Central Scanning
The following steps must be completed by the Election Manager.
VxCentralScan is a central scanning solution that allows you to quickly scan large batches of ballots. If you are using VxScan at your precincts, you can use VxCentralScan to scan absentee or vote by mail ballots on Election Day and mail, provisional, military ballots, or other ballots counted post-election day post-election. VxCentraScan can also be used to quickly verify a test deck and retabulate an out of balance precinct.
Follow the VxCentral Scan Hardware Setup instructions to prepare the system for use.
Scan Ballot Batches
Before scanning the first ballot batch, confirm that VxCentralScan displays No ballots have been scanned. If not, select Delete All Batches to clear the scanner.
Load a stack of ballots into the feeder tray of the scanner. VotingWorks recommends loading no more than 50 ballot sheets at time. The ballots need to be in a neat stack, unfolded and lying flat, but ballots can be in any orientation (e.g. upside down or backwards is fine).
Select Scan New Batch. Ballots feed through the scanner automatically and the number of ballots scanned will increase as each ballot is scanned under Ballot Count. A timestamp will appear under the Finished At header when a batch is done scanning.
Once the batch finishes scanning, remove it from the output tray on the scanner and place the next stack of ballots in the feeder tray. Repeat the scanning process until all ballots are scanned.
If a batch needs to be rescanned, use the Delete button to remove the original scan.
Adjudicate Ballots
VxCentralScan will stop scanning and present a review screen if scanning cannot be completed due to a blank sheet, overvoted or undervoted contest, scan mode mismatch, or an otherwise unreadable ballot sheet. The review screen will display an image of the scanned ballot sheet, the reason why scanning was stopped, and confirm that this ballot sheet has not been tabulated yet.
Blank & Overvoted Ballots
If the scanner stops, remove the last ballot sheet scanned from the scanner output tray and confirm it matches the ballot sheet displayed onscreen. Once removed, follow review requirements. If the ballot needs to be reviewed by someone not operating the scanner or needs to be duplicated to be tabulated properly, select Remove to Adjudicate and confirm that the Ballot has been removed. Once confirmed, the scanner will resume scanning ballots in the batch.
The example below shows an Overvote detected that is being removed for review.
A similar central review interface may be shown for other adjudication reasons depending on your election configuration including:
Blank Ballot
Undervote
Unreadable Ballots
VxCentralScan may show an Unreadable ballot screen for a properly marked ballot if it's unable to decode ballot information due to page skew, dust, or tampering of the ballot. When a ballot sheet is shown as unreadable, you can safely remove the ballot and re-scan the ballot sheet. If the ballot is unreadable on a second scan, you should remove the ballot for duplication.
Mode Mismatch
A mode mismatch error will appear if the scanner mode (Test or Official) does not match the ballot type (Test or Official) and the scanned sheet will not be tabulated. In these cases, you should either remove the ballot from the stack or switch scanner modes.
Saving Cast Vote Records (CVRs)
When all ballot batches (including any duplicated ballots) have been scanned, you will need to save the CVRs from VxCentralScan to load into VxAdmin for tabulation.
To save, select Save CVRs in the top right.
You'll be prompted to insert a USB drive. Once recognized, select Save and then Eject USB.
The CVRs will be saved in the cast-vote-records/ folder on the USB drive.
Once you've selected Eject USB, you'll see a prompt to Close and may remove the USB drive.
If using multiple VxCentralScan stations, repeat for each one.
Save Backup
After saving the CVRs, VotingWorks recommends also taking a backup of all data from the VxCentralScan station. To save a backup, navigate to the Settings menu and select Save Backup. Then navigate to the USB drive in the file dialog and save the backup .zip file. The file may take up to a few minutes to save.
Once saved, select Eject USB and remove the USB drive from VxCentralScan.
Tabulated ballots should be sealed into a secure container post-tabulation with the seal number recorded as required. Follow state guidelines to ensure proper retention.
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