2-6-311 - Absentee ballot boxes Requirements. - Tennessee Statutes

2-6-311. Absentee ballot boxes Requirements.

(a)  Absentee ballot boxes shall meet the requirements for standard ballot boxes under § 2-5-214, have at least two (2) hasps for locks, and be equipped with baffles so that ballots cannot be removed without unlocking the box.

(b)  The ballot boxes shall be locked at the beginning of absentee voting with one (1) lock from a county election commissioner of one (1) party and another lock provided by a commissioner of another party. The commissioners shall retain the keys personally. The boxes may not be unlocked except when the votes are to be counted.

(c)  In addition to the locks required in subsection (b), the county election commission shall place two (2) numbered seals on each ballot box at the beginning of absentee voting with one (1) seal placed by a county election commissioner of each party. Such seal numbers shall be recorded by the administrator of elections and certified in duplicate by one (1) commissioner of each party, and the original shall be forwarded by mail immediately to the office of the coordinator of elections and the duplicate shall be filed in the election commission office. The seals may not be broken except when the votes are to be counted. If a seal or seals are broken, the administrator shall immediately attach new numbered seals and certify in writing to the coordinator of elections the numbers and a description of the circumstances necessitating this action.

[Acts 1972, ch. 740, § 1; T.C.A., § 2-627; Acts 1984, ch. 636, § 2; 1993, ch. 518, §§ 12, 21; T.C.A., § 2-6-127; Acts 1994, ch. 859, § 2.]