RI Adopts New Protocols For Testing, Proofing Voting Machines

RHODE ISLAND — The Rhode Island Board of Elections voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt new security protocols for proofing and testing ExpressVote voting machines.

The new protocol will be in place for the general election on Nov. 8 and during the early voting period, which begins Oct. 19.

Following issues identified during the early voting period for the primary election, Board of Elections staff worked closely with the Secretary of State's Office and ExpressVote's vendor Election Systems & Software to develop the new protocol to ensure better collaboration between all parties during the proofing and testing period. Those protocols include:

• Election Systems & Software will now provide the Secretary of State's Office with virtual ExpressVote screens to proof the onscreen ballots prior to accuracy testing
• The Secretary of State's Office will now certify that all ballot types, both printed and electronic, have been reviewed by the office for accuracy
• The Board of Elections, as part of testing, will compare the ExpressVote screen to an actual test ballot, and verify that both the screen and printed ExpressVote card are accurate
• Test cards will be inserted into the corresponding DS200 to confirm tabulation.

"Over the last three weeks, our staff has worked in close collaboration with the Secretary of State's Office and Election Systems & Software to develop this new protocol to ensure that ExpressVote onscreen ballots and printed ExpressVote cards are accurate," said Robert Rapoza, the executive director of the Board of Elections. "Using this new protocol, ExpressVote and DS200 proofing and testing will be completed in the coming days, and prior to the start of early voting on October 19th. With these measures in place, Rhode Island voters can have full confidence casting their ballots utilizing ExpressVote machines."

A detailed view of the new voting machine protocol can be found here.