16-551. Early election board; violation;
classification


A. The board of supervisors or the governing body of the political subdivision
shall appoint one or more early election boards to serve at places to be designated by
the board of supervisors or the governing body to canvass and tally early election
ballots. Members of early election boards shall be selected in accordance with the
provisions for selecting members of regular election boards as provided in section
16-531.


B. If an electronic voting system is in use for early voting, the early election
board shall consist of at least one inspector and two judges who shall perform the
processing requirements in accordance with the rules issued by the secretary of
state. The inspector and judges shall be appointed in the same manner by party as
provided in section 16-531.


C. All early ballots received by the county recorder or other officer in charge of
elections before 7:00 p.m. on election day and the original affidavit of the voter shall
be delivered to the early election boards for processing as provided in the rules of the
secretary of state. The office of the county recorder or other officer in charge of
elections shall remain open until 7:00 p.m. on election day for the purpose of receiving
early ballots. In no event shall partial or complete tallies of the early election board
be released or divulged before all precincts have reported or one hour after the closing
of the polls on election day, whichever occurs first, and any person who unlawfully
releases information regarding vote tallies or who possesses a tally sheet or summary
without authorization from the recorder or officer in charge of elections is guilty of a
class 6 felony.


D. The necessary printed blanks for poll lists, tally lists, lists of voters,
ballots, oaths and returns, together with envelopes in which to enclose the returns,
shall be furnished by the board of supervisors or the governing body of the political
subdivision to the early election board for each election precinct at the expense of the
county or the political subdivision.