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

System

Any organized assembly of resources and procedures united and regulated by interaction or interdependence to accomplish a set of specific functions.

Medium consensus5 sources

Second Chance Voting

Feature of a voter-facing scanner that reviews the ballot for possible marking mistakes, informs the voter, and presents an opportunity to cast as-is or return the ballot.

Medium consensus4 sources

Security Analysis

An "inquiry into the potential existence of security flaws in a voting system.

High consensus4 sources

Software Independence

The "quality of a voting system or voting device such that a previously undetected change or in software cannot cause an undetectable change or error in election outcome." FAULT…

Medium consensus3 sources

System Extent

An "administrative unit that is the entire scope within which the voting system is used (e.g., a county).

Medium consensus3 sources

Server

A server is a collection of computer programs, hosted on a computer that provides services to other computers, via some connection - usually a network.

High consensus2 sources

Sip And Puff

A type of user interface for a disabled voter by which voting may be accomplished by blowing and inhaling using a tube.

Low consensus2 sources

Safety

1. The ability of a voting system to be used in a particular jurisdiction with assurance that it will operate properly.

Medium consensus1 source

Safety Certification

A guideline of the that equipment associated with a must be 2007 VVSG VOTING SYSTEM certified in accordance with the requirements of Underwriters Laboratories UL 60950-1.

Medium consensus1 source

Sag

A temporary drop in voltage supplied to an DEVICE." with ELECTRONIC VOTING TERMINALS battery backup are inherently immune to sag.

Medium consensus1 source

Sanitized Headset

Under the VVSG, any voter using an must be provided with a 2007 AUDIO-TACTILE INTERFACE santitized headset.

Medium consensus1 source

Satellite Absentee Voting Station

An additional absentee polling place requested by voter petition.

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.