The eSlate is an electronic voting system, also known as a Direct Record Electronic (DRE) voting system. The eSlate is manufactured, marketed and supported by Hart InterCivic (www.hartintercivic.com) in partnership with Dell Computer Corporation (www.dell.com). eSlate has won acclaim for its ease of use, accessibility to disabled voters and fast, efficient ballot tabulation. Its unique Rotary Select™ technology ensures voters can confidently and accurately register their votes.

The eSlate™ is about the size of a legal pad, about one inch thick, and weighs just 5.2 pounds. The voter uses a rotary wheel to move through the ballot and select his or her vote – giving new meaning to the phrase "Harris has moved into the future"!

Using the wheel, you, the voter, select a language – English or Spanish. Next, you are asked to enter the four-digit code you will receive upon check-in at the voting site. The code tells the system which ballot to present to you; the code does NOT identify you in any way and cannot be linked to your vote.

The ballot then appears on the color screen, and you use the wheel to move a highlight bar through the ballot. Once you move the highlight bar onto your desired choice, simply press the large button marked ENTER, and the selection is recorded. That choice turns bold, and all the other choices fade into the background, so you have a strong visual signal of your vote.

If you make a mistake or change your mind, all you have to do is to change the selection – the system won’t let you cast more than the allowable number of votes in a race. After you have voted in the last contest on the ballot, a screen will appear listing all the choices you have made and lets you know if you missed voting in any race. If you choose not to vote in the last contest listed on the ballot, simply press the NEXT button to get to your ballot summary screen. From this screen, you can make corrections, as needed, to be sure your votes are counted the way you want them to be. When you are finished reviewing your ballot, press the CAST BALLOT button to put your ballot into the electronic ballot box.

That’s all there is to it. You don’t have to know anything about computers. The eSlate System is really more of an appliance – a state-of-the-art voting appliance that is sure to make Harris County voting faster and easier.

For more information