Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder-Elections

March 10, 2008

Contact:
Warren Slocum, Chief Elections Officer
Phone: (650) 363-4988 E-mail: wslocum@smcare.org

Alternate:
Carol Marks, Communications Director
Phone: (650) 599-1015 E-mail: cmarks@smcare.org

Logic & Accuracy Testing Begins March 11 for April's Special Congressional Open Primary Election
Process Ensures Accuracy of Counting Software

Redwood City, CA – On March 11, the San Mateo County Elections Office will begin the Logic & Accuracy (L & A) testing of the eSlate Voting System in preparation for the April 8 Special Congressional Open Primary Election at the Elections Office at 40 Tower Road in San Mateo. L & A testing consists of procedures necessary to ensure hardware and software to be used in the election is working properly. Any member of the public is welcome to observe the L & A process. Testing will begin at approximately 10:00 am.

As required by law, the Elections Office invites representatives from the political party central committees in San Mateo County. In addition to the county central committee members, any interested member of the public may observe the L&A process, or any other process at the Elections Division. “Election processes must be open and transparent, in fact, all government functions should be. I have always insisted that our Elections will strive to meet this standard,” explained Warren Slocum, Chief Elections Officer for San Mateo County.

The first portion of the L & A testing process will test the accuracy of the electronic voting system used by voters at the Universal Voting Center located at 40 Tower Road, San Mateo and at the polls on Election Day. L & A testing of the eSlates will take one to two days.

When the electronic voting process is tested, testers cast ballots that mirror the current election from a pre‐determined “matrix”. When they finish voting the entire matrices, the tabulations must be a perfect match in order for the equipment to pass the L & A test.

The second portion of the L & A testing is focused on the accurate tabulation of paper ballots that are scanned on the Ballot Now machines at Tower Road. It will commence once the testing of the electronic voting process is complete. With more than forty percent of the county’s voters already signed up to vote by mail and nearly half of the turnout (or more) being tabulated on this equipment, both the paper and electronic counting processes are thoroughly tested.

So how does this testing process work? Before any testing begins, the development of testing matrices for early voting, voting by mail, and Election Day voting are created. The testing matrices for voting a paper ballot are identical to the testing matrices for voting on an electronic ballot. Only the conduct of the testing changes.

How are the test matrices created? For the April 8 Special Congressional Open Primary Election, there will be twelve different ballot styles (four individual ballot styles in three different languages). The Elections staff will mark test ballots with predetermined votes so that every candidate and contest is voted for at least once in varying vote combinations on the test ballots during this process. Test ballots also contain write‐ins, undervotes and overvotes to ensure that they will accurately reflect all potential voter choices.

The L & A testing process will require ten staff exclusively dedicated to the testing process.
Interested observers are encouraged to call the Elections Manager, David Tom at (650) 312‐5222.

Information about the upcoming April Special Congressional Open Primary Election is available online at the San Mateo County Elections Division web site at www.shapethefuture.org or by calling 650‐312‐5222.

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