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| To amend section 3506.21; to amend, for the purpose | 1 |
| of adopting a new section number as indicated in | 2 |
| parentheses, section 3505.25 (3599.07); and to | 3 |
| enact new section 3505.25 of the Revised Code to | 4 |
| clarify that an optical scan ballot with more | 5 |
| than the proper number of selections for a | 6 |
| particular office, issue, or question is | 7 |
| invalidated only for that office, issue, or | 8 |
| question; to permit midday collection and | 9 |
| delivery to the board of elections of optical | 10 |
| scan ballots that will be counted at a central | 11 |
| location for the March 4, 2008, primary election; | 12 |
| to generally prohibit the central counting of | 13 |
| optical scan ballots; to terminate the provisions | 14 |
| of this act authorizing the midday collection and | 15 |
| delivery of optical scan ballots on May 1, 2008, | 16 |
| by repealing section 3505.25 of the Revised Code | 17 |
| on that date; and to declare an emergency. | 18 |
| Section 1. That section 3506.21 be amended, section 3505.25 | 19 |
| (3599.07) be amended for the purpose of adopting a new section | 20 |
| number as indicated in parentheses, and new section 3505.25 of | 21 |
| the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows: | 22 |
| Sec. 3505.25. (A) As used in this section: | 23 |
| (1) "Designated agents" means a team of two persons who are | 24 |
| members of different political parties, including law enforcement | 25 |
| officers or employees or agents of a county board of elections | 26 |
| who have taken an oath to uphold the laws and Constitution of | 27 |
| Ohio, including an oath that they will directly, promptly, and | 28 |
| securely collect the voted ballots from the polling places and | 29 |
| deliver them to the board of elections. | 30 |
| (2) "Midday" means the period beginning at noon and ending at | 31 |
| three p.m. on the day of an election. | 32 |
| (3) "Optical scan ballot" has the same meaning as in section | 33 |
| 3506.21 of the Revised Code. | 34 |
| (B) Notwithstanding division (D) of section 3506.21 of the | 35 |
| Revised Code or any other provision of the Revised Code to the | 36 |
| contrary, a board of elections that voted, prior to February 1, | 37 |
| 2008, to tabulate the unofficial results of optical scan ballots | 38 |
| voted in a precinct polling place at the March 4, 2008, primary | 39 |
| election at a central location may do both of the following: | 40 |
| (1) Tabulate the unofficial results of optical scan ballots | 41 |
| voted on election day at a central location; | 42 |
| (2) Arrange to have voted ballots collected and delivered | 43 |
| to the office of the board of elections at any time during | 44 |
| midday. Voted ballots that have been properly sealed in locked | 45 |
| containers shall be collected and delivered to the board by | 46 |
| members of the board or by their designated agents. | 47 |
| (C) If a board of elections chooses to conduct a midday | 48 |
| ballot collection under this section, the presiding judge of each | 49 |
| precinct shall, by proclamation, announce that a midday collection | 50 |
| of the ballots for delivery to the board of elections shall be | 51 |
| conducted. | 52 |
| Two judges of elections, who shall be members of different | 53 |
| political parties, shall do all of the following in the presence | 54 |
| of any observers before the designated agents who have been | 55 |
| assigned by the board of elections to collect and deliver the | 56 |
| voted ballots collect those ballots from the polling location for | 57 |
| midday delivery to the board of elections: | 58 |
| (1) Count the number of electors who have voted, as shown in | 59 |
| the pollbook or poll list; | 60 |
| (2) Insert the number determined under division (C)(1) of | 61 |
| this section on the report forms in the pollbook or poll list; | 62 |
| (3) Count the number of voted ballots. If the number of voted | 63 |
| ballots exceeds the number determined under division (C)(1) of | 64 |
| this section, the presiding judge shall enter in the pollbook or | 65 |
| poll list an explanation of that discrepancy. If the remaining | 66 |
| judges agree with the explanation, they shall subscribe their | 67 |
| signatures in the pollbook or poll list along with the | 68 |
| explanation. Any judge with a different explanation shall enter | 69 |
| that explanation in the pollbook or poll list and subscribe the | 70 |
| judge's signature with that explanation. | 71 |
| (4) Separately retain spoiled ballots for reconciliation | 72 |
| following the close of the polls. | 73 |
| Once the judges have determined the number of electors who | 74 |
| have voted under division (C)(1) of this section and the number of | 75 |
| ballots that have been voted under division (C)(3) of this | 76 |
| section, the judges shall certify that information to the board of | 77 |
| elections as of the time the presiding judge has proclaimed for | 78 |
| the midday collection and delivery of ballots. The certification | 79 |
| shall be made by a summary statement prepared by the judges in | 80 |
| duplicate, on forms provided by the board of elections and | 81 |
| prescribed by the secretary of state. | 82 |
| (D) From the time the voted ballots are removed from the | 83 |
| ballot box for the purpose of determining the number of voted | 84 |
| ballots under division (C)(3) of this section until the number of | 85 |
| those ballots is determined and the certification required under | 86 |
| division (C) of this section has been completed, signed, and | 87 |
| tendered to the designated agents along with the voted ballots for | 88 |
| midday collection, no judge in the precinct shall separate or | 89 |
| leave the polling place, except from unavoidable necessity. An | 90 |
| "unavoidable necessity," under this division includes illness, | 91 |
| death of a family member, or other incapacitation that would | 92 |
| prevent the judge from observing or assisting in the midday ballot | 93 |
| reconciliation and collection of the voted ballots. At no time | 94 |
| shall more than one half of the judges of elections conducting a | 95 |
| midday ballot reconciliation under division (C) of this section be | 96 |
| members of the same political party. | 97 |
| (E) After the judges have completed the midday reconciliation | 98 |
| of the voted ballots and signed the certification required under | 99 |
| division (C) of this section, the judges shall, in the presence of | 100 |
| the designated agents, place all voted ballots to be collected by | 101 |
| the designated agents and delivered to the board of elections in a | 102 |
| sealed container that cannot be opened without breaking the seal. | 103 |
| The container and its seal shall each bear a number that | 104 |
| corresponds to a recorded key or list of such numbers that the | 105 |
| board of elections maintains. The number on the container and its | 106 |
| seal shall be verified and recorded on the key or list when the | 107 |
| voted ballots are delivered midday to the board of elections. | 108 |
| Before leaving the polling location, the designated agents | 109 |
| shall sign a receipt, which shall be maintained by the judges of | 110 |
| that precinct, acknowledging that the designated agents have | 111 |
| received the voted ballots, forms, certifications, and any other | 112 |
| materials prescribed the secretary of state for midday delivery to | 113 |
| the board of elections. A plain indication that the items are to | 114 |
| be delivered midday to the board of elections shall appear in a | 115 |
| prominent location on the outside of the items. | 116 |
| The designated agents shall deliver the voted ballots, forms, | 117 |
| certifications, and any other materials prescribed by the | 118 |
| secretary of state for midday delivery to the director and deputy | 119 |
| director of the board of elections, who shall record their | 120 |
| delivery as provided in this division and in the manner prescribed | 121 |
| by the secretary of state. | 122 |
| (F) The secretary of state, by directive, shall provide | 123 |
| requirements for all of the following regarding the midday | 124 |
| collection and delivery of voted ballots to a board of elections | 125 |
| under this section: | 126 |
| (1) Persons to serve as designated agents; | 127 |
| (2) The manner of handling ballots during collection and | 128 |
| delivery; | 129 |
| (3) Maintenance of ballot boxes for each precinct; | 130 |
| (4) Secure delivery of the voted ballots to the board of | 131 |
| elections; | 132 |
| (5) Ballot reconciliations with the pollbook or poll lists | 133 |
| that are transported to and from a polling location. | 134 |
| Sec. 3506.21. (A) As used in this section, "optical scan | 135 |
| ballot" means a ballot that is marked by using a specified writing | 136 |
| instrument to fill in a designated position to record a voter's | 137 |
| candidate, question, or issue choice and that can be scanned and | 138 |
| electronically read in order to tabulate the vote. | 139 |
| (B)(1) In addition to marks that can be scanned and | 140 |
| electronically read by automatic tabulating equipment, any of the | 141 |
| following marks, if a majority of those marks are made in a | 142 |
| consistent manner throughout an optical scan ballot, shall be | 143 |
| counted as a valid vote: | 144 |
| (a) A candidate, question, or issue choice that has been | 145 |
| circled by the voter; | 146 |
| (b) An oval beside the candidate, question, or issue choice | 147 |
| that has been circled by the voter; | 148 |
| (c) An oval beside the candidate, question, or issue choice | 149 |
| that has been marked by the voter with an "x," a check mark, or | 150 |
| other recognizable mark; | 151 |
| (d) A candidate, question, or issue choice that has been | 152 |
| marked with a writing instrument that cannot be recognized by | 153 |
| automatic tabulating equipment. | 154 |
| (2) Marks made on an optical scan ballot in accordance with | 155 |
| division (B)(1) of this section shall be counted as valid votes | 156 |
| only if that optical scan ballot contains no marks that can be | 157 |
| scanned and electronically read by automatic tabulating equipment. | 158 |
| (3) If automatic tabulating equipment detects that more marks | 159 |
| were made on an optical scan ballot for a particular office, | 160 |
| question, or issue than the number of selections that a voter is | 161 |
| allowed by law to make for that office, question, or issue, the | 162 |
| voter's ballot shall be invalidated for that office, question, or | 163 |
| issue. The ballot shall not be invalidated for any other office, | 164 |
| question, or issue for which the automatic tabulating equipment | 165 |
| detects a vote to have been cast, in accordance with the law. | 166 |
| (C) The secretary of state may adopt rules under Chapter 119. | 167 |
| of the Revised Code to authorize additional types of optical scan | 168 |
| ballots and to specify the types of marks on those ballots that | 169 |
| shall be counted as a valid vote to ensure consistency in the | 170 |
| counting of ballots throughout the state. | 171 |
| (D)(1) A board of elections of a county that uses optical | 172 |
| scan ballots and automatic tabulating equipment as the primary | 173 |
| voting system for the county shall not tabulate the unofficial | 174 |
| results of optical scan ballots voted on election day at a central | 175 |
| location. | 176 |
| (2) A board of elections that provides for the tabulation at | 177 |
| each precinct of voted ballots, and then, at a central location, | 178 |
| combines those precinct ballot totals with ballot totals from | 179 |
| other precincts, including optical scan ballots voted by absent | 180 |
| voters, shall not be considered to be tabulating the unofficial | 181 |
| results of optical scan ballots at a central location for the | 182 |
| purpose of division (D)(1) of this section. | 183 |
| | 184 |
| police officer admitted into the polling rooms at the election, at | 185 |
| any time while the polls are open, shall have in the individual's | 186 |
| possession, distribute, or give out any ballot or ticket to any | 187 |
| person on any pretense during the receiving, counting, or | 188 |
| certifying of the votes, or have any ballot or ticket in the | 189 |
| individual's possession or control, except in the proper discharge | 190 |
| of the individual's official duty in receiving, counting, or | 191 |
| canvassing the votes. This section does not prevent the lawful | 192 |
| exercise by a judge of elections or observer of the individual | 193 |
| right to vote at such election. | 194 |
| Section 2. That existing sections 3505.25 and 3506.21 of the | 195 |
| Revised Code are hereby repealed. | 196 |
| Section 3. Section 3505.25 of the Revised Code is hereby | 197 |
| repealed, effective May 1, 2008. | 198 |
| Section 4. (A) Notwithstanding division (D)(1) of section | 199 |
| 3506.21 of the Revised Code, optical scan ballots required to be | 200 |
| provided for the March 4, 2008, primary election at each precinct | 201 |
| pursuant to Directive 2008-01, issued by the Secretary of State, | 202 |
| may be counted at a central location. | 203 |
| (B) As used in this section, "optical scan ballot" has the | 204 |
| same meaning as in section 3506.21 of the Revised Code. | 205 |
| Section 5. This act is hereby declared to be an emergency | 206 |
| measure necessary for the immediate preservation of the public | 207 |
| peace, health, and safety. The reason for such necessity is to | 208 |
| ensure an orderly and timely election process for the March 4, | 209 |
| 2008, primary. Therefore, this act shall go into immediate | 210 |
| effect. | 211 |