votingequipment

Voting equipment refers to the hardware and associated software used to cast ballots, record votes, and tabulate results in elections. It covers devices voters interact with at polling places as well as the systems election offices use to process and report tallies.

Common categories include paper ballots and optical-scanning systems that convert marked ballots into digital tallies; direct-recording electronic (DRE) machines that store votes electronically; ballot-marking devices (BMDs) that generate a voter-verified paper ballot; and punch-card or hand-marked methods in some jurisdictions. Some systems combine a paper record with digital tallying to improve verifiability, such as ballots with a voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT).

Key components are the ballot layout, user interface, ballot transport and scanner or tabulator hardware, and the software that tallies results. Security and reliability features typically include audit trails, tamper-evident seals, encrypted data transmission, and robust maintenance procedures.

Security, accuracy, and accessibility drive design and operation. Risks include hardware failure, software flaws, and potential tampering. Mitigations include independent testing, certification programs, strong chain-of-custody, routine updates, and post-election audits such as risk-limiting audits.

In the United States, voting equipment is generally evaluated against the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG) and certified by the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), with many jurisdictions requiring VVPAT and post-election audits. In other countries, systems vary widely, with some relying on paper ballots as the primary method and others using different forms of electronic tabulation.