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Election Package Specification

VxAdmin is configured with an election package (see Configure VxAdmin), which specifies the details of the election as well as various settings for the system. This page documents the format of the election package.

Overview

An election package is a ZIP file containing a number of JSON files:

election.json - The election definition (contests, ballot styles, etc.)
systemSettings.json - Settings for the various machines
metadata.json - Documents the election package version

There may also be a few other files present that are not used in v3.1:

appStrings.json, vxElectionStrings.json - Translations of voter-facing content
audioClips.jsonl, audioIds.json - Audio recordings of voter-facing content

Election Definition (election.json)

The election definition utilizes a customized version of the NIST Ballot Definition Common Data Format (CDF), which is specified here:

The VotingWorks election definition format (vxCDF) modifies NIST CDF in a few ways:

It uses only a subset of the objects and fields defined in NIST CDF
It extends the format with some additional fields to support data that is not included in NIST CDF

For documentation of the fields used in vxCDF, refer to the schema: https://github.com/votingworks/vxsuite/blob/v3.1.0-release-branch/libs/types/src/cdf/ballot-definition/vx-schema.json.

System Settings (systemSettings.json)

The system settings uses a custom JSON format to define additional settings for the machines.

The system settings file uses the follow schema:

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "auth": {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "arePollWorkerCardPinsEnabled": { "type": "boolean" },
        "inactiveSessionTimeLimitMinutes": {
          "type": "number",
          "enum": [10, 15, 20, 30, 360]
        },
        "numIncorrectPinAttemptsAllowedBeforeCardLockout": {
          "type": "number",
          "enum": [3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]
        },
        "overallSessionTimeLimitHours": {
          "type": "number",
          "enum": [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]
        },
        "startingCardLockoutDurationSeconds": {
          "type": "number",
          "enum": [15, 30, 60]
        }

      },
      "required": [
        "arePollWorkerCardPinsEnabled",
        "inactiveSessionTimeLimitMinutes",
        "numIncorrectPinAttemptsAllowedBeforeCardLockout",
        "overallSessionTimeLimitHours",
        "startingCardLockoutDurationSeconds"
      ],
      "additionalProperties": false
      },
    "markThresholds": {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "marginal": { "type": "number", "minimum": 0, "maximum": 1 },
        "definite": { "type": "number", "minimum": 0, "maximum": 1 },
        "writeInTextArea": { "type": "number", "minimum": 0, "maximum": 1 }
      },
      "required": ["marginal", "definite"],
      "additionalProperties": false
    },
    "centralScanAdjudicationReasons": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "string",
        "enum": [
          "UninterpretableBallot",
          "MarginalMark",
          "Overvote",
          "Undervote",
          "BlankBallot",
          "UnmarkedWriteIn"
        ]
      }
    },
    "precinctScanAdjudicationReasons": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "string",
        "enum": [
          "UninterpretableBallot",
          "MarginalMark",
          "Overvote",
          "Undervote",
          "BlankBallot",
          "UnmarkedWriteIn"
        ]
      }
    },
    "precinctScanDisallowCastingOvervotes": { "type": "boolean" }
  },
  "required": [
    "auth",
    "markThresholds",
    "centralScanAdjudicationReasons",
    "precinctScanAdjudicationReasons",
    "precinctScanDisallowCastingOvervotes"
  ],
  "additionalProperties": false,
  "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#"
}