Title ELEC — California Elec. Code

(a) No later than the time at which the voter delivers the voted ballot, a precinct board member in charge of the voter list shall write in the space opposite the name of the voter the line number designating the position of the name on the roster. In those counties using a combi…

(a) The precinct board shall maintain at least one printed copy of the voter list posted during the whole time of voting. The copies of the voter list shall not be marked in any manner except by a member of the precinct board acting pursuant to Section 14294. (b) A member of the …

(a) If a precinct board is unable to furnish a ballot to a qualified voter because there is an insufficient number of ballots at the precinct, the elections official shall deliver to the precinct additional ballots to ensure that all eligible voters can cast their ballots within …

(a) In the case of an election for a state or federal office, each polling place using a direct recording electronic voting system, as defined by Section 19271, the elections official shall provide paper ballots equivalent to the following percentages: (1) For a statewide general…

(a) At all elections, a voter claiming to be properly registered, but whose qualification or entitlement to vote cannot be immediately established upon examination of the roster for the precinct or upon examination of the records on file with the county elections official, shall …

(a) A voter who has moved from one address to another within the same county and who has not reregistered to vote at that new address may, at his or her option, vote on the day of the election at the polling place at which he or she is entitled to vote based on his or her current…

This article shall be liberally construed in favor of the provisional voter.

(a) Upon the declaration of a state of emergency by the Governor and the issuance of an executive order authorizing an emergency worker to cast a ballot outside of his or her home precinct, elections officials in the counties included in the executive order shall, upon demand, is…

The Secretary of State shall promulgate regulations establishing guidelines for county elections officials relating to the processing of provisional ballots.

For every election, the elections official shall conduct a semifinal official canvass by tabulating vote by mail and precinct ballots and compiling the results. The semifinal official canvass shall commence immediately upon the close of the polls and shall continue without adjour…

(a) The elections official shall transmit the semifinal official results to the Secretary of State in the manner and according to the schedule prescribed by the Secretary of State prior to each election, for the following: (1) All candidates voted for statewide office. (2) All ca…

Neither the elections official, any member of a precinct board, nor any other person shall count any votes, either for a ballot proposition or candidate, until the close of the polls in that county. After that time, the ballots for all candidates and ballot propositions voted upo…

During the semifinal official canvass, write-in votes shall be counted in accordance with Article 3 (commencing with Section 15340) of Chapter 4.

(a) Any ballot that is not marked as provided by law shall be rejected. The rejected ballots shall be placed in the package marked for voted ballots or in a separate container as directed by the elections official. All rejected ballots shall have written on the ballot the cause f…

If paper ballots are used in conjunction with this system, counting shall be as provided in Article 5 (commencing with Section 15270) and Article 6 (commencing with Section 15290).

(a) As soon as the polls are closed, the precinct board shall, in the presence of the public do all of the following: (1) Seal the container used to transport voted ballots and insure that the precinct number, or in an election conducted using a voter center, the vote center numb…

If the ballots are to be counted at a central counting place, no fewer than two precinct board members shall, following the close of the polls, deliver the ballots, in a sealed container, to the central counting place or a designated receiving station. There may be two or more ce…

The vote tabulating device may be located at any place within the state approved by the elections official of the county or other political subdivision using the device. The same device may be jointly owned, borrowed, leased, or used by two or more counties, cities, or other poli…

All proceedings at the central counting place, or counting places, if applicable, shall be open to the view of the public but no person, except one employed and designated for the purpose by the elections official or his or her authorized deputy, shall touch any ballot container.…

(a) A person may be employed to count, tally, and certify the ballots if he or she is not a candidate at the election and if he or she satisfies either of the following requirements: (1) Has the qualifications required for a precinct board member. (2) Is a deputy or employee of e…

The elections official or any deputy authorized by the elections official may excuse or dismiss any person from any counting board and enforce the order.

The elections official or authorized deputy shall segregate the persons employed to count the ballots into counting boards. These counting boards shall be deemed to be precinct boards, and are subject to all laws governing precinct boards where ballots are counted at the polling …

(a) Each container of ballots shall be opened and its contents removed. The ballots shall be checked to ascertain if the ballots are properly grouped and shall be arranged, if necessary, so that all similar ballots from the precinct are together. (b) Any ballot that contains pers…

Any magnetic or electronic storage medium, or copy thereof, used for the ballot tabulation program and any magnetic or electronic storage medium, or copy thereof, containing election results shall be kept in a secure location and shall be retained for 6 months following any local…

In preparing the voted ballots for processing, any ballot that is torn, bent, or otherwise defective shall be corrected so that every vote cast by the voter shall be counted by the automatic tabulating equipment. If necessary, a true duplicate copy of the defective ballot shall b…

If voting at all precincts within a county is not conducted using the same voting system, the result as to the precincts not subject to this article shall be determined in accordance with other provisions of this code and the result of the vote at precincts subject to this articl…

In case of an emergency in which it becomes impossible to transport the ballots from the precinct to a central counting place, the elections official may direct that the ballots be counted at the precinct. In those cases, counting shall be conducted substantially in accordance wi…

This article applies to all elections in which votes are counted by means of a voting machine at a polling place or vote center.

(a) As soon as the polls are closed on election day, the precinct board, in the presence of the watchers and all others lawfully present, shall immediately lock the voting machine against voting and do all of the following: (1) Count the votes cast on voting machines and report t…

Upon receipt of the result of votes cast from the precinct boards, the elections official shall do either of the following: (a) Compile and make available to the public the received results as to the offices and measures. (b) Compare the received results to the results provided t…

(a) The elections official of the jurisdiction shall establish one or more election return centers for the purpose of facilitating the compilation of election returns and expediting their announcement to the public. (b) In establishing a return center, the elections official may …

The elections official may establish one or more centers to count ballots from designated precincts and transmit the results via voice telephone connection or facsimile transmission. The count shall be conducted in all other respects in accordance with the central counting provis…

This article applies to all elections in which ballots are counted by hand.

(a) An elections official shall not conduct a manual vote count pursuant to this article or Article 6 (commencing with Section 15290) in any election unless that manual count is conducted pursuant to a plan approved by the Secretary of State. A manual count plan shall be consiste…

The Secretary of State shall adopt regulations regarding manual vote counts.

Notwithstanding Section 15270.1 or subdivision (a) of Section 19207.5, an elections official may conduct a manual vote count in the event of a natural disaster or other state of emergency in which use of a certified voting system is not feasible.

As soon as the polls are finally closed, the precinct board shall commence to count the votes by taking the ballots cast, unopened, out of the box and counting them to ascertain whether the number of ballots corresponds with the number of signatures on the roster. The precinct bo…

The count shall be public and shall be continued without adjournment until completed and the result is declared. During the reading and tallying, the ballot read and the tally sheet kept shall be within the clear view of watchers.

Unless otherwise provided in this code, the precinct board members may not constitute themselves into separate squads in an attempt to conduct more than one count of the ballots at the same time.

The members of the precinct board may relieve each other in the duties of counting ballots.

Those ballots not rejected shall be placed in one pile, and the board shall proceed to count by tallying the vote for one or more offices or measures at a time.

The precinct board members shall ascertain the number of votes cast for each person and for and against each measure in the following manner: One precinct board member shall read from the ballots. As the ballots are read, at least one other precinct board member shall keep watch …

(a) Two of the precinct board members shall each keep a tally sheet in a form prescribed by the elections official. Each tally sheet shall contain all of the following: (1) The name of each candidate being voted for and the specific office for which each candidate is being voted.…

On completion of the canvass of the returns for each election, the elections official shall compare the vote by mail voters’ list with the roster for each precinct to determine if any voter cast more than one ballot at that election.

No precinct board member may make any tally of votes in any other manner than is provided in this article, nor in any place other than on the tally sheets provided for that purpose.

The ballots, as soon as all of the names and measures marked on them as voted for are read and tallied, shall not thereafter be examined by any person, but, as soon as all are counted, shall be carefully sealed in a strong envelope. The signatures of each member of the precinct b…

The precinct board shall complete, sign, and return to the elections official all furnished forms requiring its signatures. When votes are counted at the precinct, all members of the precinct board, upon the completion of their duties, shall sign the following certificate of perf…

The precinct board shall sign and post conspicuously on the outside of the polling place a copy of the result of the votes cast. The copy shall remain posted for at least 48 hours after the official time fixed for the closing of the polls. To protect a person’s right to cast a se…

Ballots that are to be counted manually in a central place shall be transported as provided in Sections 15201 and 15202. Each counting board shall proceed to count and tally the ballots by precincts, separately, under the direction of the elections official or authorized deputies…

The Secretary of State shall not approve any voting system, or part of a voting system, unless it fulfills the requirements of this code and the regulations of the Secretary of State. (Enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.)