OF

In 1997 Rhode Island moved from the mechanical lever machine to a more technically advanced optical scan precinct count voting system. In 2006 after sev-eral close races, Rhode Island’s Supreme Court ruled that Rhode Island elections rely too heavily on voting technology. It is no secret that concerns about election systems are on the rise around the country. Each election, voters rely on machines from proprietary vendors to carry out democracy and officials worry about “An-other Florida. ” We cast our vote and walk away with no evidence that our vote has become part of the official tally. In the event of an election failure, the only extant recourse is a total recount of paper ballots if they exist. Recounts are not only discouraged but by law are only conducted in a race with a very slim margin. This dissertation represents the first technical initiative to address Rhode Island’s need for further technical understanding of the voting equipment in which we entrust our elections. We seek to increase the awareness of forensic techniques within our election technology community and to show how their inclusion in th