Section 8-6 - Preparation, Testing, and Sealing and Certification of Optical Scan Voting Machines (a) Testing and sealing of the optical scan machines may begin after the official ballots are received from the printer. - (i) Preparation.
- (A) The memory cards will be programmed so the machines will function as follows:
- (I) Blank ballots are returned to the voter for action.
- (II) Over voted ballots are returned to the voter for action.
- (III) If the voter under voted a race or races, the ballot will not be returned to the voter, but will be automatically accepted by the machine.
- (IV) Write-in votes on any ballot will cause the ballot to be sorted to a write-in collection bin.
- (B) Test decks shall be prepared using official ballots for the election. The test deck can be produced manually by the County Clerk or by a qualified vendor. Test decks are defined as pre-marked optical-scan ballots marked in a manner that will test whether:
- (I) Each proposal or candidate can receive votes.
- (II) Marked selections are attributed to the correct choice.
- (III) The machine correctly registers a non vote.
- (IV) The machine does not count an over vote.
- (V) Properly voted ballots are accurately counted.
- (VI) The machine is properly programmed to handle ballots according to rules.
- (C) The prepared test decks will be manually tabulated and recorded on a test deck comparative sheet. The manual results will be compared with the results generated by the optical scan machine.
- (D) Logic and accuracy testing, as required by the optical scan machine manufacturer, shall be conducted.
- (ii) Testing.
- (A) Public Test. The County Clerk shall notify in writing, as specified in W.S. 22-10-108, the chairman of each political party informing them of the date, time, and place for testing the voting machines. The political party representatives and representatives of independent candidates may be present at the testing of the voting machines. Other witnesses may also be present.
- (B) The test decks will be run through each machine to be used in the election.
- (I) When a blank ballot or over voted ballot is rejected by the machine and returned to the voter for action, the over ride button should be pressed to accept the ballot. The action should appear on the audit tape showing an over voted or blank ballot was accepted.
- (C) After all ballots have been inserted, testers will close the polls and request a results tape.
- (I) The results on the results tape are compared to the manual tabulation on the test deck comparative sheet. The results tape of the test will verify that the test started with zero ballots recorded in the machine and that the results match the comparative sheet.
- (II) Each machine testing certificate shall be signed by the County Clerk and representatives of each major political party, if any, that are present for the public test and kept on file in the County Clerk's Office for a minimum of 22 months or until any election contest affected by the ballots has been terminated.
- (III) The County Clerk may require all witnesses to the public test to sign an attendance sheet that attests to their presence and witnessing of the testing of the voting systems equipment.
- (D) After the test is completed, the machine must be reset to zero and a tape run to display zero ballots or votes in the machine memory.
- (E) If any machine displays discrepancies that cannot be resolved, that particular machine shall be replaced or fixed before it is used in an election. No certificate of testing will be issued for the machine until it has successfully passed testing with public witnesses.
- (iii) Sealing.
- (A) At the conclusion of a successful public test, the optical-scan machine will be sealed by the County Clerk with the memory card in place and in the presence of the political party representatives, if any. Alternatively, the tested memory cards can be sealed separately from the optical-scan machine. The County Clerk and representatives of each major political party, if any, that are present for the public test shall sign a certification listing the seal number of the machine or the memory card and attesting to the sealing which shall be kept on file in the County Clerk's office for a minimum of 22 months or until any election contest affected by the ballots has been terminated.
- (v) Records.
- (A) All test decks, comparative sheets, results tapes and signed testing documents and certifications shall be secured and kept on file in the County Clerk's Office for a minimum of 22 months or until any election contest affected by the ballots has been terminated.