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The new electronic voting system was developed following the guidelines of a government-commissioned study performed by 7 universities.
Both the hardware and software is delivered and developed by Smartmatic.
To deliver the technical support services Smartmatic approached Wincor Nixdorf, who has a wealth of technical support services experience with automated digital voting.
This instructional video is meant to provide you with a better understanding of the new voting process and the operation of the systems.
The new voting equipment is supplied by Smartmatic; the voting machines and the president machine for the polling station are packed in protective cases.
These cases allow for easy and secure transport of the computers.
The case containing the president machine of the polling station has a netbook with a mouse, a printer, a card reader, a USB hub, cables and power adapters.
The electronic ballot box consists of a lid with a scanner and a container. The scanner is connected to the USB port of the president machine.
The voting machines are placed in the voting booths. Inside each case there is a voting machine, an alarm box and a key to open the printer draw...
...and the flaps at the rear of the unit to access the ON / OFF button and the USB ports. The alarm box is connected to the serial port, also at the back
The alarm box is installed on the outside of the voting booth, so the president can see which voting machine generated an alarm.
Shortly before the election, each polling station receives the 3 USB sticks: two identical black USB sticks with the voting software application and 1 white USB stick for the results. An accompanying letter contains the codes to launch the application.
The USB sticks with the voting application are inserted in the USB hub and the netbook is turned on.
The accompanying letter has a login for the polling station and a password to start the application.
When the voting application starts up, a diagnosis is performed on the connected equipment: the scanner of the ballot box, the printer, the card reader and the USB sticks with the election software.
When the voting application is started for the first time, an emergency card is created. This emergency card allows for a recount of the votes in the polling station once the election is closed.
The emergency card includes a security key which is printed in the emergency card report.
The emergency card and the report are kept in an envelope.
The voting machines are activated through the voting application. A wizard on the president machine creates an access card to initialize the voting machines.
The president can start the voting machines using the voting application of both USB sticks.
The president requires 1 USB stick per voting machine. The machine is turned on, at the back, after inserting the USB stick.
After starting up, the voting machine will ask for the access card in order to activate the voting application.
When the voting computer screen displays "Authentication successful, please remove the card" it means the installation was successful and the machine can be used to vote.
The flaps at the back of the voting machine are closed with a key.
Each polling station has a voting machine equipped with an AUDIO module. A handheld scanner is also connected to this voting machine, with which the voter can visualise his vote on the screen.
When the machine shows the "authentication successful, please remove card" screen, it means it is initialized, and can be used to cast a vote or visualize a vote with the hand scanner.
To ensure the correct operation of the voting machine, a test vote is cast. In order to do this, a voting card must be activated...
One test vote (previously: reference vote) is cast per voting machine. When the voting card is inserted, the machine will show the same candidate list every voter sees.
After a confirmation of the selection, a voting slip with the text "TEST VOTE" is printed.
When the barcode of the voting slip is scanned at the ballot box, the selection is shown on the screen of the president's netbook. This is only possible in the specific case of the test vote, to allow the president to verify the correct operation of the application and the voting machine.
The test votes are kept in an envelope.
After the registration of the polling station members, the installation of the voting machines and the test vote, the election is opened. The president clicks on "Open voting" and "Activate cards" to begin.
A voter enters the polling station and presents her/his voting convocation letter and identity card. The members of the polling station tick her/him off on the voters' list.
The president activates a voting card, so that the voter can use a voting machine.
The activated voting card is handed over to the voter, who enters a polling booth.
The voter follows the instructions on the screen of the voting machine and inserts the voting card in the slot of the card reader.
The voter can choose a candidate with her/his finger by pressing on the screen on the candidate's name; clicking the same name again will deselect it. The voter is asked to confirm the choice at the bottom of the screen.
After the choice is confirmed, a voting slip will be printed. The voter then follows the instructions on the screen and checks his/her choice on the voting slip.
On the voting machine's screen, an instruction is displayed to remove the voting card. Before leaving the polling booth the voter folds the voting slip.
Each polling station has a voting machine equipped with an AUDIO module. A handheld scanner is also connected to this voting machine, with which the voter can visualise his vote on the screen.
After scanning the barcode of the voting slip, the selection appears on the screen. This is the same as the one on the voting slip.
After completing the vote, the voter returns the voting card. This card can only be used once and contains no information about the vote casted.
The barcode of the voting slip is scanned at the ballot box.
The message that the vote has been registered appears on the president machine.
After the vote is properly registered, the voter folds and hands over the voting slip to the member of the polling station at the ballot box.
This person deposits the voting slip in the ballot box. If a voting slip were to be scanned twice, a "duplicated vote" message would appear.
After casting the vote, the voter receives her/his identity card and his stamped voting convocation letter as she/he leaves the polling centre.
In case of a problem, the voting machine will generate an alarm. Depending on the problem, a red or green LED will light up in combination with an audible alarm.
The alarm is supressed by pressing the black button on the alarm box.
The reason for the alarm is displayed on the voting machine screen: out of paper.
With the key, you can open the printer tray and slide it out. Remove the paper roll by pressing the green button upwards.
After inserting a new paper roll, you move the green button back into the locked position and the printer will automatically feed the paper.
The voting machine is activated again with the activation code from the installation report.
In case of a problem, the voting machine will generate an alarm. Depending on the problem, a red or green LED will light up in combination with an audible alarm.
The reason for the alarm is displayed on the screen: the voting card hasn't been removed.
After removing the voting card, the voting machine is reactivated by entering and confirming the activation code from the installation report.
When a voting machine fails, the President has the option to restart it with a USB stick and the registration card
The voting application allows one USB stick to be removed. The voting application warns the user that it is operating with only one USB stick.
The president inserts the USB stick and the registration card into the voting machine he needs to restart.
After restarting and initializing the voting machine, the President inserts the USB back into the USB hub. The voting application will automatically synchronize the data. During synchronization the USB sticks can't be removed; the president waits until the voting application has synchronized all data.
At the end of Election Day the President closes the Activate cards/Record vote screen. The main menu "Election Day Course" appears. To close the election the president selects "Close Election". This choice needs to be confirmed. No further voting is then possible.
After the voting process is closed, the election is finished. This needs to be confirmed, the application will automatically display the comments that will be included in the report about the day's events.
Once the information that will be included in the report is confirmed, the report will be printed by selecting the "Print" button on the screen of the president machine.
The president shuts down the netbook and removes the black USB sticks.
The president inserts the 3rd white USB stick (with the results) into the netbook and presses the ON/OFF button.
The screen displays the request to insert one of the two black USB sticks with the voting application in the USB hub in order to copy the results.
The 2 black USB sticks with the voting application are stored in an envelope.
The white USB stick with the results is stored in a different envelope.
After the voting is closed, the voting slip are removed from the ballot box and packed.
The voting machines are turned off using the ON/OFF button.