Franklin County, Idaho

(2022)

ElectionGuard in the 2022 General Election in Franklin County, Idaho

In November 2022, Franklin County, Idaho district #4 hosted a general election using ElectionGuard in the Hart InterCivic Verity Scan precinct scanner. Voters had the option to use the Hart system to scan and tabulate their hand-marked paper ballots or to drop their ballots into a ballot box. Approximately 40% of voters opted to use the Hart system equipped with ElectionGuard.

The Voting Experience

At the polling place, voters filled out their ballots by hand and either dropped their ballot in the ballot box or fed their ballot in the Verity Scan scanner. Voters who cast their ballot using Verity Scan received a receipt from the scanner containing a ballot confirmation code. Voters could use this code up to two days following the election to check that their ballot was included in the finally.

The ballot confirmation code lookup website used was hosted by Enhanced Voting. After entering their confirmation code on the site, voters saw one of two options:

If the ballot was cast, the voter was told that their ballot was included in the count, shown the time that their ballot was cast, and a note that the ballot was still encrypted so Enhanced Voting could not show their selections.

If the ballot was spoiled, the voter was told the ballot was not included in the count, shown the time the ballot was spoiled, and presented the decrypted selections that were on the ballot as marked.

The site also provided a location to collect feedback from voters as well as a link to learn more about how ElectionGuard works.

Voter Education on ElectionGuard

Election officials in Franklin County 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.

Prior to the election, the Center for Civic Design conducted usability testing to understand the efficacy of the language used to describe ElectionGuard and better communicate with voters regarding the ElectionGuard process. Based on their findings, they drafted a letter to send to voters in the district, signed by the county clerk, along with an information sheet about ElectionGuard. The information sheet was intended to give voters a sense of what to expect at the polling place. Additionally, the local newspaper ran a story about the upcoming use of ElectionGuard.

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

Franklin County voters were asked to participate in a post-election survey conducted by the Center for Civic Design. Through the survey ElectionGuard partners found that:

In explaining ElectionGuard to voters, simple, clear, minimal information is better than technical explanations of what ElectionGuard is

ElectionGuard did not disrupt the flow of voters through the polling place

Even voters who opted out of using ElectionGuard understood the goal and benefit of the technology

ElectionGuard “significantly increased” confidence for Franklin County’s election for most voters

More information on the Franklin County election and takeaways from this is provided in the report End-to-End Verifiability in Real-World Elections which can be accessed below https://www.electionguard.vote/images/EAC%20Report%20Final.pdf.

End-to-End Verifiability in Real-World Elections

A report on the use of ElectionGuard and Hart InterCivic’s Verity precinct-scan voting system in the Franklin County, Idaho 2022 General Election