Public invited to observe critical process
March 17, 2016

Contact: Mark Church, Chief Elections Officer & Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder
Alternate: David Tom, Elections Division Manager

(Redwood City, CA) Chief Elections Officer & Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder Mark Church announced that Logic and Accuracy testing (L&A) of the County’s voting system will begin Monday, March 21 at 8:30 a.m. for the Brisbane School District and Menlo Park City Elementary School District May 3, 2016 Special Mail Ballot Election. The L&A testing of the eSlate voting system takes approximately one day to complete at the Registration & Elections Division, 40 Tower Road, San Mateo. The public is invited to observe this process. 

“L&A is an essential step that ensures all voting equipment used in the upcoming election functions properly,” explained Church. “The testing ensures the accuracy and reliability of the equipment and in turn, the accuracy of the election results,” he added. 

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 before every election.

L&A testing is performed in two phases. The first phase of L&A testing focuses on the electronic votes cast on the eSlate voting machines. Elections staff uses test versions of the English, Spanish and Chinese ballots. 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 testing 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. 

Every voting machine to be used in the May election also undergoes 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 have the correct system software and firmware as currently certified by the California Secretary of State. 

Upon completion of L&A and functional testing, two eSlate voting machines will be at the Registration & Elections Division, 40 Tower Road, San Mateo. This site will allow for voting beginning April 4, 2016, 29 days before Election Day, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m, and on Election Day, May 3, 2016, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

For more information about the Brisbane School District and Menlo Park City Elementary School District May 3, 2016 Special Mail Ballot Election, contact the Registration & Elections Division at 650.312.5222 or visit www.shapethefuture.org.


The press release is displayed in its original format. San Mateo County Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder & Elections website now resides at www.smcacre.org

Related Contacts

Mark Church

Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder and Chief Elections Officer
555 County Center
Redwood City, CA 94063-1665Get Directions
Phone:
650.363.4988

Jim Irizarry

Asst. Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder & Asst. Chief Elections Officer
555 County Center
Redwood City, CA 94063-1665Get Directions
Phone:
650.363.4988