Testvalg

Testvalg, or test election, is a practice event used to trial election procedures, equipment, and systems before an official vote. It is employed in various democracies to validate ballot design, voter registration processes, vote counting, auditing procedures, and logistics. Testvalg may be conducted as small-scale mock elections, larger pilot programs for new voting technologies, or organizational drills that simulate day-of operations.

Purposes include assessing usability and accessibility of ballots and interfaces, verifying the performance and security of counting systems, training election staff and poll workers, testing voter education materials, and identifying risks in supply chains and logistics before real elections.

Formats and methods vary: classroom or community mock elections using dummy data; pilot tests of electronic or online voting systems; online simulations of ballots and results reporting; and tabletop or red-team exercises focused on security and incident response.

Process typically involves planning and approvals, creating a safe testing environment that shields real voter data, using fictitious or anonymized data, executing the test under controlled conditions, collecting metrics on throughput, error rates, accessibility, and user satisfaction, and producing a report with recommendations for improvements.

Relation to official elections: a testvalg is typically non-binding and does not change official results; it may be required or recommended by electoral commissions to mitigate project risks. Limitations include differences between test and real-world behavior, potential for confusion among participants if not clearly labeled, and the need to protect data privacy and security.

Examples of use include introducing new voting technology, redesigning ballots, or revising registration procedures, where testvalg helps identify issues before deployment in the actual election.