So far, states have been left on their own to evaluate the technology that provides the backbone of election operations: voter registration databases, websites used to report unofficial results on election night and electronic pollbooks, which are used instead of paper rolls to check in voters at polling places.hopes to provide the nation’s first uniform testing program for the technology, similar to one for voting machines.
“This is a critical need being filled at a critical time,” said Chris Wlaschin, senior vice president for Election Systems & Software, a leading voting machine manufacturer that also produces electronic pollbooks. “I think as more election officials learn about it, the more they’re going to ask for it.”
The systems bring unique security challenges. In many cases, they have internet connections or interact with systems that do. In counties with a vote center model, where registered voters can cast a ballot at any polling place, electronic pollbooks often communicate with each other and with the central voter registration system. That’s one way to ensure people are not able to vote at multiple locations or vote in-person after returning a mail ballot.
“One of the major benefits of this program is that it will provide a consistent process for certification for all of the different states that adopt it,” Jamie Remes with VR Systems, a provider of electronic pollbooks and election management systems, said during a recent event organized to discuss the testing program.