The recent Executive Order from the White House has generated significant national interest in how voting systems used in the United States capture and record votes.
Specifically, the language of the Executive Order includes:
“…voting systems should not use a ballot in which a vote is contained within a barcode or quick-response code in the vote counting process… and should provide a voter-verifiable paper record to prevent fraud or mistake…”
Hart InterCivic has always been dedicated to security, transparency, and voter confidence. Consistent with that philosophy, we believe that electronic ballot marking devices must capture voters’ choices using the same method that voters used to verify their choices – by reading the plain text on the ballot.
No Hart voting system has ever tabulated votes from unreadable barcodes or QR codes.
Our ballot marking devices create true voter-verifiable paper records. Our tabulators use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to read, record, and tabulate voter selections directly from the plain language text on the page. This is true of our VVSG 1.0 certified system, Verity, which is used by hundreds of jurisdictions across the country, including some of the largest. It is also true of our new system, Vanguard, which is currently in the testing and federal certification process to the latest VVSG 2.0 standard.
For Hart customers, no change is required to EAC certification standards for voters to have a truly voter-verifiable ballot. Hart’s consistent commitment to safe, secure, efficient, and transparent elections ensures that our products utilize the most innovative, voter-centric features and technology. We don’t wait for regulators to mandate doing the right thing.
Hart’s competitors provide systems that do tabulate voter choices from barcodes or QR codes, claiming that it provides a faster, more efficient solution for their customers. This is not true. Hart’s patented, plain text method of capturing, recording, and tabulating votes via OCR is as fast and efficient as competing solutions (if not faster), while providing the added benefit of a truly voter-verifiable ballot and a higher degree of voter confidence in the voting system.
Hart’s voting systems support all paper-based voting methods used in the United States. Whether traditional hand-marked ballots, absentee/by-mail paper ballots, or paper ballots marked with an electronic voting device, no Hart system ever records or tabulates voter choices from an unreadable barcode or QR code.
For more information about Hart InterCivic, Verity, or Vanguard, visit www.hartintercivic.com or call us at 800-223-4278.