Electronic pollbook

An electronic pollbook, also known as an e-poll book, is typically either hardware, software or a combination of the two that allows election officials to review and/or maintain voter register information for an election, but does not actually count votes. This software or hardware is used in place of paper-based poll books, which are typically three-ring binders. Often, the functions of an e-pollbook include voter lookup, verification, identification, precinct assignment, ballot assignment, voter history update and other functions such as name change, address change and/or redirecting voters to correct voting location.

Where this is deployed, it has both consolidated broad data (from entire city, county and/or federated state) into usable information at a polling place and has replaced a paper-based system or complemented the paper processes. This consolidation has replaced or supplemented a manual process, usually a telephone call, from a precinct back to the local or regional board of elections. Normally, the information handled by an e-pollbook is public information that can be found in public or online.

In 2006, at least two vendors had problems with e-pollbooks, including Diebold in Maryland in September 2006[1] and Sequoia Voting Systems in Denver, Colorado in November 2006.[2]

More jurisdictions are adopting electronic poll books in place of cumbersome paper-based poll books. For example, in January 2014, the City of Chicago reached an agreement with Election Systems & Software [3] to provide more than 2,100 ExpressPoll voter check-in and verification devices to support the city's 1.6 million registered voters.[4] The e-pollbook system was first used in Chicago's 2014 primary elections.