Louisiana, a board that exercises control over electoral functions in a parish.

Medium consensus1 source

Board Of Elections And Ethics

In the District of Columbia, the three-member body that supervises elections.

Medium consensus1 source

Board Of Examiners

1. A three-member board in Iowa appointed by the to STATE COMMISSIONER OF ELECTIONS examine and approve voting machines.

Medium consensus1 source

Board Of Inspectors

A body of election watchers in Hawaii, Michigan and New York.

Medium consensus1 source

Board Of Registration

In Hawaii, an island board appointed by the Governor that determines qualifications of voters.

Medium consensus1 source

Board Of State Canvassers

A body constituted to certify the results of elections.

Medium consensus1 source

Bonus Primary

A in which a small number of delegates are held aside and not allocated on a PRIMARY proportional basis but are awarded to the highest vote-getter as a "bonus" for winning.

Medium consensus1 source

Border Logic

"Software, firmware, or that is developed to connect HARDWIRED LOGIC APPLICATION LOGIC Although it is typically developed by the voting system to COTS or THIRD-PARTY LOGIC .

Medium consensus1 source

Borough Election

An election for officials of a borough in states have such an administrative subdivision, such as Alaska, Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Medium consensus1 source

By ESG Editorial Team · Drawing on NIST, the EAC, VVSG, IEEE, and 30+ authoritative sources on voting system design and certification

Voting systems are the machines, software, and supporting infrastructure through which voters mark, cast, and have their ballots counted. The category includes optical scanners, ballot-marking devices, direct-recording electronic (DRE) systems, hand-marked paper ballots, and the back-end systems that aggregate results from precincts and report them to the public.

Why this category matters for election security is rooted in the trust voters place in the systems that record their intent. A voting system that loses votes, that miscounts, or that allows manipulation without detection undermines the legitimacy of the entire election. Conversely, a system that is well designed, well tested, and well understood by election officials produces results that withstand scrutiny even when contested. The work of building and maintaining that trustworthiness is continuous.

Federal testing and certification programs establish a baseline. The Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG), administered by the Election Assistance Commission, define the technical and security requirements a system must meet to be used in federal elections. State testing goes further in some cases, certifying specific configurations, requiring additional documentation, or limiting the use of particular system features. Once a system is in the field, the work of securing it continues through patch management, configuration control, and pre-election logic and accuracy testing.

The terminology in this category reflects the technical and procedural landscape that voting systems inhabit. The concepts here are not optional. Every term describes a system property that has been the subject of standards, recommendations, and in some cases federal law.

Key Concepts

Voting System

The integrated hardware and software used by voters to cast ballots and by election officials to count them.

Optical Scan

A voting system that reads marked paper ballots using optical sensors and counts the marks electronically.

Ballot Marking Device

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

Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail

A printed paper record produced simultaneously with an electronic vote, allowing the voter to confirm their choices before casting.

Cast Vote Record

The permanent record of a single vote as captured and stored by a voting system, in electronic and/or paper form.

Direct Recording Electronic

A voting system that records votes directly into electronic memory, with or without a contemporaneous paper record.

Voluntary Voting System Guidelines

The federal technical standards published by the EAC that define security, accuracy, and accessibility requirements for certified voting systems.

How These Terms Relate

These concepts together describe the technical core of how votes are cast and counted. A voting system is more than a single device. It is an integrated chain of hardware, software, and procedures that begins when a voter enters the booth and ends when results are reported. The terminology here covers that full chain. Optical scan, ballot-marking devices, DRE systems, and VVPAT each represent different points on a spectrum of automation and paper reliance. The choice between them is a policy decision shaped by jurisdiction, voter expectations, and the trade-offs between speed, accessibility, auditability, and security.