Ballot marking device

A ballot marking device (BMD) or vote recorder is a type of voting machine used by voters to record votes on physical ballots. In general, ballot marking devices neither store nor tabulate ballots, but only allow the voter to record votes on ballots that are then stored and tabulated elsewhere.

The first ballot marking device emerged in the late 19th century, but were only widely used starting in the 1960s. Today, electronic ballot markers (EBMs) have come into widespread use as assistive devices in the context of optical scan voting systems. In the context of paper ballots, pens and pencils are used to record votes on ballots, but they are general-purpose items.