Contact: Mark Church, Chief Elections Officer & Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder
Alternate: David Tom, Elections Manager
(Redwood City, CA) In preparation for the Special Fairmont Drive Territory Election on May 8, 2012, the county’s Elections Office will begin logic and accuracy (L&A) testing of the eSlate voting system equipment at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 28 at the Elections Office at 40 Tower Road in San Mateo. According to Mark Church, Chief Elections Officer & Assessor-County Clerk-Record for San Mateo County, the testing will take approximately one day and members of the public are encouraged to drop by the Elections Office to observe the testing process.
The Elections Office will be conducting a testing process known as “L&A” to ensure that the voting system is able to properly record individuals’ votes for the Special Fairmont Drive Territory Election. “L&A testing is absolutely fundamental in the preparation of an election,” explained Church. “The test confirms that the voting selections made by the voter are correctly recorded” he added.
For this election, the tally of votes will be by hand count, the L&A testing process will target the electronic votes cast on the eSlate voting machines. The elections staff uses “test” versions of the English, Spanish and Chinese ballots on the voting machines. During this testing process, the Elections Office ensures that all potential voter choices are tested for accuracy.
In a separate testing process, every voting machine will be subjected to functional testing in which the elections staff confirms that the machine is loaded with the correct system software and firmware, as certified by the Secretary of State. As well, this testing process will confirm that every dial, button, connector, and other hardware component of the voting machines are operating properly.
After successfully passing the testing processes, one accessible eSlate voting machine and one non-accessible eSlate voting machine will be deployed at the Voting Center site, located at 40 Tower Road in San Mateo for voting during the 29 days prior to Election Day.
For more information about the May 8, 2012 Special Fairmont Drive Territory Election, go online at www.shapethefuture.org or call 650.312.5222.
The press release is displayed in its original format. San Mateo County Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder & Elections website now resides at www.smcacre.org