Audit trail

1. Recorded information that allows election officials to review the activities that occurred on the voting equipment to verify or reconstruct the steps followed without compromising the ballot or voter secrecy. 2005 Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG) Glossary.

Source: Electronic Voting Glossary, Michael I. Shamos, https://collaborate.nist.gov/voting/pub/Voting/Glossary/Shamos-Election-Glossary.pdf

2. Information recorded during election activities to reconstruct steps followed or to later verify actions taken with respect to the voting system.

Source: Election Terminology Glossary - Draft, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), https://pages.nist.gov/ElectionGlossary/

3. The records that document transactions and other events. Some audit trails in election systems are event logs, paper records, error messages, and reports.

Source: Glossary - Introduction to Information Technology for Election Officials, U.S. Election Assistance Commission, https://www.eac.gov/assets/1/28/Glossary_IT-Terms_Managing_Election_Technology.pdf

4. A record showing who has accessed an Information Technology (IT) system and what operations the user has performed during a given period. (SP 800-47) (NISTIR)

Source: The Cyber Glossary, National Security Archive, George Washington University, https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/news/cyber-vault/2018-09-19/cyber-glossary