Alabama § 17-12-4 Procedures Upon Malfunction of Equipment

Alabama Statutes

§ 17-12-4 — Procedures Upon Malfunction of Equipment

Alabama § 17-12-4

Title 17Elections

Ch. 12Canvassing Returns/Declaring Results

This text of Alabama § 17-12-4 (Procedures Upon Malfunction of Equipment) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Ala. Code § 17-12-4 (2026).

Text

If a precinct ballot counter malfunctions, the polls shall remain open and voters shall deposit their ballots in a ballot box or other suitable container. The inspector shall notify the custodian, who shall maintain a public list of all voting places in which equipment failure has occurred. After the polls close, the ballot box shall be opened and the ballots counted either by hand, as described in Sections 17-12-2 and 17-12-6, or by feeding the ballots into an operable hand precinct ballot counter. Poll watchers of opposing interests and members of the media, if any are present, shall be permitted to witness this process. Where precinct counting equipment is programmed to return ballots containing over-votes, any such ballot returned during a post-election count must be counted by hand fo

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If a precinct ballot counter malfunctions, the polls shall remain open and voters shall deposit their ballots in a ballot box or other suitable container. The inspector shall notify the custodian, who shall maintain a public list of all voting places in which equipment failure has occurred. After the polls close, the ballot box shall be opened and the ballots counted either by hand, as described in Sections 17-12-2 and 17-12-6, or by feeding the ballots into an operable hand precinct ballot counter. Poll watchers of opposing interests and members of the media, if any are present, shall be permitted to witness this process. Where precinct counting equipment is programmed to return ballots containing over-votes, any such ballot returned during a post-election count must be counted by hand following the rules for ballots. The results of this hand count shall be added to the certificate of results, and the ballots shall be bound separately and returned with the other ballots.