§ 18:1309.1 — Preparation of machines for early voting; examination by candidate or his

Louisiana § 18:1309.1

• Jurisdiction: Louisiana
• Title 18: Conservation

Text

§1309.1. Preparation of machines for early voting; examination by candidate or his
representative; sealing machines
A. At the time of qualifying, the parish custodian shall notify each candidate to
contact the registrar of voters for the time and place at which the voting machines will be
prepared for early voting. The registrar of voters shall post at his office adequate notice of
the date, time, and place at which the voting machines will be prepared for early voting and
shall post the same information on his office's website, if possible. The candidate or his
representative may be present to observe the preparation and testing of the machines by the
registrar of voters with the assistance of the secretary of state's technicians and to observe the
sealing of the machines by the registrar of voters in the presence of the parish board of
election supervisors. Each candidate or his representative shall be afforded a reasonable
opportunity to view the test vote tape for each machine to see that they are in the proper
condition for use in the election, which opportunity shall not be less than thirty minutes
beginning at the time designated by the registrar of voters to begin preparation of the
machines for sealing. However, no candidate, representative, or citizen shall interfere with
the registrar of voters, secretary of state's technicians, parish board of election supervisors,
or any employee or technician or assume any of their duties.
B. Each candidate or representative shall identify to the registrar of voters the
candidate whom he is representing. In addition, any citizen of this state may be present to
observe the preparation, testing, and sealing of the machines by the registrar of voters and
the secretary of state's technicians and shall be afforded an opportunity to inspect the test vote
tape for each machine to see that they are in proper condition for use for early voting.
C. After the machines have been examined by each candidate, representative, or
citizen who is present, the registrar of voters and secretary of state's technicians shall
generate a zero tally to ensure that the voting machine's public counter is set at zero and that
no votes have been cast for any candidate or for or against any proposition. The registrar of
voters and the parish board of election supervisors shall then seal the voting machine.
D. The registrar of voters and the secretary of state's technicians shall record the
public and protective counter numbers for each early voting machine on a form prepared by
the secretary of state for use in verifying the early voting results on election day.
E. The preparation, testing, inspecting, sealing, and locking of the machines shall not
be video, audio, or tape recorded, filmed, or broadcast live.

Legislative History

Acts 2002, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 130, §1, eff. April 23, 2002; Acts 2005, No. 220, §4, eff. Jan. 1, 2006; Acts 2005, No. 431, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2006; Acts 2012, No. 138, §1, eff. May 14, 2012; Acts 2013, No. 395, §1, eff. June 18, 2013; Acts 2020, No. 28, §1, eff. June 4, 2020; Acts 2021, No. 381, §1, eff. June 17, 2021; Acts 2024, No. 754, §1; Acts 2025, No. 386, §1.