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What are E-Poll Books?
“Equipment (including hardware, firmware, and software), materials, and documentation used to partially automate the process of checking in voters, assigning voters the correct ballot style, and marking off voters who have been issued a ballot.”
Simply defined, electronic poll books (EPBs) are laptops, tablets, or kiosks designed to replace paper poll lists, that access digital voter registration records for their representative jurisdiction. In contrast to a voting system, EPBs’ primary users are election workers and do not collect or tabulate cast vote records. EPBs were initially designed in an effort to automate the election process and alleviate the burden on election workers, who update voter registration records and evaluate a voter’s eligibility to participate in the election process. In recent years, these systems have evolved to serve a variety of administrative functions before, during, and after an election. EPBs can now be used to capture voter signatures, identify a voter’s ballot style or preferred language, detect ineligible voters, and extract data reports.
"The current e-poll books in use in over 2,200 jurisdictions are secure and ready for the 2024 elections." - A Joint Statement from EAC Commissioners on May 21, 2024
About the Program
On April 8, 2024, the Commissioners of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission voted unanimously to adopt the Election Supporting Technology Evaluation Program Manual Version 1.0 and the Voluntary Electronic Poll Book Certification Requirements Version 1.0 (VEPBCR 1.0). The adoption of these documents marked the official launch of the Voluntary Electronic Poll Book Certification Program under the EAC’s Election Supporting Technology Evaluation Program.
ESTEP is now accepting form submissions to initiate the process for electronic poll book testing. Any manufacturer or developer wishing to participate in the program is required to submit the following forms to [email protected]. Upon submission, ESTEP will review and determine eligibility for participation in the program. Fillable copies of both forms are located on the ESTEP Manuals and Forms page.
This process is open to any organization that manufactures or develops electronic poll books for purchase or use in the United States, including commercial or homegrown systems. Participation in this program is entirely voluntary, but those who wish to participate must conform to the program’s procedural requirements, outlined in the Election Supporting Technology Evaluation Program Manual Version 1.0.
To find a complete list of manufacturers registered under the ESTEP Program visit the ESTEP Registered Manufacturers page.
Please note that the process for electronic poll book testing & certification is entirely separate from voting system testing & certification.
Thus, manufacturers previously registered under the EAC’s Voting System Testing & Certification Program will not be eligible for participation in the EAC’s Election Supporting Technology Evaluation Program until the above prerequisites have been met.
Questions? Please Contact:
Election Supporting Technology Evaluation Program
[email protected]
ESTEP Poll Book Resources
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What are Electronic Poll Books (EPBs)?
This report provides information on increasing EPB adoption, functions, and applicable state laws and regulations.
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Electronic Poll Book Usage
Learn more about the usage of EPBs in your state.
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Electronic Poll Book Requirements by State
Learn more about the regulations for EPBs in your state.
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Electronic Poll Book Pilot Program Report
This report highlights the findings of ESTEP’s Voluntary E-Poll Book Pilot Program.
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Voluntary Electronic Poll Book Certification Requirements (VEPBCR)
These requirements are to be used by EPBs manufacturers to achieve federal certification.
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Electronic Poll Books Evaluated at the EAC
Learn more about the EPBs that have been evaluated by ESTEP.
Program Videos & Testimonials
ESTEP and the E-Poll Book Pilot Program
EAC Virtual Meeting on the Voluntary Electronic Poll Book Pilot Report (November 17, 2023)
Voluntary Electronic Poll Book Certification Program - Stakeholder Testimonials
EAC Virtual Meeting on the Voluntary Electronic Poll Book Pilot Program Report
November 17, 2023
"KNOWiNK believes that the entire industry will benefit from uniform federal certification standards, not just e-poll book vendors. This is going to allow companies to design software to known standards and it’s going to allow states to build certification programs based on those federal standards or add some additions to it... If we have set standards across the board, it’s going to allow new e-poll book vendors to innovate on standards that are known and it’s going to allow current e-poll book vendors to keep maintaining certification standards to meet security and integrity in the process."
Rokey Suleman, Government Affairs Director at KNOWiNK
"ES&S believes that uniform testing for electronic poll books, similar to the EAC voting system standards, will streamline the process for manufacturers, voting system test laboratories, as well as jurisdictions, with the added benefit of improved performance and security. We look forward to our continued involvement in the program."
TJ Burns, State Certification Manager for Election Systems at ES&S
"If you’re participating in a federal certification program, you are getting that expertise through voting system testing laboratories coming in house and doing that same type of testing, and then using those known baseline standards. I view that as a huge advantage to local jurisdictions to be able to participate in a program like this."
Scott Jarrett, Director of Elections in Maricopa County, Arizona
"By the EAC putting these standards forward, it builds confidence... It would be helpful to other states to have these recommendations for certification."
Chad Kinsella, Associate Professor of Political Science and Co-Director of the
Voting System Technical Oversight Program at Ball State University
"While election administrators are focusing on list maintenance and supporting voter outreach in education, the ability to point to a series of recommended guidelines that are put together by the team at the EAC, and the many subject matter experts and technical experts that the EAC involves, takes a little bit of the burden off states to come up with something very similar... This allows us to focus on other responsibilities."
Mark Wlaschin, Deputy Secretary of State for Elections in Nevada
"If manufacturers go through federal testing, everybody knows what you’ve done, and the states can then actually scale back some of their specific requirements because they’re going to be overlapped with the federal requirements... By unifying all of the testing at a federal level, you would be able to pull along some of the states that want to develop standards but may not have the resources to do so."
Jack Cobb, Co-Founder and Laboratory Director at Pro V&V
"The potential value of a federal certification program is huge. It will help create a baseline consistency in the e-poll books that the public can have confidence in knowing that – at a minimum – any e-poll book that’s certified meets various functionality, security, and accessibility requirements. It gives uniform guidance to e-poll book manufacturers... to have an understanding of what that base level of requirements and robustness is going to be... It will impact, not only the states, but the manufacturers as well in a positive way."
Michael Santos, Voting System Test Lab Director at SLI Compliance