SECTIONS 19250-19255 - California Statutes

ELECTIONS CODE

SECTION 19250-19255

19250. (a) On and after January 1, 2005, the Secretary of State
shall not approve a direct recording electronic voting system unless
the system has received federal qualification and includes an
accessible voter verified paper audit trail.
(b) On and after January 1, 2006, a city or county shall not
contract for or purchase a direct recording electronic voting system
unless the system has received federal qualification and includes an
accessible voter verified paper audit trail.
(c) As of January 1, 2006, all direct recording electronic voting
systems in use on that date, regardless of when contracted for or
purchased, shall have received federal qualification and include an
accessible voter verified paper audit trail. If the direct recording
electronic voting system does not already include an accessible voter
verified paper audit trail, the system shall be replaced or modified
to include an accessible voter verified paper audit trail.
(d) All direct recording electronic voting systems shall include a
method by which a voter may electronically verify, through a
nonvisual method, the information that is contained on the paper
record copy of that voter's ballot.
(e) A paper record copy that is printed by a voter verified paper
audit trail component shall be printed in the same language that the
voter used when casting his or her ballot on the direct recording
electronic voting system. For languages that lack a written form, the
paper record copy shall be printed in English.

19251. For purposes of this article, the following terms shall have
the following meanings:
(a) "Accessible" means that the information provided on the paper
record copy from the voter verified paper audit trail mechanism is
provided or conveyed to voters via both a visual and a nonvisual
method, such as through an audio component.
(b) "Direct recording electronic voting system" means a voting
system that records a vote electronically and does not require or
permit the voter to record his or her vote directly onto a tangible
ballot.
(c) "Voter verified paper audit trail" means a component of a
direct recording electronic voting system that prints a
contemporaneous paper record copy of each electronic ballot and
allows each voter to confirm his or her selections before the voter
casts his or her ballot.
(d) "Federal qualification" means the system has been certified,
if applicable, by means of qualification testing by a Nationally
Recognized Test Laboratory and has met or exceeded the minimum
requirements set forth in the Performance and Text Standards for
Punch Card, Mark Sense, and Direct Recording Electronic Voting
Systems, or in any successor voluntary standard document, developed
and promulgated by the Federal Election Commission, the Election
Assistance Commission, or the National Institute of Standards and
Technology.
(e) "Paper record copy" means an auditable document printed by a
voter verified paper audit trail component that corresponds to the
voter's electronic vote and lists the contests on the ballot and the
voter's selections for those contests. A paper record copy is not a
ballot.
(f) "Parallel monitoring" means the testing of a randomly selected
sampling of voting equipment on election day designed to simulate
actual election conditions to confirm that the system is registering
votes accurately.

19252. To the extent that they are available for expenditure for
the purposes of this article, federal funds or moneys from the Voting
Modernization Fund, created pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section
19234, shall be used. No moneys from the General Fund shall be
expended for the purposes of this article.

19253. (a) On a direct recording electronic voting system, the
electronic record of each vote shall be considered the official
record of the vote, except as provided in subdivision (b).
(b) (1) The voter verified paper audit trail shall be considered
the official paper audit record and shall be used for the required
1-percent manual tally described in Section 15360 and any full
recount.
(2) The voter verified paper audit trail shall govern if there is
any difference between it and the electronic record during a
1-percent manual tally or full recount.

19254. The Secretary of State shall not approve a direct recording
electronic voting system unless the paper used for its voter verified
paper audit trail is of sufficient quality that it maintains its
integrity and readability throughout the retention period specified
in Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 17300) of Division 17.

19255. (a) For each statewide election, the Secretary of State
shall conduct parallel monitoring of each direct recording electronic
voting system on which ballots will be cast. This section shall only
apply to precincts that have more than one direct recording
electronic voting system.
(b) The results of the parallel monitoring shall be made available
prior to the certification of the election.