Optical Scanning

Technology for

Purposes Other

Than Ballot

Counting

Optical Scanning

Technology for

Purposes Other

Than Ballot Counting

Author:

Barbara Rossetti

Consultant in Election Administration

5535 East Fifth Place

Tulsa, Oklahoma 74112-2935

Managed and Edited by:

William C. Kimberling

National Clearinghouse on Election Administration

Published by:

National Clearinghouse on Election Administration

Federal Election Commission

Washington, D.C. 20463

August 1992
Introduction by the

Clearinghouse

This report is the second of a new series on

Innovations in Election Administration being

published by the FEC's National Clearinghouse

on Election Administration.

The purpose of this series is to acquaint State

and local election officials with innovative election procedures and technologies that have been

successfully implemented by their colleagues

around the country.

Our reports on these innovations do not

necessarily constitute an endorsement by

the Federal Election Commission either of

the procedures described or of the vendors

or suppliers that might be listed within the

report. Moreover, the views and opinions

expressed in these reports are those of the

author and are not necessarily shared by

the Federal Election Commission or any

division thereof.

We welcome you comments on these reports as

well as any suggestions you may have for additional topics. You may mail these to us at:

The National Clearinghouse on

Election Administration

Federal Election Commission

999 E. Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20463

or else call us

toll free on 800/424-9530 or

direct on 202/219-3670.

u
Optical Scanning

Technology for

Purposes Other

Than Ballot Counting

Optical scanning is an automated data collection method by which a device called a scanner is

used to scan direct or directed light from a surface, such as a printed page. This scanner converts

symbols to electrical signals for data input and

storage. It reads and identifies patterns of coded

information. Some types of scanning technology

are:

Bar Codes

Bar coding is comprised of bars and spaces. In

this form of optical scanning, information is encoded with widths of bars, spaces between bars,

and relative positions of bars and spaces. There

are many formats of bar coding, and standards for

these formats have been developed by the Uniform

Code Council.

The use of bar codes has progressed from curious, obscure patterns on grocery items in the

early 1970's to universal use in wholesale and

retail marketing, manufacturing, shipping and

inventory control, In 1982, the Department of

Defense required a bar code on all items shipped

to them. Then the automobile industry began to

require bar codes on every item moved between

suppliers, a decision that involved at least 25,000

companies. (Harry E. Burke, A Handbook of Bar

Coding Systems).

The strategy for using bar codes is to place the

symbols on every item of interest. The bars are

then scanned using a device called a scanner

which "reads" the symbol, decodes it and transmits the data to a computer which stores the

information to be used in a variety of controls. Bar

coding has alpha and numeric capabilities.

Bar codes are everywhere. They are on almost

every item you buy at any store. They are on

airline luggage tags, parcel delivery items, medical supplies, and United States Mail.

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court used bar codes to

make laborious data entry disappear. The same

technology can mean big savings in time and

money for other administrative tasks, including

elections.

The benefits of using bar coding include:

• Accuracy: Manually keyed 12 characters

error rate is 1 in 300. The bar code accuracy

rate is 1 error in 15,000 to 36 trillion. (Craig

K. Harmon and Russ Adams, Reading Between the Lines, New Hampshire: Helmers

Publishing,Inc. 1989).

• Low Cost: In many cases there is a payback

in less than one year.

• High Speed Data Collection

• Readability: From a distance and on moving

objects.

Bar coding does, however, require some education of users.

Requirements for using bar codes include:

• Printing capability for producing the

bar code symbols.
Host Computer: Personal Computer or

Mainframe and software to interpret codes.

Readers: Hand-held scanner wands, pen

lights, scan lamps and counter-top models.

Optical Character Recognition

Optical Character Recognition is another data

collection method using specially formed characters optimized for machine recognition. This

method also can read alpha and numeric characters. Optical Character Recognition is considered

by experts to be more reliable than manually

keyed data entry, but less reliable than bar codes.

"The OCR reader must be within a more precise

orientation to the symbol being read. The operator using a hand-held OCR reader frequently

must make multiple passes over the symbols, and

when long strings of information are read, it is

difficult to maintain correct placement of the

wand over the entire string. OCR is far more

sensitive to the motion of the operator's hand

during scanning than bar code." (Craig K. Harmon

andRuss Adams, Reading Between the Lmes, New

Hampshire: Helmer's Publishing,Inc. 1989).

The strategy for using OCR is the same as for

bar coding; encode every item of interest.

The use of Optical Character Recognition is

wide-spread; however, ".. many retail users have

lost confidence and abandoned this technology

because of frustrations with the reading process."

(Craig KHarmon and Russ Adams, Reading

Between the Lines, New Hampshire: Helmers's

Publishing,Inc. 1989).

The benefits of Optical Character Recognition

include:

• Accuracy: More accurate than manually

keyed data entry. (1 error in 10,000 characters entered) (Craig K.Harmon and Russ

Adams, Reading Between the Lines, New

Hampshire: Helmer's Publishing,Inc. 1989).

• Costs: Moderate when compared to manual

method and bar code.

• Speed: Faster than manually keyed data

entry.

• Human Readable: Easy to print, easy to

copy and word processing compatible.

Some other types of Optical Scanning are:

Magnetic Ink Character

Recognition (MICR)

This method is similar to OCR, and reads

special magnetic inks. Banks and credit card

companies use this method of data collection.

Imaging

A relatively new technology involving advanced

Optical Character Recognition is full-page text

recognition in a desktop environment. New

products on the market are flat-bed desktop

scanners which convert a printed page into wordprocessor documents, spreadsheets, desktop

publishing or database applications automatically

and accurately. It is compatible with PC's and

"Windows".

According to Rick Hsieh, owner of Doctor PC in

Richardson, Texas, "Scanners are the hottest

selling peripherals for personal computers, giving

a 99.9% accuracy rate with optical character

recognition. This has been a slow but very

promising process. Four years ago, prices were

around $3,000, the quality was poor, and machines

could only scan typewritten pages. Only three

years later, we have flat-bed scanners with

autofeed and software capable of reading 250

fonts with basically no training at all for the

user." (Angie Summers, "OCRs and SCANNERS—Their Time Has Arrived", D/FW COMPUTER CURRENTS, July, 1990).

A major airline is implementing a new program

to scan the 300,000 handwritten employment

applications it receives each year. The scannable

forms will soon be in use to computerize all

applicant information. The new system will pro-
vide more accurate and consistent data. The new

system is considered to be more accurate and less

expensive than manual data entry and manual

screening of applications for basic qualifications.

("New Program Computerizes Applications",

Flagship News, American Airlines, January 13,

1992).

A County in Minnesota has "embarked on an

ambitious plan to move from a government that

works with paper to one that operates with images." "Imaging systems using optical disc storage require less than one percent of the space

required for paper. File cabinets cost $495 while

an optical disc, which can store at least as many

documents, costs $125." (Tod Newcombe, "Distributed Computing Helps County Imaging",

Government Technology, February, 1992).

The Cook County, Illinois jail is using retinal

scanners to identify inmates. The blood vessel

pattern in the retina is unique to each person and

is a form of identification as reliable as fingerprints. (Tom Wilson, "Retinal Scanners Identify

Inmates", Government Technology, March, 1992).

Is it possible that this form of identification might

someday be used to identify voters?

In a broad sense, imaging is optical scanning.

In this method, a document (which can be a

printed page, photograph, drawing, etc.) is

scanned, then digitized into machine readable

language, and input into a computer. This method

is being used by geographic systems to produce

maps. Satellites are now regularly circling the

globe and photographing the entire world. These

photos are then digitized and lines drawn on

them to represent districts of many kinds. Since

legislative and precinct boundaries are of particular interest to election administrators, this

technology is becoming very popular in election

offices around the States.

There is a new and exciting technology emerging

called Multi Media, which includes full-motion

video and digitized speech. This could be useful

in developing presentations for training

pollworkers and new employees.

Applications to Election

Administration

What does all of this mean for the election

administrator who is trying to manage ever increasing amounts of data more accurately and

who is trying to streamline election administration?

Scanning technology can be used for any task

that requires tracking and security. It can develop

audit trails and produce reports in such areas as

absentee ballot processing, updating voter history,

maintaining an inventory of supplies and equipment, delivering and returning election supplies,

and other election mailings.

Absentee Ballot Processing

• Using bar codes

Bar codes can be placed on the absentee application. The bar code can represent the voter's

permanent registration identification number, or

it could be a sequential number. Then, every

transaction associated with that absentee ballot

and encoded with that number, from the initial

absentee request through the mailing labels both

to the voter and the return envelope could be bar

coded. Once the bar codes are on every item, they

can be scanned with a reader and the appropriate

data accurately and quickly recorded and tracked.

If Postnet bar codes are included as a part of

the mailing address and meet U.S. Postal Service

specifications, the mailing of absentee ballots will

be faster and less expensive. The use of bar codes

would eliminate the manually keyed error prone

data entry; and therefore, after the initial investment of the setup, would be more accurate and

cost effective from a labor standpoint.

• Using Optical Character Recognition

Optical Character Recognition can be used in

very much the same way for absentee ballot

processing. The only difference would be that the

software must be capable of recognizing the char-
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SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTRATION

PRECINCT REGISTER / POLL LIST

BIRTH A VOTER'S NAME

DATE PLACE S

04/19/40 FL ABNEY EUNICE W

01/21/39 FL ABNEY OTHA L

03/14/38 FL ADKINS MARTHA M

11/08/70 FL AIRRINGTON DIONNE L

09/17/53 FL ALEXANDER ALMEDA TRUFEN

01/01/74 FL ALEXANDER ANITRA D

09/30/59 FL ALEXANDER CATHLEEN C

01/19/53 FL ALEXANDER DVWYNE WILLIS

05/12/57 FL ALEXANDER GEORGE R

12/30/32 FL ALEXANDER GEORGE W

04/02/35 GA ALEXANDER PAULINE B

01/02/53 FL ALLEN LONN I E E

05/27/58 FL ALLISON CYNTHIA E

09/04/55 FL ALLISON Wl LL I E P JR

08/23/12 GA • AMBROSE DOROTHY LEE

03/04/23 FL ANDERSON DOROTHY I

12/04/48 NY * ANDERSON EDDIE D

08/07/42 GA ANDERSON IRA D

12/03/64 FL ANDERSON STACEY LYNN
acters rather than bar codes. The strategy would

be to have the characters on every item of interest, applications/requests andmailinglabels. The

labels could even include ballot style, party affiliation, district emd/or ward information.

Updating Voter History

• Using bar codes

Print the voter registry including the encoded

identification number in a column beside the

signature space. After the election, scan all of the

bar codes where there is a voter's signature. This

quickly builds a file, with a minimum of errors,

and voting credit is applied to each person who

voted in that election. This method simplifies the

maintenance of active voter files and helps at

purge time.

• Using Optical Character Recognition

Print the precinct registries including the

voter's identification number using characters

that are recognizable by the readers. These

readers are usually hand-held wands. The special OCR characters are a special print font and

take longer to print; therefore, careful planning is

needed to ensure enough time is allotted for

printing the registries. After the election, the

operator passes the wand/reader over each I.D.

number where a voter has signed. The voter

history file is built and the manual key-entry has

been eliminated.

Maintaining Inventory

• Using bar codes

It is not difficult to imagine how bar codes could

be used for inventory control when practically

everything we buy has a bar code on it that is used

for pricing and inventory purposes. All election

supplies and equipment could be bar coded with

labels. Forms could be printed with the form

number encoded in bar codes. This could facilitate the return of election supplies from the

precincts on election night. As they are returned

the bar codes can be scanned and each item is

then immediately tracked. This can be helpful in

maintaining security and ensuring that the proper

documentation is in your hands.

Bar coding extra supplies would also provide a

means of knowing when supplies are low and

reordering necessary.

• Using Optical Character Recognition

This would be used in very much the same way,

except that OCR characters would be placed on

every item of interest and the readers must be

capable of reading those characters. Many libraries are using OCR for checking out books and

this technology could be used for checking out

election supplies to precinct workers.

Delivering Election Supplies

• Using bar codes

In large jurisdictions where the delivery of

voting devices and equipment are a big election

preparation project, a bar coding system could be

developed to ensure that the proper election

equipment and supplies are delivered to the appropriate polling place. A curbside pickup recycling program is working well in St. Louis Park,

MN using bar codes, and the same principles

could be applied in the delivery and pickup of

election supplies. It would be worth the initial

investment only in jurisdictions where hundreds

or thousands of pieces of equipment are delivered.

(Clint Pires, Government Technology, Nov. 1991).

Other Election Mailings

Other election mailings — whether they be

voter I.D. cards, voter information items, or even

an all-mail election — are a large part of election

administration. And postage is a major cost item

in any election budget.

In the December 1991 meeting of the FEC's

Clearinghouse Advisory Panel, Mr. Rudy
Nothenberg, Chief Administrative Officer for the

City of San Francisco, spoke about the explosion

in absentee balloting in his jurisdiction. He told

members of the Panel that if they had not yet

experienced that explosion, they soon would. With

that in mind, and with the budgetary problems

that all election officials are facing, the cost and

efficiency of mailing absentee ballots becomes an

even larger issue.

The U. S. Postal Service is in the process of

automating delivery service with the use of bar

codes. In order for this automation to be successful, it requires customer participation. To encourage customer participation, the Postal Service

has some incentives for bulk mailers, in the form

of significant discounts.

The automation program has already begun

and more changes are on the way. Currently, the

Postal Service has installed equipment that scans

the address on your mail and imprints a bar code.

The letter is then sent to a machine called a barcode reader which automatically sorts the mail.

The automation plan is estimated to save 100,000

workers between now and 1993.

A California Automobile Club spends $6.5 million a year on postage to help serve its 3 million

members. The auto club expects to cut $500,000

a year of this cost by taking advantage of the new

Postal Service Prebarcoding Program. A Bell &

Howell Jetstar 3000 Barcode/Sorter machine will

process first class outgoing mail at a rate of

35,000 pieces per hour. This new technology will

lighten the Postal Service's burden and save the

Auto Club postage costs. (Motorland/CSAA,

March/April, 1992).

In order to qualify for the discounts, mail must

be pre-bar coded using the ZIP+4 bar codes.

There are very specific requirements for addressing and placement. Brochures which describe these requirements are available at any

U.S. Postal Service Business Center. There you

can obtain lists of software that has been approved and certified to be compatible with the

automation plan. U.S. Postal Service Publication

No.67, Automation Plan for Business Mailers,

September 1991, and Barcode Update, September 1991 are particularly informative.

Pre-bar coding must include the 9 digit zip code

and the Postal Service has a free service which

will add the 4 digits to each address if the mailer

provides a mailing list on a floppy disk. Request

forms may also be obtained from you local Postal

Service Business Center.

There are numerous related software packages and hardware vendors. Some, but by no

means all, are listed in Appendix 2. Most software

packages print bar codes on envelopes, forms,

and labels. One "shareware" package is available

for as little as $50 (FastZip Mail Program,

Westcoast Software, 976 W. Foothill, Ste 344,

Claremont,CA 91711). This program will handle

5,000 addresses, and another one can handle an

unlimited number of addresses (QuikZip, Postnet

Barcode Printer, Westcoast Software, 976

W.Foothill Ste.344, Claremont, CA 91711).

For jurisdictions with programmers on staff,

these programs can be developed in house, and

customized to be compatible with other County

shared mainframes. For smaller jurisdictions,

the local yellow pages will surely have listings of

computer companies who specialize in bar coding. Another good source would be computer

trade magazines, such as BYTE and ID SYSTEMS. And too, there are always vendors at

election conferences.

Some excellent books for reference before installing any scanning system would be: Reading

Between the Lines, by Craig K. Harmon and Russ

Adams and soon-to-be-published, Lines of Communication, by the same authors.

Summary

When new technology is first introduced, it is

usually expensive. But, in time, the installation

and implementation costs are reduced. Depending on the features and requirements, paybacks
can be realized in just a few elections. The

savings, plus the increased productivity and accuracy are certainly worth investigating.

Many large election jurisdictions are already

using Optical Scanning Technology, but even

smaller election jurisdictions can take advantage

of it. The Personal Computer has become so

powerful and universally used and is relatively

inexpensive, that even a very small jurisdiction

can manage their voter registration and absentee

ballot processing with a minimum investment.

And with the inclusion of bar coding and/or OCR,

accuracy and efficiency will be enhanced.

Appendix 1 provides a list of some election

jurisdictions, large and small, that are now using

scanning technology.

Appendix 1

Jurisdictions Using Optical

Scanning Technology
Brevard County, Florida

Contact: Shirley P. Baccus

Supervisor of Elections

P.O. Box 1119

Titusville, FL 32781-1119

Phone: (407) 264-5005

FAX: (407) 264-5120

192,114 Registered voters with 126 precincts.

Bar coding is used on precinct registries. The

voter's I.D. number is bar coded and a scanner

attached to a PC captures voter history. OCR

scanning is used to track the issuance and return

of Absentee Ballots; also to process returned

renewal cards as part of the renewal process and

to record the issuance of I.D. cards. Cost was

$145,347 to implement OCR System, including

hardware and software. The County Information

System wrote the program for accepting OCR

readings, since it interacts with Voter Registration file, residing on the County mainframe.

Optical Scanning System was custom developed

by IdentiTech, Inc., 1333 Gateway Dr., Mail Stop

1022, Melbourne, FL 31901.

Currently using County Geographic Information System for redistricting/precincting process.

Has future plans for expanding use of scanning

technology, such as using it for inventory purposes.

Cost comparison for Absentee Ballot Processing:

1988

Governor's Election

(Manual)

12,348 ballots

6 employees

Cost per name: $1.80

1990

Governor's Election

(Electronic)

18,667 ballots

2 employees

Cost per name: $.23

District of Columbia

Board of Elections and Ethics

Contact: Joe Baxter

District Bldg., Room Four

1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW

Washington, D.C., 20004

Phone: (202) 727-2525

FAX: (202) 347-2648

325,000 Registered voters with 140 precincts

Uses Optical Character Recognition to capture

voter history and to process and track absentee

ballot requests and returned ballots. Has saved

time and labor costs and improved efficiency.

Used GIST software from Calliper Corp. with the

Census Bureau TIGER files to redistrict. Has

also used ATLAS software for mapping and considers this package to have good presentation.

Leon County, Florida

Contact: Thomas R. James

Election System Program Analyst

Leon County Courthouse

Room 302

Tallahassee, FL 32301

Phone: (904) 488-1350

FAX: (904) 488-1774

88,528 Registered voters with 75 precincts

Uses bar coding for precinct registry books to

capture voter history. Before using bar codes, 6 to

8 employees were needed; now only 3 are needed.

Maricopa County Arizona

Contact: Jim Shumway

Elections Director

111 S. 3rd Ave

Phoenix, AZ 85003

Phone: (602) 506-1540

1,100,000 Registered voters with 1,102 precincts

Uses bar codes to audit precinct returns on

election night and bar codes control ballot transfer

boxes. All registration formsare scanned and

indexed on a "Filenet" system. Before using

optical scanning, it was virtually impossible to

verify signatures on petitions and 35,000 absentee ballot applications. Now, fewer people are

needed. At least 10 employees on two shifts for

three weeks were eliminated from the work force.

10
NOVEMBER 6, 1990 GENERAL ELECTION

ION SANCHO

SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS

LEON COUNTY, FLORIDA
State of Maryland

Contact: Marvin Meyn, Deputy

Board of Election Laws

P.O. Box 231

Annapolis, MD 21404-0231

Phone: (301) 974-3711

Two counties are using bar codes for voter

history credit. Bar codes are printed on the Voter

Authority Cards. Registered voters who vote

have their cards scanned to update the voter

history. Maryland has a five year voting requirement to avoid losing the right to vote. State

has considered using optical scanning to store

campaign reports and other filing documents;

however, budget reductions have delayed this

project.

Orange County, Florida

Contact: Betty Carter,Supervisor

Orange County Board of Elections

P.O. Box 562001

Orlando, FL 32856-2001

Phone: (407) 836-2070

Uses bar codes to capture voter history on

precinct registries. Also uses bar codes on voter

registration renewal notices. The voter's number

is encoded with bar codes and the Election Board's

address on the return card is bar coded. Currently

developing procedures to use bar coding to process

absentee applications and ballots.

Ramsey County Minnesota

Contact: Joan M. Pelzer

Election Supervisor

5 Kellogg Blvd. W Room 113

St. Paul, MN 55102-1697

Phone: (612) 292-7097

FAX: (612) 298-6885

292,000 Registered voters with 211 precincts

Uses bar codes for return of 12,000 absentee

ballot applications; mail is processed faster. Uses

Ultimap GS software to produce maps.

Sacramento County, California

Contact: Marion D. Carlson

Voter Registration and Elections

Election Manager, Campaign Services

3700 Branch Center Rd.

Sacramento, CA 95827

Phone: (916) 366-2765

Uses Kodak Electronic Imaging System (KIMS)

for storage of Campaign Disclosure filings. Utilizes 650 MB optical disk. Monitor has full size

data window, views both portrait and landscape

documents. Prints copy slightly smaller than

original. Software generates reports and has the

ability to transfer data of existing files. The

scanner is flat-bed. It takes approximately 2 to 3

seconds to scan, then another 2 to 3 seconds to

appear on the screen per document; retrieval

time is 2 to 3 seconds.

Documents are scanned daily and are immediately available for viewing and reproduction.

The Fair Political Practice Commission of California recognizes Optical Disk Management as

an acceptable means of document storage and

retrieval, although this may not be true of all

documents in all states. The use of this imaging

process saves paper storage space and provides

the public with current and easy accessibility to

the Campaign Disclosure records. It also eliminates the possibility of misplacement or theft of

the original documents. This system cost $231,000

to install with 2 scanning stations and supporting

hardware and software, with additional fees for

maintenance and upgrade contracts.

San Diego, California

Contact: Ingrid Gonzales

Asst. Registrar of Voters

P.O. Box 85093

San Diego, CA 92186-5093

Phone (619) 694-3402

FAX: (619) 2955

1,200,000 Registered voters with 1,600 precincts

12
BETTY CARTER

SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS

ORANGE COUNTY

P.O. BOX 562001

ORLANDO, FLORIDA 32856-2001

l..ll...l.ll..l..l.l..ll,,,,l,lll.,,ll 11.. 11.1

IMPORTANT NOTICE

VOTER REGISTRATION RENEWAL

Pursuant to Florida S. 98.081-98.210, this card is being mailed to electors who have not

voted during the last two years or requested a status change in writing or who may have

become otherwise disqualified. We are required to remove your name from the official

Orange County voter rolls unless the attached card is signed BY YOUR HAND with any

changes noted, and returned by December 10, 1991.

If all information is correct, sign in the pink box, add a stamp and return the card. To make

corrections, mark each box noting changes, fill in the correct information and sign in the

pink box.

If you have questions, please call 836-2070.

ACT NOW, PRESERVE YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE
• Name Change • Change Mailing Address

• Party Change • Change Orange County Home Address
Uses bar code system to capture voter history.

Voter's record on the precinct roster is scanned

with a wand rather than keyed data entry.

Manually, this process took 400 hours; with bar

codes, it takes 200 hours. Absentee voter applications and ballots are processed using bar codes.

In a recent election, 100,000 absentee voter applications were expected; in fact, 257,000 were

processed. Scanning bar codes on returned ballot

envelopes eliminates key entry of voter information. Speed ratio of data entry is 2 to 1 over

manually keyed entry.

The back cover of sample ballots has bar coded

mailing label and also serves as an absentee voter

application. Two thirds of all absentee voter

applications are received this way. Scanning

saves key entry of voter's name or affidavit

number. Bar coding is twice as fast. Also uses bar

codes to check accuracy of Votomatic ballot pages

assembly. Scanning pages eliminates manual

check of pages and sequence and prevents errors.

It took 9 people in the past and now takes 2 people

with this method.

Bar coding is a feature of Election Management

System developed by Data Information System.

(DIMS), 42116 Fish Hatchery Rd., Scio, OR.

Wands were $2,250 each and the printer was

$31,050. It was purchased as a turn-key system.

Some problems encountered: Label quality is

critical; if labels are unclear or are smudged, they

cannot be read. Testing is extremely important.

Size of bar codes is important; they must be large

enough so bars are clear and small enough to fit

on label and be scanned easily.

County is in process of developing a Regional

Urban Info System, which is a computer mapping

system with layers of information serving the

City and County of San Diego. Portions are now

complete and expected to be fully automated in

two years.

Is experimenting with scanning candidate

statements, but no statistics available at this

time.

Bar coding is easy to use, relatively inexpensive to install and pays for itself in a few months.

The use of bar codes on absentee voter applications printed by campaigns is encouraged. Discounts are offered on data tapes and lists sold to

candidates and campaigns if they agree to include

bar codes on their mailings.

Other counties in California using this system

are: Alameda, El Dorado, Monterey, Nevada, San

Bernardino, San Benito, San Francisco,

Stanislaus, Yolo. Also, Sussex County, NJ and

City of Long Beach, CA.

In the early 1980's Tulsa County, Oklahoma

began using Optical Character Recognition for

capturing voter history to maintain voters' activity. The voter registry was printed using OCR

characters. It was necessary to use a special print

font to prepare the registries, and printing was

somewhat slower. On election day, the voter

signed beside the printed name and unique voter

I.D. number. After the election the number was

scanned and the voter was given credit for voting,

and therefore, remained on the active list. This

method proved to be very successful and was a

great help at purge time.

The accuracy was much improved over manual

key entry. Before using OCR entry, it took about

six months, using 10 to 12 operators to manually

enter this data. The process was started after the

November election. After implementing this

program, it was possible to keep up with each

election before the next one. For example; the

scanning for the August Primary was finished

before the September Runoff. The September

Runoff scanning was finished before the November

General and the November General was finished

by year end.

15

Appendix 2

Those Who Provided Materials

and Information for this Report

17
Bar Codes

ASAP, INC. Bar Code Systems

13101 Washington Blvd. Ste. Il l

Los Angeles, CA 90066 (310) 578-6766

Bottom Line Solutions

11420E. 20

Tulsa, OK 74128 (918) 438-2800

Shirley P. Baccus, Supervisor of Elections

Brevard County

P.O. Box 1119

Titusville, FL 31781-1119 (407) 264-5005

Bar Code Library

Programmers Paradise

New Jersey 1-800-445-7899 Ext.236

Betty Carter, Supervisor

Orange County Board of Elections

119 W.Kaley Street

Orlando, FL 32806-3967 (407)836-2070

Hewlett Packard

Customer Information Center

Bldg. 49AV h) 19310 Pruneridge Ave.

Cupertino, CA 95014 1-800-752-0900

Thomas R. James

Election System Program Analyst

Leon County Courthouses, Room 301

Tallahassee, FL 32301 (904)488-1350

Marvin Meyn, Deputy Administrator

Maryland State Administrative Board of Election Laws

P. O. Box 231

Annapolis, MD 21401-1991 1-800-222-VOTE

Jim Shumway, Election Director

Maricopa County, Arizona

HIS . 3rd Ave

Phoenix, AZ 85003 (602)506-1540

Westcoast Software

FASTZIP Mail Program and QUIKZIP PostNet

Barcode Printer

976 W. Foothill, Ste.344

Claremont, CA 91711 (714) 624-1936

Ramsey County Office of Elections

Joan M. Pelzer, Supervisor

15 Kellogg Blvd. W Room 113

St. Paul, MN 55102-1697 612) 298-6885

Ingrid Gonzales, Assistant Registrar

San Diego Registrar of Voters

P.O. Box 85093

San Diego, CA 92186-509 (619) 298-6885

Seiko Instrument USA, iNC.

Smart Label Printer Plus

1130 Ringwood Court

San Jose, CA 95131 (408)922-5800

Uniform Code Council, Inc.

8163 Old Yankee Rd. Ste. J

Dayton, OH 45458 (513) 435-3870

Imaging

Eastman Kodak Company

Imaging Information Systems

343 State Street

Rochester, NY 14650

Sacramento County Voter Registration and

Elections

Marion D. Carlson, Election Manager

3700 Branch Center Rd.

Sacramento, CA 95827 (916) 366-2765

Business Computer Center

Debra Morgan, Director CAD Division

5460 S. Garnett

Tulsa, OK 74146 (918) 664-4014 Ext.228

Nova, Inc.

2500 W. Higgins Rd. Ste. 1144

Hoffman Estates, IL 60195

Optical Character Recognition

Ocron, Inc.

Perceive (tm) Automatic

Advanced OCR for Desktop Scanners

(No address available)

18
Calera Recognition Systems, Inc.

WordScan (tm) Plus

475 Potrero Ave.

Sunnyvale, CA 94086 (408) 720-8300

Logitech, Inc.

6505 Kaiser Dr.

Fremont, CA 94555 (415) 795-8500

UMAX Technologies, Inc.

Read Station

3170 Coronado Dr.

Santa Clara, CA 1-800-562-0311

Other Acknowledgements

BYTE: April, 1990 - Hardware

May, 1990 - Scanning

August, 1990 - Pen Tax IQ Scan

November, 1990 - Logitech ScanMan

December, 1991 - MultiMedia-On

Track Presentations

Election Data Services, Inc.

1225 I Street, NW Suite 700

Washington, D. C. 20005-3914

Tele: (202)789-2004

19
For information about other

Innovations in Election Administration

contact

National Clearinghouse on Election Administration

Federal Election Commission

999 E. Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20463

Toll Free 800/424-9530

Direct 202/219-3670

FAX 202/219-3880

Cut Here

FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, DC 20463

OFFICIAL BUSINESS

Penalty for Private

Use,$300

Bulk Rate Mail

Postage and Fees Paid

Federal Election Commission

Permit Number G-31