Senate Bill No. 642
(By Senators Hunter and Weeks)
____________
[Introduced March 21, 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 clarifying the procedures for
the sealed period of post-election custody of recording
devices, ballot labels, ballot cards, program decks and
standard validation test decks.
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. ELECTROIC 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
materials and equipment may be opened for the canvass and
it is to must be
resealed immediately thereafter. During
that a period
of seven days
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 cleanup the language in
this section regarding the maintenance and examination of election
materials and equipment.
Strike-throughs indicate language which would be stricken from the
present law, and underscoring indicates new language which would be
added.
Email
Webmaster | © 2024 West Virginia Legislature **
