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2007 SESSION

072219332
HOUSE BILL NO. 2737
Offered January 10, 2007
Prefiled January 10, 2007
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 24.2-671.1, relating to auditing vote-counting machines.
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Patron-- Hugo
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Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 24.2-671.1 as follows:

§ 24.2-671.1. Random audits of optical scan tabulators and other vote-counting machines

A.  Each local electoral board shall publicly conduct a random drawing to select a sample set of vote-counting machines for a postelection manual audit to test the accuracy of the machines. The audit shall be performed by local electoral boards using procedures established by the State Board of Elections for conducting hand counts of ballots. The drawing shall not occur until such time as all initial vote counts have been completed and announced publicly, but shall be completed with 48 hours of that time. Immediately following the random drawing, the local electoral board shall publicly announce the time and location of the audit. Candidates and political parties may have representatives observe the audits.

B.  No election results shall be certified until all audits have been completed.

C. Any candidate, qualified voter, or political party may petition a local electoral board to include additional specific machines or precincts in the audit by showing cause to question the tally of those specific machines or precincts. A petitioner will have shown cause if he presents facts that establish a reasonable basis for belief that the tally of specific machines should be questioned. Facts tending to show this reasonable belief include reports of specific machines switching votes, failing to record votes, or an usually large number of undervotes or overvotes.

 

D.  Each local electoral board must audit at least two percent of the machines in jurisdictions with 50,000 or more registered voters, and at least five percent of the machines in jurisdictions with fewer than 50,000 registered voters. The machines selected for the audit shall include at least one machine from each model, make and year of election device that produces or counts voter-verified paper records, including, but not limited to, direct recording electronic devices (DREs) and optical scan tabulators, whether used at a precinct on election day or for any form of absentee ballot counting.

E.  If the audit discloses a significant discrepancy between any of the hand counts and the initial device tally for the audited machines, the local electoral board shall, in consultation with the State Board of Elections, conduct audits of such additional machines as it considers appropriate to ensure the accuracy of the results. A significant discrepancy is any discrepancy greater than 0.1 percent of the hand counted total for that machine. The State Board of Elections, at the request of a local electoral board, may decrease this threshold as it considers appropriate to ensure the accuracy of the results.

F.  If a significant discrepancy is detected with a voting device during the course of an audit, the results obtained from hand counting the voter-verified paper records shall be the official election results. If no significant discrepancy is detected during an audit, the results produced by the vote counting machine shall be the official election results.

G.  At the conclusion of each audit, the local electoral board shall announce publicly the results of the audit of the machines in its jurisdiction. The announcement shall include a comparison of the audited election results and the initial tally for each machine audited, and shall describe any and all discrepancies between the electronic and hand counted totals.

2. That the provisions of this act shall become effective on January 1, 2009.