RE: GEMS election definition files

["Ken Clark" <ken@gesn.com>]

All the files required:  the database .gbf dump.

One page description detailing how to generate it:  Election Menu -> Backup.

Don't be shy about posting stuff to the lists.  Everyone will help you to
get up to speed.  The GEMS user manual is a good starting point for
questions like this.  You can also search the support archives for answers
to common stuff.  The archives are on the staff site.  Jane or similar can
show you the ropes.

Ken




> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-support@gesn.com [mailto:owner-support@gesn.com]On Behalf Of
> Mark S Earley
> Sent: Monday, December 31, 2001 9:50 AM
> To: support@gesn.com
> Subject: GEMS election definition files
>
>
> The Florida Division of Elections is requesting two things from Global:
>
> 1. a listing of all of the files in GEMS that taken together fully define
> the programming of an election (precincts, districts, offices with
> districts and # to vote for, candidates, AV parameters, etc.)
> 2. a one page description detailing how to generate these files.
>
> The Division requires each county to submit the files to the
> Division after
> the county holds their L&A public test. He wants to be able to
> provide each
> county with these specifics on January 7th or 8th. He intends to have a
> standardized filing requirement for all Global counties in
> Florida. In the
> past, Global counties in Florida were required to submit 5 paper
> reports to
> the Division detailing the various election parameters. With users
> switching to GEMS from VTS, he is requiring electronic submission of the
> files.
>
> I believe that a simple backup of the database would fit the bill
> perfectly
> since it is small (for ease in sending to the Division), complete (it has
> everything needed to recreate the election), and simple to generate
> (compared to the many individual reports that counties using
> other systems
> must generate for each election - this could be a minor selling point).
>
> Paul Craft of the Division mentioned he has looked at using
> backups of the
> election data from other vendors, but problems loading the
> backups onto his
> tabulation system precluded this. However, I do not believe there is any
> difficulty in loading a GEMS election backup onto another
> computer running
> GEMS, we do it all of the time. Are there any hidden concerns people have
> about using a backup of the database for filing? As an alternative, does
> anyone have a complete yet succinct listing of the files needed to fully
> recreate an election in GEMS?
>
> This is my first posting to one of these groups - be kind.
>
> Mark