As if conducting successful elections in Venezuela and Belgium, and providing various electoral services for the two rounds of the municipal elections in Brazil in the span of one month was not enough, Smartmatic, the world leader in the electoral automation industry, is also present at the 2012 US General Election. The state-of-the-art Edge2Plus Model 300 voting machine, designed and manufactured by Smartmatic, started being used in the city of Chicago and Cook County, IL, with the opening of early voting in many jurisdictions across the nation.
The Edge2Plus Model 300 was developed in a joint collaboration with Cook County’s Accessibility Advisory Committee, representatives from the City of Chicago, and the Mayor’s Office. It is a highly auditable electronic voting machine that provides a Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), and fully complies with the recommendations and requirements set forth by HAVA (Help America Vote Act) and the Electoral Assistance Commission in terms of security, accuracy and enfranchisement of disabled voters.
Early voting, which allows voters to cast votes days before Election Day, is one of the many peculiarities about the US electoral system. It was designed to increase turnout by widening the opportunities to cast a vote, and to relieve congestion of polling stations on Election Day. It can be done by sending an early voting ballot through mail, or in person at a specially designated early voting center. President Obama’s made history on October 25, by becoming the first-ever incumbent president to cast an early vote. We are honored to emphasize that he voted using our technology.
The following video shows Mr. Obama expressing his positive views on the early voting process and on the convenience our technology facilitates.