![]() ![]() Hybrid systems include Hybrid Optical Scan/BMDs, Hybrid Optical Scan/DREs, and Hybrid BMD/Tabulators. Hybrid voting systems combine two functions: they allow voters to mark a ballot, and they tabulate ballots. Beginning in 2014, some jurisdictions began providing BMDs for use by all in-person voters - an approach that became widespread in 2020. New Hampshire and Oregon have also developed unique ballot marking systems. The first BMDs included the AutoMARK, which was purchased and subsequently manufactured and marketed by ES&S, and Unisyn’s OpenElect OVI-VC. To fulfill this requirement and to broaden usability, BMDs support private, independent voting by providing screen contrast adjustment, large text, Audio-Tactile Interfaces (ATI), headphones with so the voter can have the ballot read to them, or paddles or sip-and-puff devices for voters with dexterity impairments. ![]() Then (except in the hybrid systems described next) voters either cast their ballots on a separate hand-fed optical scanner, or place them in a ballot box to be counted centrally.īMDs were developed in response to the federal requirement in the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) that all polling places must provide a means for voters with disabilities to vote privately and independently. Some BMDs mark pre-printed ballots, while others print summaries of voter selections, often with those selections encoded in barcodes or QR codes. Unlike DREs, which record votes directly into computer memory, BMDs do not make any other lasting record of the voter’s selections. Ballot Marking Devices (BMDs) present the electronic ballot, allow voters to electronically select valid contest options and then produce a human-readable paper ballot.
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