Last Update: December 18, 2015 |
About
Note This topic is for counties with the Generic Envelope Reader Interface to Voter Focus.
This interface works with third-party mail-balloting systems, such as ES&S VoteRemote™and Runbeck, which are capable of:
Scanning mail-ballot envelopes returned by voters.
Providing images of voter signatures to Voter Focus.
The interface provides:
Export of voter signature images from the county database to the third-party system for electronic or manual comparison with signatures on returned mail ballots.
Import of signature images scanned by the third-party system along with other return data, which is used to record the return of mail ballots in the county database. In cases where the third-party system determines the signatures match, the ballot return is automatically recorded in Voter Focus without user intervention, provided that there are no issues with the return. If the signatures cannot be verified by the third-party system, the return is presented to the Voter Focus user during return processing for manual comparison.
You should be aware that mail ballots that were emailed or faxed to UOCAVA voters, and which were returned by email, fax, or regular mail, cannot be returned through a third-party system. They must be returned directly through Voter Focus. See How to Record the Return of Mail Ballots for instructions on returning emailed and faxed ballots.
The ability to export information from Voter Focus to mail-balloting systems for the preparation of mail-ballot packages is not part of the Generic Envelope Reader Interface. For this activity, the mail-balloting system is treated simply as an external printer; no special interface is necessary. For instructions, see How to Create a Mail-Ballot Export File for an External Printer or Mail-Balloting System.
For detailed instructions on this process, see How to Provide Voter Signatures to a Mail-Balloting System.
If the county is using the system's automated signature recognition/verification feature, the Voter Focus user prepares export files containing signature images of the mail-ballot voters to whom ballots in the election have been sent. These signatures from the database are known as reference signatures. The naming convention for reference-signature files is the voter’s bar code number with the extension TIF. The reference files are imported into the third-party system.
For detailed instructions on this process, see How to Return Mail Ballots Processed by a Mail-Balloting System.
As mail ballots are returned to the elections office, workers place them in the mail-balloting system where it reads the bar code on the envelope and passes the envelope through its scanner, capturing a digital image of the signature. The captured signatures from the return envelopes are known as instance signatures.
Note If you are using an inkjet printer to print bar codes on mail-ballot envelopes, we recommend you use the font Code 39 SmallLowTT-Regular for the ABSFontBarcode data field in the envelope layout.
If the mail-balloting system has an automated signature-recognition feature, the system retrieves the reference file having the same bar code number as the return envelope and compares the instance signature on the return envelope with the reference signature exported from the county database.
To each return, the third-party system assigns a signature-verification result code. The possible codes are:
0—Signature unable to be processed. Assigned if the county does not use the automated signature-recognition feature.
1—Signature is verified The instance signature matches the reference signature.
2—Signature could not verified. The instance signature does not appear to match the reference signature, so the Voter Focus user must compare the two signatures manually.
On the return envelope, the third-party system prints a return trace code, consisting of:
The bar code number
The tray number, which will become the Voter Focus mail-ballot batch number
Note The maximum length of the Voter Focus mail-ballot batch number is 5 characters. So the maximum tray number that Voter Focus can handle is 99,999.
A sequence number within the tray
The mail-balloting system creates two files for each tray/batch of returned envelopes:
A multi-page TIFF file containing images of all instance signatures in the tray/batch.
A comma-delimited text file that lists—for each returned ballot—the voter registration ID, the signature-verification result, the tray/batch number, and a sequence number indicating the return’s position in the tray/batch. This file does not contain header information; it contains only the data, as you can see in the example here.
The two files have the same name with the extensions TIF and TXT, respectively. They can then be copied from the mail-balloting system to the Voter Focus server.
On the Voter Focus side, the return process is initiated by retrieving a batch of instance signatures and return data from the mail-balloting system. This is done using VOTE BY MAIL > Retrieve Return Images. Physical handling of the returned mail-ballot envelopes is not necessary or even desirable: returns processed by the mail-balloting system should remain in their trays. After retrieving the images, the Voter Focus user can then process the returns by selecting a batch from VOTE BY MAIL > Return Ballots from Envelope Reader.
Returns where the signatures were verified by the mail-balloting system do not appear during return processing unless there is an issue—for example, the voter has already voted or is required to show a photo ID. If the signatures matched and there is no issue with the return, Voter Focus simply records the voter has having voted by mail ballot. No effort is required on the user’s part.
If the signatures were verified but there is an issue with the return, a record of the return appears indicating the issue, and the user must manually refer the return to the canvassing board.
If the mail-balloting system was unable to verify the signature because the instance signature on the return did not appear to match the reference signature or the mail-balloting system does not have an automated signature-recognition feature—a record of the return appears, displaying both signatures. The user must then manually verify the signatures and accept or reject the return.
Export Mail-Ballot Status Data—Creates a file of current-status data for each mail ballot released for the selected election. It can be used by third-party mail-balloting systems to permit outsorting of returned ballots that have been referred to the canvassing board.
Envelope Reader Referred Ballots by Tray Report—Lists the mail ballots returned through the Generic Envelope Reader Interface that were referred to the canvassing board.
ReturnBallotsEnvelope Reader—Enables the Return Ballots from Envelope Reader button on the Vote By Mail tab.
GenericEnvelopeReaderUtilities—Enables the Envelope Reader Utilities button on the Vote By Mail tab.