Meet the candidates for North Carolina's potential new voting machines
RALEIGH, NC (WTVD) -- Members of the North Carolina State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement on Friday got their first look at the new technology and hardware that could replace some counties' voting equipment for the first time since 2005.
In North Carolina, individual counties purchase voting equipment and facilitate all elections, but the voting systems must be chosen from an approved list of certified items from the state.
According to the Board's Elections Systems Certification Program, Voting systems and technologies used in North Carolina elections "must be reliable, accurate, user-friendly, accessible to persons with disabilities in accordance with the scope of certification, and capable of secure operation and maintenance." The mandate goes on to require "the components themselves must be well-tested, secure, and promote fairness and accuracy in elections."
The vendors applying for certification include:
Dominion Voting Systems: D-Suite 5.5-NC
Elections Systems and Software (ES&S): EVS 5.2.2.0
Unisyn: OpenElect Voting System (OVS) 2.0
If and when those companies earn certification, individual counties can contact those vendors and coordinate testing, which must be done during an election before being certified for exclusive use in said county.
Members of the public can also submit their own thoughts on the various voting systems up for certification. The comment period will be open through August 10.
Anyone who wishes to comment may do so here.
Comments also may be mailed to Emily Lippolis, State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement, P.O. Box 27255, Raleigh, NC 27611-7255.
