[guispeak] fyi: Article: ES&S AutoMARK Receives Federal Qualification for Breakthrough Ballot Marking Technology
- From: David Poehlman <david.poehlman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: GUISPEAK List <guispeak@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 05:23:33 -0400
George, Please pardon the possible stray here, I'm posting this here
because it is a landmark development and at least somewhat gui related?
Thanks!
--
Jonnie Apple Seed
With His:
Hands-On Technolog(eye)s
Business Wire
Thursday, June 23, 2005
ES&S AutoMARK Receives Federal Qualification for Breakthrough Ballot
Marking
Technology
Helps States and Jurisdictions Achieve HAVA Compliance for Optical Scan
Voting
OMAHA, Neb.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 23, 2005--Today, Election Systems and
Software (ES&S) announced that the ES&S AutoMARK, the only voting
technology
that
allows all voters to mark an optical scan ballot privately and
independently, is now fully qualified to the latest 2002 federal
standards.
States and jurisdictions
can now proceed with purchasing decisions with confidence that the
federal
review is complete.
The breakthrough ES&S AutoMARK is an optical scan ballot marking system
designed to provide privacy and accessibility to voters who are visually
impaired,
or have a disability or condition that would make it difficult or
impossible
to mark a ballot in the usual way. In addition, the technology provides
language
assistance to voters who are more comfortable speaking an alternative
language or who have reading difficulties.
In the short time since it was introduced, the ES&S AutoMARK has
generated
tremendous interest because of the substantial benefits it offers to
election
administrators and voters, alike. To date, the ES&S AutoMARK has
received
rave reviews from election directors and voters across the country,
with a
number
of jurisdictions already indicating an intention to incorporate the
technology into their election process. As part of a pilot project
sponsored
by Arizona
Secretary of State Jan Brewer in the 2004 general election, the ES&S
AutoMARK was used in three counties in Phoenix, Arizona, where it
performed
exceptionally
well.
"Throughout our 35 year history, ES&S has been driven by a passion for
enhancing the voting experience for all," said Aldo Tesi, President &
CEO of
ES&S.
"I am very proud of our industry leadership in innovating voting
solutions
to increase access and improve the election process. The ES&S AutoMARK
continues
that strong tradition."
Features of the ES&S AutoMARK include:
-- Protection for voters by eliminating over-votes; minimizing
under-votes; and allowing for the selection of write-in
candidates.
-- The ability to use the same paper ballot for all voters in a
way that protects privacy and provides secure recount
capability.
-- An audio function, which allows visually impaired voters or
those with severely impaired vision to listen to the choices
through headphones.
-- The ability to protect legacy systems by allowing
jurisdictions to use existing optical scanner
hardware/software solutions. Simply adding an ES&S AutoMARK
device to a polling location ensures compliance with HAVA and
eliminates the need to reinvest in a new tabulation systems.
-- A sip/puff tube for voters who are not able to use the touch
screen or touch pad.
-- A zoom feature which enables the voter to increase the font
size of each race listed on the optical scan ballot. This may
be especially helpful for voters who are sighted but have
vision limitations.
-- Multiple language capability. Assuring that all citizens in a
diverse population can exercise their privilege to vote,
visual and audible ballots in multiple languages can be stored
on a single machine.
The federal certification process is conducted by Independent Testing
Authorities (ITAs) over a six- to twelve-month time period, and involves
rigorous
hardware, software, functional testing, and includes line by line source
code reviews. During this rigorous process, both the usability and
security
features
of the system are tested and evaluated. Once ITA testing is complete,
the
U.S. Election Assistance Commission/National Association of State
Election
Directors
assigns a number to the product signaling that the system has been
fully and
officially certified to be in compliance with these most stringent of
election
voting system standards.
About Election Systems & Software (ES&S)
Election Systems & Software, Inc. (ES&S) is the world's largest and most
experienced provider of total election management solutions. For more
than
three
decades, ES&S -- as an election-only company and the industry leader
-- has
grown to support a customer base of more than 1,700 jurisdictions in the
U.S.
Based on the primary voting tabulation system installed within the
United
States, ES&S customers represent approximately 42% of registered
voters in
the
U.S. In 2004, ES&S supported over 5,700 elections in the U.S.
Contacts
Election Systems and Software
Rob Palmer, 402-938-1412
rspalmer@xxxxxxxxxxx
or
Fleishman Hillard
Ken Fields, 314-982-0556
or 314-640-2529
fieldsk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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