Senate BillNo. 360


Introduced by Senator Padilla

February 20, 2013


An act to amend Sections 19202, 19206, and 19250 of the Elections Code, relating to elections.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 360, as introduced, Padilla. Approval of voting systems.

Existing law prohibits a voting system from being used, and prohibits a jurisdiction from purchasing or contracting for a voting system, unless the voting system has received the approval of the Secretary of State. Existing law permits a person or corporation owning or being interested in a voting system or a part of a voting system to apply to the Secretary of State to examine the voting system and report on its accuracy and efficiency to fulfill its purpose.

This bill would specify that to request the Secretary of State to approve a voting system, the person, corporation, or county owning or being interested in the voting system or a part of the voting system must apply to Secretary of State to examine the voting system and report on its accuracy and efficiency to fulfill its purpose.

Existing federal law, the Help America Vote Act of 2002, permits a state to provide for the testing, certification, decertification, and recertification of its voting system hardware and software by laboratories accredited by the Election Assistance Commission.

Existing state law prohibits the Secretary of State from approving, and prohibits a city or county from contracting for or purchasing, a direct recording electronic voting system unless the system has received federal qualification, as defined, and includes an accessible voter verified paper audit trail. Existing law also requires all direct recording electronic voting systems in use on January 1, 2006, to have received federal qualification and include an accessible voter verified paper audit trail.

This bill specify that a county may develop, or contract with a vendor to develop, a direct recording electronic voting system before the voting system has received federal qualification, provided that it receives federal qualification prior to any election at which it is to be first used.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

Section 19202 of the Elections Code is amended
2to read:

3

19202.  

(a) begin deleteA end deletebegin insertTo request the Secretary of State to approve a
4voting system, in whole or in part, the end insert
personbegin delete orend deletebegin insert,end insert corporationbegin insert, or
5countyend insert
owning or being interested inbegin delete aend deletebegin insert theend insert voting system or a part
6ofbegin delete aend deletebegin insert theend insert voting systembegin delete mayend deletebegin insert shallend insert apply to the Secretary of State to
7examine it and report on its accuracy and efficiency to fulfill its
8purpose. As part of its application, the vendor of a voting system
9or the part of a voting system shall notify the Secretary of State in
10writing of any known defect, fault, or failure of the version of the
11hardware, software, or firmware of the voting system or a part of
12the voting system submitted. The Secretary of State shall not begin
13his or her examination until he or she receives a completed
14application from the vendor of the voting system or a part of the
15 voting system. The vendor shall also notify the Secretary of State
16in writing of any defect, fault, or failure of the version of the
17hardware, software, or firmware of the voting system or a part of
18the voting system submitted that is discovered after the application
19is submitted and before the Secretary of State submits the report
20required by Section 19207. The Secretary of State shall complete
21his or her examination without undue delay.

22(b) After receiving a vendor’s written notification of a defect,
23fault, or failure, the Secretary of State shall notify the United States
24Election Assistance Commission or its successor entity of the
25problem as soon as practicable so as to present a reasonably
26complete description of the problem. The Secretary of State shall
27subsequently submit a report regarding the problem to the United
28States Election Assistance Commission or its successor entity. The
P3    1report shall include any report regarding the problem submitted
2to the Secretary of State by the vendor.

3(c) The following definitions apply for purposes of this article:

4(1) “Defect” means any flaw in the hardware or documentation
5of an approved or conditionally approved voting system that could
6result in a state of unfitness for use or nonconformance to the
7manufacturer’s specifications.

8(2) “Failure” means a discrepancy between the external results
9of the operation of any software or firmware in an approved or
10conditionally approved voting system and the manufacturer’s
11product requirements for that software or firmware.

12(3) “Fault” means a step, process, or data definition in any
13software or firmware in an approved or conditionally approved
14voting system that is incorrect under the manufacturer’s program
15specification.

16

SEC. 2.  

Section 19206 of the Elections Code is amended to
17read:

18

19206.  

For the purpose of assistance in examining a voting
19system the Secretary of State may employ not more than three
20expert electronic technicians at a cost to be set by the Secretary of
21State. The compensation of the electronic technicians shall be paid
22by the personbegin delete orend deletebegin insert,end insert corporationbegin insert, or countyend insert submitting the machine
23or device.

24The Secretary of State may require the personbegin delete orend deletebegin insert,end insert corporationbegin insert,
25or countyend insert
submitting the machine or device to deposit sufficient
26funds to guarantee the payment of the examination charges. The
27Secretary of State may deposit the funds in an appropriate treasury
28trust account and, within 30 days after his or her report of
29examination, draw a refund check to the credit of the person or
30corporation for any amount in excess of costs.

31

SEC. 3.  

Section 19250 of the Elections Code is amended to
32read:

33

19250.  

(a) On and after January 1, 2005, the Secretary of State
34shall not approve a direct recording electronic voting system unless
35the system has received federal qualification and includes an
36accessible voter verified paper audit trail.

37(b) begin deleteOn end deletebegin insert(1)end insertbegin insertend insertbegin insertExcept as provided in paragraph (2), on end insertand after
38January 1, 2006, a city or county shall not contract for or purchase
39a direct recording electronic voting system unless the system has
P4    1received federal qualification and includes an accessible voter
2verified paper audit trail.

begin insert

3(2) A county may develop, or contract with a vendor to develop,
4a direct recording electronic voting system before the voting system
5has received federal qualification, provided that the voting system
6receives federal qualification prior to any election at which it is
7to be first used.

end insert

8(c) As of January 1, 2006, all direct recording electronic voting
9systems in use on that date, regardless of when contracted for or
10purchased, shall have received federal qualification and include
11an accessible voter verified paper audit trail. If the direct recording
12electronic voting system does not already include an accessible
13voter verified paper audit trail, the system shall be replaced or
14modified to include an accessible voter verified paper audit trail.

15(d) All direct recording electronic voting systems shall include
16a method by which a voter may electronically verify, through a
17nonvisual method, the information that is contained on the paper
18record copy of that voter’s ballot.

19(e) A paper record copy that is printed by a voter verified paper
20audit trail component shall be printed in the same language that
21the voter used when casting his or her ballot on the direct recording
22electronic voting system. For languages that lack a written form,
23the paper record copy shall be printed in English.



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