SB1288 - 562R

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Repeal

Section 16-449, Arizona Revised Statutes, is repealed.

Sec. 2. Title 16, chapter 4, article 4, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section 16-449, to read:

START_STATUTE16-449. Required tests; logic and accuracy; notice; accuracy board; violation; classification

A. All electronic or electromechanical voting systems shall be thoroughly tested at the conclusion of all maintenance and programming. Tests shall be sufficient to determine that the voting system is properly programmed, the election is correctly defined on the voting system and all of the voting system input, output and communication devices are working properly.

B. Not more than twenty-five days before the commencement of early voting as provided in section 16-542, the county officer in charge of elections shall publicly test the automatic tabulating equipment to ascertain that the equipment will correctly count the votes cast for all offices and on all measures. If the ballots to be used at the polling place on election day are not available at the time of the testing, the county officer in charge of elections may conduct an additional test not more than ten days before election day and shall provide public notice of the time and place of the test at least forty-eight hours before the test by publication on the county website, on the county officer in charge of elections' website or once in one or more newspapers of general circulation in the county. If the applicable website becomes unavailable or if there is no newspaper of general circulation in the county, the notice must be posted in at least four conspicuous places in the county. At the time of qualifying, the county officer in charge of elections may give written notice of the time and location of the public preelection test to each candidate who is qualified as a candidate for that election and obtain a signed receipt that the notice has been given. The secretary of state shall give written notice to each statewide candidate at the time of qualifying or immediately at the end of qualifying that the voting equipment will be tested and advise each candidate to contact the county officer in charge of elections as to the time and location of the public preelection test. at least thirty days before the commencement of early voting as provided in section 16-542, the county officer in charge of elections shall send written notice by certified mail to the county party chairperson of each political party and to all candidates for other than statewide office whose names appear on the ballot in the county and who did not receive written notification from the county officer in charge of elections at the time of qualifying that states the time and location of the public preelection test of the automatic tabulating equipment. An accuracy board shall convene, and each member of the accuracy board shall certify to the accuracy of the test. For the test, the accuracy board may designate one member to represent the board. The test shall be open to representatives of the political parties, the press and the public. Each political party may designate one person with expertise in the technology field or election management systems or elections procedures who shall be allowed in the central counting room when all tests are being conducted and when the official votes are being counted. The designee may not interfere with the normal operation of the accuracy board.

C. For electronic or electromechanical voting systems configured to tabulate vote by mail ballots at a central or regional site, the public testing shall be conducted by processing a preaudited group of ballots produced so as to record a predetermined number of valid votes for each candidate and on each measure and to include one or more ballots for each office that has activated voting positions in excess of the number allowed by law in order to test the ability of the automatic tabulating equipment to reject such votes. If any error is detected, the cause shall be corrected and an errorless count shall be made before the automatic tabulating equipment is approved. The test shall be repeated and errorless results achieved immediately before the start of the official count of the ballots and again after the completion of the official count. The programs and ballots used for testing shall be sealed and retained under the custody of the accuracy board.

D. For electronic or electromechanical voting systems configured to include electronic or electromechanical tabulation devices that are distributed to the precincts or vote centers, all or a sample of the devices to be used in the election shall be publicly tested. If a sample is to be tested, the sample shall consist of a random selection of at least five percent or ten of the devices for an optical scan system, whichever is greater. For touchscreen systems used for voters having a disability, a sample of at least two percent of the devices must be tested. The test shall be conducted by processing a group of ballots, causing the device to generate results for the ballots processed and comparing the results generated to the results expected for the ballots that are processed. The group of ballots shall be produced so as to record a predetermined number of valid votes for each candidate and on each measure and to include for each office one or more ballots that have activated voting positions in excess of the number allowed by law in order to test the ability of the tabulating device to reject such votes.

E. If any tested tabulating device is found to have an error in tabulation, it shall be deemed unsatisfactory. For each device deemed unsatisfactory, the accuracy board shall take steps to determine the cause of the error, shall attempt to identify and test other devices that could reasonably be expected to have the same error and shall test a number of additional devices sufficient to determine that all devices are satisfactory. On deeming any device unsatisfactory, the accuracy board may require all devices to be tested or may declare that all devices are unsatisfactory.

F. If the operation or output of any tested tabulation device is in error, such as spelling or the order of candidates on a report, that error shall be reported to the accuracy board. The accuracy board shall then determine if the reported problem warrants deeming the device unsatisfactory.

G. After testing is completed under this section, the accuracy board or its representative, the representatives of the political parties, and the candidates or their representatives who attended the test shall witness the resetting of each device that passed to a preelection state of readiness and the sealing of each device that passed so as to secure its state of readiness until the opening of the polls.

H. The accuracy board or its representative shall execute a written statement setting forth the tabulation devices tested, the results of the testing, the protective counter numbers of each tabulation device, if applicable, the number of the seal securing each tabulation device at the conclusion of testing, any problems reported to the board as a result of the testing and whether each device tested is satisfactory or unsatisfactory.

I. Any tabulating device deemed unsatisfactory shall be recoded, repaired or replaced and shall be made available for retesting. That device must be determined by the accuracy board or its representative to be satisfactory before it may be used in any election. The accuracy board or its representative shall announce at the close of the first testing the date, place and time that any unsatisfactory device will be retested or, at the option of the board, may notify by telephone each person who was present at the first testing as to the date, place and time that the retesting will occur.

J. The county officer in charge of elections shall keep records of all preelection testing of electronic or electromechanical tabulation devices used in any election. These records are to be present and available for inspection and reference during public preelection testing by any person in attendance during such testing. The need of the accuracy board for access to such records during the testing takes precedence over the need of other attendees to access those records so that the work of the accuracy board will not be delayed or hindered. Records of testing must include for each device the name of each person who tested the device and the date, place, time and results of each test. The county officer in charge of elections shall retain the records of testing as part of the official records of the election in which any device was used.

K. Any tests conducted pursuant to this section that involve ballots shall employ test ballots created by the county officer in charge of elections using actual ballots that have been printed for the election. If ballot-on-demand ballots will be used in the election, the county officer in charge of elections shall also create test ballots using the ballot-on-demand technology that will be used to produce ballots in the election, using the same paper stock as will be used for ballots in the election.

l. a PERSON WHO:

1. TAMPERS WITH, OPENS, BREAKS OR OTHERWISE REMOVES THE SEALS ON A DEVICE WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION AS PRESCRIBED BY THIS SECTION IS GUILTY OF A CLASS 6 FELONY.

2. TAMPERS WITH, OPENS, BREAKS OR OTHERWISE REMOVES THE SEALS AND REPROGRAMS A TESTED DEVICE WITHOUT AN ADDITIONAL LOGIC AND ACCURACY TEST CONDUCTED AS PRESCRIBED BY THE SECTION IS GUILTY OF A CLASS 4 FELONY. END_STATUTE