California Senate Bill SB360 Introduced / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 360INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Padilla FEBRUARY 20, 2013 An act to amend Sections 19202, 19206, and 19250 of the Elections Code, relating to elections. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 360, as introduced, Padilla. Approval of voting systems. Existing law prohibits a voting system from being used, and prohibits a jurisdiction from purchasing or contracting for a voting system, unless the voting system has received the approval of the Secretary of State. Existing law permits a person or corporation owning or being interested in a voting system or a part of a voting system to apply to the Secretary of State to examine the voting system and report on its accuracy and efficiency to fulfill its purpose. This bill would specify that to request the Secretary of State to approve a voting system, the person, corporation, or county owning or being interested in the voting system or a part of the voting system must apply to Secretary of State to examine the voting system and report on its accuracy and efficiency to fulfill its purpose. Existing federal law, the Help America Vote Act of 2002, permits a state to provide for the testing, certification, decertification, and recertification of its voting system hardware and software by laboratories accredited by the Election Assistance Commission. Existing state law prohibits the Secretary of State from approving, and prohibits a city or county from contracting for or purchasing, a direct recording electronic voting system unless the system has received federal qualification, as defined, and includes an accessible voter verified paper audit trail. Existing law also requires all direct recording electronic voting systems in use on January 1, 2006, to have received federal qualification and include an accessible voter verified paper audit trail. This bill specify that a county may develop, or contract with a vendor to develop, a direct recording electronic voting system before the voting system has received federal qualification, provided that it receives federal qualification prior to any election at which it is to be first used. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 19202 of the Elections Code is amended to read: 19202. (a)  A   To request the Secretary of State to approve a voting system, in whole or in part, the  person  or   ,  corporation  , or county owning or being interested in  a   the  voting system or a part of  a   the  voting system  may   shall  apply to the Secretary of State to examine it and report on its accuracy and efficiency to fulfill its purpose. As part of its application, the vendor of a voting system or the part of a voting system shall notify the Secretary of State in writing of any known defect, fault, or failure of the version of the hardware, software, or firmware of the voting system or a part of the voting system submitted. The Secretary of State shall not begin his or her examination until he or she receives a completed application from the vendor of the voting system or a part of the voting system. The vendor shall also notify the Secretary of State in writing of any defect, fault, or failure of the version of the hardware, software, or firmware of the voting system or a part of the voting system submitted that is discovered after the application is submitted and before the Secretary of State submits the report required by Section 19207. The Secretary of State shall complete his or her examination without undue delay. (b) After receiving a vendor's written notification of a defect, fault, or failure, the Secretary of State shall notify the United States Election Assistance Commission or its successor entity of the problem as soon as practicable so as to present a reasonably complete description of the problem. The Secretary of State shall subsequently submit a report regarding the problem to the United States Election Assistance Commission or its successor entity. The report shall include any report regarding the problem submitted to the Secretary of State by the vendor. (c) The following definitions apply for purposes of this article: (1) "Defect" means any flaw in the hardware or documentation of an approved or conditionally approved voting system that could result in a state of unfitness for use or nonconformance to the manufacturer' s specifications. (2) "Failure" means a discrepancy between the external results of the operation of any software or firmware in an approved or conditionally approved voting system and the manufacturer's product requirements for that software or firmware. (3) "Fault" means a step, process, or data definition in any software or firmware in an approved or conditionally approved voting system that is incorrect under the manufacturer's program specification. SEC. 2. Section 19206 of the Elections Code is amended to read: 19206. For the purpose of assistance in examining a voting system the Secretary of State may employ not more than three expert electronic technicians at a cost to be set by the Secretary of State. The compensation of the electronic technicians shall be paid by the person  or   ,  corporation  , or county  submitting the machine or device. The Secretary of State may require the person  or   ,  corporation  , or county  submitting the machine or device to deposit sufficient funds to guarantee the payment of the examination charges. The Secretary of State may deposit the funds in an appropriate treasury trust account and, within 30 days after his or her report of examination, draw a refund check to the credit of the person or corporation for any amount in excess of costs. SEC. 3. Section 19250 of the Elections Code is amended to read: 19250. (a) On and after January 1, 2005, the Secretary of State shall not approve a direct recording electronic voting system unless the system has received federal qualification and includes an accessible voter verified paper audit trail. (b)  On   (1)     Except as provided in paragraph (2), on  and after January 1, 2006, a city or county shall not contract for or purchase a direct recording electronic voting system unless the system has received federal qualification and includes an accessible voter verified paper audit trail.  (2) A county may develop, or contract with a vendor to develop, a direct recording electronic voting system before the voting system has received federal qualification, provided that the voting system receives federal qualification prior to any election at which it is to be first used.  (c) As of January 1, 2006, all direct recording electronic voting systems in use on that date, regardless of when contracted for or purchased, shall have received federal qualification and include an accessible voter verified paper audit trail. If the direct recording electronic voting system does not already include an accessible voter verified paper audit trail, the system shall be replaced or modified to include an accessible voter verified paper audit trail. (d) All direct recording electronic voting systems shall include a method by which a voter may electronically verify, through a nonvisual method, the information that is contained on the paper record copy of that voter's ballot. (e) A paper record copy that is printed by a voter verified paper audit trail component shall be printed in the same language that the voter used when casting his or her ballot on the direct recording electronic voting system. For languages that lack a written form, the paper record copy shall be printed in English.