Current through Vol. 42, No. 1, September 16, 2024
(a)
Precinct ballots. Election night recounts are allowed only under
the following circumstances.
(1) Precinct
Officials failed to remove and count ballots in the emergency compartment of
the ballot box before they closed the polls on the voting device.
(A) If Precinct Officials properly segregated
the uncounted ballots from the counted ballots by placing the uncounted ballots
inside the Envelope for Tally Report, only the uncounted ballots will be
included in the election night recount. See
230:35-5-75.3(e)(6).
(B) If Precinct Officials mixed uncounted
ballots from the emergency compartment with the counted ballots from the main
compartment of the ballot box by placing them in the ballot transfer case, all
ballots cast at the polling place will be included in the election night
recount.
(2) Both the
election results storage device and the backup memory device from a voting
device have failed and no results can be obtained from either device. If this
occurs, all ballots cast on that voting device will be included in the election
night recount.
(3) The Secretary of
the County Election Board is directed by the State Election Board to conduct an
election night recount of all ballots cast at a precinct polling place in order
to resolve a problem not anticipated in this Section.
(b)
Ballots cast during early in-person
absentee voting, by mail , and by nursing home or veteran center voters.
Absentee ballots cast during early voting may be recounted on election night
only under the circumstances described in (a) of this section. Absentee ballots
cast during early in-person absentee voting, by mail, and by nursing home and
veteran center voters may be recounted on election night only under the
circumstance outlined in (a)(2) of this Section.
(c)
Procedure for election night
recount. An election night recount may be conducted on a voting device
designated for election night recounts. The voting device may be programmed
either to recount ballots for any precinct in the election or for the specific
precinct being recounted. If all the ballots for a large precinct or for a
precinct where voters received more than one ballot must be included in an
election night recount, more than one voting device may be prepared and used.
The election night recount shall be conducted in public view and in the
presence of the County Election Board members and a representative of the
County Sheriff. [26:7-134.1] If possible, members of the news media also shall
be present. The recount shall be conducted according to the following
procedure. Before beginning the recount, the Secretary shall determine whether
any ballots were cast using the ATI device. If any such ballots were cast,
follow the procedure described in 230-35-3-85.4. The Secretary and the County
Election Board Chairman and Vice Chairman shall use the printed cast vote
record of the ATI ballot to mark a substitute ballot to be inserted in the
voting device during the election night recount. The procedure outlined in
230:30-19-6 shall be observed to
mark the substitute ballot.
(1) The Secretary
shall designate one person to insert the ballots included in the election night
recount, one at a time, into the voting device.
(2) After all the ballots included in the
election night recount for the precinct have been inserted into the device, the
ballots shall be removed from the main compartment of the ballot box and shall
be replaced in the original ballot transfer case.
(A) If the voting device was programmed to
accept ballots only for the specific precinct being recounted, the polls on the
voting device shall be closed and the required number of Detail and Tally
Reports shall be printed. The report tapes shall be signed by the operator of
the voting device and by the County Election Board members. One copy shall be
placed inside the original ballot transfer box with the recounted ballots.
Other copies shall be distributed in the same manner described in
230:35-5-75.3(a).
Once all Detail and Tally Reports have been printed, the election results
storage medium shall be removed and read into the tabulation
computer.
(B) If the voting device
was programmed to accept ballots for any precinct in the election, the voting
device shall be kept secure until it is determined that no additional election
night recounts are required. After all other precinct election results have
been read into the tabulation computer, the polls shall be closed on the
election night recount device, and the election result storage medium shall be
removed and read into the tabulation computer. A Detail and Tally Report is not
required to be printed from the voting device. A report from the tabulation
computer may be used instead and shall be distributed in the same manner
described in
230:35-5-75.3.
(3) The ballot transfer case shall be
resealed and a short turquoise State Election Board seal shall be affixed to
the box. [26:7-134.1] The new seal shall be positioned so that it can be
distinguished from the broken long white State Election Board seal signed by
the Precinct Officials. The members of the County Election Board and the person
who fed the ballots into the voting device all shall sign the short turquoise
seal. The Secretary shall check the "Election Night Recount" box on the seal.
Amended at 9 Ok Reg 1231, eff 3-1-92 (emergency); Added
at 9 Ok Reg 2387, eff 7-1-92 ; Amended at 12 Ok Reg 2237, eff 7-1-95 ; Amended
at 16 Ok Reg 2427, eff 7-1-99 ; Amended at 22 Ok Reg 1884, eff 7-1-05 ; Amended
at 25 Ok Reg 351, eff 11-5-07 (emergency); Amended at 25 Ok Reg 1921, eff
7-1-08 ; Amended at 30 Ok Reg 1672, eff
7-15-13
