Oregon Advisory Opinions September 13, 1963: OAG 63-122 (September 13, 1963)
Collection: Oregon Attorney General Opinions
Docket: OAG 63-122
Date: Sept. 13, 1963
Advisory Opinion Text
OAG 63-122.
Secretary of State
You request an opinion as to whether the Coleman Vote Tally System can be certified by the Secretary of State for use in Oregon elections as an approved voting machine.
The system is described in an advertising brochure as follows:
" The operation of the Coleman Vote Tally System is based on the concept of a centralized processing station where the ballots are brought to be counted. During election day, voters mark their ballots at the individual precincts, and ballots are deposited in locked ballot boxes. When the polls close, precinct officials remove the ballots, unfold them, place them on a spindle tray, and seal them in a special container for transporting to the processing center. At the center, ballots are processed at high speed through the Vote Tally System, and results for each precinct are automatically produced. The system removes the entire tallying burden from the precinct workers, who will be able to go home within one to two hours after the polls close."
"The operations at the precinct during the voting day will be the same as those now in effect. The voter indicates the candidates of his choice by placing a mark in the appropriate squares on his ballot, folds the marked ballot, and returns it to the precinct official who places it in a locked ballot box."
This approach to speeding up elections is very different from the usual mechanical voting machine. Under the Coleman System, the voter marks his individual ballot as he has always done and, after the polls have closed, the ballots are removed from the precincts and taken to a central processing center to be automatically tallied. When a mechanical voting machine is used, however, the voter does not mark an individual ballot but casts his vote in the machine which registers the number of votes cast, and the local officials have the duty of totaling or tallying the votes registered on the machines in their precinct.
The use of voting machines is regulated by ORS chapter 258. The Secretary of State has the duty of examining voting machines to determine whether they comply with minimum requirements before they may be used in elections. ORS 258.160. Before an approved machine is put into operation a "custodian" instructs inspectors of election and election board clerks in its use. ORS 258.230. He places on public exhibition specimen machines for the instruction of the voters. ORS 258.410. At the polls the voter must be informed how to operate the machine and he is allowed five minutes in the voting machine booth. ORS 258.510 to 258.520. When the polls close, the tally is to be made in the precinct. ORS 258.610 to 258.640.
Two statutes are set forth below to indicate the kind of voting machine to which ORS chapter 258 refers.
The minimum requirements for approval of a voting machine are found in ORS 258.170 providing in part as follows:
"(1) No voting machine shall be approved by the Secretary of State unless it is constructed so that it:
"(a) Secures to the voter secrecy in the act of voting.
"(b) Provides facilities for voting for the candidates of as many political parties or ORGAnizations as may make nominations and for or against as many questions as may be submitted. The voting devices for the candidates shall be arranged in separate parallel party lines, one or more lines for each party and in parallel office rows transverse thereto.
"(e) Provides that straight party pointers
can be disconnected from all candidate pointers.
"(i) Correctly registers or records all votes cast for any and all persons and for or against any and all questions.
"(L) Is provided with a 'public counter' which shall show at all times during an election how many persons have voted.
"(2) No voting machine shall be approved by the Secretary of State unless it is provided with a mechanical model illustrating the manner of voting on the machine suitable for the instruction of voters."
When all the voters have voted, ORS 258.610 provides as follows:
" As soon as all voters have voted as provided in ORS 258.560, the election officers shall:
"(1) Lock and seal the machine.
"(2) Unlock and open the doors of the counter compartment.
"(3) Canvass the votes registered on the counters in the counter compartment and the votes recorded on or in the device or devices for voting for persons not nominated.
"(4) Make two statements of canvass of the vote in the manner prescribed in ORS 258.620 to 258.640." (Emphasis supplied)
These requirements have application to voting apparatus of the mechanical voting machine type. While they dispense with the need of individual ballots, they do require that the election officials canvass the vote in the precinct as do the statutes governing elections in which voting machines are not used. See ORS 249.370 and 249.380 governing primaries; ORS 250.340, 250.461 and 250.741 governing general and special elections. When the Legislative Assembly established safeguards governing the use of voting machines, it did not have in mind a vote-tallying system conducted at a central processing center removed from the precincts.
We note that only one statute makes specific reference to counting machines. ORS 258.192 provides in part:
"The governing body of any county may by its order after a hearing authorize the issuance of bonds by the county to provide funds to acquire voting and counting machines complying with the provisions of ORS 258.170. * * *"
This statute followed the original enactment governing voting machines and became law as a part of chapter 582, Oregon Laws 1959, which authorized the issuance of bonds for the purchase of voting machines. The insertion of the words "counting machines," in our view, does not authorize the use of the Coleman system.
Accordingly, it is our opinion that the Secretary of State cannot certify the Coleman Vote Tally System for use in Oregon elections under the existing legislation governing voting machines.