Section 1-13.5-811 - Electronic vote counting - procedure(1) All proceedings at the counting center must be under the direction of the designated election official and must be conducted under the observation of watchers, so far as practicable; but no unauthorized person may touch any ballot or ballot card or return. If any ballot is damaged or defective so that it cannot properly be counted by the electronic vote counting equipment, a true duplicate copy shall be made of the damaged ballot in the presence of two election judges. The duplicate ballot must be substituted for the damaged ballot. All duplicate ballots shall be clearly labeled as such and shall bear a serial number, which is recorded on the damaged ballot.(2) When certified by the designated election official, the return printed by the electronic vote counting equipment, to which have been added write-in votes, constitutes the official return of each polling place. The designated election official may from time to time release unofficial returns. Upon completion of the count, the official returns are open to the public.(3) Absentee ballots must be counted at the counting center in the same manner as ballots voted at the polling place. Valid write-in votes may be counted at the polling place by the election judges or at the counting center.(4) If for any reason it becomes impracticable to count all or a part of the ballots with electronic vote counting equipment, the designated election official may direct that the ballots be counted manually, following as far as practicable the provisions governing the counting of paper ballots.(5) The receiving, opening, and preservation of the transfer boxes and their contents are the responsibilities of the designated election official, who shall provide adequate personnel and facilities to assure accurate and complete election results. Any indication of tampering with the ballots or ballot cards or other fraudulent action must be immediately reported to the district attorney, who shall immediately investigate the action and report his or her findings within ten days to the designated election official and, subject to prosecutorial discretion, shall prosecute to the full extent of the law any person responsible for the fraudulent action. The conduct of local government elections when electronic voting systems are used must follow, as nearly as practicable, the conduct of general and primary elections when such systems are used.Added by 2014 Ch. 2,§ 6, eff. 2/18/2014.L. 2014: Entire article added, (HB 14-1164), ch. 2, p. 34, § 6, effective February 18.