Election Security Terms Explained
6,071 Terms for Fast, Reliable Verification
A comprehensive reference of election security terminology, combining definitions from 31 authoritative sources including NIST, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, the Department of Defense, NATO, and the Director of National Intelligence.

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A curated taste of the archive, each definition traced to its source and checked for cross-institutional consensus.
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A curated taste of the archive, each definition traced to its source and checked for cross-institutional consensus.
The organization tasked under electoral law with the responsibility for the conduct of elections. The EMB in most countries consists either of an independent co...
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Method of casting ballots by which eligible voters are mailed ballots and information packets by the local jurisdiction. Voters can return their marked ballots...
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Occurs when the number of choices selected by a voter in a contest is less than the maximum number allowed for that contest or when no selection is made for a s...
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Voter-verified PAPER TRAIL. Abbreviated VVPAT. A "contemporaneous paper record of a ballot prin ted for the voter to confirm his or her votes before the voter c...
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A "BALLOT in which the voter has taken final action in the selection of and CONTEST CHOICES irrevocably confirmed his or her intent to vote as selected." VVSG....
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A covert operation designed to deceive; the deception creates the appearance of a particular party, group, or nation being responsible for some activity, disgui...
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A distributed or centralized system that permits the collection, storage, editing, deletion, and reporting of voter records. The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) re...
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A "function that maps a bit string of arbitrary length to a fixed length bit string. Approved hash functions satisfy the following properties: 1. (One-w ay) It...
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[Presidential Directive that] facilitates an integrated, all-of-Nation approach to national preparedness for the threats that pose the greatest risk to the secu...
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An organization whose members or employees engage in online behavior that is meant to disrupt, distract, cause conflict, and influence conversations/behavior fo...
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The misrepresentation or alteration of the true results of an election.
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One reference desk for election security terminology; searchable, sourced, and cross-referenced.
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