52.5 - TESTING AND EXAMINATION OF VOTING EQUIPMENT.
52.5 TESTING AND EXAMINATION OF VOTING EQUIPMENT.
1. A person or corporation owning or being interested in an
optical scan voting system may request that the state commissioner
call upon the board of examiners to examine and test the system.
Within seven days of receiving a request for examination and test,
the state commissioner shall notify the board of examiners of the
request in writing and set a time and place for the examination and
test.
2. The state commissioner shall formulate, with the advice and
assistance of the examiners, and adopt rules governing the testing
and examination of any optical scan voting system by the board of
examiners. The rules shall prescribe the method to be used in
determining whether the system is suitable for use within the state
and performance standards for voting equipment in use within the
state. The rules shall provide that all optical scan voting systems
approved for use by the examiners after April 9, 2003, shall meet
voting systems performance and test standards, as adopted by the
federal election commission on April 30, 2002, and as deemed adopted
by Pub. L. No. 107-252, § 222. The rules shall include standards for
determining when recertification is necessary following modifications
to the equipment or to the programs used in tabulating votes, and a
procedure for rescinding certification if a system is found not to
comply with performance standards adopted by the state commissioner.
3. The state commissioner may employ a competent person or
persons to assist the examiners in their evaluation of the equipment
and to advise the examiners as to the sufficiency of the equipment.
Consultant fees shall be paid by the person who requested the
certification. Following the examination and testing of the optical
scan voting system, the examiners shall report to the state
commissioner describing the testing and examination of the system and
upon the capacity of the system to register the will of voters, its
accuracy and efficiency, and with respect to its mechanical
perfections and imperfections. Their report shall be filed in the
office of the state commissioner and shall state whether in their
opinion the kind of system so examined can be safely used by voters
at elections under the conditions prescribed in this chapter. If the
report states that the system can be so used, it shall be deemed
approved by the examiners, and systems of its kind may be adopted for
use at elections as provided in this section. Any form of system not
so approved cannot be used at any election.
4. Before actual use by a county of a particular optical scan
voting system which has been approved for use in this state, the
state commissioner shall formulate, with the advice and assistance of
the examiners, and adopt rules governing the development of vote
counting programs and all procedures used in actual counting of votes
by means of that system. Section History: Early Form
[S13, § 1137-a10; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, § 908; C46, 50, 54, 58,
62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, § 52.5] Section History: Recent Form
86 Acts, ch 1224, § 19; 89 Acts, ch 136, §50; 2004 Acts, ch 1083,
§26, 37; 2007 Acts, ch 190, §29; 2009 Acts, ch 57, §50
Referred to in § 52.6