MONITORING ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGIES IN ELECTORAL PROCESSES ------systems is part of the electoral process. It requires that election officials have a clear test plan and that testing and outcomes are recorded and shared with monitors in a timely and understandable manner. If tests are performed on a smaller scale, for example on a small sample of equipment, the tests are considered design tests or model tests. Performance tests are those that test the complete set of equipment. If the election officials do not perform a full scale performance test, it is necessary to establish criteria by which a sample of the equipment will be tested. The sample should be on a proper statistical probabilistic sample, where every piece of equipment that will be deployed to registration points has the same chance to be selected. Tests should not include just "the first 100 pieces of equipment delivered" or other arbitrary criteria because such tests have proven to be unreliable indicators of how the full set of equipment will perform. Monitors from the political contestants and observer groups should be allowed to review sampling methodology. Monitors from observation groups and political contestants must thoroughly understand the system in order to evaluate whether performance tests can be reduced to test a sample of the equipment. Sometimes it is absolutely necessary to conduct full scale tests, especially if the equipment requires calibration and fine tuning (such as bio identification systems like fingerprint scans) or if it is impossible to troubleshoot problems once the equipment is deployed. Accountability. As with every other aspect of the electoral process, direct recording of voter data should follow the principle of accountability. This means that every sensitive action should be recorded and stored to provide opportunities for possible examination. Since electronic records are not accessible to the public, individual voters cannot verify whether the equipment recorded their data properly. Therefore, direct recording registration systems must provide each voter with proof of her or his submission of their data. This proof can be a printout of the voter's record or some other type of receipt or certificate. Voters thereby are given an ability to prove their involvement in the registration process, which is usually needed in order to seek remedies should they discover errors or omission of their data. 37