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 testing (L&A) of the eSlate voting system equipment will begin on Thursday, September 27, 2018 at noon for the November 6, 2018 Statewide General Election. L&A will be conducted at the Registration & Elections Division at 40 Tower Road, San Mateo.
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. The public and the media are welcome to observe the testing process.
L&A is performed in two phases. The first phase of L&A focuses on the electronic votes cast on the eSlate voting machines. The elections staff uses test versions of the English, Spanish and Chinese ballots for the November 6, 2018 Statewide General Election. This phase is passed only when there is a perfect match between the test votes cast and the predetermined test results.
The second phase of L&A focuses on 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 Ballot Now. Ballot Now 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, every voting machine will undergo functional testing. Functional testing ensures the proper operation of every dial, button, connector and other hardware components of the voting machines. This testing process confirms that the voting machines are loaded with the correct system software and firmware, as certified by the Secretary of State.
Upon completion of L&A and functional testing, over 400 eSlate voting machines will be ready to be deployed to 39 Vote Centers for the November 6, 2018 Statewide General Election.
New Election Model for November 6, 2018
The November 6, 2018 Statewide General Election will be the second election conducted under the California Voter’s Choice Act model. Traditional polling places will be replaced by Vote Centers, which will be open for voting for a greater 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 can be returned with no postage required in any mailbox or special ballot drop boxes located throughout the county.
For more information on the November 6, 2018 Statewide General Election, please call 650.312.5222, visit www.smcacre.org or follow @smcvote on Twitter and Instagram.