Voting Technologies Overview U.S. jurisdictions use a variety of technologies for casting and counting ballots. Elections can be conducted entirely by mail. Some jurisdictions are experimenting with Internet voting. The Federal Election Commission publishes voluntary standards for voting equipment and software. About 30 states follow these standards.
Most states have a certification process for voting equipment.
Voters either touch the screen or press buttons to indicate their choices. When the polls close, some of these machines print out vote totals. They also have removable memory cartridges that contain all of the voting data, and some of the machines come equipped with modems that automatically send the results by phone to an election office. Electronic DREs are not suitable for counting absentee or mail ballots. Models include the Sequoia Pacific AVC Edge , Global AccuTouch and the ESS Votronic .