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

(Redwood City, CA) In preparation for the San Carlos School District Special All Mail Ballot Election, Logic and Accuracy testing (“L&A”) of the eSlate voting system equipment will begin Monday, March 23 at 8:30 a.m.  According to Mark Church, Chief Elections Officer & Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder, L&A will take approximately three days and will be conducted at the Registration & Elections Division at 40 Tower Road, San Mateo.  The public is invited to observe this process.

“L&A is conducted before every election to ensure that the voting equipment is functioning properly,” explained Church.  “This fundamental step ensures the accuracy of the voting and vote tabulating process,” he added.     

Prior to every election, L&A is performed in two phases on the voting system’s vote counting software.

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.  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, 4 eSlate voting machines will be deployed to the Voting Center for this election.  The Voting Center for this election will be located at 40 Tower Road, San Mateo.  This site will allow for voting during the 29 days prior to Election Day.

For more information about the May 5, 2015 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