Premier (formerly Diebold, now Dominion) Accuvote-TS and Accuvote-TSx
Name/Model: AccuVote-TS and Accuvote TSx
Vendor: Premier Election Solutions (formerly Diebold Election Systmes, now owned by Dominion Voting)
Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail Capability: Yes, if equipped with AccuView Printer
Click Here for Instructions on How to Vote on the Premier TS
Click Here for Instructions on How to Vote on the Premier TSx
Premier Accuvote-TS (without paper trail printer)
Premier Accuvote-TSx (with Accuview paper trail printer)
Brief Description: The AccuVote TS and TSx are is a touch screen electronic voting machine that records votes on internal flash memory. Voters insert a “smart-card” into the machine and then make their choices by touching an area on a computer screen, much in the same way that modern ATMs work. Both systems offer a summary page once the voter has sequenced through the entire ballot, giving the voter an opportunity to verify their choices and to vote in any race they missed. The votes are then recorded to internal electronic memory.
If the optional AccuVote Printer Module is attached, voters have the opportunity to view a printed ballot under a transparent screen, and compare this paper record with the adjacent electronic summary screen.
When polls close, the votes for a particular machine are written to a “PCMCIA card,”which is removed from the system and either physically transported to election headquarters or their contents transmitted via computer network. Voter-verifiable paper records are removed from their enclosure in the Accuview housing and likewise transported to election headquarters.
Checking the Voter-Verifiable Paper Trail: If the TSx is equipped with the voter-verifiable paper trail, the printer tape is located to the right of the touch screen, under transparent plastic.
Detailed Process: When the voter enters the precinct, he or she is given a smartcard by a poll worker after confirming the voter is registered. A smart-card is a card the size and shape of a credit-card which contains a computer chip, some memory and basic data such as the voter’s voting language and political party. The voter then takes the smart-card to a voting machine and inserts the smart-card into the machine to allow voting. After using the touch screen to vote, 1) the record of the vote is directly recorded electronically to multiple, internal flash memory cards and 2) the voter’s smart-card is reset to ensure that it can only be used to vote once. The smart-card pops out of the machine with a loud “click” and the voter returns it to a poll worker.
If the optional printer module is in use, voting takes place as described above however, at the conclusion of voting, a paper ballot is printed and displayed under a transparent screen in the Accuview housing so that the voter can verify their selections before the ballot is deposited into a container within the printer module to await retrieval by poll workers.
When the polls close, a poll worker or election official inserts a different-type of smartcard, an administrator card, into each voting machine and puts the machine into a postelection mode where it will no longer record votes. At this point, the machine writes the votes from its internal memory to flash memory on a PCMCIA card, a removable form of flash memory. A printed tape of all votes cast or vote
totals for the voting machine can also be printed out at this time depending on local procedure and regulations.
The PCMCIA cards are taken out of each machine and either taken to a central tabulation facility or to remote tabulation facilities. At the tabulation facility the votes are read out of the PCMCIA cards and into a central computer database where precincts are combined to result in an aggregate vote. For remote facilities, the votes are transmitted to the central tabulation facility via a closed “Intranet”, the Internet or modem. The PCMCIA cards and any printouts from the voting machines can then become part of the official record of the election.
References:
“Security Analysis of the Diebold AccuVote-TS Voting Machine ,” Center for Information Technology Policy, Princeton University, September, 2006.
Tadayoshi Kohno, Adam Stubblefield, Aviel D. Rubin, and Dan S. Wallach, “Analysis of an Electronic
Voting Machine”, IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy 2004. IEEE Computer Society Press, May
2004.
“DRE Security Assessment, Volume 1, Computerized Voting Systems, Summary of Findings and
Recommendations,” InfoSENTRY, 21 Nov. 2003.
“Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) Technical Security Assessment Report,” Compuware Corporation, 21
Nov. 2003.
“Risk Assessment Report: Diebold Accuvote-TS Voting System and Processes (redacted)”, Science
Applications International Corporation SAIC-6099-2003-261, Sept. 2, 2003.
“Trusted Agent Report — Diebold AccuVote-TS Voting System,” RABA Technologies, Jan. 20, 2004.
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