A precinct is generally the lowest-level minor civil division in the United States. Precincts usually do not have have separate governmental authorities, but for purposes of conducting elections, the next highest-level MCD, such as a county, township, etc., is subdivided into precincts and each address is assigned to a specific precinct. Each precinct has a specific location where its residents go to vote. Sometimes several precincts will use the same polling place.
Political parties often designate individuals, known by various titles such as "precinct captain" or "Precinct Committee Officer", to help them keep track of how the voters in a precinct feel about candidates and issues, and to encourage people to vote.
Voting machines are the total combination of mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic equipment (including software, firmware, and documentation required to program control, and support equipment), that is used to define ballots; to cast and count votes; to report or display election results; and to maintain and produce any audit trail information.
A direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting system records votes by means of an electronic display provided with mechanical or electro-optical components that can be activated by the voter; that processes voter selections by means of a computer program; and that records that processed voting data in memory components.
Vote data may be transmitted as individual ballots as they are cast, periodically as batches of ballots throughout the election day, or as one batch at the close of voting.
In 2002, in the United States, the Help America Vote Act mandated that one accessible voting system be provided per polling place, which many jurisdictions have chosen to satisfy with the use of accessible electronic voting machines.
A direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting system records votes by means of a ballot display provided with mechanical or electro-optical components that can be activated by the voter; that processes data by means of a computer program; and that records voting data and ballot images in memory components.
Some groups such as the Open Voting Consortium believe that to restore voter confidence and to reduce the potential for fraud, all electronic voting systems must be completely available to public scrutiny.
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