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

Filing Officer

An "officer authorized by law to receive designations and declarations of candidacy, certificates and acceptances of nomination or any other nomination papers." Nev.

Medium consensus1 source

Final Canvass

The "canvass from which the official result of an election is determined." Texas Elec.

Medium consensus1 source

Final Processing

With respect to the "reading of ballots by an electronic vote tallying ABSENTEE BALLOTS, system, but does not include tabulation." Wash.

Medium consensus1 source

Find

To "determine and deliver a FINDING." VVSG.

Medium consensus1 source

Finisher

A "Secretary of State certified vendor which processes sheets or unfinished ballot cards to make ballot cards to be used in California elections." Cal.

Medium consensus1 source

First Assistant Secretary Of State

In Louisiana, the first assistant secretary may perform all of the electoral functions of the STATE.

Medium consensus1 source

First Primary

An initial In case a state requires the winner to achieve a majority a PRIMARY ELECTION.

Medium consensus1 source

First Recount

A in which "all ballots that were originally counted by the optical scan equipment RECOUNT are to be counted again by the optical scan equipment producing another COUNT." 8…

Medium consensus1 source

Fled Voter

VOTER, although "fled" is more appropriate since the voter's status of fleeing is FLEEING usually not realized by poll workers until she has fled.

Medium consensus1 source

Fleeing Voter

A voter who departs the voting booth prior to registering her vote and cannot be recalled, possibly leaving the voting machine in a state such that the fleeing voter's partial…

Medium consensus1 source

Flush Header

(opscan) A sheet of optical scan paper that is scanned to indicate that the results of a particular precinct should be deleted or "flushed," generally because of a counting error.

Medium consensus1 source

Format

A "term used to distinguish the pattern of prescoring of unfinished ballot cards or ballot cards (e.g.

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.