Trachtenberg, M.
(2012),
Development of Appropriate Test Markings for Optical Scan Voting Machines, Phase 2: Analysis of Ballot Markings, Grant/Contract Reports (NISTGCR), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
(Accessed October 27, 2025)
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Development of Appropriate Test Markings for Optical Scan Voting Machines, Phase 2: Analysis of Ballot Markings
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. In this second report, the markings on these ballots are analyzed--primarily the markings at vote targets, but also additional marks that were entered on the ballots after they were printed. Subsequent reports 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
Grant/Contract Reports (NISTGCR) - 12-956
Report Number
12-956
NIST Pub Series
Pub Type
NIST Pubs
Keywords
voting, ballot, optical scan, election, ballot marking, election auditing
Citation
Issues
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Created January 5, 2012, Updated February 19, 2017