Our Voting System - What you Need to Know
On October 30, 2014, the members of the Maryland State Board of Elections unanimously selected and certified a new voting system for 2016 – Election Systems & Software’s (ES&S) EVS 5.2.0.0. The contract to lease the equipment was approved by the Board of Public Works on December 17, 2014.
This voting system features the following pieces of equipment:
- DS200 Precinct Scanner and Tabulator: Tabulates ballots marked either by hand or by the ballot marking device
- ExpressVote Ballot Marking Device: Produces a voter verifiable paper record and allows voters with disabilities to vote privately and independently
- ExpressPass Printer: Prints activation card to activate the ExpressVote ballot marking device
- DS850 High Speed Central County Scanner: Tabulates mail-in and provisional ballots
Maryland’s voting system produces a voter-verifiable paper record – a “paper trail” – of each voter’s selections. This was mandated in legislation passed by the General Assembly in 2007, however funding for a system was not available until 2015.
During early voting and on election day, voters are given a pre-printed paper ballot. Voters mark the pre-printed paper ballots by hand, or by using an accessible ballot marking device, at a voting booth. Voters review their marked paper ballots and then insert them into the DS200 tabulation device. The ballots will automatically drop into the secure ballot box.
After each election, State and local election officials perform numerous post-election audits to verify the accuracy and integrity of the election results. You can learn more about this audit here.
If you want to learn about how SBE selected this system, visit the Voting System Selection and Procurement webpage.