Voter-marked paper ballots dominate among U.S. voting methods, but one fourth of voters still depend on unverifiable equipment
Verified Voting has released a new version of the Verifier, a map of voting technology used throughout the United States and territories, along with a statistical summary of voting technology that States will use this November.
The Verifier can be accessed by clicking here.
“While voter-marked paper ballots have consistently been the most prevalent voting system in the nation, this election marks the highest levels of voter-marked paper ballot use in ten years,” said Verified Voting policy analyst Sean Flaherty.
The Verifier allows users to quickly search for voting equipment information by any combination of type, vendor, machine model, or paper record type. Clicking on a state in the US map displays a map of that state’s election jurisdictions. Each of these can be clicked to reveal detailed data on the local voting equipment, election officials, and number of registered voters.
The Verifier has been updated with detailed information sheets about the nation’s voting systems, including new models like the DS200. The data sheets include voting machine descriptions and explanations of how each system is used.
In addition to the voting systems map, the Verifier provides a comprehensive map of accessible equipment serving voters with disabilities. The Verifier is provided as a public service at no cost to users.
The Verifier’s data show that 67 percent of Americans live in election jurisdictions where voter-marked paper ballots will be the standard voting system. All but a tiny handful of paper ballot jurisdictions use ballot scanners to tabulate ballots (approximately one million registered voters live in jurisdictions that hand count paper ballots).
But one fourth of the nation’s voters must still depend upon all-electronic voting machines for polling-place voting. Verified Voting’s statistical summary can be viewed here.
“We’re gratified with the direction we’ve seen, toward more jurisdictions with verifiable, recountable elections. But one fourth of the nation’s voters are still forced to depend on voting systems that cannot be recounted,” said Verified Voting president Pamela Smith. “This situation must change by 2012; the phaseout of voting without a safety net is long overdue,” said Smith.