Voter Assist Terminal
The AutoMark is a ballot marking system designed to provide privacy and accessibility to voters who are blind, vision-impaired, or have a disability or condition that would make it difficult or impossible to mark a ballot in the usual way. In addition, it provides language assistance to voters who are more comfortable speaking an alternative language or who have reading difficulties. The 
AutoMark voter assist terminal has been developed with input from election authorities and disability organizations, and meets all of the requirements of “The Help America Vote Act of 2002.”
Voters insert their standard optically scanned ballot--punch-card width or standard page width--into the slot, and the AutoMark reads the ballot style. There’s no need for a special ballot. Voters can use the touch screen to scroll through the options and make their selections. Then the AutoMark prints the selections onto the ballot, and the ballot is returned to the voter to be cast in the regular fashion.
Accessibility for Voters with Disabilities
Disabilities which might prevent a voter from marking a ballot range from blindness or impaired vision, to an age-related condition such as arthritis or Parkinson's disease. In addition, a temporary condition such as a broken arm could make it difficult for a person to mark his or her vote. The AutoMark voter assist terminal displays each race on screen in a variety of magnifications, and the voter uses the touch screen to make a selection. Blind voters or those with severely impaired vision can choose to listen to the choices through headphones.
Alternative Language Accessibility
Assuring that all citizens in a diverse population can exercise their privilege to vote, visual and audible ballots in multiple languages can be stored on a single machine.
Audit Capability
The AutoMark does not tally or store votes. The AutoMark simply marks a conventional paper ballot which is then cast by the voter. The paper ballot can be audited in the same manner as hand marked ballots.
Protect Legacy Systems
The AutoMark is designed to work with and enhance all major optical scan/mark sense voting systems currently in use. It is expected that the vast majority of voters will continue to manually mark paper ballots during the election process. Voters with disabilities or a personal preference will be able to use the AutoMark by inserting the same paper ballot used by other voters into the AutoMark. 
After all decisions have been made by the voter, the AutoMark prints those selections on the paper ballot which is then cast by the voter in a manner identical to all other voters, using existing optical scanner hardware/software solutions. There's no need to reinvest in a new ballot style or tabulation system.
Write-In Candidates
The AutoMark also allows for write-in candidates where appropriate. Voters can spell their candidate’s name using a touch-screen keyboard. Blind voters can use audio prompts to navigate through and select letters one at a time. After all selections are made and the answers have been confirmed by the voter, the AutoMark prints the name of the designated write-in candidates in the appropriate locations on the ballot.
No Special Ballot
The AutoMark does not require a special ballot. Voters with disabilities and those requiring language assistance use the same ballot as any other voter. The AutoMark scans the ballot to determine the appropriate ballot style, and presents the choices for each race in sequence. Once the voter has made his or her selections, the AutoMark fills in the ovals or squares and prints the write-ins as entered by the voter. The voter then takes the marked ballot to the tabulation equipment, just like any other voter. There is no need to print special ballots, and voters with disabilities get the same privacy and confidentiality as other voters.
Over-Voting
Over-voting cannot occur when a voter uses the AutoMark to mark his or her ballot. The AutoMark software has been developed to ensure that no more than the proper number of candidates can be chosen for each race.
Under-Voting
The AutoMark minimizes under-voting by providing voters with a summary page of their selections. Voters will be able to notice any skipped races and are free to change their selections prior to printing.
Availability
The AutoMark Voter Assist Terminal has been federally certified and is in use in 35 states.
