§ 3506.01Voting and tabulation equipment definitions

As used in this chapter and Chapters 3501., 3503., 3505., 3509., 3511., 3513., 3515., 3517., 3519.,
3521., 3523., and 3599. of the Revised Code:


(A) "Marking device" means an apparatus operated by a voter to record the voter's choices through
the marking of ballots enabling them to be examined and counted by automatic tabulating
equipment.


(B) "Ballot" means the official election presentation of offices and candidates, including write-in
candidates, and of questions and issues, and the means by which votes are recorded.


(C) "Automatic tabulating equipment" means a machine or electronic device, or interconnected or
interrelated machines or electronic devices, that will automatically examine and count votes recorded
on ballots. Automatic tabulating equipment may allow for the voter's selections to be indicated by
marks made on a paper record by an electronic marking device.


(D) "Central counting station" means a location, or one of a number of locations, designated by the
board of elections for the automatic examining, sorting, or counting of ballots.


(E) "Voting machines" means mechanical or electronic equipment for the direct recording and
tabulation of votes.


(F) "Direct recording electronic voting machine" means a voting machine that records votes by
means of a ballot display provided with mechanical or electro-optical components that can be
actuated by the voter, that processes the data by means of a computer program, and that records
voting data and ballot images in internal or external memory components. A "direct recording
electronic voting machine" produces a tabulation of the voting data stored in a removable memory
component and in printed copy. "Direct recording electronic voting machine" does not include a
voting machine that captures votes by means of a ballot display but that transfers those votes onto an



                                                 Page 1

optical scan ballot or other paper record for tabulation.


(G) "Help America Vote Act of 2002" means the "Help America Vote Act of 2002," Pub. L. No.
107-252, 116 Stat. 1666.


(H) "Voter verified paper audit trail" means a physical paper printout on which the voter's ballot
choices, as registered by a direct recording electronic voting machine, are recorded. The voter shall
be permitted to visually or audibly inspect the contents of the physical paper printout. The physical
paper printout shall be securely retained at the polling place until the close of the polls on the day of
the election; the secretary of state shall adopt rules under Chapter 119. of the Revised Code
specifying the manner of storing the physical paper printout at the polling place. After the physical
paper printout is produced, but before the voter's ballot is recorded, the voter shall have an
opportunity to accept or reject the contents of the printout as matching the voter's ballot choices. If a
voter rejects the contents of the physical paper printout, the system that produces the voter verified
paper audit trail shall invalidate the printout and permit the voter to recast the voter's ballot. On and
after the first federal election that occurs after January 1, 2006, unless required sooner by the Help
America Vote Act of 2002, any system that produces a voter verified paper audit trail shall be
accessible to disabled voters, including visually impaired voters, in the same manner as the direct
recording electronic voting machine that produces it.


(I) "Voter registration system" means software and any related equipment used by a board of
elections or the secretary of state to process, store, organize, maintain, or retrieve voter registration
records.


(J) "Ballots on demand voting system" means a system that utilizes ballots printed as needed by
election officials at the board of elections for distribution to electors, either in person or by mail.




                                                   Page 2