Trachtenberg, M.
and Flater, D.
(2011),
Development of Appropriate Test Markings for Optical Scan Voting Machines, Phase 1: Ballot Scanning and Collection, NIST Voting Publications, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=907866, http://www.nist.gov/itl/vote/publications.cfm
(Accessed October 15, 2025)
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Development of Appropriate Test Markings for Optical Scan Voting Machines, Phase 1: Ballot Scanning and Collection
Published
Author(s)
Mitch Trachtenberg,
Abstract
Three hundred thousand optical scan ballots cast in three United States jurisdictions have been scanned at high resolution in order to analyze voter behavior in marking ballots. Each jurisdiction uses a different vote target style: oval, box, or broken arrow. Unusual markings are summarized. Subsequent reports will classify the complete set of ballot markings and will develop an appropriate set of markings suitable for testing optical scan voting machines as well as a protocol for generating marks from the test set.Citation
NIST Voting Publications
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Keywords
voting, ballot, optical scan, election, ballot marking, election auditing
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Created May 1, 2011, Updated October 12, 2021