Hardware

1. The physical, tangible, mechanical, or electromechanical components of a system.

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

2. An umbrella term for the physical component of computers and other digital devices. Hardware includes things like a laptop or a scanner, but would not include the applications running on the laptop, or the drivers used to operate the scanner.

Source: Open Source Voting in San Francisco, City and County of San Francisco, http://civilgrandjury.sfgov.org/2017_2018/2017-18_SFCGJ_Final_Report_Open_Source_Voting_in_San_Francisco.pdf

3. The physical, tangible, mechanical or electromechanical components of a system. If you can put an inventory sticker on it – it’s hardware. Voting system hardware must be physically secured with locks, seals, and logs. Hardware may be COTS or proprietary. Proprietary hardware is unique to the vendor and purchase, maintenance and repairs will be done by the voting system vendor. Hardware can be repurposed by upgrading the software that controls it.

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. The physical components of an information system.

Source: U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission, March 2020, https://subscriber.politicopro.com/f/?id=00000170-c638-d8f7-a7f1-f63b33510000