Section 219.10  General Provisions

 

This Part implements Section 22-6 of the Election Code [10 ILCS 5/22-6], setting forth procedures and requirements for the implementation of the electronic canvass (eCanvass).

 

a)         No later than 22 days after each election, each election authority must submit to the State Board of Elections (SBEL), an electronic canvass file, in accordance with the specifications listed in this Part, as well as a paper canvass. The paper canvass must be a report printed directly from the tabulation system that the election authority uses, and may be submitted as a PDF file via email in lieu of printing the report and mailing it via overnight mail.  The paper canvass must include:

 

1)         Total registered voters for the jurisdiction;

 

2)         Total registered voters for each precinct;

 

3)         Total ballots cast for the jurisdiction;

 

4)         Total ballots cast for each precinct;

 

5)         Ballots cast by party (primary only);

 

6)         Precinct level results for all offices and candidates; and

 

7)         Valid write-in candidates and valid votes cast for each.

 

b)         Access to the eCanvass System

 

1)         In order to access the eCanvass system, each election authority shall use its Illinois Voter Registration System (IVRS) login credentials.  If the election authority would like to delegate this task to a deputy or another jurisdiction employee, it may request eCanvass access through that person's IVRS account.

 

2)         The eCanvass system can be accessed through vendor accounts.  The vendors that have been authorized by a jurisdiction to prepare its election results may prepare and complete all aspects of electronic canvassing, except the final certification.  The final certification must be completed by the office of the election authority.

 

c)         The Board will provide instructions to the election authority for use of the eCanvass system.

 

Section 219.20  Office, Candidate and Party ID Numbers

 

a)         Offices and candidates that are certified by the State Board of Elections will have ID numbers assigned to them by SBEL. In most cases, office ID numbers will not change except in the event that reapportionment requires an increase or decrease in the number of Congressional Districts in Illinois. Judicial offices and statewide questions, which are unique to each election, will be created and assigned at each election.

 

b)         Candidate IDs will be assigned and distributed after the ballot placement lottery conducted pursuant to Sections 7-12 and 10-6.2 of the Election Code has been performed. It is necessary to wait for the lottery results to ensure that the ID numbers generated are in the same order as the ballot order.

 

c)         SBEL will also assign Party ID numbers/codes.

 

1)         Party Codes:

 

 

2)         New party codes will be added as needed, and SBEL will notify the jurisdictions of these codes when candidate and office ID numbers are issued.

 

3)         For users of the WinEds, Unity and GEMS tabulation systems, the party ID numbers are two digit codes to associate each candidate with the proper party.  In a primary election, the party ID must also be applied to the office. In a general election, the party ID will be 99 for all offices.

 

4)         For users of the Hart Intercivic, Inc. tabulation system, the party ID will be an abbreviated alpha code. To incorporate the code for an office in a primary election, the code should be placed after two pipes (||) following the office name.

 

For example:           UNITED STATES SENATOR ||DEM

ATTORNEY GENERAL ||REP

COMPTROLLER ||GRN

 

d)         SBEL Office and Candidate ID Entry in Tabulation Software

 

1)         GEMS Tabulation Software. The ID numbers must be incorporated into the Candidate and Contest Export ID fields in the following format:  aaaa:bb

 

A)        Contest Export ID

 

i)          a = an integer representing the State issued office ID

number.

 

ii)         b = an integer representing the State issued party ID

number.  (In a general election, this will always be "99".)

 

B)        Candidate Export ID

 

i)          a = an integer representing the State issued candidate ID

number.

 

ii)         b = an integer representing the State issued party ID

number.

 

2)         Unity Tabulation Software

 

A)        Using Unity EDM, the Candidate Alternate ID field must be entered as "PPCCCCppccccc", where:

 

i)          PP is the State Contest Party Number – 2 digits;

 

ii)         CCCC is the State Contest Number – 4 digits;

 

iii)        pp is the State Candidate Party Number – 2 digits; and

 

iv)        ccccc is the State Candidate Number – 5 digits.

 

B)        NOTE:  The ID field must be entered as a complete 13 digit code in order for eCanvass to properly recognize the numbers. Therefore, if part of the sequence has more digits available than are in the ID number, precede the ID number with zeroes in order to fill all digits/spaces.

 

3)         WinEds Tabulation Software. The ID numbers must be entered in a manner that places them in the Illinois Export Master File according to the following specifications:

 

A)        SBEL Office/Contest ID shall be placed in record type 5 in the 4^th field.

 

B)        SBEL Office/Contest Party ID shall be placed in record type 5 in the 6^th field.

 

C)        SBEL Candidate ID shall be placed in record type 6 in the 4^th field.

 

D)        SBEL Party ID shall be placed in record type 3 in the 6^th field.

 

E)        Jurisdiction Party ID shall be placed in record type 3 in the 2^nd field.

 

4)         Hart Intercivic, Inc. Tabulation Software

 

A)        Jurisdictions that use Hart Intercivic, Inc. equipment and tabulation software must use the candidate and office/contest ID numbers issued by SBEL as their primary ID numbers. ID numbers used for local offices and candidates must be in the ranges established by SBEL. Under no circumstances may ID numbers assigned to any office or candidate that is certified by SBEL be used for any local office or candidate.

 

B)        When entering Parties into the Hart system, the appropriate alpha code must be used because the Hart system is incapable of handling party ID numbers that are greater than 16.

 

e)         Write-In Candidates

 

1)         All results for candidates who filed a timely Declaration of Intent to be a write-in candidate with the proper election authority must be included in both the paper canvass and the election authority's eCanvass certification. These results must also be included when no valid votes were cast for the write-in candidate.

 

2)         Electronic Reporting of Vote Totals for Write-In Candidates

 

A)        Jurisdictions using tabulation systems that do not report vote totals for individual write-in candidates in the export files must enter the information through the eCanvass website (https://ecanvass.elections.il.gov).

 

B)        When a write-in line is printed on the ballot, the data file will reflect this by including a candidate with the name "write-in" within the respective office.

 

C)        Jurisdictions using tabulation systems capable of including individual write-in candidate totals must ensure that the candidates are properly coded to be recognized as write-in candidates.

 

i)          Hart Intercivic, Inc. Tally exports shall label the candidates as type "WI" to identify that they are write-in candidates.

 

ii)         GEMS software shall assign ID numbers in the range of 9000-9499 to write-in candidates.  See subsection (e)(1)(B) for proper candidate ID formatting.  Write-in candidates must NOT be entered manually on the website if they are included in the export file.

 

iii)        New systems certified after adoption of this Part shall identify valid write-in candidates in the master file record structure, record type 6, in the 6^th field.

 

iv)        When valid write-in votes are included in the data file, the valid vote count reported for the write-in candidate must be subtracted from the count listed for the candidate "write-in", which will then reflect only invalid write-in votes cast.

 

f)         Verification Files

All jurisdictions must upload a verification file to ensure that all ID numbers and offices are properly loaded in their election database. This verification file must be uploaded early enough (before the election) that changes to the election setup can be made and shall be created in accordance with the same procedures for creating a canvass data file.

 

Section 219.30  File Specification and Export Procedures

 

a)         GEMS Tabulation Software.  Jurisdictions must prepare a standard text file export to be uploaded to the eCanvass system with the following settings:

 

1)         Label: A jurisdiction may name this export whatever it likes, as long as it will be recognized as the SBEL export;

 

2)         County Code: Enter the jurisdiction name;

 

3)         Field Delimiter: ~ (located in the top left corner of most keyboards) NOTE:  Make certain that, when this character is entered in the appropriate box, no space remains in front of the character.  GEMS has a space in the text field by default and it needs to be deleted before entering ~ into the box;

 

4)         Quote strings should NOT be checked;

 

5)         Export Results for: All boxes should be checked;

 

6)         Reporting Set: All races;

 

7)         Row Definitions: All boxes should be checked;

 

8)         Column Definitions: All boxes should be checked.

 

NOTE:  If the jurisdiction has set up an administrative precinct for President/Vice President only ballots, a memory card must be created for this precinct. It must be downloaded and closed even if it only has zero totals and must be uploaded to GEMS in order to generate the same statistics as the other precincts in the database. The President/Vice President only precinct should be treated like all other precincts in the Presidential General Election.

 

b)         Unity Tabulation Software. Jurisdictions must use the Unity ERM software to generate a "Results XML File" to be uploaded through the eCanvass system. To properly generate the file, follow these steps:

 

1)         Click on the "State Transfer" menu;

 

2)         Select "Create Results XML File";

 

3)         For Verification Files:  Select the option "Run the XML Create Program − Interim" and click "OK";

 

For Results Certification:  Select the option "Run the XML Create Program – Final Results" and click "OK".

 

c)         Tally Tabulation Software.  Jurisdictions using Hart Intercivic, Inc. tabulation software must generate the EDX export file through the Tally Export Wizard.

 

1)         Jurisdictions using Hart Intercivic, Inc. tabulation software must use ONLY "Tally" software to prepare their export files. The "Fusion" software must NOT be used as it will not maintain the original ID numbers.

 

2)         If multiple databases are created for a single election, the jurisdiction must use "Tally" to create separate EDX export files for each database. After logging into eCanvass, the user must select how many files to be uploaded. In the event that multiple files have to be generated, this will facilitate combining the results and maintaining the original ID numbers.

 

d)         WinEds Tabulation Software.  Jurisdictions using Dominion Voting Systems WinEds tabulation software shall generate the IL State Export Master File and Vote File and upload both through the eCanvass system.

 

Section 219.40  New System Requirements

 

In order to facilitate accurate calculations for signature requirements, it is necessary to have ballot style level data from within each precinct. When precincts are split, there is no way to accurately attribute the portion of ballots cast within one district from those cast in a different district within the same precinct. Therefore, when a new system is certified in this State, in addition to this Part, the new system must meet the following requirements prior to being tested for certification in Illinois:

 

a)         System must be able to generate election results/data for all elections in the preferred Appendix A (Illinois eCanvass File Format).

 

b)         System must be able to provide votes by each ballot style from within each precinct (records will be in the vote file).

 

c)         System must provide ballots cast for contests in which no candidate has filed. This is most common in primaries in which there are no candidates that file for a given established party. Under these circumstances, the number of times that the contest was on a ballot that was voted should be reported as a blank ballot for that contest. (In the vote file, the 4^th field for this record shall be labeled as "9999997".)

 

Section 219.APPENDIX A   Illinois eCanvass File Format

 

Master File Record Structure

 

Column Start	Length	Date Type	Ballot Style	Precinct	Party
1	2	Record Type (Integer)	Record Type = 1	Record Type = 2	Record Type = 3
3	7	Unique System Id (Integer)	Ballot Style ID [1]	Precinct ID [6]	(Vendor) Party ID [9]
10	50	Name (String)	Ballot Style Name [2]	Precinct Name [7]	Party Name [10]
60	20	Code (String)
80	7	Display List Order (Integer)
87	7	Party ID (Vendor or State Number)	Ballot Style (Vendor) Party ID [3]		(SBE) Party ID [11]
94	1	Varies/Record Dependent (Boolean 0 or 1)	Is Federal [4] 0 = Non-Federal Ballot Style 1 = Federal Ballot Style
95	2	Vote For (Integer)	Proposition Only [5] 00 = No 01 = Yes
97	7	Varies/Record Dependent (Integer)		Registration [8]

 

 

(Master File Record Structure Cont.)

 

District	Contest	Candidate
Record Type = 4	Record Type = 5	Record Type = 6
District ID [12]	(Vendor) Contest ID [15]	(Vendor) Candidate ID [21]
District Name [13]	Contest Name [16]	Candidate Name [22]
	(SBE) Contest ID [17]	(SBE) Candidate ID [23]
District List Order [14]	Contest List Order [18]	Candidate List Order [24]
	(SBE) Party ID [11]	(Vendor) Candidate Party ID [25]
	Is Proposal [19] 0 = Normal Contest 1 = Proposal	Is Write-in [31] 0 = Regular Candidate 1 = Write-In Candidate
	Vote For [20]
	District ID [12]	(Vendor) Contest ID [15]

 

 

Vote File Record Structure

 

Column Start	Length	Date Type
1	7	Precinct ID (Integer) [6]
8	7	Ballot Style ID (Integer) [1]
15	7	(Vendor) Contest ID (Integer) [15] 0 = Turnout Record [26]
22	7	(Vendor) Candidate Id (Integer) [21] 9999999 = Over Votes [27, 28] 9999998 = Under Votes [27, 29] 9999997 = Blank Ballot [27, 30] 0 = Turnout Record [26]
29	7	Vote Count (Integer)

 

Definitions

 

¹     Ballot Style ID – A unique (to the jurisdiction) numeric identifier for the given ballot style

²     Ballot Style Name – A unique (to the jurisdiction) name assigned to the given ballot style

³     Ballot Style (Vendor) Party ID – Only applicable in a primary election, this party ID identifies the party for a given ballot style

⁴     Is Federal – Designates if a ballot style contains only federal contests

⁵     Proposition Only – Only applicable in a primary election, this identifies a ballot style as only having questions of public policy (referenda)

⁶     Precinct ID – Unique (to the jurisdiction) numeric identifier for the given precinct

⁷     Precinct Name – A unique (to the jurisdiction) name to identify the precinct

⁸     Registration – The number of registered voters within a precinct. This number should reflect only the "active" registered voters from that precinct

⁹     (Vendor) Party ID – Unique Identifier for the political parties active in a given election, assigned by the jurisdiction or tabulation vendor

¹⁰     Party Name – Name of a given political party

¹¹    (SBEL) Party ID – ID assigned to a given political party by SBEL; SBEL party ID for a contest will reflect the party for a contest in a primary election; in a General Election this ID will be designated as "99" (Nonpartisan) since the office does not have a party affiliation in a General Election

¹²     District ID – Unique (to the jurisdiction) ID assigned by the jurisdiction to a given political district/unit of government

¹³     District Name – A unique text representation of the district/unit of government (e.g., 4^TH APPELLATE COURT)

¹⁴     District List Order – A hierarchical number representing the order in which districts appear on the ballot

¹⁵     (Vendor) Contest ID – A unique ID number assigned to an office/contest by the jurisdiction or tabulation vendor

¹⁶     Contest Name – A unique text representation of the contest/office (e.g., 4^TH APPELLATE COURT – SMITH VACANCY)

¹⁷     (SBEL) Contest ID – ID assigned to a given office/contest by SBEL; should be zero in the case that an ID is not assigned by SBEL for the given contest

¹⁸     Contest List Order – A hierarchical number representing the order in which offices/contests appear on the ballot

¹⁹     Is Proposal – Designates if a contest/office is actually a question of public policy (referenda)

²⁰     Vote For – Number of candidates to be elected/nominated within a given office/contest

²¹     (Vendor) Candidate ID – Unique ID assigned to a candidate by jurisdiction/vendor

²²     Candidate Name – Name of candidate or position on a referendum question

²³     (SBEL) Candidate ID – ID assigned by SBEL for the given candidate; in the event that no ID is assigned by SBEL, this ID shall be zero

²⁴     Candidate List Order – A hierarchical number representing the order in which candidates appear on the ballot

²⁵     (Vendor) Candidate Party ID – ID assigned by the jurisdiction or vendor to the candidate

²⁶     Turnout Record – In the vote file, a turnout record will have a contest ID of zero and a candidate ID of zero, and will have one record per precinct and ballot style combination; the turnout record will effectively report the number of times a ballot style was counted within a particular precinct

²⁷     Reporting of Under Votes, Over Votes and Blank Ballots – Under votes, over votes and blank ballots shall be designated in the candidate ID field with codes of 9999998, 9999999 and 9999997, respectively, and shall have a corresponding contest ID

²⁸     Under Votes – The number of times that the contest was on a tabulated ballot when votes cast are less than the Vote For number

²⁹     Over Votes – The number of times that the contest was on a tabulated ballot when votes cast are more than the Vote For number

³⁰     Blank Ballots – For a given contest, the number of times a ballot is cast when the contest has no candidates

³¹     Is Write-in – Identifies that the candidate is a write-in candidate

 

(Source:  Amended at 41 Ill. Reg. 12883, effective September 26, 2017)