1     
ELECTION LAW MODIFICATIONS

2     
2017 GENERAL SESSION

3     
STATE OF UTAH

4     
Chief Sponsor: Bruce R. Cutler

5     
Senate Sponsor: ____________

6     

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
28     

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.
33          [(1) The election officer shall deliver all envelopes containing valid absentee ballots
34     and valid provisional ballots that are in the election officer's custody to the place of the official
35     canvass of the election by noon on the day of the official canvass following the election.]
36          [(2) (a) Valid absentee ballots and]
37          (1) (a) A valid absentee ballot received after election day and a valid provisional
38     [ballots] ballot may be processed and counted:
39          (i) by the election officer before the date of the canvass; [and] or
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 [them] ballots in a ballot box[.]; and
46          [(3) (a) After all valid absentee ballots and valid provisional ballots have been
47     deposited, the ballots shall be counted in the usual manner.]
48          (ii) Section 20A-4-104 in tabulating official and unofficial election results.
49          [(b)] (2) (a) After the polls close on the date of the election, the election officer shall
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          [(c)] (b) Except as provided in Subsection [(3)(d)] (2)(c), on each day, beginning on the
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.
56          [(d)] (c) (i) If complying with Subsection [(3)(c)] (2)(b) on a particular day will likely
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 [(3)(d)(i)]
61     (2)(c)(i) if the lieutenant governor finds that the delay is necessary to protect against disclosure
62     of a voter's vote.
63          [(e)] (d) On the date of the canvass, the election officer shall provide a tally of all
64     absentee ballots and provisional ballots counted, and the resulting tally shall be added to the
65     official canvass of the election.
66          [(4) (a) On the day after the date of the election, the]
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 [absentee] ballots that have been received by the election officer
70     [at that time] that are not included in the unofficial tabulation and shall make that number
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 [it] the
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 [it] the error.
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 [his] the election officer's designee shall supervise and
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
106     [persons] individuals who are engaged in processing and counting the ballots that [they] the
107     individuals will faithfully perform [their] the individuals' assigned duties.
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 [it] the ballot sheet cannot
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.
121          [(4) The election officer may: (a) conduct an unofficial count before conducting the
122     official count in order to provide early unofficial returns to the public;]
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:
140          [(b)] (a) release unofficial returns from time to time after the polls close; and
141          [(c)] (b) report the progress of the count for each candidate during the actual counting
142     of ballots.
143          [(5)] (6) The election officer shall review and evaluate the provisional ballot envelopes
144     and prepare any valid provisional ballots for counting as provided in Section 20A-4-107.
145          [(6)] (7) (a) The election officer or [his] the election officer's designee shall:
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.
151          [(7)] (8) (a) The election officer shall certify the return printed by the automatic
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.
156          [(8)] (9) If for any reason it becomes impracticable to count all or a part of the [ballot
157     sheets] ballots with tabulating equipment, the election officer may direct that [they] the ballots
158     be counted manually according to the procedures and requirements of this part.
159          [(9)] (10) After the count is completed, the election officer shall seal and retain the
160     programs, test materials, and ballots as provided in Section 20A-4-202.




Legislative Review Note
Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel