§ 7-202 — Voting machine or system; requirements of

New York § 7-202

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law ELN: Election
• Title 2: Voting Machines
• Art. 7: Election Ballot

Text

§ 7-202. Voting machine or system; requirements of. 1. A voting\nmachine or system to be approved by the state board of elections shall:\n a. be constructed so as to allow for voting for all candidates who may\nbe nominated and on all ballot proposals which may be submitted and,\nexcept for elections at which the number of parties and independent\nbodies on the ballot exceeds the number of rows or columns available, so\nthat the amount of space between the names of any two candidates of any\nparty or independent body in any row or column of such machine or system\nat any election is no greater than the amount of space between the names\nof any other candidates of such party or independent body at such\nelection;\n b. permit a voter to vote for any person for any office, whether or\nnot nominated as a candidate by any party or independent body without\nthe ballot, or any part thereof, being removed from the machine at any\ntime;\n c. be constructed so that a voter cannot vote for a candidate or on a\nballot proposal for whom or on which he or she is not lawfully entitled\nto vote;\n d. if the voter selects votes for more than one candidate for a single\noffice, except where a voter is lawfully entitled to vote for more than\none person for that office, notify the voter that the voter has selected\nmore than one candidate for a single office on the ballot, notify the\nvoter before the ballot is cast and counted of the effect of casting\nmultiple votes for the office, and provide the voter with the\nopportunity to correct the ballot before the ballot is cast and counted;\n e. provide the voter an opportunity to privately and independently\nverify votes selected and the ability to privately and independently\nchange such votes or correct any error before the ballot is cast and\ncounted;\n f. be provided with a "protective counter" which records the number of\ntimes the machine or system has been operated since it was built and a\n"public counter" which records the number of persons who have voted on\nthe machine at each separate election;\n g. be provided with a lock or locks, or other device or devices, the\nuse of which, immediately after the polls are closed or the operation of\nthe machine or system for such election is completed, will absolutely\nsecure the voting or registering mechanism and prevent the recording of\nadditional votes;\n h. be provided with sufficient space to display the information\nrequired herein, provided, however, in the alternative, such information\nmay be displayed within the official ballot;\n i. be provided with a device for printing or photographing all\ncounters or numbers recorded by the machine or system before the polls\nopen and after the polls close which shall be a permanent record with a\nmanual audit capacity available for canvassing the votes recorded by the\nmachine or system; such paper record shall be preserved in accordance\nwith the provisions of section 3-222 of this chapter;\n j. retain all paper ballots cast or produce and retain a voter\nverified permanent paper record which shall be presented to the voter\nfrom behind a window or other device before the ballot is cast, in a\nmanner intended and designed to protect the privacy of the voter; such\nballots or record shall allow a manual audit and shall be preserved in\naccordance with the provisions of section 3-222 of this chapter;\n k. provide sufficient illumination to enable the voter to see the\nballot;\n l. be suitable for the use of election officers in examining the\ncounters such that the protective counters and public counters on all\nsuch machines or systems must be located so that they will be visible to\nthe inspectors and watchers at all times while the polls are open;\n m. be provided with a screen and hood or curtain or privacy features\nwith equivalent function which shall be so made and adjusted as to\nconceal the voter and his or her action while voting;\n n. contain a device which enables all the election inspectors and poll\nwatchers at such election district to determine when the voting machine\nor system has been activated for voting and when the voter has completed\ncasting his or her vote;\n o. permit the primaries of at least five parties to be held on such\nmachine or system at a single election, and accommodate such number of\nmultiple ballots at a single election as may be required by the state\nboard of elections but in no case less than five;\n p. be constructed to allow a voter in a wheelchair to cast his or her\nvote;\n q. permit inspectors of elections to easily and safely place the\nvoting machine or system in a wheelchair accessible position;\n r. ensure the integrity and security of the voting machine or system\nby:\n (i) being capable of conducting both pre-election and post-election\ntesting of the logic and accuracy of the machine or system that\ndemonstrates an accurate tally when a known quantity of votes is entered\ninto each machine; and\n (ii) providing a means by which a malfunctioning voting machine or\nsystem shall secure any votes already cast on such machine or system;\n s. permit alternative language accessibility pursuant to the\nrequirements of section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C.\n1973aa-1a) such that it must have the capacity to display the full\nballot in the alternative languages required by the federal Voting\nRights Act if such voting machine or system is to be used where such\nalternative languages are required or where the local board deems such\nfeature necessary; and\n t. not include any device or functionality potentially capable of\nexternally transmitting or receiving data via the internet or via radio\nwaves or via other wireless means.\n 2. The state board of elections shall approve, for use at each polling\nplace at least one voting machine or system at such polling place which,\nin addition to meeting the requirements in subdivision one of this\nsection, shall:\n a. be equipped with a voting device with tactile discernible controls\ndesigned to meet the needs of voters with limited reach and limited hand\ndexterity;\n b. be equipped with an audio voting feature that communicates the\ncomplete content of the ballot in a voice which permits a voter who is\nblind or visually impaired to cast a secret ballot using voice-only or\ntactile discernible controls; and\n c. be capable of being equipped with a pneumatic switch voting\nattachment which can be operated orally by gentle pressure or the\ncreation of a vacuum through the inhalation or exhalation of air by the\nvoter including, but not limited to, a sip-and-puff switch voting\nattachment.\n 3. The state board of elections may, in accordance with subdivision\nfour of section 3-100 of this chapter, establish by regulation\nadditional standards for voting machines or systems not inconsistent\nwith this chapter.\n 4. Local boards of elections which obtain voting machines pursuant to\nthis chapter may determine to purchase direct recording electronic\nmachines or optical scan machines in conformance with the requirements\nof this chapter.\n