News and Events
Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in Election Polling Locations
Unisyn recommends a three-step approach to preventing the spread of acute respiratory illnesses such as COVID-19 and the flu in election polling locations. The first and most important step is to provide voters, election officials and poll workers with a means to clean their hands. Whether it is using soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, clean hands dramatically reduces the spread of germs.
Recommend Hand Cleaning Method
Post signs in the bathroom or handwashing stations to remind voters to wash their hands with soap and hot water for at least 20 seconds and to dry their hands thoroughly prior to using the voting equipment. If the polling location does not have a handwashing station, hand sanitizer with at least 65% alcohol must be made available. The hand sanitizer should be placed in an obvious and easily accessible location such as the registration desk.
NOTE: Do not handle thermal paper or ballots after using hand sanitizer or other disinfecting wipes as chemicals may degrade legibility. The second step is to clean the visibly dirty surfaces of the voting equipment. Cleaning does not kill all the germs, but it does decrease the number of germs present and reduces the risk of spreading a virus.
Recommended Cleaning Method
Clean the entire terminal, and its peripherals, by wiping with a soft cloth dampened with a mild detergent solution to remove any dust or fingerprints. Follow this with bleach-free household disinfection wipes to disinfect the equipment.
-
Equipment Case – Clean the case with a slightly damp cloth and mild detergent. Only clean the external areas of the terminal, DO NOT clean any of the internal components. Do not use the mild detergent cleaning solution on any of the exposed areas of the printer.
-
Touchscreen – Clean the display using a soft, clean microfiber cloth and water, IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol), or Hexane. Do not use ketone type material (such as acetone), ethyl alcohol, toluene, ethyl acid or methyl chloride to clear the panel. These substances may permanently damage the touchscreen.
-
Keypad – Use a damp cloth to clean the keypad. Use a cotton swab lightly moistened with water to clean around keys.
The third step is to disinfect the voting equipment using bleach-free household wipes.
Recommended Disinfecting Method
Disinfecting the equipment will not remove all the germs on surfaces, but it aids in killing the germs that remain on a surface after cleaning and further reduces any risk of spreading infection. Use bleach-free household wipes to disinfect the voting equipment each time they are used. If necessary, wring excess liquid from the wipe, it should be damp not heavily saturated with cleaner.
Resources:
News:
2024 Conferences:
-
NASS
-
Feb 7-10
-
-
Missouri Urban Board
-
June 6-12
-
Elections
-
March 5th, 2024
-
VA Presidential Primary
-
MO Charter Cities & Counties
-
UT Presidential Preference Election
-
TN Presidential Preference Election
-
-
March 19th, 2024
-
AZ Presidential Preference
-
IL Presidential Preference
-
OH Presidential Primary
-
KS Presidential Preference
-
-
April 2nd 2024
-
MO General Municipal
-
-
April 23rd, 2024
-
PA Presidential Primary
-
-
May 7th, 2024
-
IN Presidential Primary
-
-
June 4th, 2024
-
IA Primary
-
-
June 18th, 2024
-
UT Primary
-
VA Primary
-
Unisyn Sets High Standard for Future Election System Testing
San Diego, CA – March 29, 2019 – Unisyn Voting Solutions, Inc. (Unisyn) is the first voting system manufacturer to complete the rigorous Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity Product Assessment testing for its OpenElect® suite of products.
DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Christopher Krebs noted in a letter to Unisyn that “I believe that Unisyn’s partnership during the evaluation process stemmed from the security-conscious culture that your leadership and staff demonstrated while working with our evaluation team.”
In July of 2018, Unisyn became the first DHS election industry partner to undergo this testing. During the National Cyber Assessments and Technical Services (NCATS) Product Cybersecurity Assessment, a cybersecurity research team from Idaho National Labs (INL) performed a cybersecurity assessment of the Unisyn election system that was completed on October 31, 2018. The purpose of the assessment was to understand the functionality of the system in relation to the current cybersecurity risk assessments and make recommendations to address these items in the interest of protecting the critical infrastructure controlled by Unisyn election systems from a cyber or physical attack. The test protocol was based on a set of assessment targets developed in conjunction with Unisyn and DHS program personnel.
Jeff Johnson, President of Unisyn stated, “Unisyn is very proud of this accomplishment. Our team worked very closely with INL in not only the testing of Unisyn products but also assisting INL in establishing guidelines for their future testing of products used in elections. Our goal has always been to provide secure and accurate elections for the voters of America. With the assistance of the professionals at DHS, we have identified additional improvements to system security, and are working to implement them as part of our ongoing effort to improve our product and the voter experience.”
About Unisyn Voting Solutions, Inc.
Unisyn Voting Solutions, Inc. is dedicated to helping government institutions and private entities optimize their election programs and provide best-in-class service. Our innovative approach enables us to deliver election systems and products that are secure, auditable, flexible, and provide transparency. Unisyn’s OpenElect® suite of products have been certified to the 2005 VVSG Certification from the Help America Vote Act guidelines as set forth by the EAC for a digital optical scan voting system, and they are built on a Java and hardened Linux platform. Unisyn makes code available for review by trusted election officials as part of a procurement process. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of International Lottery & Totalizator Systems, Inc., Unisyn also designed the InkaVote Plus precinct ballot counter which is currently used in Los Angeles County, California.