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 . Optical Scanning Optical scanners use forms similar to standardized tests or some lottery tickets.
Voters fill in bubbles or connect arrows on the ballot to indicate their choices.
The ballot is fed into the optical scanner, which scans and reads the ballot much the way a fax machine scans a page. The scanner stores the vote totals. Optical scanning can occur at the precinct level or at a central location. Vote totals are transmitted by phone or modem, or memory cartridges are removed from the machines and delivered to the election offices. With central scanning, after the polls close, ballots are transported from the precincts to a central location.