Chapter 264
2004 -- S 2855
Enacted 07/02/04
A N A C T
RELATING
TO ELECTIONS -- RECOUNTS
Introduced
By: Senator J. Michael Lenihan
Date
Introduced: February 11, 2004
It
is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION
1. Sections 17-19-1 and 17-19-37.1 of the General Laws in Chapter 17-19
entitled
"Conduct of Election and Voting Equipment, and Supplies" are hereby
amended to read
as
follows:
17-19-1.
Definitions. -- As used in this chapter, except as otherwise required
by the
context:
(1) "Computer ballot" means the paper ballot prepared by the office
of the secretary of
state
for use in conjunction with the optical scan precinct count system;
(2) "Voting equipment" means an optical scan precinct count voting
system, related
memory
device, all related hardware and software, and voting booths; and
(3)
"Warden" includes moderator; and vice versa.;
(4)
"Candidate" shall mean any individual who has qualified under law to have
his or her
name
appear on the ballot for nomination for election or election to office;
(5)
"Write-in candidate" shall mean any individual receiving votes or
seeking election to
office
by virtue of having irregular ballots cast for him or her pursuant to section
17-19-31; and
(6)
"Public office" shall mean any state, municipal, school or district
office or other
position
that is filled by popular election, except political party offices which shall
mean any
state,
city, town, ward or representative or senatorial district committee office of a
political party
or
delegate to a political party convention, or any similar office.
17-19-37.1.
Recount procedure Recount eligibility -- candidates for public office. -
- (a) A candidate
requesting a recount of the votes cast in his or her race shall be entitled to
request
a recount as follows:
(1) Any candidate challenging the results of his or her race shall petition the
state board
to
conduct a recount of votes cast by re-reading the programmed memory device or
devices and
comparing
the results and totals obtained at the recount with the results and totals
obtained on
election
night. Any discrepancy in the results shall entitle a candidate in the race to
a recount as
provided
in subdivision (2) of this subsection, provided that a candidate shall trail
the winning
candidate
by less than five percent (5%).
(2) When the recount conducted in subdivision (1) of this subsection results in
a
discrepancy
between the results certified on election night and the results produced as a
result of
the
recount and a candidate shall trail the winning candidate by less than five
percent (5%), the
candidate
shall be allowed to request a recount of votes by re-feeding the computer
ballots cast in
the
race into the optical scan voting equipment which has been prepared with a new
programmed
cartridge.
(3) If the recounts in subdivision (2) of this subsection produce a change in
the results of
a
race which cause a candidate to trail the winning candidates by less than three
percent (3%), the
candidate
shall be allowed to request a recount of votes through a manual count of the
ballots cast
in
a given race.
(b) The state board shall have the authority to adopt regulations to implement
and
administer
the provisions of this section.
A
candidate for election or nomination for election to public office shall be
eligible to
request
a recount of the votes cast in his or her race pursuant to the following:
(1)
In those races in which a single candidate is elected a candidate who trails
the
winning
candidate may request a recount of the votes cast at each precinct by a manual
re-feeding
of
the computer ballots cast in said race into the optical scan voting equipment
provided that the
candidate
shall trail the winning candidate by less than the following number of votes:
(a)
In those races where the number of votes cast is less than or equal to twenty
thousand
(20,000)
the candidate requesting the recount shall trail the winning candidate by two
percent
(2%)
or two hundred (200) votes, whichever is less; in those races where the number
of votes cast
is
between twenty thousand one (20,001) and one hundred thousand (100,000) the
candidate
requesting
the recount shall trail the winning candidate by one percent (1%) or five
hundred (500)
votes,
whichever is less; and, in those races where more than one hundred thousand
(100,000)
votes
are cast the candidate requesting the recount shall trail the winning candidate
by one-half of
one
percent (1/2%) or one thousand five hundred (1,500) votes, whichever is less.
(b)
For the purpose of determining recount eligibility, as prescribed in
subsections (1)(a)
and
(3) of this section, the number of votes cast in a race shall include the votes
cast for
candidates
and irregular ballots cast pursuant to section 17-19-31.
(2)
In those races in which more than one candidate is elected a candidate who
trails the
winning
candidate may request a recount of the votes cast at each precinct by a manual
re-feeding
of
the computer ballots cast in said race into the optical scan voting equipment
provided that the
candidate
shall trail the winning candidate by less than the following number of votes:
(a)
In those races where the number of votes cast is less than or equal to five
thousand
(5,000)
the candidate requesting the recount shall trail the winning candidate by two
percent (2%)
or
fifty (50) votes, whichever is less; in those races where the number of votes
cast is between
five
thousand one (5,001) and twenty thousand (20,000) the candidate requesting the
recount
shall
trail the winning candidate by one percent (1%) or one hundred (100) votes,
whichever is
less;
and in those races where more than twenty thousand (20,000) votes are cast the
candidate
requesting
the recount shall trail the winning candidate by one-half of one percent (1/2%)
or one
hundred
fifty (150) votes, whichever is less.
(b)
For the purpose of determining recount eligibility, as prescribed in
subsections (2)(a)
and
(3) of this section, the total number of votes cast in a race shall be
determined by dividing the
total
number of votes eligible to be cast in the race by the number of candidates for
whom each
voter
was eligible to cast votes.
(3)
Notwithstanding the requirements of subsections (1)(a) and (2)(a) of this
section, a
candidate
who trails the winning candidate by five percent (5%) or less, but more than
the
minimum
percentage or number of votes as required in subsections (1)(a) or (2)(a) of
this section,
as
applicable, may petition the state board to conduct a recount of the votes cast
at each precinct
by
re-reading the programmed memory device or devices and comparing the results
and totals
obtained
at such recount with the results and totals obtained on election night. If,
after said
recount,
a candidate shall trail the winning candidate by less than the number of votes
prescribed
in
subsection (1)(a) or (2)(a) of this section, as the case may be, the candidate
may request a
recount
of the votes cast at each precinct to subsection (1)(a) or (2)(a) of this
section, as is
applicable.
The
state board shall have the authority to adopt rules and regulations to
implement and
administer
the provisions of this section.
SECTION
2. Chapter 17-19 of the General Laws entitled "Conduct of Election and
Voting
Equipment, and Supplies" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following
sections:
17-19-37.2.
Recount eligibility -- Write-in candidates for public office. – (1)
A write-
in
candidate for election to public office shall be eligible to request a recount
of the votes cast in a
race:
(a)
if, following the initial manual count of all irregular ballots, the write-in
candidate
shall
have received a minimum of ten (10) votes or one percent (1%) of the votes cast
in the race,
whichever
is greater; provided, however, that if no candidates appear on the ballot in
said race
and
only write-in candidates receive votes, a write-in candidate shall be required
to receive at
least
ten (10) votes in the race; and
(b)
the write-in candidate shall trail the winning candidate by less than the
number of
votes
as may be required to qualify for a recount pursuant to subsection (1) or (2)
of section 17-
19-37.1,
as is applicable.
(2)
A write-in candidate for public office who is eligible to request a recount
pursuant to
subsection
(1) of this section may request a recount of the irregular ballots cast at each
precinct
by
a manual recounting of said ballots. In addition, the state board may, upon its
own motion,
determine
to manually re-feed the computer ballots cast at each precinct in the race into
the
optical
scan voting equipment.
The
state board shall have the authority to adopt rules and regulations to
implement and
administer
the provisions of this section.
17-19-37.3.
Recount eligibility – Ballot questions and other offices. – (1) A
person,
group
or organization of "recognized standing" regarding a ballot question,
as determined by the
board
of elections, may request a recount of the votes cast on the ballot question
pursuant to the
following:
(a)
The person, group or organization may request a recount of the votes cast at
each
precinct
by re-reading the programmed memory device or devices and comparing the results
and
totals
obtained at such recount with the results and totals obtained on election
night, provided that
for
those ballot questions where less than one hundred thousand (100,000) votes are
cast the
difference
between the approval or rejection of the question shall be by two percent (2%)
or less;
and,
for those ballot questions where one hundred thousand (100,000) or more votes
are cast the
difference
between the approval or rejection of the question shall be by one percent (1%)
or less.
If,
after said recount, the difference between the approval or rejection of the
ballot question shall
be
less than one-half of one percent (1/2%) or five hundred (500) votes, whichever
is less, the
petitioner
may request a recount pursuant to subsection (1)(b) of this section.
(b)
The person, group or organization may request a recount of the votes cast at
each
precinct
by a manual re-feeding of the computer ballots are cast into the optical scan
voting
equipment
if the difference between the approval and rejection of the ballot question
shall be by
less
than one-half of one percent (1/2%) or five hundred (500) votes, whichever is
less.
(c)
For the purpose of determining recount eligibility for ballot questions, as
prescribed in
subsections
(1)(a) and (b) of this section, only the total number of votes cast as
"approve" and
"reject"
for said question shall be included.
(2)
A candidate for any office other than a public office shall be eligible to
request a
recount
of the votes cast in his or her race pursuant to the following:
(a)(i)
In those races in which a single candidate is elected a candidate who trails
the
winning
candidate by less than two percent (2%) or one hundred (100) votes, whichever
is less,
may
request a recount of the votes cast at each precinct by re-reading the
programmed memory
device
or devices and comparing the results and totals obtained at such recount with
the results
and
totals obtained on election night.
(ii)
For the purpose of determining recount eligibility, as prescribed in subsection
(2)(a)(i)
of this section, the number of votes cast in a race shall include the votes
cast for
candidates
and irregular ballots cast pursuant to section 17-19-31.
(b)
In those races in which more than one but less than eight (8) candidates are
elected a
candidate
who trails the winning candidate by less than one percent (1%) or twenty-five
(25)
votes,
whichever is less, may request a recount of the votes cast at each precinct by
re-reading the
programmed
memory device or devices and comparing the results and totals obtained at such
recount
with the results and totals obtained on election night.
(c)
In those races in which more eight (8) or more candidates are elected a
candidate who
trails
the winning candidate by less than one-half of one percent (1/2%) or
twenty-five (25) votes,
whichever
is less, may request a recount of the votes cast at each precinct by re-reading
the
programmed
memory device or devices and comparing the results and totals obtained at such
recount
with the results and totals obtained on election night.
(d)
For the purpose of determining recount eligibility, as prescribed in
subsections (2)(b)
and
(c) of this section, the total number of votes cast in a race shall be
determined by dividing the
total
number of votes eligible to be cast in the race by the number of candidates for
whom each
voter
was eligible to cast votes.
The
state board shall have the authority to adopt rules and regulations to
implement and
administer
the provisions of this section.
SECTION
3. Section 17-12.1-14 of the General Laws in Chapter 17-12.1 entitled
"Primaries
for Election of Delegates to National Conventions and for Presidential
Preference" is
hereby
amended to read as follows:
17-12.1-14.
Recount. -- Upon application, the state board of elections shall
conduct a
recount
for a presidential candidate or delegate for a winning candidate when there is
a two
hundred
(200) or less vote difference between the losing candidate or delegate and the
winner.
Said
recount shall be conducted by re-reading the programmed memory device or
devices and
comparing
the results and totals obtained at such recount with the results and totals
obtained on
election
night.
The
state board shall have the authority to adopt rules and regulations to
implement and
administer
the provisions of this section.
SECTION
4. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC02533
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