WELCOME TO

FOCUS ON THE

BALLOTPresented by:

Orange County

Bill Cowles, Supervisor of Elections

Michelle Torres, Elections Manager

Luis Torres, Technical Services Manager

Lucy Melendez, Community Outreach Manager

What’s

New?Prepping

TestingStoringQuestions?

Legislation■ Know the changes before preparing

■ SB 7066 Read it, and read it again!

– Ballot chain of custody procedures

■ HB5 Surtax Election on Elections only

■ Arrows are gone!

■ Column Headers cannot share with a contest

■ Updated Uniform Ballot Rule to come

■ Bi-lingual ballots

– EAC Spanish/English glossary

– Reach out to counties that currently provide multiple languages

Litigation

Ballot images lawsuit – DISPOSED

Ballot Rotation lawsuit

Judge Mark Walkers ruling

Section 4E, VR Act (32 counties)

Rule Making

New Equipment & Software

■ Think through all steps of the process and consider:

– How do your changes affect your daily operations?■ Precinct Structures

■ New Software

■ New equipment

QUESTION

Does your county image:

• All ballots?

• Write ins only?

• NONE?

QUESTION

Do you deliver ballots with:

• Election equipment?

• Poll workers?

Ballot Layout

& Proofing

• Errors cause ballot re-issues in

Williamson, Travis counties

• Hillary Clinton’s name spelled wrong

on Lonoke Co. Ballots

• Oops! County board of elections spells

candidate’s name wrong

• Kent County Clerk apologizes for

second election mistake in GRCC race

• Ottawa County will pay about $40,000

to correct an embarrassing

typographical error on it’s Nov. 7

Election ballot

Layout

Process

Qualifying Officer

Turns in candidate Loyalty Oaths to Programmers daily

Proofing Team

Attend “Boot Camp”Study the Uniform Ballot

RuleUnderstands Proofing

Timeline

Programming Team

Add Amendment

to ballot

Update candidates daily throughout Qualifying

Study the Uniform Ballot

Rule

District Relations proofed

Layout Process

Proofing Process

• More than one proofer for

every ballot

• Proof every style and

matching precinct specific

card

• Control sheets for every style

• Bi-lingual proofers on

proofing team

• Barcode proofing

Proofing Resources

• Checklists

• Uniform Ballot Rule

• EAC Spanish/English

Glossary

• State Certification

• Caffeine & patience

Ordering

• Test decks

• Duplicates

• Training ballots

• Sample ballots

• EV backup (Pick & Pull)

ballots

• Setting reasonable deadlines

with all vendors

• Proof the order too!

QUESTION

Do you add barcodes to

your ballots?

Methods

& Strategies

Quality Control

Test Decks

Testing Overview

Print Quality Paper SizePattern

Correctness

Different Ballot

Types

Pre-Audited

Marking PatternED, EV, VBM

Tabulating Equipment

Machine

Preparation

Election Day

Simulation

Pattern

Verification

*FL Statute 101.5612 – Testing of tabulating equipment

What’s a Test Deck?

• A group of ballots marked to

cover all possible race combos

• Pre-audited marking pattern

o Predetermines # of valid votes

for each candidate/choice

o E.g., “1-2”, “One-to-many”

• Includes one unmarked ballot

• Includes one overvoted ballot

• Tests that a counting machine:

o Accepts all valid votes

o Rejects all invalid votes

Should Include:

• Different types of ballots

o Preprinted vendor ballots

o Ballot on Demand (BOD) ballots

o ExpressVote ballot cards

o Folded ballots

• Different types of marking

o Marked by hand

o Pre-marked via vendor software

Different Test Decks

1. Election Day (ED)

o All ballot styles

o Vendor, BOD, & ExpressVote

ballots

2. Early Voting (EV)

o Least # of unique ballot styles

to cover all race combos

o Vendor & BOD ballots

3. Vote-by-Mail (VBM)

o Least # of unique ballot styles

to cover all race combos

o Sideline one-to-many test

o Folded vendor & BOD ballots

Quality Control

• Inspect & verify test decks

• Preprinted vendor ballots

o Printing issues

o Paper size

o Paper fold – for VBM

• Contains all necessary ballots

• Pattern correctness

• Selections properly-filled

• No troublesome stray marks

• “TEST” stamp

Prep Tabulating Equipment

Testing Procedure

Verify Results Pattern

Simulate Election Day

Opening

ProcedureInsert Test Deck

Closing

Procedure

PCT and high-

speed scannersInspection Documentation

Pre-Audited

Marking PatternDocumentation Storage

ED Simulation

1. Conduct opening procedure

o Power on machine

o Qualify for specific election

o Open polls for voting

2. Insert voted ballots

o Use corresponding test deck

o Insert in various orientations

3. Conduct closing procedure

o Close polls for voting

o Print Voting Results tape

o Transmit results to server

o Shut down machine

From Delivery to Retention

Pre-Election

Throughout

Post Election

Pre-Election

TEST DECKS

ED, EV, & VBM

VOTE-BY-MAIL

Preprinted Ballots

EARLY VOTING

BOD Stock

ELECTION DAY

Preprinted Ballots

Inventoried upon delivery Inventoried upon delivery Inventoried upon delivery Inventoried upon delivery

Stored in lockable

cabinets in climate-

controlled room with

minimal access

Stored in lockable

cabinets in climate-

controlled room with

minimal access

Stored in locked climate-

controlled room with

minimal access

Stored in locked climate-

controlled room with

minimal access

During EV & on Election DayVOTE-BY-MAIL

Returned Ballots

EARLY VOTING

Voted Ballots

ELECTION DAY

Voted Ballots

If surrendered at EV site, voter is

issued a ballot (printed on

demand or Pick & Pull backup)

Sealed in a gray bin and

transported from EV site to SOE

that day

Sealed in a gray bin and

transported from polling place to a

collection site

If delivered to EV site, sealed in a

transfer case and transported

from EV site to SOE that day

Stored in locked climate-controlled

room with minimal access

Seal numbers of all gray bins

documented upon delivery at

collection site

Stored in locked climate-controlled

room with minimal access

Transported from collection site to

SOE under Law Enforcement

supervision

Stored in locked climate-controlled

room with minimal access

Post ElectionTEST DECKS

ED, EV, & VBM

VOTE-BY-MAIL

Voted Ballots

EARLY VOTING

Voted Ballots

ELECTION DAY

All Ballots

Held in monitored caged

area

Held in locked climate-

controlled room with

minimal access

Held in locked climate-

controlled room with

minimal access

Held in monitored caged

area

Palletized and shrink-

wrapped

Palletized and shrink-

wrapped

Palletized and shrink-

wrapped

Palletized and shrink-

wrapped

Stored on warehouse

shelving for 22 months

Stored on warehouse

shelving for 22 months

Stored on warehouse

shelving for 22 months

Stored on warehouse

shelving for 22 months

QUESTION

Do you pre-sort Early Voting

voted ballots daily?

QUESTIONS?