§ 7-205 — Voting machines; use of at primaries

§ 7-205. Voting machines; use of at primaries. 1. The board of\nelections of any county outside the city of New York may adopt, and\nshall adopt when required by local law in any city or by action of the\ncounty legislative body in any county, the use of voting machines for\ncontested primary elections in any or all parts of such city or county\nfor any office or position for which such board is not required to use\nsuch machines. Wherever voting machines are used for primary elections,\nthe board of elections having jurisdiction over elections in the city,\ncounty or town concerned shall issue directions for such use for each\nprimary election which shall be in conformity with the provisions of\nthis section and of all other applicable provisions of this chapter and\nwhich shall be binding on all election officials in the area involved.\n 2. Additional voting machines may be acquired for this purpose. If the\nvoting machines used are equipped with a mechanism by which a voter of\none party may be permitted to vote for any candidate of his own party\nbut prevented from voting for any candidates of other parties, the same\nmachines may be used for the primaries of all parties or of more than\none party. In the use of such a machine an inspector assigned for the\npurpose by the board of inspectors shall set the machine before each\nvoter enters the voting booth so that it can be operated only for\ncandidates of the party in which the voter is enrolled. If the face of a\nsingle machine will not hold the candidates of all parties, two or more\nmachines may be used in a single election district, but all the\ncandidates of any one party for whose primary contests voting machines\nare used must appear on the same machine except as provided in\nsubdivision five of this section.\n 3. If the voting machines are not thus adapted to use for the primary\ncontests of more than one party on the same machine, a separate voting\nmachine shall be provided for the primary contests of each party for\nwhich such voting machines are used. Voting machines of both types may\nbe used in the same primary election in different election districts or\nin the same election district for different parties.\n 4. Wherever voting machines are used for primary elections, they shall\nbe used in accordance with the following provisions of this section for\nall primary contests so far as the available supply of voting machines\nwill permit, except that the use of voting machines in all contested\nprimary elections in the city of New York shall be mandatory except as\nprovided in subdivision five. Outside the city of New York, if the\navailable supply of voting machines is insufficient to contain all\nprimary contests, paper ballots shall be used insofar as necessary. If\nthere are not enough voting machines to cover all election districts for\nall parties therein, preference shall be given in the use of machines,\nfirst to contests for nomination for public office over contests for\nelection to party position and, second to the contests which are held in\nthe greatest numbers of election districts. If a voting machine used for\na party in a particular election district will not accommodate all the\ncandidates of the party therein, as many as possible of the contests of\nsuch party shall be carried on the voting machine subject to the\nfollowing priorities: first to contests for nomination for public\noffice, and second to offices voted for in such party in the most\nelection districts. Subject to these requirements, the board of\nelections of any county outside the city of New York shall designate\nwhich election districts and which parties therein shall use voting\nmachines for primary contests, and which contests shall appear on a\nvoting machine when the machine will not accommodate all the contests of\na party.\n 5. To provide an opportunity for voting for offices or party positions\nfor which more candidates have been designated than can be accommodated\non the voting machines, the board of elections may provide for the use\nof a separate paper ballot for such offices and positions when other\noffices and positions are voted for on voting machines by voters of the\nsame party.\n 6. When voting machines are used for primary elections the provisions\nof the other sections of this article shall be observed so far as\napplicable, except that the provisions for party rows or columns and the\nuse of party names and emblems for each individual candidate shall be\ndisregarded. When primary candidates of more than one party appear on\nthe same voting machine, the candidates of each party shall appear\ntogether on one part of the machine distinctly and prominently separated\nfrom the part or parts used for candidates of other parties and\nprominently labeled with the name of the party. When a voting machine is\nused for the primary candidates of one party only, the machine shall be\nprominently labeled with the name of that party.\n 7. The state board of elections shall have power to issue\nsupplementary instructions for the use of voting machines in primary\nelections in accordance with the provisions of this section. Subject to\nsuch instructions and to the provisions of this section the board of\nelections shall have power to make all necessary or desirable provisions\nfor such use.\n