Straight Answers
Learn the facts behind the tools.
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Voting Systems
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No. Voting machines use a paper record that the voter can check before casting the ballot. This paper record is the official ballot.
If the paper does not match what the voter chose, the voter can ask to have the ballot replaced and start again. Sometimes people say a screen showed the wrong choice. This may happen because of a screen problem, not because someone hacked the machine or told the machine to change a vote.
Before each election, officials test the machines in public. After the election, they also check paper ballots by hand to make sure the machine counts are right. The voting machines and computers used to vote and count ballots are not connected to the internet, so the results can be checked and trusted.
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A BMD is an electronic pen, not a vote counter. BMDs are incorrectly called “voting machines.”
A BMD lets voters make choices on a screen or keypad and then prints a paper ballot. Voters can see and verify that paper ballot before casting it. Then the voter puts the paper into a scanner or a secure ballot box. That printed paper becomes the official ballot of record. It can be used later for audits and recounts.
Some places used ballot marking devices for all voters, while others provide at least one per polling place to serve voters with disabilities.
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No. The voting machines and computers used to mark and count votes are not connected to the internet.
The voting machines and computers are kept separate from outside networks. Sometimes this is called being air-gapped.
When data must be moved, officials use removable devices that are sealed, tracked, and logged. You may see unofficial results online on election night, but those numbers are sent from separate computers. The official count stays on offline machines and on paper ballots.
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After a vote is cast, paper ballots are counted by tabulators, also called scanners. The tabulator reads the votes and adds them up.
The paper ballots are securely stored, so results can be checked later through audits or recounts.
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An "air-gapped" computer is a system that has a physical gap of air between it and the internet—meaning it is “offline” and isn't connected to the web at all!
Voting machines and ballot counters are kept strictly offline so no one can break into them from the outside web. When election workers need to move data, they use secure, encrypted memory sticks or thumb drives instead of an online connection.
Keeping systems offline is a simple but highly effective way to keep our elections safe.
Electronic Poll Books
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No. Electronic poll books only check voters in and do not track or store votes. They only manage the voter list.
Voter Registration Systems
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Check back later
Electronic Ballot Delivery and Return
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No. These terms do not mean the same thing.
Electronic ballot delivery means a voter gets a blank ballot by email, fax, or a secure website. The voter prints it, marks it, and sends it back in the way allowed by the state. In most states, the voter sends back a paper ballot by mail.
Electronic ballot return means a voter sends back a completed ballot by email, fax, or an online portal. This is allowed only in some states and usually only for a small group of voters, such as military voters, overseas voters, or some voters with disabilities.
Online voting means the voter both marks the ballot and returns it over the internet. The whole voting process happens online.
Here is the main difference:
Electronic ballot delivery = getting a blank ballot online
Electronic ballot return = sending back a completed ballot online
Online voting = marking and sending the ballot online
Election Night Reporting
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Election Night Reporting, or ENR, is how election offices share vote totals with the public on election night.
After the polls close, officials post updates so people can see how many votes each candidate has. These results are often shared on official election websites. News groups may also share the numbers.
Election Night Reporting is not the same as tabulation.
Tabulation means counting votes.
Election Night Reporting means sharing those vote totals with the public.
The numbers shown on election night are not final results. Officials may still need time to count and check ballots before the final results are announced. Election Night Reporting is not connected to the voting system, since the voting system is never online.
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Election results in the U.S. are checked through audits. These checks help make sure the reported winners really got the most votes.
Before an election, local officials test the equipment. After the election, they check ballots, seals, and printed results. They also compare paper ballots or paper records with the machine counts, in most cases including a random sample hand count of ballots.
The main goal of an audit is to make sure the paper records match the reported results and to find any problems.
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Elections in the U.S. are run by state and local government officials. They are not run by the federal government or by private companies.
Each state has a chief election official, often the Secretary of State. Local election officials do the daily work of running elections. They register voters, run polling places, and count ballots.
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No. Private voting technology companies do not run elections. They make voting machines, build software, have the voting machines and software tested and approved by federal and state governments and provide technical help. But election officials stay in charge of the ballots, the rules, and the final results.
This helps technology support elections while public officials stay in control.
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The term software independence means that if a computer system makes a mistake or is somehow compromised, there is always a backup plan to catch the error.
In elections, this means there is a paper record of each vote. If the computer count is thought to be wrong, election workers can compare the computer-generated results to the paper ballots.
This simple double-check helps keep our elections secure, accurate, and trustworthy.
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Yes. Even though it feels low-tech, paper plays a critical role in voting technology. This is because it creates a physical record of every single vote.
Unlike computer data, paper ballots can be counted by hand, locked up safely, and double-checked during recounts. Many experts think paper is the best backup for digital voting methods because physical pages cannot be altered by a cyberattack or a malfunction. In short, using paper makes it much easier to prove that election results are accurate.