Solution to COVID-19’s Disruption of 2020 Elections

Boston, MA – The threat of contracting COVID-19 isn’t only disrupting transportation, education, and security, it’s also disrupting elections all across the United States. States have already been forced to postpone primaries or change voting methods, as voting in person could truly be a life-or-death choice. Clear Ballot is willing and ready to step up to help states meet these challenges and is uniquely qualified to do so as the industry-leader in paper ballot and vote-by-mail technology. 

“Clear Ballot’s mission has always been to lead in cutting-edge technology that will make elections secure and transparent. In light of the deadly coronavirus, that mission has expanded to include combating the threat facing our elections, and thus our democracy," said Bob Hoyt, CEO of Clear Ballot. “Leaders need to establish vote-by-mail systems immediately to meet the challenges we are facing. Clear Ballot will partner with institutions – public and private – to ensure states have the equipment and capacity to accomplish this goal.”

States switching to exclusively mail-in voting is the only way to ensure that every vote is counted and that every voter can cast a ballot without fear of contracting COVID-19. Right now, many states are not set up to handle a major influx of mail-in ballots. See below for background on how the company can help states manage the switch:

1. Clear Ballot provides the only system (ClearCount) flexible enough to tabulate the ballots of all other Voting System Manufacturers. This flexibility allows our system to fit in seamlessly with all existing infrastructure. This has been proven in Florida, Maryland, New York and Vermont, where Clear Ballot re-tabulates their primary voting systems’ ballots to verify accuracy.
2. Clear Ballot’s voting technology (ClearVote) creates efficiencies before, during, and after the scanning of mailed ballots. It eliminates the need to manually duplicate ballots prior to scanning due to common issues found on Vote-by-Mail ballots including voter errors, excessive folds or tears.
3. Available ballot scanning configurations have been tested to capacities in excess of 70,000 ballots per hour of actual throughput. During or after scanning, innovative Vote-Visualization software identifies unreadable ballots or voter-error for human resolution so every vote is counted as intended.
4. Clear Ballot products make tabulating votes, processing results, and producing analyses secure, transparent, and efficient. Clear Ballot's machines also provide digital results on a closed network, a strong security control which greatly reduces the system's exposure.

The strength of our democracy relies on states’ swift and aggressive response to this crisis. Clear Ballot is ready to partner with counties, states, and the U.S. government to ensure states are equipped to administer our elections and protect our democratic systems. 

About Clear Ballot:

As the leader in election innovation, Clear Ballot has introduced a new class of tools and a modern approach to voting, enabling unprecedented speed, accuracy, and transparency that officials and the voting public have sought for decades. Clear Ballot entered the election industry with its first product in 2012, disrupting the industry with the nation’s first independent, automated audit, and four years later has developed a complete voting system which is now the fastest growing voting system in the industry. Clear Ballot’s commitment to ease of use and modern technology means that its browser-based software runs on the most modern operating systems in the industry and will always be up to date. 

Clear Ballot conducts statewide post-election audits in Maryland and Vermont as well as in counties across Florida and New York. The ClearVote voting system is federally certified and is used in Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania. 

Contact:
Carolyn Weigold
Marketing & Communications Manager
media@clearballot.com