SB 214

Early canvassing of absentee ballots

Under current law, absentee ballots may not be canvassed until election day.

Also under current law, any municipality may provide by ordinance that, in lieu of

canvassing absentee ballots at polling places, a municipal board of absentee ballot

canvassers established by the municipality is responsible for canvassing all absentee

ballots received by the municipal clerk by 8 p.m. on election day. In such a

municipality, the board of absentee ballot canvassers is required to convene a

meeting any time after the polls open and before 10 p.m. on election day to canvass

the absentee ballots cast in the municipality in the election. Among the

requirements governing such a meeting, any member of the public has the same right

of access to the meeting that the individual would have to observe the canvassing of

absentee ballots at a polling place.

This bill authorizes the municipal board of absentee ballot canvassers in such

a municipality to begin canvassing absentee ballots on the day before an election,

subject to the following requirements:

1. The board must convene its meeting no earlier than 7 a.m. on the day before

the election nor later than 10 p.m. on election day. The meeting must continue until

all absentee ballots have been counted, except that, if the meeting convenes on the

day before the election, the meeting must adjourn no later than 10 p.m. that day and

must reconvene no earlier than 7 a.m. on election day.

2. At least daily while ballots are being canvassed, the municipal clerk or his

or her designee must post, at his or her office and on the Internet at a site announced

by the clerk before canvassing begins, and must make available to any person upon

request, a statement that shows the number of absentee ballots that the board has

canvassed and the number of absentee ballots remaining to be canvassed.

3. If the meeting of the board of absentee ballot canvassers convenes and then

adjourns on the day before the election, the board is required to secure the automatic

tabulating equipment, and the areas where the programmed media, memory

devices, and absentee ballots are housed, with tamper-evident security seals in a

double-lock location such as a locked cabinet inside a locked office. Before resuming

the canvassing of absentee ballots on election day, the board must check and record

the status of each tamper-evident seal and must immediately notify the Elections

Commission of any evidence of tampering. If the board discovers evidence of

tampering with respect to automatic tabulating equipment, the canvass may not

resume until after the equipment is replaced and tested in the manner provided by

law. Also, if the board discovers evidence of tampering, after the election, the

municipality is required conduct a recount in the manner provided by law and must

audit the election equipment to verify the accuracy of the absentee ballot count.

4. Absentee ballots canvassed under the bill may not be tallied until after the

canvass is complete or after the polls close on election day, whichever is later.