82R11811 JRH-F
By: Patrick S.B. No. 1398
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to verification of precinct and ballot styles during the
public testing of direct recording electronic voting machine
systems.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 129.023(c), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) The general custodian of election records shall adopt
procedures for testing that:
(1) direct the testing board to cast votes;
(2) verify that each contest position, as well as each
precinct and ballot style, on the ballot can be voted and is
accurately counted [for each precinct and ballot style];
(3) include overvotes and undervotes for each race, if
applicable to the system being tested;
(4) include straight-party votes and crossover votes;
(5) include write-in votes, when applicable to the
election;
(6) include provisional votes, if applicable to the
system being tested;
(7) calculate the expected results from the test
ballots;
(8) ensure that each voting machine has any public
counter reset to zero and presented to the testing board for
verification before testing;
(9) require that, for each feature of the system that
allows disabled voters to cast a ballot, at least one vote be cast
and verified by a two-person testing board team using that feature;
and
(10) require that, when all votes are cast, the
general custodian of election records and the testing board observe
the tabulation of all ballots and compare the actual results to the
expected results.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.