Hart InterCivic is committed to consistently providing high quality products and services for its customers through adherence to its established Quality Management System, complying with customer, statutory and regulatory requirements, and a commitment to continual improvement. Hart InterCivic is also committed to the integrity and the security of the information used in both the product development process and by the products themselves. Management will establish and maintain an information security management system to ensure contractual requirements are met, employees are trained in information security, ­­and that risks to information security are managed. TRADEMARKS Ballot Now, Ballot Origination Software System, Disabled Access Unit, eScan, eScanReady, eSlate, Fusion, Judge’s Booth Controller, Mobile Ballot Box, Rally, Tally, and Verifiable Ballot Option are trademarks of Hart InterCivic, Inc. © 2008-2009, Hart InterCivic, Inc. 6300–228 Best Practices Guide—Rev. A All rights reserved. Hart InterCivic, Inc. P.O. Box 80649 Austin, Texas 78708 Telephone: (866) ASK-HART [(866) 275-4278] URL: www.hartintercivic.com ii Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................ vii 1. General Best Practices Overview ......................................................................... 1-1 Training ........................................................................... 1-2 Planning .......................................................................... 1-2 Using Hart Documentation and Resources .................... 1-3 Using Hart’s Customer Support Center .......................... 1-5 2. Security Best Practices Overview ......................................................................... 2-1 General Security ............................................................. 2-2 Staffing and Personnel Security ...................................... 2-2 Securing Access to HVS Computers ............................... 2-3 Software Security ............................................................ 2-4 Mobile Ballot Boxes (MBBs) and Security Seals ............. 2-5 Securing Delivery of Polling Place Equipment ............... 2-5 Securing Access to Physical Facilities ............................. 2-6 Securing the Voting Devices During Storage ................. 2-6 Securing Access to Voting System Devices .................... 2-7 Securing the Voting Area ............................................... 2-8 Security During Tabulation ............................................. 2-9 Parallel Testing ................................................................ 2-9 3. Election Data Management Overview ......................................................................... 3-1 Storage Media to Use .................................................... 3-2 Archiving Data ................................................................ 3-2 Backing up Election Databases ...................................... 3-3 Clearing Off Old Election Data ...................................... 3-5 Managing eCM Signing Keys and Tokens ...................... 3-6 Managing Third-Party Software and Hardware .............. 3-7 4. Ballot Creation & Testing Overview ......................................................................... 4-1 Ballot Design .................................................................. 4-2 Mobile Ballot Boxes (MBBs) ........................................... 4-6 Ballot Media Quantities .................................................. 4-7 Election Kits .................................................................... 4-9 Consumables .................................................................. 4-9 Card Readers ................................................................ 4-10 iii Computer and Equipment Best Practices .................... 4-10 BOSS Best Practices ..................................................... 4-11 BOSS Tips ..................................................................... 4-12 Vote Center Administration .......................................... 4-13 Proofing the Ballot ........................................................ 4-15 Ballot Folding Impacts .................................................. 4-16 Using TRANS ................................................................ 4-17 5. Paper Ballots: Printing Overview ......................................................................... 5-1 Introduction to Printing .................................................. 5-2 Printer Maintenance ....................................................... 5-2 Hart Official Ballot Paper ................................................ 5-5 Contract Print Vendor Certification ................................ 5-6 Printing Ballots On-Demand .......................................... 5-7 Printing Ballots to File .................................................... 5-7 Ballot Quality Control ..................................................... 5-8 Using a Print Queue and Ballot Now Print Server ........ 5-10 Custom Ballot Stubs ..................................................... 5-12 Printing Foreign-Language Ballots with Images ........... 5-13 6. Paper Ballots: Ballot Now Operations Overview ......................................................................... 6-1 Increasing Voter Education and Awareness ................... 6-2 Scanner Set-Up ............................................................... 6-2 Adjusting Scanners for Paper Weight ............................ 6-3 Scanner Cleaning and Maintenance ............................... 6-4 Items Affecting Scanner Operations .............................. 6-4 Ballot Preparation for Scanning (Ballot Review Board Best Practices) ........................................................... 6-11 Scanning Ballots and Batch Management .................... 6-13 Ballot Resolution ........................................................... 6-16 7. Paper Ballots: eScan Operations Overview ......................................................................... 7-1 Counting Ballots with eScan ........................................... 7-2 eScan Warehousing ........................................................ 7-3 Transportation and Storage ............................................ 7-4 At the Polling Place ........................................................ 7-4 Maintenance ................................................................... 7-5 8. Voting Equipment Management Overview ......................................................................... 8-1 SERVO Best Practices ..................................................... 8-2 iv Predefining ..................................................................... 8-4 Voting Device Management ........................................... 8-6 Election Night Equipment Receipt ............................... 8-10 9. Polling Place Operations & Support Overview ......................................................................... 9-1 Pollworker Training ......................................................... 9-2 At the Polling Place ........................................................ 9-4 Reducing Lines at the Polling Place ............................... 9-7 Setting up Help Desk/Polling Place Communications ... 9-9 Setting Up Field Technician Support Operations ......... 9-10 10. Reporting Best Practices Overview ....................................................................... 10-1 Rehearsing .................................................................... 10-2 Tally Best Practices ....................................................... 10-2 Tally Reporting .............................................................. 10-3 Reading MBBs .............................................................. 10-3 Rally/Tally Communication ........................................... 10-5 Fusion Operations ........................................................ 10-5 SERVO Reporting ......................................................... 10-8 Appendices Appendix A: HVS Documentation List ........................................... A-1 Appendix B: Parallel Testing Procedures ....................................... B-1 Appendix C: Ballot Printer Configuration ...................................... C-1 Appendix D: Creating a Print Queue File ......................................D-1 Appendix E: Importing Registered Voters Totals into Tally ........... E-1 For Systems 6.0–6.1 ....................................................... E-1 For HVS System 6.2.1 ..................................................... E-1 Appendix F: Ballot Graphic Specifications for BOSS, System 6X ...F-1 Glossary ................................................................................................1 Acronyms ........................................................................... 1 Terminology ....................................................................... 4 v vi Introduction When election time comes, all eyes are on you. Does the voting process run smoothly? Are citizens confident in its integrity and security? Years of decision-making, and months of planning and preparation culminate in a day whose success matters to you, your elections team, your jurisdiction, and the nation. Managing elections is a big job. This Best Practices Guide from Hart InterCivic brings together proven practices that can help make the job easier and your election events trouble-free. For more than a decade, our