1. Primaries and Elections.
a. On or before the third day preceding a
primary or election, including special primaries, special elections, and
referendum elections, the election superintendent shall commence the
preparation and testing of the electronic poll books, electronic ballot
markers, printers, and ballot scanners for use on Election Day.
b. On or before the third day preceding the
advance voting period, the election superintendent shall commence the
preparation and testing of the electronic poll books, electronic ballot
markers, printers, and ballot scanners for use during the advance voting
period. Voting system components that passed logic and accuracy testing for
advance voting do not have to be re-tested for use on Election Day for the same
election, unless there is a change in the programming or database used by the
component.
c. Notice Requirements.
a. At least five days prior to the
commencement of such testing, the election superintendent shall give the public
proper notice of such preparation and testing by:
i. If the county or municipality maintains a
publicly accessible website, publishing a notice on the homepage of the
county's or municipality's (whichever is applicable) publicly accessible
website associated with elections and/or registrations.
ii. Advertising in a newspaper of general
circulation in the county or municipality. The advertisement shall be
prominently displayed, shall not be less than 30 square inches, and shall not
be placed in the section of the newspaper where legal notices appear.
iii. Notifying the Secretary of
State or designee in the manner prescribed by the Secretary of State.
b. Proper public notice
shall include stating the date, time, and place or places where preparation and
testing of the voting system components for use in the primary or election will
commence, and stating that such preparation shall continue from day to day
until such preparation is complete and that such preparation and testing shall
be open to the public and that members of the public are entitled to be present
during the preparation and testing.
d. The election superintendent shall cause
such preparation and testing to begin on such date and time and at such place
or places. Such preparation and testing shall be open to members of the public
to observe; however, such members of the public shall not in any manner
interfere with the preparation and testing of the voting system components. Any
person found to be interfering with the preparation and testing process may be
asked to leave the testing process and may be cited for interfering with an
election official while in performance of election duties. Any questions and/or
complaints from the general public regarding the preparation and testing
process must be directed to the election superintendent and not to the
individual personnel conducting the preparation and testing process. The
election superintendent may make such reasonable rules and regulations
concerning the conduct of such members of the public observing such preparation
and testing, as the election superintendent deems necessary and appropriate;
provided, however, that such rules and regulations shall not prevent members of
the public from fairly observing the preparation and testing of the voting
system components.
2. In
addition to any reasonable rules and regulations that the election
superintendent may create for the public to observe the preparation and testing
process, the election superintendent or designee thereof, shall:
a. Be available for the first hour of the
first day of testing to explain the preparation and testing process and to
respond to questions and provide answers regarding the purpose and the process
of preparation and testing;
b.
Maintain a presence at all times during the preparation and testing
process;
c. Administer an oath of
custodian prior to beginning the preparation and testing process to any county
personnel (except permanent state, county, or municipal election staff)
appointed by the election superintendent to conduct the preparation and testing
process;
d. Establish an area
reasonable in proximity for the public to observe the preparation and testing
process. Such area shall provide reasonable accommodations for the public
insofar as space permits, but shall not be so established as to deny the
general public the opportunity to view the process; however, the area should be
of such nature so as to allow the preparation and testing process to proceed
without interference by the general public;
e. Allow only election office personnel or
individuals assigned to conduct the preparation and testing to enter the
testing area during the preparation and testing process;
f. Prohibit any preparation and testing
reports created for recording the seal numbers of voting system components from
being disclosed to the public;
g.
Prohibit the security seal numbers or other security measures of any voting
system components from being disclosed to the public; and
h. Prohibit photographic and audio equipment
of any kind, including cell phone cameras, from being used to record the
security seal numbers or other measures used to secure any voting system
components, provided that this rule shall not prohibit the news media from
reporting on the preparation and testing process, so long as seal numbers and
other security measures on any voting system component are not recorded or
displayed in any manner.
3. During the public preparation and testing
of the electronic poll books, electronic ballot markers, printers, and ballot
scanners to be used in a particular primary or election, the election
superintendent shall cause each electronic ballot marker and scanner to be
programmed with the election files for the precinct at which the electronic
ballot marker and ballot scanner unit will be used.
The superintendent shall cause the accuracy of the components
to be tested by causing the following tasks to be performed:
a. Check that the electronic poll books
accurately look up and check-in voters via both the scanning function and
manual lookup and create a voter access card that pulls up the correct ballot
on the electronic ballot marker for every applicable ballot style.
b. Check that the touchscreen on the
electronic ballot marker accurately displays the correct selections utilizing a
voter access card and manual ballot activation and that the touchscreen
accurately reflects the selected choices.
c. Check that the printer prints a paper
ballot that accurately reflects the choices selected on the touchscreen and
immediately mark all printed paper ballots as "test" ballots.
d. Check that the ballot scanner scans the
paper ballot, including both ballots marked by electronic ballot markers and
ballots marked with a pen, and that the ballot scanner scans ballots regardless
of the orientation the ballot is entered into the scanner.
e. Check that the tabulation contained in the
ballot scanner memory card can be accurately uploaded to the election
management system, and that the tabulated results match the selections
indicated on the paper ballot.
If any component fails any of the testing, the component
shall not be used in a primary, election, or runoff until such unit is repaired
and inspected and found capable of proper functioning and passes logic and
accuracy tests. The component failure should be documented and reported to the
superintendent. Upon the successful completion of the logic and accuracy test,
the component shall be cleared of any vote totals collected during testing. A
zero tape shall be run on the ballot scanner subsequent to successful testing,
and the tape shall be attached to the custodian's certification form to
document the logic and accuracy testing. The components shall then be sealed
and securely stored for transfer to the polling place.
After the completion of logic and accuracy testing on any
voting system component, each component shall be sealed and safely and securely
stored until such time as the component is transported to the polling place in
which such component is to be used. The zero tapes, results tapes, test
ballots, and other paperwork shall be securely stored by the
superintendent.
Notes
GA Regs.
183-1-12-.08
O.C.G.A. ยงยง
21-2-31,
21-2-379.25.
Original Rule entitled "Defective and Duplicated Ballot Cards,
Sealed After Tabulation" adopted. F. July 24,
1968; eff. August 12,
1968.
Amended: F. Oct. 20,
1975; eff. Nov. 9,
1975.
Amended: F. Mar. 6,
1987; eff. Mar. 26,
1987.
Repealed: F. Dec. 11,
2003; eff. Dec. 31,
2003.
Adopted: New Rule entitled "Logic and Accuracy
Testing." F. Jan. 23, 2020; eff.
Feb. 12,
2020.
Amended: F. Mar. 2,
2020; eff. Mar. 22,
2020.
Amended: F. Sep. 22,
2021; eff. Oct. 12,
2021.