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Texas had a constitutional amendment election 11/6/07. I was election judge for my precinct. Here is my experience and a question for others who have worked polls.
Leaving aside for a moment that there is no paper trail, how do you feel about how the electronic voting and tabulating machines were secured in your precinct? Where I am the county uses an integrated system consisting of paper ballots counted by an optical scanner and a DRE with assistance for vision and mobility impaired voters. Any voter can use either at their preference.
The equipment is issued to the election judge no earlier than three days before the election and remains in their possession for chain of custody purposes. Carrying cases for the equipment are sealed with serial numbered security seals. The equipment is unpacked in front of poll workers on the day of the election and signatures of at least three people attest to the seals being in-tact on that day and inside the polling place.
Upon set-up a count tape is run showing how many votes have been counted on the equipment in it’s lifetime and the number of votes cast after activation on election day. If the second count is not “0” the judge is required to get new equipment and to issue paper ballots to be held under lock until new equipment arrives.
At the end of the day after polls are closed the machines provide a tape of total number of votes cast and a tally report of votes for/against each ballot item. Three copies of the tapes are made and submitted to three different election officials, the precinct judge being one. They also maintain a complete record of all access to the equipment and poll worker interaction with the equipment from power-up to power down including power interruptions and the necessary re-boot. Battery backup maintains all records inside the equipment for up to 18 hours should power remain off.
Once the polls are closed and the tapes run the equipment is sealed inside the cases and at least three people attest to the sealing of the equipment. When the equipment is returned to the county the seals are inspected and signatures verified. Paper ballots are also sealed in a box with signatures of witnesses.
As for the machines themselves, every access point is sealed. Data ports are covered with metal plates and serial numbered seals. The cover is also secured with a serial numbered seal. There is no user access to any portion of the equipment that will not be detected upon return to the county election division or recorded in the data. I spent some time looking at the equipment when I first got it and at the steps during it’s use and after polls closed and could see no way that anyone could tamper with data being collected. As technology knowledge goes I’m probably 8 on a scale of 1-10.
At the end of the day every paper ballot is accounted for as is every voter access code for the DRE (how many issued, how many used, how many expired before use). All totals have to match: ballots used, votes cast, DRE access codes issued, voter’s names on the voter roll and tapes generated.
Anyone else what to comment on their experiences?
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