US Election Assistance Commission - Voluntary Voting System Guidelines Vote
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Section CommentsGeneral CommentsGlossary Comments
 
Name :   Sanford Morganstein
Organization :   Populex Corporation
Post Date :   8/26/2005

Glossary Comments
Glossary Term :  Voter Verification
Definition :  
Comment :  Finally, we present a general comment that is not related to any specific section. The
draft VVSG (properly, in our view) has an important focus on “ voter verification.”
Yet, it is not clear what “voter verification” is. Voter verification is not defined in the
glossary (although system validation and verification is). For example, in a handmarked
ballot, incomplete erasures or stray marks may cause a ballot to be tabulated
in a way that the voter did not intend. Some will consider such hand-marked ballots
voter-verified because the voter may visually inspect such ballots. Also, to some,
“voter verification” may simply mean identifying whether there are overvotes or
undervotes on a ballot. The glossary provides no guidance. The first substantial
reference to “verification” we find in the VVSG occurs in § 2.2.6 on page 2-22: “If the normal procedure includes VVPAT, the Acc-VS should provide features that enable
voters who are blind to perform this verification. If a state requires the paper record
produced by the VVPAT to be the official ballot, then the Acc-VS shall provide features that
enable visually impaired voters to review the paper record.”