About DVICE's Map of Voting Machines in the USA

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DVICE consulted voting-machine experts, makers, election officials, and studies (see below) to get the most current information on the machines that will be used in the Nov. 4, 2008 U.S. election. Based on this research, DVICE's team of reporters rated each machine in two ways: First is its vulnerability to tampering that could favor one candidate over others, which we call its "hackability." Second is how prone it is to voter error. Both assessments were based solely on the technology.

We rated the machines only relative to each other. Since there are five broad categories of machines, each category was ranked from 1 to 5, with 5 being the strongest rating (most hackable or most error prone) and 1 being weakest (least hackable or error prone). Each rating has been assigned a color:
For example, our reporting found it was determined that punch-card voting is more error prone than lever voting, that lever voting is more error prone than optical-scan voting, that optical-scan voting is more error prone than paper voting, and that paper voting is more error prone than electronic voting. So, the rating for potential voter error looks like this:
For hackability, the rankings are:
As well, we rank (and color) every state based its machines. For a state that uses a single type of machine for 100% of its voting, we simply use the color of the rating. For example, Wyoming uses only optical-scan machines, and the potential for voter error with optical-scan machines is ranked 3, which corresponds to yellow, so Wyoming is colored yellow.

For states deploying more than one type of machine, we averaged the ratings of each type in use, weighted by the percentage of the population of registered voters that will be using those machines. For example, North Carolina uses optical-scan machines for 59.98% of its registered population and electronic machines for 40.02%. Therefore, its hackability rank is [(59.98 x 4) + (40.02 x 5)]/100, which equals 4.4. Where appropriate, decimal ratings are given a color shade in between the two whole-number ratings.

The most important things to keep in mind when exploring DVICE's map of voting machines are that the machine ratings are based solely on the technology, and that they're rated relative to each other. For example, for hackability, we rated electronic machines as the most hackable, so New Jersey, a state that relies heavily on that type, is colored red. This does not mean that vote hacking is likely to happen in New Jersey. It only means, all other variables aside, that if someone were inclined to try to hack voting machines in New Jersey, it is technologically easier to do so there than in states that use other methods.

As another example, Idaho is the only state that still uses punch-card voting, which we've determined is the method with the greatest chance of voter error. This gives Idaho a relatively high rating on that scale, which means that, all other variables aside, based on the voting technology, someone casting a ballot in Idaho has a higher probability of making a mistake there than in states that use other methods.

The following is a partial list of sources consulted for the map:

Primary studies, reports & resources:


Reported by Charlie White, Trevor Curwin, Kevin Hall, Jeff Sauer, Michael Trei, and Peter Pachal


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