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7 LONG TITLE
8 General Description:
9 This bill requires an election officer to complete an unofficial count of certain ballots
10 within three days after an election.
11 Highlighted Provisions:
12 This bill:
13 ▸ requires an election officer to complete an unofficial count of all ballots within three
14 days after an election, except:
15 • provisional ballots;
16 • absentee ballots that are required to be duplicated; and
17 • absentee ballots that cannot be initially verified;
18 ▸ makes changes to absentee ballot processing requirements; and
19 ▸ makes technical and conforming changes.
20 Money Appropriated in this Bill:
21 None
22 Other Special Clauses:
23 None
24 Utah Code Sections Affected:
25 AMENDS:
26 20A-3-309, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2016, Chapter 37
27 20A-4-104, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2006, Chapter 326
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29 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
30 Section 1. Section 20A-3-309 is amended to read:
31 20A-3-309. Disposition of absentee and provisional ballots -- Counting -- Release
32 of number of absentee ballots cast.
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37 (1) (a) A valid absentee ballot received after election day and a valid provisional
38 [
39 (i) by the election officer before the date of the canvass; [
40 (ii) at the canvass, by the election officer or poll workers, acting under the supervision
41 of the official canvassers of the election.
42 (b) When processing ballots, the election officer and poll workers shall comply with
43 the procedures and requirements of:
44 (i) Section 20A-3-308 in opening envelopes, verifying signatures, confirming
45 eligibility of the ballots, and depositing [
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48 (ii) Section 20A-4-104 in tabulating official and unofficial election results.
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50 publicly release the results of those absentee ballots and provisional ballots that have been
51 counted on or before the date of the election.
52 [
53 day after the date of the election and ending on the day before the date of the canvass, the
54 election officer shall publicly release the results of all absentee ballots and provisional ballots
55 counted on that day.
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57 result in disclosing a vote cast by an individual voter, the election officer shall request
58 permission from the lieutenant governor to delay compliance for the minimum number of days
59 necessary to protect against disclosure of the voter's vote.
60 (ii) The lieutenant governor shall grant a request made under Subsection [
61 (2)(c)(i) if the lieutenant governor finds that the delay is necessary to protect against disclosure
62 of a voter's vote.
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64 absentee ballots and provisional ballots counted, and the resulting tally shall be added to the
65 official canvass of the election.
66 [
67 (3) (a) Before midnight at the end of the third day after the election, and after
68 completing the unofficial tabulation described in Subsection 20A-4-104(4), an election officer
69 shall determine the number of [
70 [
71 available to the public.
72 (b) The election officer may elect to publicly release updated totals for the number of
73 absentee ballots received by the election officer up through the date of the canvass.
74 Section 2. Section 20A-4-104 is amended to read:
75 20A-4-104. Counting ballots electronically.
76 (1) (a) Before beginning to count ballot sheets using automatic tabulating equipment,
77 the election officer shall test the automatic tabulating equipment to ensure that [
78 equipment will accurately count the votes cast for all offices and all measures.
79 (b) The election officer shall publish public notice of the time and place of the test at
80 least 48 hours before the test in one or more daily or weekly newspapers of general circulation
81 published in the county, municipality, or jurisdiction where the equipment is used.
82 (c) The election officer shall conduct the test by processing a preaudited group of ballot
83 sheets.
84 (d) The election officer shall ensure that:
85 (i) a predetermined number of valid votes for each candidate and measure are recorded
86 on the ballot sheets;
87 (ii) for each office, one or more ballot sheets have votes in excess of the number
88 allowed by law in order to test the ability of the automatic tabulating equipment to reject those
89 votes; and
90 (iii) a different number of valid votes are assigned to each candidate for an office, and
91 for and against each measure.
92 (e) If any error is detected, the election officer shall determine the cause of the error
93 and correct [
94 (f) The election officer shall ensure that:
95 (i) the automatic tabulating equipment produces an errorless count before beginning
96 the actual counting; and
97 (ii) the automatic tabulating equipment passes the same test at the end of the count
98 before the election returns are approved as official.
99 (2) (a) The election officer or [
100 direct all proceedings at the counting center.
101 (b) (i) Proceedings at the counting center are public and may be observed by interested
102 persons.
103 (ii) Only those persons authorized to participate in the count may touch any ballot,
104 ballot sheet, or return.
105 (c) The election officer shall deputize and administer an oath or affirmation to all
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107 individuals will faithfully perform [
108 (d) (i) Counting poll watchers appointed as provided in Section 20A-3-201 may
109 observe the testing of equipment and actual counting of the ballot sheets.
110 (ii) Those counting poll watchers may make independent tests of the equipment before
111 or after the vote count as long as the testing does not interfere in any way with the official
112 tabulation of the ballot sheets.
113 (3) If any ballot sheet is damaged or defective so that [
114 properly be counted by the automatic tabulating equipment, the election officer shall:
115 (a) cause a true duplicate copy of the ballot sheet to be made with an identifying serial
116 number;
117 (b) substitute the duplicate for the damaged ballot sheet;
118 (c) label the duplicate ballot card "duplicate"; and
119 (d) record the duplicate ballot sheet's serial number on the damaged or defective ballot
120 sheet.
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123 (4) (a) Except as provided in Subsection (4)(c), before midnight at the end of the third
124 day after the election, an election officer shall complete an unofficial tabulation of all ballots,
125 except ballots described in Subsection (4)(b), that are in the election officer's custody by
126 midnight at the end of election day.
127 (b) An election officer may exclude from the unofficial tabulation described in
128 Subsection (4)(a):
129 (i) a provisional ballot;
130 (ii) a ballot that is required to be duplicated under Subsection (3); or
131 (iii) a ballot that does not meet the requirements described in Subsection
132 20A-3-308(2).
133 (c) An election officer is not required to comply with the requirements of this
134 Subsection (4) if:
135 (i) an emergency exists that renders the election officer unable to comply with the
136 requirements of this Subsection (4); and
137 (ii) the election officer obtains approval from the lieutenant governor to be exempted
138 from the requirements of this Subsection (4).
139 (5) An election officer may:
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142 of ballots.
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144 and prepare any valid provisional ballots for counting as provided in Section 20A-4-107.
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146 (i) separate, count, and tabulate any ballots containing valid write-in votes; and
147 (ii) complete the standard form provided by the clerk for recording valid write-in votes.
148 (b) In counting the write-in votes, if, by casting a valid write-in vote, a voter has cast
149 more votes for an office than that voter is entitled to vote for that office, the poll workers shall
150 count the valid write-in vote as being the obvious intent of the voter.
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152 tabulating equipment, to which have been added write-in and absentee votes, as the official
153 return of each voting precinct.
154 (b) Upon completion of the count, the election officer shall make official returns open
155 to the public.
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158 be counted manually according to the procedures and requirements of this part.
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160 programs, test materials, and ballots as provided in Section 20A-4-202.
Legislative Review Note
Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel