About Prime III
Accessible Electronic Voting System.
Prime III was created in 2003 at Auburn University in the Human Centered Computing Lab as the single most accessible electronic voting system. It offers a secure, multimodal electronic voting system that delivers the necessary system security, integrity and user satisfaction safeguards in a user-friendly interface that accommodates all people regardless of ability. Prime III implements a Universal Design. By Universal Design, we mean " an approach to the design of all products and environments to be as usable as possible by as many people as possible regardless of age, ability or situation. Other terms for Universal Design used around the world include Design For All, Inclusive Design, and Barrier-Free Design." (Universal Design Education Online) Prime III enables those who may have difficulty seeing, hearing, speaking, or reading, as well as those who may have other physical disabilities, such as missing limbs, with the ability to vote securely, privately, and with dignity. Dr. Juan E. Gilbert thusly named Prime III because it is considered a third-generation voting device. First generation voting was done with mechanical equipment and paper (e.g., lever machines, punch cards, etc.) Second-generation voting uses computers (e.g., optical scan, Direct Recording Electronic [DRE] voting machine.) Third generation devices are multimodal (e.g., Prime III, AutoMark). These are machines that accommodate multiple voters on one machine using multimodality. Prime III is a third generation voting device that allows voters to cast their ballot using touch, voice or both.