State of Maryland
Maryland’s Voting System – Security Features and Practices
Voting System Information
 The voting system used in Maryland is Election Systems & Software’s EVS
5.2.0.3.
 All voters in Maryland vote on paper ballots. This means that voted ballots can
be re-tabulated if there is a need to do so.
 Maryland’s voting system has ballot scanners, devices for voters with
disabilities to mark ballots privately and independently, and a computer
network at each local board of elections.
o Each ballot scanner has a removable USB memory drive. This memory
drive stores individual and accumulated results and digital images of all
voted ballots1.
o The ballot marking device does not store or count votes. It simply marks
the ballot.
o The network adds the results from the memory drives and generates
official results.
 Maryland’s voting system has been rigorously tested by a federally accredited
testing laboratory and certified by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
The certification program tests a voting system against federal performance
and security standards.
 No part of the certified voting system is connected to the Internet.
o Ballot scanners are never connected to the Internet.
o Ballot marking devices are never connected to the Internet.
o Election results are never sent via modem over telephone lines.
o The system’s certified network is never connected to the Internet or the
State Board of Elections’ (SBE) network.
o A local election official puts the results onto a memory device and takes the
memory device to a computer with access to a primary and secondary
secure server. Data are transferred via either an encrypted tunnel or Secure
File Transfer Protocol.
 Results released election night are not official election results. The day after
the election, all USB memory drives are re-uploaded. This process starts the
official election results process.
Duties and Responsibilities of Election Officials
 Election officials test each ballot scanner before each election. They scan prevoted ballots and compare the results against expected results. If the results
match, the unit can be used.
 After testing, election officials seal each ballot scanner and store it in a secure
location until it is securely moved to a voting location. Each scanner is sealed
until it is ready to use.
 SBE and the local boards of elections have contingency plans if the ballot
scanner cannot be used. Each ballot scanner has a locked and secure place to
store voted ballots that cannot be scanned because the ballot scanner is not
working.
 After the 2016 General Election, SBE will use independent audit software to retabulate digital images of all voted ballots. This will verify the accuracy of the
voting system’s tabulation.
1 As each voted ballot is scanned, the ballot scanner captures a digital image of the ballot. This
digital image can be retrieved and reviewed later.
151 West Street, Suite 200  PO Box 6486  Annapolis, MD 21401
Local - 410.269.2840  Toll Free - 800.222.8683  MD Relay - 800.735.2258
www.elections.maryland.gov

 State Board of Elections – September 14, 2016 meeting
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Security Best Practices
 All State and local election official receive regular security training.
 Only those election officials that need network access have access.
 All employees with network access have had background checks.
 All administrative functions in the network and ballot scanners are logged.
 Data stored on the memory device are encrypted.
 Memory devices are assigned to a specific ballot scanner. If the ballot scanner
detects a different memory device, the ballot scanner will not accept ballots.
 Before the 2016 Primary Election, a third party performed a security review on
the election night results network. Recommendations have been implemented
to ensure the system’s security.