(a) Early Voting Ballot Board defined for purposes
of provisional ballot review. The authority appointing the Early Voting
Ballot Board may determine which members of the board will review
and count the provisional ballots. The entire Early Voting Ballot
Board is not required to be present. A minimum of three members of
the board is required to conduct the review.
(b) Delivery of Ballots to the Early Voting Ballot
Board.
(1) The presiding judge of the Early Voting Ballot
Board shall take receipt of the Provisional Ballot Affidavit Envelopes
from the voter registrar directly or via the general custodian of
election records at a time and place to be determined by the presiding
judge.
(2) The voter registrar may review and transfer Provisional
Ballot Affidavit Envelopes to the presiding judge of the Early Voting
Ballot Board on a rolling basis. The voter registrar and presiding
judge of the Early Voting Ballot Board must coordinate transfer times.
(3) The time of delivery may in no event be later than
the time the Early Voting Ballot Board convenes on the seventh day
after election day to count provisional ballots pursuant to §65.051(a)
of the Code.
(4) The presiding judge of the Early Voting Ballot
Board may convene the board as soon as practicable after the voter
registrar has begun delivery of the applicable provisional ballots.
(5) The judge must post a notice on the bulletin board
used for posting notices of meetings of the governing body ordering
the election no later than 24 hours before the board is scheduled
to meet. The board may also convene while the voter registrar continues
the review.
(c) Review of Provisional Ballot Affidavit Envelopes
by Early Voting Ballot Board.
(1) The Early Voting Ballot Board shall review both
the election judge's and the voter registrar's notation on each Provisional
Ballot Affidavit Envelope to determine whether or not the ballot should
be counted.
(2) A Provisional Ballot shall not be counted for the
following reasons:
(A) If the election judge indicated that the voter
did not provide an acceptable form of identification described by §63.0101
of the Code and the voter registrar noted that the voter did not present
an acceptable form of identification to the voter registrar, complete
one of the curing affidavits set out in §65.054(b)(2)(B), or
apply for and receive a disability exemption by the sixth day after
election day, then the ballot shall not be counted.
(B) If the election judge indicated that a voter with
a permanent disability exemption to the identification requirements
did not submit the registration certificate at the polling place,
and the voter registrar notes that the voter failed to present their
registration certificate with exemption, present another form of acceptable
identification described by §63.0101 of the Code, or apply for
and receive a permanent disability exemption by the sixth day after
election day, the ballot shall not be counted.
(C) If a voter voted provisionally due to having an
outstanding mail ballot that has not yet been cancelled, the provisional
ballot shall not be counted if the provisional voter has already voted.
(D) If the voter registrar indicated that the provisional
voter is not registered to vote in the territory holding the election
or the registration was not effective in time for the election, the
ballot shall not be counted.
(E) If the voter registrar indicated that the provisional
voter is registered to vote at a different precinct other than the
one the voter voted in, the ballot shall not be counted.
(F) If the election judge indicated that the voter
was on the list of registered voters, but the voter's registered residence
address is outside the political subdivision, the ballot shall not
be counted.
(G) If the voter registrar indicated that an incomplete
application was received from the provisional voter but the required
additional information was not returned, the ballot shall not be counted.
(3) The Provisional Ballot shall be counted for the
following reasons:
(A) The ballot shall be counted if the voter failed
to submit identification at the polling place, but the voter registrar
indicated the voter presented an acceptable form of identification
in person at the registrar's office within six calendar days after
the date of the election and the voter was otherwise eligible to vote
in the election.
(B) The ballot shall be counted if the voter failed
to submit identification at the polling place, but the voter registrar
indicated on the Provisional Ballot Affidavit Envelope that the voter
applied for and received the disability exemption under §13.002(i)
of the Election Code by the sixth day after election day and the voter
was otherwise eligible to vote in the election.
(C) The ballot shall be counted if the voter failed
to submit identification at the polling place, but the voter registrar
indicated the voter completed one of the two curing affidavits set
out in §65.054(b)(2)(B) (consistent religious objection to photographs)
or §65.054(b)(2)(C) (identification unavailable due to declared
natural disaster) no later than the sixth day after election day.
(D) If the election judge indicated that the reason
for casting a provisional ballot was that the voter appeared on the
list of registered voters as having cast a ballot by mail, and the
voter claimed that he never received the mail ballot, or would like
to cancel his or her mail ballot, the provisional ballot shall be
counted if the voter's mail ballot has not already been received.
(E) If the voter registrar indicated that the provisional
voter is registered to vote in the territory holding the election,
the ballot shall be counted.
(F) If the voter registrar indicated that the provisional
voter is registered to vote, but was erroneously listed in the wrong
precinct, the ballot shall be counted.
(G) If the voter was erroneously removed from the voter
registration list and is otherwise qualified to vote, the ballot shall
be counted.
(H) The voter registrar has information in the office
that the voter did complete an application, and the voter is otherwise
qualified, the ballot shall be counted.
(4) The presiding judge of the Early Voting Ballot
Board shall indicate the disposition of each provisional ballot on
the appropriate space of the Provisional Ballot Affidavit Envelope.
(5) The presiding judge of the Early Voting Ballot
Board shall indicate the disposition of each Provisional Ballot Affidavit
Envelope on the List of Provisional Voters for that precinct.
(6) The ballots to be counted shall be removed from
their Provisional Ballot Affidavit Envelopes and counted under the
normal procedure for counting ballots by mail in the election, unless
the presiding judge of the Early Voting Ballot Board decides to count
the ballots by hand. If counted by hand, the ballots shall be tallied
by precinct in the regular manner. The board shall prepare the returns
and submit the returns to the general custodian of election records.
(7) The Provisional Ballot Affidavit Envelopes for
accepted provisional ballots shall be placed in an envelope or container
for Provisional Ballot Affidavit Envelopes marked "Accepted," and
the Provisional Ballot Affidavit Envelopes and the rejected provisional
ballots shall be placed in an envelope or container for Provisional
Ballot Envelopes marked "Rejected."
(8) If using optical scan ballots:
(A) The manager of the central counting station shall
decide whether the Early Voting Ballot Board shall manually count
the ballots and manually add to the computer count for a canvass total
or whether the central counting station shall reconvene.
(B) The manager shall send notice to the presiding
judge of the Early Voting Ballot Board prior to reconvening the board
as to whether the ballots are to be counted manually by the board
or whether the ballots are merely to be prepared for delivery to the
central counting station.
(C) Prior to the beginning of the count at a central
counting station, the manager shall run the required second logic
and accuracy test using the same test deck as on Election Day. The
test must be successful.
(D) After the second successful test is conducted,
the unofficial election results, preserved by electronic means, shall
be loaded in the tabulating equipment.
(E) Once the ballots have been counted, the results
shall be prepared in the regular manner. The manager shall prepare
a certification and attach it to the returns, then place the certification
and returns in envelope #1 to be delivered to the presiding officer
of the canvassing board indicating that the result supersedes any
returns printed prior to the reconvening of the central counting station
after election day.
Cont'd... |