California Law (Last Updated: March 4, 2014) |
Elections Code - ELEC |
Division 19. APPROVAL OF VOTING SYSTEMS |
Chapter 4. Elections Using Voting Machines |
ARTICLE 6. Counting Procedures |
Section 19380.
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During the reading of the result of votes cast, any candidate or watcher who may desire to be present shall be admitted to the polling place. The proclamation of the result of the votes cast shall be distinctly announced by the precinct board who shall read the name of each candidate, or the designating number and letter of his or her counter, and the vote registered on the counter. The board shall also read the vote cast for and against each measure submitted. The board shall not count votes cast for write-in candidates, but shall have these counted by the elections official. During the proclamation ample opportunity shall be given to any person lawfully present to compare the result so announced with the counter dials of the machine, and any necessary corrections shall then and there be made by the precinct board, after which the doors of the voting machine shall be closed and locked.
To protect a person's right to cast a secret ballot under Section 7 of Article II of the California Constitution, in cases where fewer than 10 votes are cast on any single machine on which the results are tallied at the precinct, the precinct board shall read only the total number of people who voted at the precinct on the machine that keeps vote tallies.
If the machine is provided with a recording device, the alternate procedures in Section 19370 may be used.