Iowa Administrative Code
Agency 721 - Secretary of State
Division II - Elections
Chapter 22 - Voting Systems and Electronic Poll Books
Rule 721-22.41 - Public Testing of Optical Scan Systems
Universal Citation: IA Admin Code 721-22.41
Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 6, September 18, 2024
All automatic tabulating equipment (including equipment used to tabulate absentee ballots) shall be tested before use at any election, as required by Iowa Code section 52.35. The process and results of the test shall be documented and available for inspection.
(1) Each automatic tabulating device (including equipment that will be used for counting absentee ballots) shall be tested to determine the following:
a. The device and its programs will
accurately tabulate votes for each candidate and question on the
ballot.
b. Votes cast for more
candidates for any office than the number to be elected will result in the
rejection of all votes cast for that office on that ballot. Votes properly cast
for other offices on the same ballot shall be counted.
c. The tabulating equipment records all votes
cast and no others. A written tally of the test votes shall be prepared before
the test. The results of the test voting shall be recorded. The results of the
machine tabulation shall be printed and compared with the test plan.
d. The voter may cast as many write-in votes
for each office on the ballot as there are positions to be filled, and the
write-in votes are tallied correctly.
e. For primary elections, the tabulating
equipment accurately records votes cast for all political parties.
(2) Conducting the test.
a. The commissioner shall follow the process
described in rule
721-22.42
(52) for preparing test decks.
b.
If, during the test, there are differences between the test plan and the
results produced by the optical scan device, the cause of the discrepancy shall
be determined. If the cause of the discrepancy cannot be determined and
corrected, the faulty program or equipment shall not be used in the
election.
c. The test decks, the
preparer's tally, and the printed results of the test shall be kept with the
records of the election and preserved as required by Iowa Code section
50.19.
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