Travis County Clerk
Electronic Voting
Implementation Project
Background Information
In July, 2002, Travis County began replacing its 12-year-old optical scan system with state-of-the art electronic voting. By November, 2002 the system was installed in all early voting locations - an option used by some 40 percent of area voters.
By the May, 2003 City of Austin elections, registered city voters used the new system whether voting early or on Election Day, and by the November, 2003 Election, the system was fully deployed throughout Travis County for all elections administered by Travis County.
To ensure that all voters were comfortable with the new system, the County introduced this new way of voting in stages. On July 6th, 2003 Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir announced the community outreach program called Vote Travis Vote... turn to the spirit of freedom! Many outreach events were scheduled for between July 6th and the beginning of early voting, October 18th, 2003.
Travis County began researching voting systems the spring of 1998. While the old system was accurate and highly effective, it was beginning to fail and getting costly to maintain when, indeed, parts were available. The new system allows far greater management flexibility and will save tens of thousands of dollars previously spent to print ballots.
The county clerk put together a community-based task force to look at new voting systems. The task force selected the eSlate Electronic Voting System, designed by Texas-based Hart InterCivic, Inc., headquartered in Austin, Texas. Hart InterCivic lead a team that delivered the equipment, installed the systems, trained the county and spearheaded a voter outreach and education program.
The eSlate device is about the size of a legal pad, one inch thick, and weighs just 5.2 pounds. The voter uses a rotary wheel to navigate through the ballot and an ENTER button to mark his or her vote. This rotary interface was chosen because it is more accurate and durable than touch-screen systems.
The new system is user-friendly. The voter can select English or Spanish, and other languages may be added later. The eSlate provides greater ease of use and total privacy for people with disabilities, including those who are mobility-impaired or blind, and it can even accommodate breath control - "sip and puff" - users. Those who can't see clearly or have difficulty reading the ballot can use the headphones to hear the ballot read in the English or Spanish.
The new electronic voting system is easy to use, accurate, secure, and private.
