117.125 Voting system or voting equipment -- Specifications and features required

951 words·~4 min read·/ky/117-125

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for approval. No voting system or voting equipment shall be approved for use after January 1, 2024, by the State Board of Elections, either upon initial examination or reexamination, and no voting equipment or voting system shall be purchased after July 14, 2022, unless the system and equipment has been certified under KRS 117.379 and is so constructed that it shall:

(1)Ensure secrecy to the voter in the act of voting so that no person can see or know

for whom any other voter has voted or is voting, except for those voters requiring

assistance under KRS 117.255;

(2)Permit votes to be cast for any candidate entitled to have his or her name printed

upon the ballots at any primary, regular election, or special election, and for or

against any public question entitled to be placed upon the ballots;

(3)Except at a primary, permit a voter to vote for all the candidates of one

(1)party or

for one

(1)or more candidates of every party having candidates entitled to be voted

for, or for one

(1)or more independent, political organization, or political group

candidates;

(4)Permit a voter to vote for as many persons for an office as the voter is lawfully

entitled to vote for, and no more;

(5)Prevent a voter from voting for more persons for any office than the voter is entitled

to vote for, and from voting for the same person, or for or against the same

question, more than once;

(6)Permit a voter to vote for or against any question the voter may have the right to

vote on, but no other;

(7)Provide for a nonpartisan ballot;

(8)Be capable of being adjusted for use in a primary so that a voter may not vote for

any person except those seeking nomination as candidates of the voter's party, as

candidates for a nonpartisan office, or as candidates for an office of the Court of

Justice;

(9)Permit each voter to vote for all the candidates for presidential electors of any party

by one

(1)operation;

(10)Permit each voter to vote, in any regular or special election, for any person for

whom the voter desires to vote whose name does not appear upon the ballot by

providing a method of write-in voting;

(11)Be safe, efficient, and accurate in the conduct of elections, and correctly register

and accurately count all votes cast for each person, and for or against each public

question;

(a)Provide each voter an opportunity to verify votes recorded on the permanent

paper ballot, either visually or using assistive voting technology, by producing

a voter-verified paper audit trail;

(b)Provide each voter an opportunity to change votes or correct any error before

the voter's ballot is cast and counted; and

(c)Provide a voter who spoils his or her ballot another ballot as provided under

this chapter;

(13)Use an individual, discrete, permanent, paper ballot cast by the voter for tabulating

purposes;

(14)Preserve the paper ballot as an official record available for use in any audit or

recount;

(15)Be suitably designed for the purpose used, constructed of a durable material, and

safely transportable;

(16)Be capable of determining whether the voting equipment has been unlocked and

operated or adjusted in any manner after once being locked;

(17)Have a public counter with a register which is visible from the outside of the

counter or device that will show at all times during an election how many persons

have voted;

(18)Have a protective cumulative counter indicating the number of votes cast for each

person, and the votes cast for or against each public question which cannot be seen,

reset, or tampered with without unlocking a covering device by a key or other

security apparatus that cannot unlock any other part of the equipment, and which

prevents changes to the cumulative counter once the system has been put into

operation on the day of any election;

(19)Provide for the tabulating of votes at the precinct as required under KRS 117.275;

(20)Provide locks or other security apparatus by which the operation of the voting

equipment may be locked before the time for opening the polls and after the time

for closing the polls;

(21)Permit a voter to readily learn the method of operating it, to expeditiously cast a

vote for all candidates and on all questions of the voter's choice, and when operated

properly, register and record correctly and accurately every vote cast;

(22)Bear a number or other unique designation that will distinguish it from any other

voting equipment or voting system;

(23)Produce a real-time audit log record for the voting system, and produce a paper

record with a manual audit capacity which shall be available as an official record

for any recount conducted related to any primary or election in which the system is

used;

(24)Be accessible for individuals with impairments, including nonvisual accessibility

for the blind or visually impaired, in a manner that provides the same opportunity

for access and participation, including privacy and independence, as for other

voters;

(25)Prohibit voting equipment that tabulates or aggregates votes used in official results

from connecting to any network, including the internet, or communicating with any

device external to the voting system;

(26)Meet or exceed the standards for a voting system established by the Election

Assistance Commission, as amended from time to time, and those approved under

KRS 117.379; and

(27)Meet such other requirements as may be established by the State Board of Elections

in administrative regulations promulgated under KRS Chapter 13A to reflect changes in technology to ensure the integrity and security of voting systems.