California Regulations § 20842 Manual Recounts of Ballots Cast on Direct Recording Electronic Voting Systems Using Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail Paper Copies

Regulation Text

The manual recount, using voter verified paper audit trail paper copies, shall include the following:

(a) If the direct recording electronic voting system used in the election subject to recount created continuous roll voter verified paper audit trail paper copies, the roll shall be re-spooled if necessary to permit the recount to begin at the start of the roll. The roll may not be cut to separate the voter verified paper audit trail paper copies of individual voters.

(b) One member of the special recount board shall be designated to review the voter verified paper audit trail paper copy and call out the vote results for the recounted contest from that paper copy. If it was printed and retained, this member shall begin by reviewing and verifying the zero-results tape printed prior to the opening of the polls and before any votes were captured. The zero-results tape, if it was printed and retained, shall also be reviewed and verified by the supervisor of the special recount board and by the requestor and spokespersons.

(c) The board member designated to review and call out the vote results shall then proceed to review the voter verified paper audit trail paper copies in succession, calling out each ballot in turn and stating how the ballot was voted in the challenged contest until either 10 or 25 (at the discretion of the elections official) have been called out. If there is no legible voter verified paper audit trail paper copy for a ballot due to a malfunction of the voter verified paper audit trail printer, the elections official shall print the ballot image for that ballot from the memory device used by the direct recording electronic voting system to record the ballot. The board member designated to review and call out the votes shall review the printed ballot image and shall state how the ballot was voted in the challenged contest.

(d) Two members of the special recount board shall record the votes stated, marking hashes in succession on their individual tally sheets. The board member designated to call out the votes shall announce when either 10 or 25 votes (at the discretion of the elections official) have been called out, and the recorders shall confirm that their vote counts match exactly. If the vote counts match exactly, the board member reviewing and calling out the vote results shall draw a distinct line on the continuous voter verified paper audit trail roll between the individual voter verified paper audit trail paper copy containing the 10th or 25th counted vote and the individual voter verified paper audit trail paper copy for the next voted ballot, and the tally shall continue forward for the next 10 or 25 counted votes. If the vote counts do not match exactly, then the count for the last interval of voter verified paper audit trail paper copies shall be stricken from their tally sheets and those voter verified paper audit trail paper copies recounted.

(e) The individual voter verified paper audit trail paper copies or printed ballot images shall be displayed to permit the requestor, spokespersons and observers to view the contest subject to recount, either directly or indirectly, as the voter verified paper audit trail paper copy or printed ballot image is reviewed and called. Voter verified paper audit trail paper copies for ballots that were canceled or canceled and re-voted, shall be noted but not counted toward the vote results.

(f) A requestor or an authorized spokesperson may request to inspect any voter verified paper audit trail paper copy or printed ballot image. Tallying shall be halted while the voter verified paper audit trail paper copy or printed ballot image is presented to the requestor or spokesperson for closer inspection. At no time may any requestor or spokesperson touch or come into physical contact with any of the voter verified paper audit trail paper copies or printed ballot images. Tallying shall resume once the inspection is completed, which the requestor or spokesperson shall complete in a reasonable amount of time.

(g) Tallying shall continue in this manner, breaks and meal times excepted, until the entire continuous voter verified paper audit trail record has been reviewed and tallied.

(h) After all ballots of a direct recording electronic voting system have been reviewed and tallied from its voter verified paper audit trail paper copies and, where necessary, printed ballot images, the special recount board members who have been recording the votes shall independently calculate the total votes for each candidate or vote position on their tally sheets. When both have completed totaling, each shall announce his or her totals for that candidate or vote position. If both announce the identical vote total for each candidate or vote position in the recounted contest, the recount of that direct recording electronic voting system shall be deemed complete and the recount shall proceed with the continuous voter verified paper audit trail roll for the next direct recording electronic voting system with voted ballots for the challenged contest.

(i) If the special recount board members announce different vote totals for the candidate or position, the recount tallies recorded and announced for that candidate or position shall be examined. If the difference can be explained by the special recount board or supervisor, or by the elections official or his or her designee, it shall be corrected on the tally sheet. A written explanation shall be made on an attachment to the tally sheet. In the event of an unexplained discrepancy, the results for that direct recording electronic voting system shall be discarded and the recount of that candidate or position shall start over.

(j) Once all the voter verified paper audit trail paper copies and, where necessary, printed ballot images containing votes for a precinct have been reviewed and tallied, the recount of that precinct shall be deemed complete and the results reported to the elections official.

Source

1. New section filed 11-17-2009; operative 12-17-2009 (Register 2009, No. 47).

History

1. New section filed 11-17-2009; operative 12-17-2009 (Register 2009, No. 47).

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