Contact: Mark Church, Chief Elections Officer & Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder
Alternate: Jim Irizarry, Assistant Chief Elections Officer & Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder
(Redwood City, CA) Logic and Accuracy (L&A) testing of San Mateo County’s new voting system, Dominion Democracy Suite, will begin on Thursday, January 23, 2020, at 10 a.m. for the March 3, 2020 Presidential Primary Election. L&A will be conducted at the Registration & Elections Division at 40 Tower Road, San Mateo, 94402.
“The public and the media are welcome to observe our testing process for accuracy of the tabulation of votes,” offered Mark Church, Chief Elections Officer & Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder. “Logic and Accuracy testing ensures all voting equipment used in the upcoming election functions properly,” explained Church.
Before every election, the San Mateo County Registration & Elections Division manually tests the voting system’s vote-counting software through sample ballot-casting exercises to verify if votes are correctly tabulated and recorded.
L&A testing is performed in two phases. The first phase focuses on votes marked on the Ballot Marking Tablets. English, Spanish, and Chinese ballots for the March 3, 2020 Presidential Primary Election will be marked in a predetermined pattern. This phase is passed only when there is a perfect match between the votes cast and the predetermined test results.
The second phase focuses on traditional paper ballot voting. The English, Spanish, and Chinese paper ballots used for testing are clearly identified as test ballots. The votes marked on the paper ballots are recorded by running the ballots through a digital scanner-tabulator. This scanner works in connection with the vote-counting system called Image Cast Central (ICC). ICC accepts voting marks within the predetermined space on the ballot and records them. This phase is completed only when there is a perfect match between the test votes cast and the predetermined test results.
Additionally, equipment for every voting station, including Ballot Marking Tablets and Ballot Marking Tablet Printers, will undergo functional testing. Functional testing ensures the proper operation of accessibility devices and printers, as well as slots and connectors on the Ballot Marking Tablets. This testing process confirms that the Ballot Marking Tablets are loaded with the correct system software and firmware, as certified by the Secretary of State.
Upon completion of L&A and functional testing, 450 Ballot Marking Devices will be ready to be deployed to 42 Vote Centers for the March 3, 2020 Presidential Primary Election.
All-Mailed Ballot – Vote Center Election Model for the March 3, 2020 Presidential Primary Election
The March 3, 2020 Presidential Primary Election will be the fourth election San Mateo County conducts under the California Voter’s Choice Act (VCA) model. It is the first Presidential Primary Election to be held under the VCA.
Traditional polling places have been replaced by Vote Centers, which will be open for voting for an extended period, and which will offer expanded voter services including voter registration, multilingual assistance, and disabled access voting options. Every registered voter will also receive a Vote by Mail Ballot, which voters can return with no postage required in any mailbox or into secure county ballot drop boxes located throughout the county.
For more information call 650.312.5222, visit www.smcacre.org or follow us on Twitter and Instagram @smcvote.