Early Testing of Post-Election Systems and Processes
Once polls close, the work of securing election records continues. Data transfer, verification, and documentation are essential parts of the post-election phase and ensure accurate, secure, and well-documented certification.
This installment of our four-part series on testing the entire election process walks through core post-election processes with a security lens. We’re highlighting where risks emerge and how election offices can reinforce the integrity of their data all the way through canvass and retention. All workflows benefit from testing and refinement well before the post-election period.
Absentee Processing: Securing Ballot Flow
In some jurisdictions, absentee processing continues beyond Election Day, and every step must preserve the chain of custody and accuracy of voter participation records. You can test absentee workflows today by walking through the data transfer and reconciliation steps you’ll rely on later.
- Run a mock reconciliation of issued, returned, and counted ballots to confirm your reports match across systems.
- Test how absentee status updates move into voter registration and canvassing systems.
- Validate that late-arriving UOCAVA and provisional ballots have a clear, documented workflow.
- Ensure your documentation of absentee processing supports both internal review and public transparency.
These checks help you confirm that your data flows cleanly, your reports are accurate, and staff know how to handle exceptions.
Provisional Ballots: Curing, Processing, and Documenting Decisions
Provisional ballots introduce manual decision‑making, which means you can test the security of these workflows in advance.
- Review and test your curing workflow with sample cases.
- Confirm that each decision point has clear ownership and documentation requirements.
- Practice entering provisional decisions into voter registration and canvass systems, then verify the results.
Errors here cascade. A single mis-entered status can affect participation records, reporting, and audit trails. This early testing helps ensure that high‑risk, exception‑driven work is consistent and defensible.
Election Night Reporting: Validating What You Publish
Election Night Reporting (ENR) is a public‑facing data transfer, and you can test its accuracy, performance, and security long before Election Day. Accuracy is only half the job. On election night, your results site likely receives more traffic in an hour than it does during much of the rest of the year, and a page that stalls or times out invites questions about why.
- Validate tabulator output formats using test files.
- Practice matching and verifying hash values to ensure staff can perform the check quickly and confidently.
- Run ENR test uploads to confirm precincts, contests, and vote types appear correctly.
- Run a load test at traffic well above your highest past peak.
- Confirm who you call on election night, what response time they commit to, and whether coverage extends through the hours you will still be posting.
- Have a fallback ready if the site slows or goes down, such as a static results page, a posted PDF, or pushing numbers through your state site and your own channels.
This is not just a technical step; it’s a public trust step. These exercises help you identify interface issues before they become election night problems.
Canvass Preparation: Turning Raw Results Into an Official Record
Canvass is where you prove your processes worked. You can test these workflows now using mock data.
- Conduct a mock reconciliation of ballots, voters, and results.
- Test data transfers between systems to confirm interfaces behave as expected.
- Review how anomalies, corrections, and late updates are documented.
- Verify that absentee and provisional decisions appear correctly in your canvass reports.
Ask your team: How do we know these data transfers worked? Where is the evidence? Who is accountable for each step? This preparation ensures your canvass is orderly, evidence‑based, and ready for scrutiny.
Retention: Securing Election Records for the Long Term
Retention is a security function, not just a storage exercise. Consider these actions as you prepare for Election Day:
- Review your archiving plan for digital and physical materials.
- Test your labeling and documentation process.
- Practice hash validation on archived digital files.
- Confirm storage space and protocol protect and secure the equipment.
- Review your document destruction procedures to confirm they meet federal and state requirements and that the steps are clear.
These checks help ensure your retention plan is complete, consistent, and audit‑ready.
Equipment Closeout: Ending the Election with Discipline
Equipment closeout is a final opportunity to reinforce data integrity, and you can test these steps now.
- Practice validating hashes on critical files before archiving.
- Test your device documentation process to confirm staff captures the right information.
- Review secure storage procedures for tabulators, ballot marking devices, e-pollbooks, and any other equipment or accessories reserved for election-only use.
- Confirm your e‑pollbook data transfer workflow is complete and reconciled.
Post-election work is where your security practices are proven, and the best way to ensure they run smoothly is to test them before you need them. Walking through these workflows now gives you confidence that your systems, staff, and procedures are ready. Early testing strengthens your security posture, reduces surprises, and sets the stage for a clean, defensible canvass and retention period.
The Planning Desk is a running timeline of key election security tasks. You can find prior editions in the newsletter archive.