ES&S AutoMARK Receives Federal Qualification; Breakthrough Ballot Marking Technology Helps States and Jurisdictions Achieve HAVA Compliance for Optical Scan Voting

Press Release    ES&S AutoMARK    23 June 2005

OMAHA, Neb.(BUSINESS WIRE)June 23, 2005Today, Election Systems and Software (ES&S) announced that the ES&S AutoMARK, the only voting technology that allows all voters to mark an optical scan ballot privately and independently, is now fully qualified to the latest 2002 federal standards. States and jurisdictions can now proceed with purchasing decisions with confidence that the federal review is complete.

The breakthrough ES&S AutoMARK is an optical scan ballot marking system designed to provide privacy and accessibility to voters who are visually impaired, or have a disability or condition that would make it difficult or impossible to mark a ballot in the usual way. In addition, the technology provides language assistance to voters who are more comfortable speaking an alternative language or who have reading difficulties.

In the short time since it was introduced, the ES&S AutoMARK has generated tremendous interest because of the substantial benefits it offers to election administrators and voters, alike. To date, the ES&S AutoMARK has received rave reviews from election directors and voters across the country, with a number of jurisdictions already indicating an intention to incorporate the technology into their election process. As part of a pilot project sponsored by Arizona Secretary of State Jan Brewer in the 2004 general election, the ES&S AutoMARK was used in three counties in Phoenix, Arizona, where it performed exceptionally well.

"Throughout our 35 year history, ES&S has been driven by a passion for enhancing the voting experience for all," said Aldo Tesi, President & CEO of ES&S. "I am very proud of our industry leadership in innovating voting solutions to increase access and improve the election process. The ES&S AutoMARK continues that strong tradition."

Features of the ES&S AutoMARK include:

     Protection for voters by eliminating over-votes; minimizing
       under-votes; and allowing for the ion of write-in
       candidates.

     The ability to use the same paper ballot for all voters in a
       way that protects privacy and provides secure recount
       capability.

     An audio function, which allows visually impaired voters or
       those with severely impaired vision to listen to the choices
       through headphones.

     The ability to protect legacy systems by allowing
       jurisdictions to use existing optical scanner
       hardware/software solutions. Simply adding an ES&S AutoMARK
       device to a polling location ensures compliance with HAVA and
       eliminates the need to reinvest in a new tabulation systems.

     A sip/puff tube for voters who are not able to use the touch
       screen or touch pad.

     A zoom feature which enables the voter to increase the font
       size of each race listed on the optical scan ballot. This may
       be especially helpful for voters who are sighted but have
       vision limitations.

     Multiple language capability. Assuring that all citizens in a
       diverse population can exercise their privilege to vote,
       visual and audible ballots in multiple languages can be stored
       on a single machine.

The federal certification process is conducted by Independent Testing Authorities (ITAs) over a six- to twelve-month time period, and involves rigorous hardware, software, functional testing, and includes line by line source code reviews. During this rigorous process, both the usability and security features of the system are tested and evaluated. Once ITA testing is complete, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission/National Association of State Election Directors assigns a number to the product signaling that the system has been fully and officially certified to be in compliance with these most stringent of election voting system standards.