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# RE: New AVTS units - Card reader questions

- To: <support@gesn.com>
- Subject: RE: New AVTS units - Card reader questions
- From: "Ian S. Piper" <ian@gesn.com>
- Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2000 15:42:57 -0600
- Importance: Normal
- In-reply-to: <ONECJGKFFNIOEONKIJAIOEBICFAA.jmglobal@earthlink.net>

I've discussed reading/writing issues with Cardlogix (smart card vendor) last week during my visit to their office. Apparently we communicate with the card reader at it's default baud rate (9600 baud), when the readers are capable of communicating at 38400 baud. Using this higher communication rate would increase the speed of writing to/reading from the card.
Also:
Could there be an efficiency issue with our voter card/card reader recognition software?
Do we need to wait until the CAST button is touched before writing to the card?
Could it be done at the beginning as opposed to the end?
I understand that doing it at the beginning was tried, but due to the length of time to write to the card, the first ballot image was delayed for so long. With increased communication speeds, could this now be a viable option?
Also, if the card monitoring software responded quickly to card removals and allowed reinsertion, in conjunction with the increased communication speeds, could it not still be left at the end of the process?
Ian

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-support@gesn.com [mailto:owner-support@gesn.com]On Behalf Of John McLaurin
> Sent: November 01, 2000 4:01 PM
> To: support@gesn.com
> Subject: RE: New AVTS units - Card reader questions

> Below posted at the request of Mr. Pickett who is having email difficulties.

> Jeff’s original inquiry was triggered from our having received and tested 12 of the pre-production Touch Screen Units on 10/9 in preparation for early voting in Forsyth County NC. They started early voting on 10/16. There are 5 sights, which include the election office and 4 satellite locations. The NC early voting law was recently passed and this is the first North Carolina election that no excuse early voting has been allowed and the first time for satellite locations. Forsyth County has 220,000 registered, and over the first 2 weeks of early voting 6,500 voters have voted early. There has been a steady increase on a daily basis, as voters have become aware of the no excuse early voting option.

> The county has 110 precincts and 25 ballot styles. The ballot styles are loaded into the lap top poll books and the precinct workers have a cross reference list that identifies the precincts by ballot style so they can create the proper voter access card. The election board, election officials, precinct workers and voters all have had very positive comments concerning the process and the AccuVote Ballot Station. However, there has been one area of concern relating to the voting process, and that has to do with the voter being able to remove the card after touching the cast ballot button but before the card is erased by the software. In Forsyth County the election officials love our pre-production touch screen ballot station. The only flaw they see is the problem created by the non-locking card reader and they expect to see a real solution, to that problem in the production units. They feel that if it causes problems in 5 early voting precincts, it will really present problems on election day in 110 precincts.

> I think a big part of the problem is the fact that it takes 8 to 10 seconds after the voter touches the cast ballot button for the ballot station to complete the process and tell the voter that his vote has been counted. The voter touches the cast ballot button, assumes that he is finished, pulls his card out and leaves. The same thing happens with our units in Gaston County. The difference is that the card reader will not release the card until it is finished with it, however, even in Gaston we have trouble with voters on rare occasions managing to remove the card too early.

> As you may know, when a voter removes his voter card prior to the software completing its cycle, a message appears on the screen indicating a problem. Some voters actually read the message and ask for help. For those voters who ask for help, the poll worker goes over to their ballot station and touches the cast ballot button on the ballot station causing the ballot to be cancelled. The voter must then be moved back to the head of the voter card line where his ballot style is reconfirmed and he is reissued a new voter card. This is an awkward process that interrupts the normal voting process and makes our system look bad.

> Then there is the voter who pays no attention to the message. He removes his card, return his card, and leaves the polling place thinking that he has completed voting. The next voter approaches the ballot station and cannot vote until a poll worker corrects the problem. The previous voters ballot is canceled and the poll book and public counter are off by one vote. In this instance the AccuVote TS System loses credibility when its public counter does not match the poll book. This Is similar to what happens when the AccuVote skips a ballot causing the poll book to show more voters than does the AccuVote’s public counter. The difference being that in one instance you have the paper ballots that allow you to reconstruct the election while in the other there is no recovery.

> Even though we have printed up signs that attach to the front of the voting booths and the poll workers are reminding the voters to leave the card in until told by the unit to remove it, we are still experiencing a problem. Early on, someone at I-Mark probably recognized this as a problem and corrected it with a locking card reader. We have made a decision to eliminate the locking card reader with no consideration or knowledge of the consequences, and with no input from the field where we understand the consequences. Instead, we in the field are expected to come up with some procedure that will minimize the damage where there should be no damage. For what its worth, you will have a hard time trying to convince me that you can get all voters to read and interpret a message, however, I’ll keep a partially open mind. We need to put our heads together and come up with a real solution and then, if possible, field test it.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-support@gesn.com [mailto:owner-support@gesn.com]On Behalf Of Frank Kaplan
> Sent: Sunday, October 29, 2000 7:10 PM
> To: support@gesn.com
> Subject: Re: New AVTS units - Card reader questions

> It IS important that the card locks in the reader. Voters tend to remove the card (they think it is a "swipe" device, etc). Additionally, the Sequoia unit locks the card, AND "marks" the card as already voted when it is reinserted in their "poll manager/burner" unit. This is important if a voter insists his/her vote was not recorded.

> The important point is that we should never be making these decisions without appropriate input from the marketplace. This is a major mistake and has proven to be the downfall of our competitors. (ie BRC Eagle, AIS 100).

> The appropriate input is vital. We must design based upon input from the field.

> This dialog should be expanded.

> From: Talbot Iredale

> To: support@gesn.com

> Sent: Thursday, October 26, 2000 3:27 PM

> Subject: Re: New AVTS units - Card reader questions

> We are looking at getting the card reader mounted the same way up as the current AVTS units.

> The card readers will never lock the card but the software will display a message if the card is removed and allow the card to be re-inserted.

> Tab

> ----- Original Message -----

> From: Jeff Hintz

> To: Support Team (E-mail)

> Sent: Thursday, October 26, 2000 2:35 PM

> Subject: New AVTS units - Card reader questions

> I worked with the new AVTS models a couple of weeks ago in Forsythe County, NC. I have a couple of questions concerning the Card reader on those new models.

> 1) Will we have to insert the card upside down always, or is this something that will be fixed in the future???

> 2) Will the card readers never be locking, or is there going to be some different card readers installed in the future that do lock???

> Jeff Hintz

> Global Election Systems

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  - RE: New AVTS units - Card reader questions
    - From: "Ken Clark" <ken@gesn.com>

- References:
  - RE: New AVTS units - Card reader questions
    - From: "John McLaurin" <jmglobal@earthlink.net>

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