§ 9-208 — Provisions for recanvass of vote in every election district in the state; procedure in case of discrepancy

§ 9-208. Provisions for recanvass of vote in every election district\nin the state; procedure in case of discrepancy. 1. Within fifteen days\nafter each general or special election, and within twenty days after a\nprimary election, and within seven days after every village election\nconducted by the board of elections at which ballot scanners are used,\nthe board of elections, or a bipartisan committee of or appointed by\nsaid board shall, in each county using ballot scanners, make a record of\nthe serial number of each ballot scanner used in each election district\nin such general, special or primary election. No person who was a\ncandidate at such election shall be appointed to membership on the\ncommittee. Such board of elections or bipartisan committee shall\nrecanvass the tabulated result tape from each ballot scanner used in\neach election district by comparing such tape with the numbers as\nrecorded on the return of canvass. The said board or committee shall\nalso make a recanvass of any election day paper ballots that have not\nbeen scanned and were hand counted pursuant to subdivision two of\nsection 9-110 of this article and compare the results with the number as\nrecorded on the return of canvass. The board or committee shall then\nrecanvass write-in votes, if any, on ballots which were otherwise\nscanned and canvassed at polling places on election night. The board or\ncommittee shall validate and prove such sums. Before making such canvass\nthe board of elections, with respect to each election district to be\nrecanvassed, shall give notice in writing to the voting machine\ncustodian thereof, to the state and county chair of each party or\nindependent body which shall have nominated candidates for the said\ngeneral or special election or nominated or elected candidates at the\nsaid primary election and to each individual candidate whose name\nappears on the office ballot, of the time and place where such canvass\nis to be made; and the state and county chair of each such party or\nindependent body and each such individual candidate may send a\nrepresentative to be present at such recanvass. Each candidate whose\nname appears on the official ballot, or his or her representative, shall\nhave the right personally to examine and make a record of the vote\nrecorded on the tabulated result tape and any ballots which were hand\ncounted.\n 2. If upon such recanvass, it shall be found that the original canvass\nof the returns of an election district has been incorrectly made from\nany tabulated result tape plus any ballots which were hand counted, a\nstatement in writing shall be prepared giving the details for any\ncorrections made for such election district. The result of the\nrecanvass, and such statement shall be witnessed by the persons required\nto be present and shall be filed with the board of elections. Such\nrecanvass of votes made pursuant hereto shall thereupon supersede the\nreturns filed by the inspectors of election of the election district in\nwhich the canvass was made.\n 3. If upon the recanvass of an election district, it shall be found\nthat a discrepancy exists between the number of voters who cast a vote\nin an election district and the number of votes recorded on the\ntabulated results tape plus any election day paper ballots counted by\nhand the board of elections, or the committee thereof, shall proceed\nthoroughly to examine all the election day paper ballots in that\nelection district to determine the result from such election district.\nThe result of this examination of election day ballots shall supersede\nthe returns filed by the inspectors of election of the election district\nin which the canvass was made. After the completion of such examination,\nthe board of elections, or the committee thereof, shall then and there\nprepare a statement in writing giving in detail the result thereof, and\nsuch statement shall be witnessed by the persons required to be present\nand shall be filed in the office of the board of elections.\n 4. (a) The board of elections or a bipartisan committee appointed by\nthe board shall conduct a full manual recount of all ballots for a\nparticular contest:\n i. Where the margin of victory is twenty votes or less; or\n ii. Where the margin of victory is 0.5% or less; or\n iii. In a contest where one million or more ballots have been cast and\nthe margin of victory is less than 5,000 votes.\n (b) For the purposes of this section, the term margin of victory shall\nmean the margin between all votes cast in the entire contest following\nthe recanvass of votes.\n (c) Where the contest involves portions of two or more counties, the\nmargin of victory shall be determined by the state board of elections\nbased on the most recent recanvass results for the contest submitted by\nthe boards of elections of the counties involved.\n (d) No board of elections shall commence a full manual recount of a\nparticular contest unless and until such board of elections has\ncompleted and announced the results of the recanvass required by\nsubdivision one of this section, for each applicable election district.\n (e) The result of the manual recount of ballots shall supersede the\nreturns filed by the inspectors of election of the election district in\nwhich the canvass was initially made.\n