Voting system

1. Equipment (including hardware, firmware, and software), materials, and documentation used to define elections and ballot styles, configure voting equipment, identify and validate voting equipment configurations, perform logic and accuracy tests, activate ballots, capture votes, count votes, handle needing special treatment, generate reports, export election data, archive election data, and and produce records in support of audits.

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

2. The total combination of mechanical, electromechanical or electronic equipment (including the software, firmware, and documentation required to program, control, and support the equipment) that is used to define ballots; to cast and count votes; to report or display election results; and to maintain and produce any audit trail information; and the practices and associated documentation used to identify system components and versions of such components; to test the system during its development and maintenance; to maintain records of system errors and defects; to determine specific system changes to be made to a system after the initial qualification of the system; and to make available any materials to the voter (such as notices, instructions, forms or paper ballots).

Source: Glossary of terms database, U.S. Election Assistance Commission, https://www.eac.gov/glossary/

3. Equipment (including hardware, firmware, and software), materials, and documentation used to define elections and ballot styles, configure voting equipment, identify and validate voting equipment configurations, perform logic and accuracy tests, activate ballots, capture votes, count votes, reconcile ballots needing special treatment, generate reports, transmit election data, archive election data, and audit elections.

Source: Pilot Implementation Study of Risk-Limiting Audit Methods in the State of Rhode Island, RLA Working Group, https://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/Report-RI-Design-FINAL-WEB4.pdf

4. The total combination of mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic equipment (including the software, firmware, and documentation required to program, control, and support the equipment) that is use to define ballots; to cast and count votes; to report or display election results; and to maintain and produce any audit trail information.

Source: Information Technology Terminology, U.S. Election Assistance Commission, https://www.eac.gov/documents/2017/09/21/information-technology-terminology-security

5. The total combination of mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic equipment (including the software, firmware, and documentation required to program, control, and support the equipment) that is used to define ballots; to cast and count votes; to report or display election results; and to maintain and produce any audit trail information; and the practices and associated documentation used to identify system components and versions of such components; to test the system during its development and maintenance; to maintain records of system errors and defects; to determine specific system changes to be made to a system after the initial qualification of the system; and to make available any materials to the voter (such as notices, instructions, forms, or paper ballots).

Source: Cyber Threats to Elections – A Lexicon, Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center & Office of the Director of National Intelligence, https://www.dni.gov/files/CTIIC/documents/CTIIC_2018_Lexicon_without_banner_small_file_for_Post.pdf

6. The people, processes, and technology associated with any specific method of casting and counting votes, such as optical scan. Technology includes the mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic equipment, software, firmware, and documentation required to program, control, and support voting equipment.

Source: ELECTIONS: The Nation’s Evolving Election System as Reflected in the November 2004 General Election, U.S. Government Accountability Office, https://www.gao.gov/assets/160/157713.pdf

7. Equipment (including hardware, firmware, and software), materials, and documentation used to define elections and ballot styles, configure voting equipment, identify and validate voting equipment configurations, perform logic and accuracy tests, activate ballots, capture votes, count votes, reconcile ballots needing special treatment, generate reports, transmit election data, archive election data, and audit elections.

8. Any collection of hardware and software that can be used to operate an election. This usually includes many pieces of hardware (ballot creation systems, ballot marking tools, ballot scanners, and the computers that run each component), and pieces of software (voter registration systems, ballot tabulation software, optical character recognition for write ins), in addition to logistical instructions and safeguards that prevent tampering. Folks usually refer to Voting Systems as a whole because these components (hardware, software, and operational support) are typically sold and licensed in large purchasing agreements between election system providers and counties.

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