College Park, Maryland

(2023)

ElectionGuard in the 2023 General Election in College Park, Maryland

In November 2023, the town of College Park, Maryland, hosted a general election using ElectionGuard in the Hart InterCivic Verity Scan precinct scanner. The Hart system tabulated all in-person and mail-in ballots and produced the official tally.

The Voting Experience

At the polling place, voters filled out their ballots either by-hand or using Hart InterCivic’s Verity TouchWriter. They then fed their paper ballot into the Verity Scan tabulator, at which time they reviewed and verified the accuracy of their ballot selections on the tabulator screen. If the voter did not need to change anything on their ballot, they cast their ballot to be tabulated. The scanner then printed a receipt containing a ballot confirmation code. At any point after voting, voters could use the confirmation code to check that their ballot was included in the final tally.

The ballot confirmation code lookup website used in College Park was hosted by Enhanced Voting, as happened in Franklin County, Idaho. The ElectionGuard record was hosted at the same site, allowing independent verifies to access and confirm the election results.

Voter Education on ElectionGuard

Election officials in College Park worked alongside the Center for Civic Design and ElectionGuard partners to educate the public on ElectionGuard and inform them that the software was being used in the upcoming election.

Ahead of the election, the City of College Park published and ElectionGuard Q&A for voters to “(learn) more about how ElectionGuard works and how it will be used in the College Park, Maryland City Elections during Early Voting and Election Day in-person voting.” The city also sent a postcard to voters, explaining how to vote in-person using the Hart Verity voting system and ElectionGuard. In addition, the local newspaper ran a story about the upcoming use of ElectionGuard. In the weeks leading up to the election, the City of College Park hosted a 2-hour public information session where ElectionGuard partners provided an overview of the software and its impact on the voting experience.

At the polling place, voters were given a pocket guide to hold their confirmation code and take with them after voting. The guide provided answers to common questions about ElectionGuard and informed the voter how to vote with ElectionGuard, how to run a “BallotCheck” and how to use their confirmation code. An example guide can be accessed at XXX.

Survey and Feedback from Voters

In-person voters were asked to participate in an exit survey conducted by the Center for Civic Design. College Park residents were also able to participate in an election survey that collected general feedback about the election and their perspectives on ElectionGuard. The Center for Civic Design published a report on the implementation of ElectionGuard and voter reactions, which can be downloaded below.