Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 221 (2017GS)

Sponsor

Rep. Cutler, B. R.

Final action

House/ filed 3/9/2017

Outcome

Failed / filed without passage

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• requires an election officer to complete an unofficial count of all ballots within three days after an election, except:
• provisional ballots;
• absentee ballots that are required to be duplicated; and
• absentee ballots that cannot be initially verified;
• makes changes to absentee ballot processing requirements; and
• makes technical and conforming changes.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

ELECTION LAW MODIFICATIONS
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Bruce R. Cutler
Senate Sponsor: 
____________
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill requires an election officer to complete an unofficial count of certain ballots
within three days after an election.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ requires an election officer to complete an unofficial count of all ballots within three
days after an election, except:
• provisional ballots;
• absentee ballots that are required to be duplicated; and
• absentee ballots that cannot be initially verified;
▸ makes changes to absentee ballot processing requirements; and
▸ makes technical and conforming changes.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
20A-3-309
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2016, Chapter 37
20A-4-104
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2006, Chapter 326
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 
20A-3-309
 is amended to read:
20A-3-309.
Disposition of absentee and provisional ballots -- Counting -- Release
of number of absentee ballots cast.
[
(1) The election officer shall deliver all envelopes containing valid absentee ballots
and valid provisional ballots that are in the election officer's custody to the place of the official
canvass of the election by noon on the day of the official canvass following the election.
]
[
(2) (a) Valid absentee ballots and
]
(1) (a) A valid absentee ballot received after election day and a 
valid provisional
[
ballots
] 
ballot
 may be processed and counted:
(i) by the election officer before the date of the canvass; [
and
] 
or
(ii) at the canvass, by the election officer or poll workers, acting under the supervision
of the official canvassers of the election.
(b) When processing ballots, the election officer and poll workers shall comply with
the procedures and requirements of
:
(i)
 Section 
20A-3-308
 in opening envelopes, verifying signatures, confirming
eligibility of the ballots, and depositing [
them
] 
ballots
 in a ballot box[
.
]
; and
[
(3) (a) After all valid absentee ballots and valid provisional ballots have been
deposited, the ballots shall be counted in the usual manner.
]
(ii) Section 
20A-4-104
 in tabulating official and unofficial election results.
[
(b)
] 
(2) (a)
 After the polls close on the date of the election, the election officer shall
publicly release the results of those absentee ballots and provisional ballots that have been
counted on or before the date of the election.
[
(c)
] 
(b)
 Except as provided in Subsection [
(3)(d)
] 
(2)(c)
, on each day, beginning on the
day after the date of the election and ending on the day before the date of the canvass, the
election officer shall publicly release the results of all absentee ballots and provisional ballots
counted on that day.
[
(d)
] 
(c)
 (i) If complying with Subsection [
(3)(c)
] 
(2)(b)
 on a particular day will likely
result in disclosing a vote cast by an individual voter, the election officer shall request
permission from the lieutenant governor to delay compliance for the minimum number of days
necessary to protect against disclosure of the voter's vote.
(ii) The lieutenant governor shall grant a request made under Subsection [
(3)(d)(i)
] 
(2)(c)(i)
 if the lieutenant governor finds that the delay is necessary to protect against disclosure
of a voter's vote.
[
(e)
] 
(d)
 On the date of the canvass, the election officer shall provide a tally of all
absentee ballots and provisional ballots counted, and the resulting tally shall be added to the
official canvass of the election.
[
(4) (a) On the day after the date of the election, 
 the
] 
(3) (a) Before midnight at the end of the third day after the election, and after
completing the unofficial tabulation described in Subsection 
20A-4-104
(4), an
 election officer
shall determine the number of [
absentee
] ballots
 that have been
 received by the election officer
[
at that time
] 
that are not included in the unofficial tabulation
 and shall make that number
available to the public.
(b) The election officer may elect to publicly release updated totals for the number of
absentee ballots received by the election officer up through the date of the canvass.
Section 2. Section 
20A-4-104
 is amended to read:
20A-4-104.
Counting ballots electronically.
(1) (a) Before beginning to count ballot sheets using automatic tabulating equipment,
the election officer shall test the automatic tabulating equipment to ensure that [
it
] 
the
equipment
 will accurately count the votes cast for all offices and all measures.
(b) The election officer shall publish public notice of the time and place of the test at
least 48 hours before the test in one or more daily or weekly newspapers of general circulation
published in the county, municipality, or jurisdiction where the equipment is used.
(c) The election officer shall conduct the test by processing a preaudited group of ballot
sheets.
(d) The election officer shall ensure that:
(i) a predetermined number of valid votes for each candidate and measure are recorded
on the ballot sheets;
(ii) for each office, one or more ballot sheets have votes in excess of the number
allowed by law in order to test the ability of the automatic tabulating equipment to reject those
votes; and
(iii) a different number of valid votes are assigned to each candidate for an office, and
for and against each measure.
(e) If any error is detected, the election officer shall determine the cause of the error
and correct [
it
] 
the error
.
(f) The election officer shall ensure that:
(i) the automatic tabulating equipment produces an errorless count before beginning
the actual counting; and
(ii) the automatic tabulating equipment passes the same test at the end of the count
before the election returns are approved as official.
(2) (a) The election officer or [
his
] 
the election officer's
 designee shall supervise and
direct all proceedings at the counting center.
(b) (i) Proceedings at the counting center are public and may be observed by interested
persons.
(ii) Only those persons authorized to participate in the count may touch any ballot,
ballot sheet, or return.
(c) The election officer shall deputize and administer an oath or affirmation to all
[
persons
] 
individuals
 who are engaged in processing and counting the ballots that [
they
] 
the
individuals
 will faithfully perform [
their
] 
the individuals'
 assigned duties.
(d) (i) Counting poll watchers appointed as provided in Section 
20A-3-201
 may
observe the testing of equipment and actual counting of the ballot sheets.
(ii) Those counting poll watchers may make independent tests of the equipment before
or after the vote count as long as the testing does not interfere in any way with the official
tabulation of the ballot sheets.
(3) If any ballot sheet is damaged or defective so that [
it
] 
the ballot sheet
 cannot
properly be counted by the automatic tabulating equipment, the election officer shall:
(a) cause a true duplicate copy of the ballot sheet to be made with an identifying serial
number;
(b) substitute the duplicate for the damaged ballot sheet;
(c) label the duplicate ballot card "duplicate"; and
(d) record the duplicate ballot sheet's serial number on the damaged or defective ballot
sheet.
[
(4) The election officer may: (a) conduct an unofficial count before conducting the
official count in order to provide early unofficial returns to the public;
]
(4) (a) Except as provided in Subsection (4)(c), before midnight at the end of the third
day after the election, an election officer shall complete an unofficial tabulation of all ballots,
except ballots described in Subsection (4)(b), that are in the election officer's custody by
midnight at the end of election day.
(b) An election officer may exclude from the unofficial tabulation described in
Subsection (4)(a):
(i) a provisional ballot;
(ii) a ballot that is required to be duplicated under Subsection (3); or
(iii) a ballot that does not meet the requirements described in Subsection
20A-3-308
(2).
(c) An election officer is not required to comply with the requirements of this
Subsection (4) if:
(i) an emergency exists that renders the election officer unable to comply with the
requirements of this Subsection (4); and
(ii) the election officer obtains approval from the lieutenant governor to be exempted
from the requirements of this Subsection (4).
(5) An election officer may:
[
(b)
] 
(a)
 release unofficial returns from time to time after the polls close; and
[
(c)
] 
(b)
 report the progress of the count for each candidate during the actual counting
of ballots.
[
(5)
] 
(6)
 The election officer shall review and evaluate the provisional ballot envelopes
and prepare any valid provisional ballots for counting as provided in Section 
20A-4-107
.
[
(6)
] 
(7)
 (a) The election officer or [
his
] 
the election officer's
 designee shall:
(i) separate, count, and tabulate any ballots containing valid write-in votes; and
(ii) complete the standard form provided by the clerk for recording valid write-in votes.
(b) In counting the write-in votes, if, by casting a valid write-in vote, a voter has cast
more votes for an office than that voter is entitled to vote for that office, the poll workers shall
count the valid write-in vote as being the obvious intent of the voter.
[
(7)
] 
(8)
 (a) The election officer shall certify the return printed by the automatic
tabulating equipment, to which have been added write-in and absentee votes, as the official
return of each voting precinct.
(b) Upon completion of the count, the election officer shall make official returns open
to the public.
[
(8)
] 
(9)
 If for any reason it becomes impracticable to count all or a part of the [
ballot
sheets
] 
ballots
 with tabulating equipment, the election officer may direct that [
they
] 
the ballots
be counted manually according to the procedures and requirements of this part.
[
(9)
] 
(10)
 After the count is completed, the election officer shall seal and retain the
programs, test materials, and ballots as provided in Section 
20A-4-202
.
Legislative Review Note
Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel