Harris County ePollbook

Overview

The Electronic Pollbook Voter Registration and Check-In system provides a convenient and secure voter check-in solution using barcode scanning technology used to scan drivers license for the voters of Harris County, Texas and has been utilized in 35 plus elections spanning from 2017 through 2024.

With over 3500 iPads deployed in a county wide election, each iPad syncs voter check-in information across the rest of the iPads across the county to ensure information is synced correctly at each polling location. In elections since 2018, the system was processing up to 3000 voter check-ins per minute.

Additionally, a live secure console allows election administrators to manage every aspect of an election and to visualize real-time events such as current check-ins per polling location, check-ins per district and across the county. The system allows the team to identify potential issues such as battery life of a particular iPad, whether it has been plugged in, connectivity, poll workers, messaging, opening and closing the polls to validating procedures by election judges and clerks.

The Challenge:

Ensuring High Availability and Redundancy

• Designing and implementing a system that remains operational even during unexpected outages was a significant challenge. Building a high-availability architecture required robust failover mechanisms, data replication, and efficient recovery strategies.

Connectivity-Independent Functionality

• Developing an iPad-to-iPad sync system to ensure seamless functionality without internet connectivity was a complex task. This involved creating a reliable local synchronization mechanism to prevent duplicate votes at the same location while ensuring data integrity when connectivity is restored.

Security and Data Protection

• Protecting sensitive voter data required the implementation of advanced security measures, such as end-to-end encryption and secure authentication protocols. Addressing potential vulnerabilities, including in transit and at rest, was a high priority.

Scalability and Load Balancing

• The system needed to support high levels of traffic, such as processing 3,000 voter check-ins per minute during peak election periods. Configuring Amazon AWS Load Balancing to handle this scale while ensuring system performance and reliability was a technical hurdle.

Mobile Application Development

• Developing a user-friendly and responsive mobile app to ensure poll workers could easily navigate the system while adhering to strict security and usability requirements posed significant challenges.

Real-Time Synchronization Across 3,500+ Devices

• Synchronizing voter check-in information across thousands of iPads in real time across the county required the development of an efficient and reliable syncing mechanism that could handle both live updates and delayed updates in case of connectivity issues.

Implementation of County-Wide Vote Centers

• The addition of County-Wide Vote Centers, allowing voters to cast ballots at any polling location, introduced new complexities. Ensuring accurate, real-time updates across all polling locations and preventing duplicate votes added further layers of development complexity.

ADA Compliance

• Meeting ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance standards required extensive testing and modification to ensure the website and system were accessible to individuals with disabilities. This included compatibility with screen readers, keyboard navigation, and other accessibility tools.

Administrative Portal Development

• Building a secure, feature-rich administrative portal for real-time election management involved integrating diverse functionalities, such as monitoring polling locations, check-in statistics, device health (e.g., battery life, connectivity), and communication tools for poll workers.

Integration of New Features (e.g., Timesheets)

• The addition of new features such as timesheet management required seamless integration into the existing system without disrupting core functionalities. This involved balancing user needs with development timelines and system stability.

Adhering to Strict Timelines

• Election systems must be operational by fixed deadlines, leaving little room for error or delays. Testing, deploying, and maintaining the system under such constraints was a significant challenge.

User Training and Support

• Ensuring that poll workers and administrators could effectively use the system required robust training materials and ongoing technical support, especially during live elections.