SB1459 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB098 09771 HLH 39922 b

98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
SB1459

Introduced 2/6/2013, by Sen. Michael Noland

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

See Index

Amends the Election Code. Requires that each election authority (i) conduct an election day audit of a random sample of 10% of votes cast and (ii) provide by contract or employment for the performance by one or more independent auditors of post-election parallel tabulations and audits. Provides for the scope of the audits and the resulting reports. Requires that optical scan technology and direct recording electronic voting systems meet certain federal and independent testing standards. With respect to early voting, requires that an election authority using only direct recording electronic voting systems have paper ballots available for voters wishing to use them.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning elections.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Election Code is amended by changing Sections 19A-75, 24B-2, 24B-16, 24C-2, 24C-9, and 24C-16 and by adding the heading of Article 21B and Sections 21B-5, 21B-10, 21B-15, 21B-20, 21B-25, 21B-30, 21B-35, 21B-40, 21B-45, 21B-50, 21B-55, 21B-60, 21B-65, 21B-70, 21B-75, 21B-80, 21B-85, 21B-90, and 21B-95 as follows:

(10 ILCS 5/19A-75)

Sec. 19A-75. Early voting in jurisdictions using Direct Recording Electronic Voting Systems under Article 24C. Election authorities that have adopted for use Direct Recording Electronic Voting Systems under Article 24C may (i) either use those voting systems to conduct early voting, provided that each early voting polling place shall have available sufficient paper ballots for those voters who request them, consistent with the limitations set forth in subsection (b) of Section 19A-10, or (ii) , so long as at least one Direct Recording Electronic Voting System device is available at each early voting polling place, use whatever method the election authority uses for absentee balloting conducted by mail; provided that no early ballots are counted before the polls close on election day.

(Source: P.A. 94-645, eff. 8-22-05.)

(10 ILCS 5/Art. 21B heading new)

ARTICLE 21B. AUDITS

(10 ILCS 5/21B-5 new)

Sec. 21B-5. Election day audit. There shall be conducted a 10% election day audit of all votes cast for each designated race or proposition on election day.

(10 ILCS 5/21B-10 new)

Sec. 21B-10. Scope of the audit. The 10% audit shall be conducted for all races or propositions that meet the following criteria:

(1) all statewide offices and propositions;

(2) all countywide offices and propositions;

(3) all federal races; and

(4) any municipal or other political sub-division or taxing entity races where the number of registered voters eligible to vote on that race or proposition exceeds 50,000 voters.

(10 ILCS 5/21B-15 new)

Sec. 21B-15. Time and place of the audit. The 10% audits shall take place on election day as soon as practicable after the close of the polls and shall take place at the location where votes are originally counted (in-precinct for all votes cast on election day and at the central counting location for early voting, grace, and absentee ballots), provided that the 10% hand count shall be subordinate to and not interfere with the reporting of election results.

(10 ILCS 5/21B-20 new)

Sec. 21B-20. Conduct. The election day audit shall be conducted by election judges selected and appointed in the same manner as set forth in Sections 13-1, 13-2, 14-1, 14-2, and 14-3 of this Code. Election authorities may implement the appointment of part-time judges, job-sharing, split shifts, or other methods of allocating election judge resources to ensure that sufficient judges are available to conduct the election day audits in a timely and efficient manner.

(10 ILCS 5/21B-25 new)

Sec. 21B-25. Random selection of ballots to be examined.

(a) The election authority shall provide to each polling place, precinct, or central counting location as appropriate one set of 10 plastic disks, each imprinted on one or both sides with a number from 1 to 10. Each disk shall have one such number imprinted, with the same number on each side, and no 2 disks shall have the same number. In addition, a suitable opaque container shall be provided sufficient to contain the set.

(b) After the close of the polls and prior to the commencement of the election day audit, the election judges present shall select one of their number to place the numbered disk in the container and shake the container sufficiently so that the disks shall be in random order. The judges shall select another of their number to select one such disk from the container in such a manner that the selecting judge has no knowledge of which disk he or she is selecting. The disk drawn from the container shall be examined and the number of the disk chosen publicly announced. That result shall indicate which ballots are to be examined, e.g. a result of 7 shall require that the seventh and every tenth ballot thereafter be examined (7, 17, 27, etc.). The result of the drawing shall be recorded on the summary report section set forth in Section 21B-35.

(10 ILCS 5/21B-30 new)

Sec. 21B-30. Ballots or paper records to be examined.

(a) The election authority shall provide to each polling place, precinct, or central counting location as appropriate one self-inked consecutive numbering stamp capable of numbering from 1 to 999,999.

(b) All paper ballots shall be placed in a single stack in a random order as retrieved from the ballot boxes and each ballot shall be stamped with a consecutive number, starting with the number 1 until all ballots have been numbered.

(c) The starting number and tenth ballot thereafter shall be examined in accordance with the selection number resulting from the operation of Section 21B-25.

(d) For paper records printed by Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting machines, the paper records shall be examined in the order printed on the DRE produced paper records selecting each starting and tenth paper record thereafter in accordance with the selection number resulting from the operation of Section 21B-25.

(e) For paper records printed by Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting machines, only the human-readable portion of the paper record shall be used in the election day audit. The use of bar codes or other human unreadable records of votes shall not be permitted.

(10 ILCS 5/21B-35 new)

Sec. 21B-35. Reports.

(a) Prior to election day, the appropriate election authority shall cause to be created and printed an audit summary form that shall state the races and propositions to be audited in accordance with Section 21B-10 and shall have pre-printed spaces, boxes, or both in which the results of the election day audit shall be recorded. This form shall also include a reconciliation of all ballots counted by category, such as provisional, federal only, standard, etc., and shall be provided in sufficient number to all auditing locations to facilitate the required distribution.

(b) Upon completion of the audit, 6 copies of the election day audit summary shall be signed by all the judges participating in the election day audit and shall be distributed as follows:

(1) One copy shall be posted in the polling or counting location in a manner that the election day audit summary is clearly visible and available for public inspection for a period of not less than one hour.

(2) Two copies shall be placed in the ballot box or designated envelope or envelopes and transported to the election authority in the same manner as ballots.

(3) Three copies shall be made available on request to pollwatchers or members of the public in that order of preference.

(4) Pollwatchers and other observers in the polls may take photographs of the posted copies without restriction.

(c) The audit reports from all in-precinct and central counting locations shall be received by the election authority and a consolidated report shall be prepared. The consolidated reports shall be published by the election authority within 24 hours after the closing of the polls, and the authorities shall certify the election day audit results and maintain both consolidated and individual location reports in the same manner and for the same period of time as ballots, except that copies of consolidated and individual location reports shall be available to the public upon request. If that election authority maintains a public website, then the copies shall also be made freely available to the public via the Internet for a period of not less than 60 days.

(d) The certified Consolidated and individual location reports shall be deemed admissible as evidence to the extent permitted by law in any action for discovery or other recount.

(10 ILCS 5/21B-40 new)

Sec. 21B-40. Parallel, independent audits. There shall be conducted an independent parallel tabulation and audit for each race or proposition in every election.

(10 ILCS 5/21B-45 new)

Sec. 21B-45. Authority. Each election authority shall be empowered on behalf of all voters in that jurisdiction to contract for, employ, or both contract for and employ one or more independent auditors to conduct a parallel count and tabulation of the results of every election conducted by the election authority for every race and proposition in the election.

(10 ILCS 5/21B-50 new)

Sec. 21B-50. Independent election audit committee. Each election authority shall cause to be constituted an independent election audit committee (EAC) of not less than 5 members, that shall have as its primary duties: (1) the preparation of a request for proposal (RFP) for the parallel election tabulation and audit (PETA) and (2) the selection of the independent auditor or auditors to perform such audit.

(10 ILCS 5/21B-55 new)

Sec. 21B-55. Time of convening. The election audit committee for each jurisdiction shall convene at least 120 days prior to election day and meet thereafter as often as shall be deemed necessary and proper by its membership.

(10 ILCS 5/21B-60 new)

Sec. 21B-60. Committee composition. The election audit committee shall consist of the following members:

(1) One member appointed by each political party that shall have had a candidate for jurisdiction-wide public office in that jurisdiction on the ballot for the previous general election, provided that the party shall have had at least one candidate who received 10% of the ballots cast in that election.

(2) Two members appointed by the election authority for the jurisdiction.

(3) One election judge from each of the political parties qualifying under paragraph (1) who has served as an election judge in the most recent election conducted in that jurisdiction and at least 2 previous elections. The election judge members shall be selected by lot from among the pool of available judges from the most recent election conducted in that jurisdiction.

(10 ILCS 5/21B-65 new)

Sec. 21B-65. Request for proposal. Each election authority shall issue a request for proposal (RFP) for a parallel election tabulation and audit as prepared by the independent election audit committee not less than 90 days before election day. The proposals shall be examined and reviewed by the EAC, and the election authority (or other governmental body with appropriation and contracting authority for the jurisdiction) shall award the contract for the audit not less than 45 days before each election.

(10 ILCS 5/21B-70 new)

Sec. 21B-70. Funding. The public accounting firm conducting the PETA shall be paid from public funds appropriated by each election jurisdiction and designated for that purposes.

(10 ILCS 5/21B-75 new)

Sec. 21B-75. Contractor qualifications. To qualify to submit a proposal, a potential PETA contractor shall include in its response to the RFP:

(1) Evidence that it is a public accounting firm licensed by the State of Illinois to perform financial audits.

(2) Provide evidence that upon awarding of a contract to conduct the parallel election tabulation, the firm can post a performance bond equal to $1 for every registered voter in that jurisdiction.

(3) An agreement to submit a response to the RFP that shall limit the aggregate amount to be paid the contractor to not more than (i) $75 per precinct audited, (ii) $0.075 per ballot or paper record counted and tallied at central counting locations, or (iii) both (i) and (ii).

(4) A statement of performance secured by the performance bond in item (2) that above the parallel election tabulation and audit shall be completed and public reports submitted within the time limitations set forth in Section 21B-85.

(10 ILCS 5/21B-80 new)

Sec. 21B-80. Award. The public accounting firm awarded the contract shall be granted access to any and all records of the election, including but not limited to paper ballots, portable computer memory devices from DREs, scanning devices, central count devices, paper records, ballot generating software, counting and tabulation software, computer logs and error reports of all voting machines and central tabulation devices, servers, communications protocols, databases of all types including registration databases, pollwatcher and election judge logs and reports, and any other records deemed relevant to the conduct of the election as the auditing entity shall deem necessary and reasonable for the conduct of the parallel election tabulation and audit.

(10 ILCS 5/21B-85 new)

Sec. 21B-85. Reports.

(a) The public accounting firm shall produce an initial results report within 72 hours after the close of the polls that shall examine and comment on at least, but not limited to, the following:

(1) Whether proper procedures were used in the compilation and tabulation of the 10% election day audit.

(2) Whether each voter's choices were accurately summarized in the precinct or central count tallying.

(3) To the extent possible to determine from the records available, that the central tabulation procedures, equipment, and software functioned correctly and that the totals reflected in the internal and public tabulation of votes was consistent and accurate.

The auditing entity shall certify, with any exceptions noted thereto, the tabulated results of each race or proposition of the election as being accurate to the extent that the winner of each race or the prevailing result for each proposition is correct. For each and every race for which the auditing entity is unable to certify, it shall state the reasons therefore, citing specific circumstances as to why it is unable to certify the outcome.

(b) The public accounting firm shall produce an operational report within 21 days after the close of the polls that shall examine and comment on at least, but not limited to, the following:

(1) Pre-election preparation including the compiling and production of registration and eligible voter lists, including printed ballot applications and voter records in electronic poll books, and candidate, voter, and pollworker accessible records of eligibility.

(2) Proper compiling and production of ballots, both paper and electronic, as to completeness and accuracy for each ballot style produced.

(3) Adequacy and completeness of training manuals, election judge's manuals, voter instruction materials, and other internal and public documents related to the election.

(4) The election process during the time the polls were open, including reports of machine failures, election problems of all varieties, pollworkers and pollwatchers, reports in order to determine and express an opinion of the efficacy of the election process and to determine to the extent possible that:

(A) All eligible voters were given an opportunity to vote.

(B) Each voter received a proper and complete ballot.

(C) Each voter's choices were properly recorded by the electronic or mechanical machines used in the voting process.

(b-5) The auditors of the parallel election tabulation shall examine the processes used after the polls closed to determine, to the extent possible from the records available, if:

(1) All election materials were properly secured and that a complete and unbroken chain of custody exists for all election materials.

(2) In the case where election authorities gather election results through electronic transmission, either through land lines or wireless networks, the transmissions were secure, reliable, and accurate.

(c) The auditing entity shall produce a report that adequately describes all problems associated with the election process and to the extent possible the causes of those problems.

(d) To the extent possible within the time constraints imposed by the 21-day requirement, the auditing entity shall include in its report recommendations for modifications to procedures, equipment, or software that would eliminate problems or improve the efficiency and accuracy of the process in whatever stage examined or reported.

(10 ILCS 5/21B-90 new)

Sec. 21B-90. Availability and ownership of parallel election tabulation and audit reports.

(a) The report of the auditing entity shall be public property, in the public domain, and available to anyone upon request and payment of a reasonable fee, subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140/).

(b) If the election authority contracting for the parallel election tabulation and audit report maintains a website, the Report shall be posted on the publicly accessible portion of the website in an appropriate format for downloading and printing by the public.

(10 ILCS 5/21B-95 new)

Sec. 21B-95. Legal effect. The parallel election tabulation and audit reports shall be deemed admissible as evidence to the extent permitted by law in any action for discovery or other recount.

(10 ILCS 5/24B-2)

Sec. 24B-2. Definitions. As used in this Article:

"Approved independent testing authority" means an independent laboratory or authority certified by the federal Election Assistance Commission (EAC).

"Computer", "automatic tabulating equipment" or "equipment" includes apparatus necessary to automatically examine and count votes as designated on ballots, and data processing machines which can be used for counting ballots and tabulating results.

"Ballot" means paper ballot sheets.

"Ballot configuration" means the particular combination of political subdivision ballots including, for each political subdivision, the particular combination of offices, candidate names and questions as it appears for each group of voters who may cast the same ballot.

"Ballot sheet" means a paper ballot printed on one or both sides which is (1) designed and prepared so that the voter may indicate his or her votes in designated areas, which must be areas clearly printed or otherwise delineated for such purpose, and (2) capable of having votes marked in the designated areas automatically examined, counted, and tabulated by an electronic scanning process.

"Central counting" means the counting of ballots in one or more locations selected by the election authority for the processing or counting, or both, of ballots. A location for central counting shall be within the territorial jurisdiction of the election authority unless there is no suitable tabulating equipment available within his territorial jurisdiction. However, in any event a counting location shall be within this State.

"Computer operator" means any person or persons designated by the election authority to operate the automatic tabulating equipment during any portion of the vote tallying process in an election, but shall not include judges of election operating vote tabulating equipment in the precinct.

"Computer program" or "program" means the set of operating instructions for the automatic tabulating equipment that examines, counts, tabulates, canvasses and prints votes recorded by a voter on a ballot.

"Edit listing" means a computer generated listing of the names of each candidate and proposition as they appear in the program for each precinct.

"Header sheet" means a data processing document which is coded to indicate to the computer the precinct identity of the ballots that will follow immediately and may indicate to the computer how such ballots are to be tabulated.

"In-precinct counting" means the counting of ballots on automatic tabulating equipment provided by the election authority in the same precinct polling place in which those ballots have been cast.

"Marking device" means a pen, computer, or other device approved by the State Board of Elections for marking, or causing to be marked, a paper ballot with ink or other substance which will enable the ballot to be tabulated by automatic tabulating equipment or by an electronic scanning process.

"Precinct Tabulation Optical Scan Technology" means the capability to examine a ballot through electronic means and tabulate the votes at one or more counting places.

"Redundant count" means a verification of the original computer count by another count using compatible equipment or by hand as part of a discovery recount.

"Security designation" means a printed designation placed on a ballot to identify to the computer program the offices and propositions for which votes may be cast and to indicate the manner in which votes cast should be tabulated while negating any inadmissible votes.

"Separate ballot", with respect to ballot sheets, means a separate portion of the ballot sheet which is clearly defined by a border or borders or shading.

"Specimen ballot" means a representation of names of offices and candidates and statements of measures to be voted on which will appear on the official ballot or marking device on election day. The specimen ballot also contains the party and position number where applicable.

"Voting defect identification" means the capability to detect overvoted ballots or ballots which cannot be read by the automatic tabulating equipment.

"Voting defects" means an overvoted ballot, or a ballot which cannot be read by the automatic tabulating equipment.

"Voting system" or "electronic voting system" means that combination of equipment and programs used in the casting, examination and tabulation of ballots and the cumulation and reporting of results by electronic means.

(Source: P.A. 93-574, eff. 8-21-03.)

(10 ILCS 5/24B-16)

Sec. 24B-16. Approval of Precinct Tabulation Optical Scan Technology Voting Systems; Requisites. The State Board of Elections shall approve all Precinct Tabulation Optical Scan Technology voting systems provided by this Article that fulfill the voluntary provisions and mandatory requirements of the federal voting system standards pertaining to Precinct Tabulation Optical Scan Technology voting systems promulgated by the Federal Election Commission or the Election Assistance Commission and that fulfill the testing requirements of an approved independent testing authority.

No Precinct Tabulation Optical Scan Technology voting system shall be approved unless it has been certified by the Federal Election Commission or the Election Assistance Commission and fulfills the following requirements:

(a) It enables a voter to vote in absolute secrecy;

(b) (Blank);

(c) It enables a voter to vote a ticket selected in part from the nominees of one party, and in part from the nominees of any or all parties, and in part from independent candidates, and in part of candidates whose names are written in by the voter;

(d) It enables a voter to vote a written or printed ticket of his or her own selection for any person for any office for whom he or she may desire to vote;

(e) It will reject all votes for an office or upon a proposition when the voter has cast more votes for the office or upon the proposition than he or she is entitled to cast;

(e-5) It will identify when a voter has not voted for all statewide constitutional offices; and

(f) It will accommodate all propositions to be submitted to the voters in the form provided by law or, where no form is provided, then in brief form, not to exceed 75 words.

The State Board of Elections shall not approve any voting equipment or system that includes an external Infrared Data Association (IrDA) communications port.

The State Board of Elections is authorized to withdraw its approval of a Precinct Tabulation Optical Scan Technology voting system if the system fails to fulfill the above requirements.

The vendor, person, or other private entity shall be solely responsible for the production and cost of: all application fees; all ballots; additional temporary workers; and other equipment or facilities needed and used in the testing of the vendor's, person's, or other private entity's respective equipment and software.

Any voting system vendor, person, or other private entity seeking the State Board of Elections' approval of a voting system shall, as part of the approval application, submit to the State Board a non-refundable fee. The State Board of Elections by rule shall establish an appropriate fee structure, taking into account the type of voting system approval that is requested (such as approval of a new system, a modification of an existing system, the size of the modification, etc.). No voting system or modification of a voting system shall be approved unless the fee is paid.

No vendor, person, or other entity may sell, lease, or loan, or have a written contract, including a contract contingent upon State Board approval of the voting system or voting system component, to sell, lease, or loan, a voting system or Precinct Tabulation Optical Scan Technology voting system component to any election jurisdiction unless the voting system or voting system component is first approved by the State Board of Elections pursuant to this Section.

(Source: P.A. 94-1000, eff. 7-3-06; 95-699, eff. 11-9-07.)

(10 ILCS 5/24C-2)

Sec. 24C-2. Definitions. As used in this Article:

"Approved independent testing authority" means an independent laboratory or authority certified by the federal Election Assistance Commission (EAC).

"Audit trail" or "audit capacity" means a continuous trail of evidence linking individual transactions related to the casting of a vote, the vote count and the summary record of vote totals, but which shall not allow for the identification of the voter. It shall permit verification of the accuracy of the count and detection and correction of problems and shall provide a record of each step taken in: defining and producing ballots and generating related software for specific elections; installing ballots and software; testing system readiness; casting and tabulating ballots; and producing images of votes cast and reports of vote totals. The record shall incorporate system status and error messages generated during election processing, including a log of machine activities and routine and unusual intervention by authorized and unauthorized individuals. Also part of an audit trail is the documentation of such items as ballots delivered and collected, administrative procedures for system security, pre-election testing of voting systems, and maintenance performed on voting equipment. All test plans, test results, documentation, and other records used to plan, execute, and record the results of the testing and verification, including all material prepared or used by independent testing authorities or other third parties, shall be made part of the public record and shall be freely available via the Internet and paper copy to anyone. "Audit trail" or "audit capacity" also means that the voting system is capable of producing and shall produce immediately after a ballot is cast a permanent paper record of each ballot cast that shall be available as an official record for any recount, redundant count, or verification or retabulation of the vote count conducted with respect to any election in which the voting system is used.

"Ballot" means an electronic audio or video display or any other medium, including paper, used to record a voter's choices for the candidates of their preference and for or against public questions.

"Ballot configuration" means the particular combination of political subdivision or district ballots including, for each political subdivision or district, the particular combination of offices, candidate names and public questions as it appears for each group of voters who may cast the same ballot.

"Ballot image" means a corresponding representation in electronic or paper form of the mark or vote position of a ballot.

"Ballot label" or "ballot screen" means the display of material containing the names of offices and candidates and public questions to be voted on.

"Central counting" means the counting of ballots in one or more locations selected by the election authority for the processing or counting, or both, of ballots. A location for central counting shall be within the territorial jurisdiction of the election authority unless there is no suitable tabulating equipment available within his territorial jurisdiction. However, in any event a counting location shall be within this State.

"Computer", "automatic tabulating equipment" or "equipment" includes apparatus necessary to automatically examine and count votes as designated on ballots, and data processing machines which can be used for counting ballots and tabulating results.

"Computer operator" means any person or persons designated by the election authority to operate the automatic tabulating equipment during any portion of the vote tallying process in an election, but shall not include judges of election operating vote tabulating equipment in the precinct.

"Computer program" or "program" means the set of operating instructions for the automatic tabulating equipment that examines, records, displays, counts, tabulates, canvasses, or prints votes recorded by a voter on a ballot or that displays any and all information, graphics, or other visual or audio information or images used in presenting voting information, instructions, or voter choices.

"Direct recording electronic voting system", "voting system" or "system" means the total combination of mechanical, electromechanical or electronic equipment, programs and practices used to define ballots, cast and count votes, report or display election results, maintain or produce any audit trail information, identify all system components, test the system during development, maintenance and operation, maintain records of system errors and defects, determine specific system changes to be made to a system after initial qualification, and make available any materials to the voter such as notices, instructions, forms or paper ballots.

"Edit listing" means a computer generated listing of the names of each candidate and public question as they appear in the program for each precinct.

"In-precinct counting" means the recording and counting of ballots on automatic tabulating equipment provided by the election authority in the same precinct polling place in which those ballots have been cast.

"Marking device" means any device approved by the State Board of Elections for marking a ballot so as to enable the ballot to be recorded, counted and tabulated by automatic tabulating equipment.

"Permanent paper record" means a paper record upon which shall be printed in human readable form the votes cast for each candidate and for or against each public question on each ballot recorded in the voting system. Each permanent paper record shall be printed by the voting device upon activation of the marking device by the voter and shall contain a unique, randomly assigned identifying number that shall correspond to the number randomly assigned by the voting system to each ballot as it is electronically recorded.

"Redundant count" means a verification of the original computer count of ballots by another count using compatible equipment or other means as part of a discovery recount, including a count of the permanent paper record of each ballot cast by using compatible equipment, different equipment approved by the State Board of Elections for that purpose, or by hand.

"Separate ballot" means a separate page or display screen of the ballot that is clearly defined and distinguishable from other portions of the ballot.

"Voting device" or "voting machine" means an apparatus that contains the ballot label or ballot screen and allows the voter to record his or her vote.

(Source: P.A. 93-574, eff. 8-21-03; 94-645, eff. 8-22-05.)

(10 ILCS 5/24C-9)

Sec. 24C-9. Testing of Direct Recording Electronic Voting System Equipment and Programs; Custody of Programs, Test Materials and Ballots. Prior to the public test, the election authority shall conduct an errorless pre-test of the Direct Recording Electronic Voting System equipment and programs to determine that they will correctly detect voting defects and count the votes cast for all offices and all public questions. On any day not less than 5 days prior to use in an the election day, the election authority shall publicly test the Direct Recording Electronic Voting System equipment and programs to determine that they will correctly detect voting errors and accurately count the votes legally cast for all offices and on all public questions. Public notice of the time and place of the test shall be given at least 48 hours before the test by publishing the notice in one or more newspapers within the election jurisdiction of the election authority, if a newspaper is published in that jurisdiction. If a newspaper is not published in that jurisdiction, notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in that jurisdiction. Timely written notice stating the date, time, and location of the public test shall also be provided to the State Board of Elections. The test shall be open to representatives of the political parties, the press, representatives of the State Board of Elections, and the public. The test shall be conducted by entering a pre- audited group of votes designed to record a predetermined number of valid votes for each candidate and on each public question, and shall include for each office one or more ballots having votes exceeding the number allowed by law to test the ability of the automatic tabulating equipment to reject the votes. The test shall also include producing an edit listing. In those election jurisdictions where in-precinct counting equipment is used, a public test of both the equipment and program shall be conducted as nearly as possible in the manner prescribed above. The State Board of Elections may select as many election jurisdictions as the Board deems advisable in the interests of the election process of this State, to order a special test of the automatic tabulating equipment and program before any regular election. The Board may order a special test in any election jurisdiction where, during the preceding 12 months, computer programming errors or other errors in the use of System resulted in vote tabulation errors. Not less than 30 days before any election, the State Board of Elections shall provide written notice to those selected jurisdictions of their intent to conduct a test. Within 5 days of receipt of the State Board of Elections' written notice of intent to conduct a test, the selected jurisdictions shall forward to the principal office of the State Board of Elections a copy of all specimen ballots. The State Board of Elections' tests shall be conducted and completed not less than 2 days before the public test and under the supervision of the Board. The vendor, person, or other private entity shall be solely responsible for the production and cost of: all ballots; additional temporary workers; and other equipment or facilities needed and used in the testing of the vendor's, person's, or other private entity's respective equipment and software. After an errorless test, materials used in the public test, including the program, if appropriate, shall be sealed and remain sealed until the test is run again on election day. If any error is detected, the cause of the error shall be determined and corrected, and an errorless public test shall be made before the automatic tabulating equipment is approved. Each election authority shall file a sealed copy of each tested program to be used within its jurisdiction at an election with the State Board of Elections before the election. The Board shall secure the program or programs of each election jurisdiction so filed in its office until the next election of the same type (general primary, general election, consolidated primary, or consolidated election) for which the program or programs were filed. At the expiration of that time, if no election contest or appeal is pending in an election jurisdiction, the Board shall destroy the sealed program or programs. Except where in-precinct counting equipment is used, the test shall be repeated immediately before the start of the official counting of the ballots, in the same manner as set forth above. After the completion of the count, the test shall be re-run using the same program. Immediately after the re-run, all material used in testing the program and the programs shall be sealed and retained under the custody of the election authority for a period of 60 days. At the expiration of that time the election authority shall destroy the voted ballots, together with all unused ballots returned from the precincts. Provided, if any contest of election is pending at the time in which the ballots may be required as evidence and the election authority has notice of the contest, the same shall not be destroyed until after the contest is finally determined. If the use of back-up equipment becomes necessary, the same testing required for the original equipment shall be conducted.

(Source: P.A. 93-574, eff. 8-21-03; 94-1000, eff. 7-3-06.)

(10 ILCS 5/24C-16)

Sec. 24C-16. Approval of Direct Recording Electronic Voting Systems; Requisites. The State Board of Elections shall approve all Direct Recording Electronic Voting Systems that fulfill the functional requirements provided by Section 24C-11 of this Code, voluntary provisions and the mandatory requirements of the federal voting system standards pertaining to Direct Recording Electronic Voting Systems promulgated by the Federal Election Commission or the Election Assistance Commission, the testing requirements of an approved independent testing authority and the rules of the State Board of Elections.

The State Board of Elections shall not approve any Direct Recording Electronic Voting System that (i) has not been certified by the Federal Election Commission or the Election Assistance Commission or (ii) includes an external Infrared Data Association (IrDA) communications port.

The State Board of Elections is authorized to withdraw its approval of a Direct Recording Electronic Voting System if the System, once approved, fails to fulfill the above requirements.

The vendor, person, or other private entity shall be solely responsible for the production and cost of: all application fees; all ballots; additional temporary workers; and other equipment or facilities needed and used in the testing of the vendor's, person's, or other private entity's respective equipment and software.

Any voting system vendor, person, or other private entity seeking the State Board of Elections' approval of a voting system shall, as part of the approval application, submit to the State Board a non-refundable fee. The State Board of Elections by rule shall establish an appropriate fee structure, taking into account the type of voting system approval that is requested (such as approval of a new system, a modification of an existing system, the size of the modification, etc.). No voting system or modification of a voting system shall be approved unless the fee is paid.

No vendor, person, or other entity may sell, lease, or loan, or have a written contract, including a contract contingent upon State Board approval of the voting system or voting system component, to sell, lease, or loan, a Direct Recording Electronic Voting System or system component to any election jurisdiction unless the system or system component is first approved by the State Board of Elections pursuant to this Section.

(Source: P.A. 94-1000, eff. 7-3-06; 95-699, eff. 11-9-07.)