’MURICA — On election day in the U.S., voters will go to their local voting stations. Depending on where they’re voting, there are different ways to cast a vote.
With Optical Scan Paper Ballot systems, on their voting card, voters will fill in the ovals or boxes indicating their choices. Once the ballot is filled out, the voter will then submit the voting card into a ballot scanner, where the votes will be counted electronically.
Voters using Direct Recording Electronic systems will simply select their choices on the touchscreen. The machine then stores the voter’s choices, to be automatically tabulated later.
With Ballot Marking Devices, voters insert their voting cards into the machine, where they will then make their selections using the touchscreen keypads. Once the selections have been made, the voter will print out their voting card, and then enter it into a scanning machine to complete the vote.
The Punch Card Voting system utilizes a paper card and a small clipboard with a voting booklet. The method involves entering the card into the card holder, and then using the punch pin to make the desired selections on each page of the booklet. When completed, the voter then drops their card into the ballot box.
