Voting System
Voting System: The total combination of mechanical, electromechanical or electronic equipment (including the software, firmware, and documentation required to…
Also known as: Election System
Definition
The total combination of mechanical, electromechanical or electronic equipment (including the software, firmware, and documentation required to program, control, and support the equipment) that is used to define ballots; to cast and count votes; to report or display election results; and to maintain and produce any audit trail information; and the practices and associated documentation used to identify system components and versions of such components; to test the system during its development and maintenance; to maintain records of system errors and defects; to determine specific system changes to be made to a system after the initial qualification of the system; and to make available any materials to the voter (such as notices, instructions, forms or paper ballots).
Alternative Definitions
- Definition 2
Combination of mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic equipment. It includes the software required to program, control, and support the equipment that is used to define ballots; to cast and count votes; to report and/or display election results; and to maintain and produce all audit trail information. A voting system may also include the transmission of results over telecommunication networks. Also known as voting machines.
- Definition 3
Equipment, materials, and documentation used to define elections and ballot styles, configure equipment, record and count votes, generate reports, export results, archive election data, and produce records in support of audits.
- Definition 4
The total combination of mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic equipment (including the software, firmware, and documentation required to program, control, and support the equipment) that is use to define ballots; to cast and count votes; to report or display election results; and to maintain and produce any audit trail information.
- Definition 5
Equipment (including hardware, firmware, and software), materials, and documentation used to:
- Definition 6
The total combination of mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic equipment (including the software, firmware, and documentation required to program, control, and support the equipment) that is used to define ballots; to cast and count votes; to report or display election results; and to maintain and produce any audit trail information; and the practices and associated documentation used to identify system components and versions of such components; to test the system during its development and maintenance; to maintain records of system errors and defects; to determine specific system changes to be made to a system after the initial qualification of the system; and to make available any materials to the voter (such as notices, instructions, forms, or paper ballots). polling stations, have been defined by organizations other than the EAC.
- Definition 7
Any collection of hardware and software that can be used to operate an election. This usually includes many pieces of hardware (ballot creation systems, ballot marking tools, ballot scanners, and the computers that run each component), and pieces of software (voter registration systems, ballot tabulation software, optical character recognition for write ins), in addition to logistical instructions + safeguards that prevent tampering. Folks usually refer to Voting Systems as a whole because these components (hardware, software, and operational support) are typically sold and licensed in large purchasing agreements between election system providers and counties. An example of a bid for a voting system contract is shown here.63
- Definition 8
An unfortunate aspect of his term is that it has multiple formal but inconsistent definitions. In HAVA, “the term ‘voting system’ means-- (1) the total combination of mechanical, electromechanical,