The ES&S ExpressVote, ExpressVote XL and DS200 confirm every vote is cast and counted accurately, securely, efficiently.
ES&S believes post-election audits are critical to ensuring that the election worked properly and that it yielded the correct outcome. That’s why we only sell voting machines that produce an auditable paper record as the primary voting device in a jurisdiction.
Technology with a Trail
One of the most secure forms of modern voting is a hybrid approach combining paper and technology. Hybrid voting ensures that a voter’s intent is accurately captured through the use of technology and backed up by a paper ballot for auditing purposes. Our hybrid technology — the ExpressVote and ExpressVote XL — will never cause a voter’s intentions to be lost due to unclear marks or because the voter over-voted. There will always be a paper record of the votes cast.
Ensuring Auditability
We’re proud to share that the ExpressVote, ExpressVote XL and DS200’s paper record has proven to be fully auditable – having been used in post-election audits across the country.
Here are just a few real-world examples:
- Warren County, New Jersey, proved through post-election audits that the ExpressVote XL performed with 100 percent accuracy during elections this spring.
- Philadelphia and Mercer County, Pennsylvania, which vote on ES&S universal voting systems, were the first jurisdictions in the commonwealth to perform a risk-limiting audit. With the help of data and voting experts from around the country, Philly and Mercer County ran a rigorous statistical audit of their Election Day results. Earlier this year, we shared that the Pennsylvania Department of State convened a statewide audit working group to consider voting systems to enhance Pennsylvania’s post-election audit process based on current national standards. In Pennsylvania, every voting system and paper ballot must include plain-language text that voters can use to verify their choices – in performing audits or recounts election officials use the plain text.
- TIME Magazine published an analysis earlier this year of Rhode Island’s recent pioneering efforts to protect its election results through a risk-limiting audit.
Enabling Evidence-Based Elections
But paper records aren’t the only way to audit the accuracy of an election. Six layers of security protect ES&S voting systems – from physical security to encryption to verifiable audit trails. The ExpressVote, ExpressVote XL and DS200 maintain a system-generated audit trail used to verify that elections are administered accurately and accountably. The audit log records the date, time and description of every user- or system-initiated event that occurs on the unit, including the following event types:
- Any change to the device or configuration, such as a date or time change
- All poll worker or technician interactions with the terminal, including menu and screen navigation
- All actions taken by a voter, including the time the voting session started and ended for each cast vote, excluding contest selection/deselection, ballot navigation and write-in entries
- All errors and warnings
- All internal read/write operations, such as data written to a specific location or peripherals queried for status
We are excited about the future of elections, and we’re serious about accurately capturing the intent of every voter! Every election in America is an opportunity to marvel at our democracy at work. And with that comes incredible responsibility for those entrusted to provide secure, accurate elections. We are proud to share in that responsibility and look forward to helping our customers achieve success as they work to support the voters of America.