Sheboygan County, Wisconsin Selects ClearVote For New Voting System

BOSTON, MA – Clear Ballot announced today that Sheboygan County will be the first in the state of Wisconsin to use ClearVote. ClearVote was federally certified in February and in Wisconsin in March. Sheboygan will use ClearVote for its next election in August 2018.

ClearVote is a paper-based voting system, and the first built with commercial-off-the-shelf components paired with modern software, which lowers the lifetime cost of ownership for jurisdictions and saves taxpayer dollars.

For Sheboygan County, the small footprint and compact design is what set the ClearVote system apart. Jon Dolson, Sheboygan County Clerk, said “Clear Ballot was chosen for Sheboygan County because of its innovation in the industry. Clear Ballot started from scratch designing that new generation, when it seemed the old guard manufacturers were simply updating old equipment, old methods, old processes, and not much seemed to change.  Clear Ballot is clearly different in a good way.”  

“It has been gratifying to work with Jon and his team at Sheboygan County and to see their excitement over the practical innovations we’ve brought to elections,” said Larry Moore, Clear Ballot’s founder and CEO.  “Voters appreciate the shorter lines that higher performance brings, poll-workers enjoy easier setup, the warehouse staff likes smaller and easier to program equipment, and financially, Clear Ballot adds functionality over time without requiring new hardware purchases.”

ClearVote allows election officials to view ballot images in ways that have never been possible before. For example, large-scale 100% independent audits can be conducted with ease, and close elections can be resolved with full confidence in minutes. Election officials can now have a new class of visual tools to strengthen public trust.

ClearVote is made up of the following components: 

• ClearCount: a high-speed tabulation and real-time reporting system that scans ballots with commercial-off-the-shelf scanners and allows election officials to visualize voter intent on every ballot. ClearCount will change the way election officials process write-in votes, reducing the human error inherent in ballot handling and therefore increasing efficiency in election administration.
• ClearDesign: a ballot design and layout tool that is intuitive and fast. The user interface allows ballot designers to create, proof and generate ballots quickly with familiar formatting tools including modern text editors. ClearDesign includes modern language and audio handling capabilities to aid jurisdictions of all sizes.
• ClearCast: the precinct scanner of the future. The commercially available components that comprise ClearCast improve the speed and reliability of precinct voting. ClearCast produces archival quality ballot images in a compact machine that reduces the cost and burden of transportation and storage.
• ClearAccess: an in-person ballot marking system designed to ensure accessibility for all voters. Developed with feedback from voters at the Perkins School for the Blind, ClearAccess captures voters’ choices and prints machine-readable ballots that can be scanned and tabulated within the same processing stream as voter-marked ballots. ClearAccess is the only accessible voting solution to use the Anywhere Ballot, developed by the Center for Civic Design with a grant from the EAC.

ClearVote is certified in Ohio and Wisconsin. Much of ClearVote is certified in Oregon, Washington and Colorado for vote-by-mail, significantly improving the efficiency and transparency of their election processes over multiple election cycles. ClearCount is certified in New York for central count absentee and audits. Clear Ballot also conducts statewide audits in Maryland and Vermont as well as parts of Florida.

About Clear Ballot:

Clear Ballot is the leader in election innovation. We have 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. Designed for ease-of-use, Clear Ballot’s browser-based software, used in conjunction with commercially available scanning hardware, scales to election jurisdictions of all sizes, and responds directly to the budgetary realities of counties and municipalities. Our election technology has been used in six states, and is federally certified as of February 2018.

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