Unisyn Voting Solutions InkaVote and InkaVote Plus

Unisyn Voting Solutions InkaVote and InkaVote Plus voting machines with a voter-verified paper audit trail.

Brief description
The Unisyn Voting Solutions InkaVote uses a non scored ballot card which can be marked with a standard pen or pencil; however, the manufacturer provides inked styluses for marking ballots. The InkaVote machine holds the ballot in place, with the voter then marks in selected areas.

The marks the voter makes go through to a second ballot, which is then tabulated.

Detailed Voting Process
The voter enters the polling place and receives a ballot, which is then secured to the Inkavote machine with a series of clips. Sheets containing election specific information are pre-installed into the InkaVote machine by poll workers, and the voter marks his or her choices through small holes in areas that correspond to the candidate of their choosing.

Some jurisdictions use a variant of the Inka-Vote called the Inka-Vote Plus which includes all of the above but also has a precinct-count optical scan system that can scan ballots in the precinct.

Pre-2008 election
Problems have been reported with voters having difficulty making marks on the ballot that are sufficiently dark to be read. Additionally, since the actual ballot is hidden from the voter, mistakes can be difficult to identify and correct. Furthermore, malfunctioning pens or other less than readily obvious equipment failures can lead to a fairly high mistake or no-vote rate.

NASED Qualification Status
The National Association of State Election Directors qualified the Inka-Vote: Yes.

External resources

 * “DRE Security Assessment, Volume 1, Computerized Voting Systems, Summary of Findings and Recommendations,” InfoSENTRY, 21 Nov. 2003. See: http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/hava/files/InfoSentry1.pdf
 * “Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) Technical Security Assessment Report,” Compuware Corporation, 21 Nov. 2003. See: http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/hava/files/compuware.pdf


 * Unisyn Voting Solutions, subsidiary of International Lottery & Totalizator Systems company website.