H. B. 3073
(By Delegates Amores and Trump)
[Introduced
March 16, 2005
; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §3-4A-28 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to elections generally; and making
certain technical changes clarifying access to maintenance and
examination of sealed post-election materials and equipment
during the canvass and requiring the immediate resealing.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §3-4A-28 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4A. ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEMS.
§3-4A-28. Post-election custody and inspection of vote recording
devices; canvass and recounts.
(a) The vote recording devices, the ballot labels, ballot
cards, program decks and standard validation test decks are to
remain sealed during the canvass of the returns of the election and
for a period of seven days thereafter, except that the equipment
may be opened for the canvass and it is to must be resealed
immediately thereafter. During that a seven day period after the completion of the canvass, any candidate or the local chair of a
political party may be permitted to examine any of the materials
sealed: Provided, That a notice of the time and place of the
examination is to be posted at the central counting center before
and on the hour of nine o'clock in the morning on the day the
examination is to occur, and all persons entitled to be present at
the central counting center may, at their option, be present. Upon
completion of the canvass and after a seven-day period has expired,
the vote recording devices, the ballot labels, ballot cards,
program decks and standard validation test decks are to be sealed
for one year: Provided, however, That the vote recording devices
and all tabulating equipment may be released for use in any other
lawful election to be held more than ten days after the canvass is
completed, and any of the electronic voting equipment herein
discussed may be released for inspection or review by a request of
a circuit court or the supreme court of appeals.
(b) In canvassing the returns of the election, the board of
canvassers shall examine all of the vote recording devices, the
ballot labels, ballot cards and the automatic tabulating equipment
used in the election and shall determine the number of votes cast
for each candidate and for and against each question and by this
examination shall procure the correct returns and ascertain the
true results of the election. Any candidate or his or her party
representative may be present at the examination.
(c) If any candidate demands a recount of the votes cast at an
election, the ballots and ballot cards are to be reexamined during the recount for the purpose of reascertaining the total number of
votes cast for any candidate in the same manner and according to
the same rules as are utilized in the original vote count pursuant
to section twenty-seven of this article.
(d) During the canvass and any requested recount, at least
five percent of the precincts are to be chosen at random and the
ballot cards cast therein counted manually. Where electronic
voting systems are used that utilize screens upon which votes are
recorded by means of a stylus or by means of touch, at least five
percent of the precincts are to be chosen at random, upon any
requested recount, and the ballot images are to be printed from the
internal electronic memory of the voting device and are to be
counted manually. The same random selection is also to be counted
by the automatic tabulating equipment. If the variance between the
random manual count and the automatic tabulating equipment count of
the same random ballots, is equal to or greater than one percent,
then a manual recount of all ballot cards is required. In the
course of any recount, if a candidate for an office demands, or if
the board of canvassers elects to recount the votes cast for an
office, the votes cast for that office in any precinct are to be
recounted by manual count.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to make certain technical
changes clarifying access to maintenance and examination of sealed
post-election materials and equipment during the canvass and
requiring the immediate resealing.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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