The 2004 elections present many voters with the challenge of voting on new and unfamiliar voting equipment. This guide provides poll monitors, poll workers, election officials, and other interested persons with information about voting technology and procedures with a focus on electronic voting machines.

 

You can download this guide (PDF format). It is a companion to the Voters’ Guide to Electronic Voting also published by the Verified Voting Foundation.

Election officials across the United States are facing much pressure to "upgrade" voting technology, especially with the availability of funds legislated for this purpose by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002.

Counties, boroughs, parishes, and even entire states are purchasing digital

electronic recording (DRE) voting machines without a voter-verified paper

ballot (VVPB) capability. A VVPB is a paper ballot that voters can see and

verify that their votes are recorded accurately and stored in a secure ballot

box so that election officials can use the ballots later for mandatory audits and

meaningful recounts.

 

This Poll Monitors’ and Poll Workers’ Guide to Electronic Voting provides poll monitors, poll workers, election officials, and other interested persons with detailed information on the voting machines used in polling places and central tabulation facilities with pointers to how to keep voting technology working successfully and improve elections operations. We also cover how to investigate and get help when something goes wrong with the voting technology.

You can learn what choices voters have available in the jurisdiction where you are working. For example, in California, voters in one of the counties using electronic voting machines have the right to ask for a paper ballot if they prefer. In Hawaii and in Washington, D.C., voters may have the choice of using a paper optical-scan ballot instead of an electronic voting machine.

And in Nevada's Clark County, some of the voting machines will have VVPB and some will not, so a concerned voter may want to wait for the machine that does offer a reliable audit trail.

The more you can let voters, fellow poll monitors and poll workers, and election officials know about the options available in the voting process, the more likely you can ensure that voters can vote and that their votes will be recorded as intended.

Poll Monitors' & Poll Workers' Guide Table of Contents

This Poll Monitors' & Poll Workers' Guide has a variety of sections that you can navigate to directly from here:

Last but not least—and regardless of any problems with voting technology or election processes, procedures, and regulations—please remember to vote and encourage others to vote!