TGDC Meeting, Jan 2011

Report of the Marginal Marks Working Group

David FlaterNational Institute of Standards and

Technology

http://vote.nist.gov

r1

TGDC Meeting, Jan 2011 Page 2

Testing Scanning Accuracy - JonesThe TGDC recognizes that voters' ability to mark a paper ballots as they intend

is critical to their success in voting accurately.

The TGDC also recognizes that: The usability of a paper ballot is determined by the form of the ballot, the

instructions, the available marking devices, and the voter's prior expectations from use of other similar paper forms.

HAVA leaves the determination of what marks constitute a vote and how voters are instructed to the states

The TDGC has concluded that systems must include documentation of the marks recommended for use with that system, and how the system will respond to common marking devices and typical marks voters may make.

The TGDC requests that NIST investigate the development of a standard benchmark set of ballot markings representative of the types of marks real voters make on each common type of ballot, which will allow the inclusion of a test requirement to test compliance with the above documentation requirement.

TGDC Meeting, Jan 2011 Page 3

Charter Investigate the development of a standard

reference set of ballot markings representative of the types of marks that voters make on each common type of optical scan / marksense ballot

Goal: Enable VSTLs and acceptance testers to test and document the responses of scanners

Non-goal: Define what is a valid vote

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Data collection September

Hart ballots (square targets) from Clark County, WA Sequoia ballots (arrows) from Snohomish County, WA

December ES&S ballots (oval targets) from Champaign County, IL

Anomalies other than marginal marks Stains, burns, tears, sticky tape, etc. Wrong marker (glitter pen rate = 0.006 %) Bleed-through and transference Ballot production imperfections Dust artifacts

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Next steps Report on data collection Analysis and classification of marks Identification of test set of marks Design and validation of standard reference

marks