Voting Technology Leaders Scytl and Election Systems & Software Team with Virginia State Board of Elections on Advanced Research Project for Military and Overseas Voters

BALTIMORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Scytl and Election Systems & Software (ES&S) joined with the Virginia State Board of Elections to host a February 8^th exhibition showcasing currently available accessible voting technology specifically for military and overseas voters. This exhibition was the first step in a much larger program designed to study ways to enable Virginia’s military and overseas voters to vote privately and securely – and improve their voting experience - while out of the country and away from traditional in-person polling places in the United States.

“This technology is important as it allows all absentee voters to cast their ballots securely, privately and independently.”

“The Virginia State Board of Elections, in partnership with Scytl and ES&S, was pleased to offer the members of the General Assembly, representatives of the armed services and citizens of Virginia and surrounding areas the opportunity to view and experience accessible voting equipment that may be used in the future, by both active duty personnel and their wounded comrades recovering away from home, to allow them to participate in the electoral process,” said Matthew J. Davis, Information Services Manager for the Virginia State Board of Elections. “This technology is important as it allows all absentee voters to cast their ballots securely, privately and independently.”

This technology exhibition was the beginning phase of a larger project being conducted by the Virginia State Board of Elections, in partnership with Scytl and ES&S, which has the overall goal of identifying technologies that can increase voting participation across all military circumstances including disabilities, distance and location. In addition to voting technology, other election solutions that will be reviewed as part of the research project include mobile voting technologies for deploying military units.

The Commonwealth of Virginia received an award of $400,000 from the U.S. Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) for an Advanced Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) Research Project out of the approximately $20 million total grant funding that the U.S. Department of Defense has distributed through FVAP to support research to advance the electronic options for military and overseas citizens when voting absentee. Out of grant recipients selected thus far by FVAP, the Commonwealth of Virginia is the only state slated to receive funding specifically to study the special needs of deployed and wounded service members.

During the next phase of this project, the Virginia State Board of Elections, Scytl and ES&S plan to work with Virginia-based military units to study the feasibility of mobile voting technology. They also plan to work with local Veterans hospitals and other organizations to conduct a mock election that will allow the study of special accessibility needs for wounded service members returning from combat operations.

“The exhibition of accessible election solutions for military and overseas voters was very encouraging,” said Davis. “We were pleased that members of the Virginia General Assembly, the Virginia National Guard and other members of the United States Military and concerned citizens came out to review the many technological advancements available to assist our military and overseas voters. We are looking forward to continuing this very important research.”

Scytl and Election Systems & Software signed an agreement in May, 2011 to jointly market solutions for military and overseas voters in the United States and have been working together with election jurisdictions ever since to demonstrate these initiatives.

We’re very proud of our work with the Virginia State Board of Elections in this important area of assisting military and overseas voters,” said David Campbell, U.S. General Manager for Scytl’s Electronic Voting Division. “Our voting technology solutions combine the extensive election leadership of ES&S with the secure cryptographic online platform and accessibility enhancements pioneered by Scytl. Our companies are excited to work with the Virginia Board of Elections and all associated stakeholders on such an important endeavor.”

About Scytl (www.scytl.com)
Scytl is a worldwide leader in the development of secure technology solutions for the modernization of elections. The company’s solutions incorporate unique cryptographic protocols that enable Scytl to carry out a variety of election processes in a completely secure and auditable manner. Scytl’s election technology has been successfully deployed for United States overseas and military voters since 2008 and, in conjunction with the Federal Voting Assistance Program, Scytl's online ballot delivery technology for military and overseas voters was successfully used in 14 states during the November 2010 general elections enabling overseas voters to securely receive electronic ballots while providing election officials with administrative efficiency to manage the complex overseas voting processes. In addition to the deployment of Scytl’s technology in the United States, the company’s secure election solutions have been used in public elections by governments in the countries of the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Norway, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, South Africa, India and Australia. Scytl is a portfolio company of leading international VC funds Nauta Capital, Balderton Capital and Spinnaker. Scytl recently purchased SOE Software of Tampa, Florida, adding to its election product and service offerings. Scytl is based in Barcelona, Spain with its U.S. headquarters in Baltimore and offices in Florida, Toronto, New Delhi, Athens, Kiev and Singapore.

About Election Systems & Software, Inc. (www.essvote.com)
Election Systems & Software, LLC. (ES&S) is the world’s largest and most experienced provider of total election management solutions. For nearly 40 years, ES&S — as a company solely focused on elections and the leader in its industry — has grown to support a customer base of more than 4,372 jurisdictions throughout the world, and more than 290,000 election systems installed worldwide. ES&S is the world’s largest and most experienced provider of total election management solutions. For nearly 40 years, ES&S — as a company solely focused on elections and the leader in its industry — has grown to support a customer base of more than 4,372 jurisdictions throughout the world, and more than 290,000 election systems installed worldwide.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50220285&lang=en