HOW A HAND-MARKED, PAPER BALLOT (HMPB) VOTING SYSTEM WORKS
For in-person voting, paper ballots are hand marked; for HAVA/ADA, at the discretion of the voter, paper ballots may be marked using an assistive electronic ballot marking device (BMD). Voters cast their ballots by feeding into a precinct optical scanner where ballots are tabulated and automatically secured in an attached, locked ballot box. Memory cards in the scanners store ballot records and tabulations.
At the close of the election, the ballot box is securely transported with results tapes, precinct administrative documents, such as signed voter certificates, unvoted ballots, spoiled ballots, blank ballots and memory cards, to county tabulation centers where ballots are securely preserved for audits, recounts and contests. Copies of results tapes are posted in the polling location, such as the inside of a precinct window, so that the results of the election at that location are visible to the public.
The state then conducts post-election, manual audits, preferably Risk Limiting Audits (RLAs), before certification to verify the accuracy of the election results.
RECENT LEGISLATIVE EFFORTS: In 2019 parallel bills for HMPB were introduced in the Georgia Legislative Session, HB433/SB220, by Rep. Scott Holcomb and Sen. Jennifer Jordan. HB433/SB220 would have instituted the following legal standards for GA elections:
* Decertified DREs after July 1, 2019;
* No QR/barcodes may be used to tabulate or audit votes;
* Selections on paper ballots to be voter-verifiable prior to casting ballots;
* The human readable marks on the paper ballot constitute the ballot of record for all tabulations, recounts, audits, and contests;
* The ballot of record to be directly countable by humans without resort to electronic aids;
* Uniform, full-size paper ballots for all voters: absentee, provisional, and in-person;
* In person voting to be conducted by HMPB and cast on in-precinct scanners;
* A minimum of 1 BMD per polling location to meet ADA/HAVA accessibility mandates;
* Votes to be cast and tabulated in the polling location on optical scanners equipped with secure ballot boxes;
* Bans devices and functionality in voting equipment that is capable of externally transmitting or receiving data over the internet or other wireless means or methods;
* The vendor or manufacturer must waive assertion of intellectual property/trade secret rights in court of competent jurisdiction hearing a challenge to election results;
* Vendors or manufacturers consent to cooperating in testing of programming, source coding, firmware or software in court of competent jurisdiction hearing;
* State to reimburse counties annually for expenses for paper ballot printing;
* Post-election manual risk-limiting audits prior to certification to check the accuracy of election results.
Advantages in administration and conducting elections:
* Better process for conducting in precinct voting: faster, eliminates long lines, voters can directly verify their choices on the ballot before casting;
* Quicker determination of election results prior to certification;
* Easier for election officials to administer;
* Costs 1/3 less (50 million vs 150+ million);
* Requires 1/10th the technology (3,000 ADA devices vs 30,000 for HB316);
* A trusted voting system already used for in-person voting by 70% of US voters;
* A tested voting system used for in-person voting statewide in 22 states + DC.