Rule 183-1-12-.08 - Logic and Accuracy Testing1. Primaries and Elections. a. On or before the third day preceding a primary or election, including special primaries, special elections, and referendum elections, the election superintendent shall commence the preparation and testing of the electronic poll books, electronic ballot markers, printers, and ballot scanners for use on Election Day.b. On or before the third day preceding the advance voting period, the election superintendent shall commence the preparation and testing of the electronic poll books, electronic ballot markers, printers, and ballot scanners for use during the advance voting period. Voting system components that passed logic and accuracy testing for advance voting do not have to be re-tested for use on Election Day for the same election, unless there is a change in the programming or database used by the component.c. Notice Requirements. a. At least five days prior to the commencement of such testing, the election superintendent shall give the public proper notice of such preparation and testing by: i. If the county or municipality maintains a publicly accessible website, publishing a notice on the homepage of the county's or municipality's (whichever is applicable) publicly accessible website associated with elections and/or registrations.ii. Advertising in a newspaper of general circulation in the county or municipality. The advertisement shall be prominently displayed, shall not be less than 30 square inches, and shall not be placed in the section of the newspaper where legal notices appear. iii. Notifying the Secretary of State or designee in the manner prescribed by the Secretary of State. b. Proper public notice shall include stating the date, time, and place or places where preparation and testing of the voting system components for use in the primary or election will commence, and stating that such preparation shall continue from day to day until such preparation is complete and that such preparation and testing shall be open to the public and that members of the public are entitled to be present during the preparation and testing.d. The election superintendent shall cause such preparation and testing to begin on such date and time and at such place or places. Such preparation and testing shall be open to members of the public to observe; however, such members of the public shall not in any manner interfere with the preparation and testing of the voting system components. Any person found to be interfering with the preparation and testing process may be asked to leave the testing process and may be cited for interfering with an election official while in performance of election duties. Any questions and/or complaints from the general public regarding the preparation and testing process must be directed to the election superintendent and not to the individual personnel conducting the preparation and testing process. The election superintendent may make such reasonable rules and regulations concerning the conduct of such members of the public observing such preparation and testing, as the election superintendent deems necessary and appropriate; provided, however, that such rules and regulations shall not prevent members of the public from fairly observing the preparation and testing of the voting system components.2. In addition to any reasonable rules and regulations that the election superintendent may create for the public to observe the preparation and testing process, the election superintendent or designee thereof, shall: a. Be available for the first hour of the first day of testing to explain the preparation and testing process and to respond to questions and provide answers regarding the purpose and the process of preparation and testing;b. Maintain a presence at all times during the preparation and testing process;c. Administer an oath of custodian prior to beginning the preparation and testing process to any county personnel (except permanent state, county, or municipal election staff) appointed by the election superintendent to conduct the preparation and testing process;d. Establish an area reasonable in proximity for the public to observe the preparation and testing process. Such area shall provide reasonable accommodations for the public insofar as space permits, but shall not be so established as to deny the general public the opportunity to view the process; however, the area should be of such nature so as to allow the preparation and testing process to proceed without interference by the general public;e. Allow only election office personnel or individuals assigned to conduct the preparation and testing to enter the testing area during the preparation and testing process;f. Prohibit any preparation and testing reports created for recording the seal numbers of voting system components from being disclosed to the public;g. Prohibit the security seal numbers or other security measures of any voting system components from being disclosed to the public; andh. Prohibit photographic and audio equipment of any kind, including cell phone cameras, from being used to record the security seal numbers or other measures used to secure any voting system components, provided that this rule shall not prohibit the news media from reporting on the preparation and testing process, so long as seal numbers and other security measures on any voting system component are not recorded or displayed in any manner.3. During the public preparation and testing of the electronic poll books, electronic ballot markers, printers, and ballot scanners to be used in a particular primary or election, the election superintendent shall cause each electronic ballot marker and scanner to be programmed with the election files for the precinct at which the electronic ballot marker and ballot scanner unit will be used. The superintendent shall cause the accuracy of the components to be tested by causing the following tasks to be performed:
a. Check that the electronic poll books accurately look up and check-in voters via both the scanning function and manual lookup and create a voter access card that pulls up the correct ballot on the electronic ballot marker for every applicable ballot style.b. Check that the touchscreen on the electronic ballot marker accurately displays the correct selections utilizing a voter access card and manual ballot activation and that the touchscreen accurately reflects the selected choices.c. Check that the printer prints a paper ballot that accurately reflects the choices selected on the touchscreen and immediately mark all printed paper ballots as "test" ballots.d. Check that the ballot scanner scans the paper ballot, including both ballots marked by electronic ballot markers and ballots marked with a pen, and that the ballot scanner scans ballots regardless of the orientation the ballot is entered into the scanner.e. Check that the tabulation contained in the ballot scanner memory card can be accurately uploaded to the election management system, and that the tabulated results match the selections indicated on the paper ballot. If any component fails any of the testing, the component shall not be used in a primary, election, or runoff until such unit is repaired and inspected and found capable of proper functioning and passes logic and accuracy tests. The component failure should be documented and reported to the superintendent. Upon the successful completion of the logic and accuracy test, the component shall be cleared of any vote totals collected during testing. A zero tape shall be run on the ballot scanner subsequent to successful testing, and the tape shall be attached to the custodian's certification form to document the logic and accuracy testing. The components shall then be sealed and securely stored for transfer to the polling place.
After the completion of logic and accuracy testing on any voting system component, each component shall be sealed and safely and securely stored until such time as the component is transported to the polling place in which such component is to be used. The zero tapes, results tapes, test ballots, and other paperwork shall be securely stored by the superintendent.
Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 183-1-12-.08
O.C.G.A. §§ 21-2-31, 21-2-379.25.
Original Rule entitled "Defective and Duplicated Ballot Cards, Sealed After Tabulation" adopted. F. July 24, 1968; eff. August 12, 1968.Amended: F. Oct. 20, 1975; eff. Nov. 9, 1975.Amended: F. Mar. 6, 1987; eff. Mar. 26, 1987.Repealed: F. Dec. 11, 2003; eff. Dec. 31, 2003.Adopted: New Rule entitled "Logic and Accuracy Testing." F. Jan. 23, 2020; eff. Feb. 12, 2020.Amended: F. Mar. 2, 2020; eff. Mar. 22, 2020.Amended: F. Sep. 22, 2021; eff. Oct. 12, 2021.