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 Wednesday, March 20, 2019 at 8:30 a.m. for the May 7, 2019 La Honda Road Territory Transfer Special Mail Ballot 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 May 7, 2019 La Honda Road Territory Transfer Special Mail Ballot 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, 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, eSlate voting machines will be ready to be deployed for the May 7, 2019 La Honda Road Territory Transfer Special Mail Ballot Election.
For more information on the May 7, 2019 La Honda Road Territory Transfer Special Mail Ballot Election, please call 650.312.5222, visit www.smcacre.org or follow us on Twitter and Instagram @smcvote.