State Codes and Statutes
Statutes > Connecticut > Title9 > Chap147 > Sec9-242Sec. 9-242. Voting machine and direct recording electronic voting machine construction requirements. (a) A voting machine approved by the Secretary of the State shall be so constructed as to provide facilities for voting for the candidates of at least nine different parties or organizations. It shall permit voting in absolute secrecy. It shall be provided with a lock by means of which any illegal movement of the voting or registering mechanism is absolutely prevented. Such machine shall be so constructed that an elector cannot vote for a candidate or on a proposition for whom or on which he is not lawfully entitled to vote.
(b) It shall be so constructed as to prevent an elector from voting for more than one person for the same office, except when he is lawfully entitled to vote for more than one person for that office, and it shall afford him an opportunity to vote for only as many persons for that office as he is by law entitled to vote for, at the same time preventing his voting for the same person twice. It shall be so constructed that all votes cast will be registered or recorded by the machine.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, the Secretary of the State may approve a voting machine which requires the elector in the polls to place his ballot into the recording device and which meets the voluntary performance and test standards for voting systems adopted by (1) the Federal Election Commission on January 25, 1990, as amended from time to time, or (2) the Election Assistance Commission pursuant to the Help America Vote Act of 2002, P.L. 107-252, 42 USC 15481-85, as amended from time to time, whichever standards are most current at the time of the Secretary of the State's approval, and regulations which the Secretary of the State may adopt in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, provided the voting machine shall (A) warn the elector of overvotes, (B) not record overvotes, and (C) not record more than one vote of an elector for the same person for an office.
(d) Any direct recording electronic voting machine approved by the Secretary of the State for an election or primary held on or after July 1, 2005, shall be so constructed as to:
(1) (A) Contemporaneously produce an individual, permanent, paper record containing all of the elector's selections of ballot preferences for candidates and questions or proposals, if any, prior to the elector's casting a ballot, as set forth in this subsection, and (B) produce at any time after the close of the polls a voting machine generated, individual, permanent, paper record of each such elector's selections of ballot preferences for candidates and questions or proposals, if any. Both the contemporaneously produced paper record and the voting machine generated paper record of each elector's selections of ballot preferences shall include a voting machine generated unique identifier that can be matched against each other and which preserves the secrecy of the elector's ballot as set forth in subdivision (4) of this subsection;
(2) Provide each elector with an opportunity to verify that the contemporaneously produced, individual, permanent, paper record accurately conforms to such elector's selection of ballot preferences, as reflected on the electronic summary screen, and to hear, if desired, an audio description of such electronic summary screen, for the purpose of having an opportunity to make any corrections or changes prior to casting the ballot. If an elector makes corrections or changes prior to casting the ballot, the voting machine shall void such contemporaneously produced paper record, contemporaneously produce another paper record containing such corrections or changes and provide the elector with another opportunity to verify ballot preferences in accordance with the provisions of this subdivision. As used in this section, "electronic summary screen" means a screen generated by a direct recording electronic voting machine that displays a summary of an elector's selections of ballot preferences for candidates and questions or proposals, if any, at an election or primary;
(3) Provide that a ballot shall be deemed cast on the voting machine at the time that an elector's contemporaneously produced, individual, permanent, voter-verified paper record, containing all of the elector's final selections of ballot preferences, is (A) deposited inside a receptacle designed to store all such paper records produced by such voting machine on the day of the election or primary, and (B) the elector's selection of ballot preferences is simultaneously electronically recorded inside the voting machine for the purpose of (i) being electronically tabulated immediately after the polls are closed on the day of the election or primary, and (ii) producing, on such other day as required under section 9-242b, a voting machine generated, individual, permanent, paper record of each such elector's selections of ballot preferences for candidates and questions or proposals, if any;
(4) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (1) of section 9-242b, secure the secrecy of each such elector's ballot by making it impossible for any other individual to identify the elector in relationship to such elector's selection of ballot preferences at the time that the elector (A) selects ballot preferences; (B) verifies the accuracy of the electronic summary screen by comparing it to the contemporaneously produced, individual, permanent, paper record or the audio description of such electronic summary screen, prior to casting a ballot; (C) makes corrections or changes by reselecting ballot preferences and verifies the accuracy of such preferences in accordance with the provisions of subdivision (2) of this subsection prior to casting a ballot; and (D) casts the ballot; and at the time that all electors' ballots are canvassed, recanvassed or otherwise tallied to produce a final count of the vote for candidates and questions or proposals, if any, whether through the electronic vote tabulation process or through the manual count process of each elector's contemporaneously produced, individual, permanent, voter-verified paper record, as set forth in section 9-242b; and
(5) (A) Be accessible to blind or visually impaired persons by providing each elector, if desired by the elector, an audio description of the contemporaneously produced individual, permanent, paper record containing all of the elector's selections of ballot preferences, in addition to an audio description of the electronic summary screen and comply with such additional standards of accessibility included in regulations that the Secretary of the State may adopt in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54.
(B) Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph (A) of this subdivision, on or before June 30, 2007, the Secretary of the State may approve an electronic voting machine that does not comply with the provisions of said subparagraph if (i) the Secretary determines that there are no electronic voting machines available for purchase or lease at the time of such approval that are capable of complying with said subparagraph (A), (ii) the electronic voting machine complies with the provisions of subdivisions (1) to (4), inclusive, of this subsection, and (iii) the person applying to the Secretary for approval of the electronic voting machine agrees to include a provision in any contract for the sale or lease of such voting machines that requires such person, upon notification by the Secretary that modifications to such machines that would bring the machines into compliance said subparagraph (A) are available, to (I) so modify any electronic voting machines previously sold or leased under such contract in order to comply with said subparagraph (A), and (II) provide that any electronic voting machines sold or leased after receipt of such notice comply with said subparagraph (A). No voting machine approved under this subparagraph shall be used on or after July 1, 2007, unless it has been modified to comply with the provisions of subparagraph (A) of this subdivision.
(1949 Rev., S. 1191; 1953, S. 719d; 1957, P.A. 561, S. 4; 1967, P.A. 893; P.A. 84-319, S. 35, 49; P.A. 87-382, S. 22, 55; P.A. 93-384, S. 17; P.A. 05-188, S. 7; 05-235, S. 29.)
History: 1967 act provided that voting machines be so constructed that an elector, at his option, may vote for an individual either after operating the straight ticket device or without first operating such device, deleted provision for machines to have bells connected with straight ticket device so as to ring when such device is operated and deleted provision concerning capability of adjustment for use in primaries to permit voting for individuals without first operating a straight ticket device; P.A. 84-319 required approved machines to provide facilities for voting for at least nine parties' candidates, rather than seven, and eliminated requirement that curtain levers have bell attached; P.A. 87-382 repealed provisions re straight ticket device; P.A. 93-384 divided existing section into Subsecs., moved requirement that voting machine be provided with a lock from Subsec. (b) to Subsec. (a) and added Subsec. (c) re approval of machine which requires elector to place ballot into recording device; P.A. 05-188 amended Subsec. (c) by adding new Subdiv. (2) re compliance with standards adopted by the Election Assistance Commission pursuant to the Help America Vote Act and making conforming and technical changes, and added Subsec. (d) re construction requirements for direct recording electronic voting machines, effective July 1, 2005; P.A. 05-235 amended Subsec. (d)(5)(A) by adding requirement that direct recording electronic voting machines comply with standards of accessibility included in regulations that Secretary of the State may adopt, and amended Subsec. (d)(5)(B) by applying existing provisions "on or before June 30, 2007," and prohibiting a voting machine approved under Subsec. (d)(5)(B) from being used on or after July 1, 2007, unless modified to comply with Subsec. (d)(5)(A), effective July 8, 2005.
