AB 746

This bill makes various changes in election laws relating to the discontinuance

of the use of voting machines, recounts of machine-readable ballots, petitions for

recounts, the inspection of areas where voted ballots are stored, and the destruction

of ballots after an election.

Discontinuance of the use of voting machines

Currently, with limited exceptions, every municipality with a population of

7,500 or more must use voting machines or an electronic voting system at all

primaries and other elections held in the municipality. Either mechanical or

electronic voting machines may be used. No electronic voting system, including an

electronic voting machine, may be used unless the system meets statutory standards

and is approved by the Government Accountability Board for use at elections held

in this state. All voting machines must be tested before each election to determine

if they are functioning properly. If voting machines are used, ballots need not be

printed and distributed to electors, but if electronic voting machines are used, the

machines must maintain a cumulative tally of votes cast that is retrievable in the

event of a power outage, evacuation, or malfunction so that the record of the votes

cast prior to the time that the problem occurs is preserved. This bill discontinues the

authorization for municipalities to use mechanical or electronic voting machines at

elections held in this state. Under the bill, if an electronic voting system is used, the

system must be of a type in which printed ballots are distributed to electors.

Recounts of machine-readable ballots

Currently, with a limited exception, a board of canvassers must use automatic

tabulating equipment to conduct a recount of ballots that are in machine-readable

form. However, a candidate, or an elector if the recount is for a referendum question,

may petition the circuit court for an order requiring ballots in machine-readable

form to be recounted by hand or by another method approved by the court. To obtain

such an order, the candidate or elector must show by clear and convincing evidence

that due to an irregularity or mistake committed during the voting or canvassing

process the results of a recount using automatic tabulating equipment will produce

incorrect results and there is a substantial probability that recounting the ballots by

hand or by another method will produce a more correct result and change the

outcome of the election. This bill provides instead that the elector who petitions for

a recount, a candidate at the election, or an elector who voted in a referendum that

is the subject of a recount may file a written demand for the board of canvassers to

recount the ballots in an election, or the ballots from a specified ward or polling place,

by hand, in which case the board of canvassers must recount those ballots by hand.

Petitions for recounts

Currently, any candidate voted for at an election may petition for a recount of

the votes cast at the election. If the difference between the votes cast for the leading

candidate and the candidate receiving the next highest number of votes is less than