Assisting Voters

Casting Ballots

VxScan is ready to accept a new ballot whenever it displays Insert Your Ballot.

A voter can then push their ballot onto the tray and into the scanner. When a ballot is properly inserted, the scanner will grip the ballot. If a ballot is inserted at an angle, the scanner may push the ballot back into the voter's hands without scanning, the voter should simply re-insert their ballot. VxScan will then scan the ballot by pulling it in and show the following screen.

If the ballot has no issues, the ballot will go into the ballot box and the screen will show that the ballot has been counted. Notice the Ballots Scanned count goes up.

After a few seconds, VxScan will return to the Insert Your Ballot screen in preparation for the next voter.

If the ballot was not counted because of an issue, the scanner will push the ballot back toward the voter but maintain a grip on it. There could be any of the following issues with the ballot depending on state law or rule.

Overvoted Ballots

If the scanner recognizes more than the allowed number of votes for a particular race. For example, a voter marked two candidates in a race where they must make a single choice. The voter should select Return Ballot and VxScan will return the ballot to the voter to place in the auxiliary ballot bin. If a state allows an overvote to be cast, an additional selection of Cast Ballot as Is will appear. All valid votes will be counted in other contests but the overvoted contest will be excluded.

An overvote will also be detected when a candidate is marked and writing is detected on the write-in line for the same contest if it exceeds the number of allowed votes (when required by law or rule).

Blank Ballots

If a state requires notification to the voter that a ballot has no selections marked (blank), the voter will be promoted to review their ballot.

The voter may have circled or underlined the names of their choices instead of filling in the bubbles. Or the voter may have used a writing utensil whose marks are ignored by the scanner, like a red-ink pen. VxScan will warn the voter that their ballot appears blank.

If the voter would like to correct their error, they should select Return Ballot and VxScan will return the ballot to the voter. If the voter would like to count the ballot as is, they should select Cast Ballot As Is and then confirm by selecting Yes, Cast Ballot As Is. No votes will count on a blank ballot.

Undervotes

If a state requires notification to the voter that a specific contest has no selections marked (undervote), the voter will be promoted to review their ballot.

If the voter would like to correct their error, they should select Return Ballot and VxScan will return the ballot to the voter. If the voter would like to count the ballot as is, they should select Cast Ballot As Is and then confirm by selecting Yes, Cast Ballot As Is. Votes for all contests with valid votes will be counted.

Multiple Corrections

If a voter has both undervotes and overvotes on their ballot and the state requires review of both, the Review Your Ballot screen will appear. Select View contests to see each contest that was undervoted or overvoted.

If the voter would like to correct their errors, they should select Return Ballot and VxScan will return the ballot to the voter. If the voter would like to count the ballot as is, they should select Cast Ballot As Is and then confirm by selecting Yes, Cast Ballot As Is. Votes for all contests with valid votes will be counted.

Adjusting Color and Size

Simple changes to the screens color and size can be very helpful for voters with low vision. Selecting Color/Size in the upper right hand corner of the screen provides the voter with different options.

Select Color to change the background and/or text color and select Text Size to change the text size.