25-1447. Inspection of ballots and voting machines; procedure; bond.
25-1447
25-1447. Inspection of ballots and voting machines; procedure; bond.(a) After a contest has been instituted, either party includingany intervenor may request the ballots and voting machines be inspectedbefore preparing for trial. The party applying for such inspection shallfile with the clerk of the district court in which the contest is broughta motion, stating that such party cannot properly prepare such party's casefor trial without an inspection of such ballots or voting machines and designatingthe precincts in which the party desires to have ballots inspected, andstating the reasons that such inspection is needed. Thereupon the judgeof the court wherein the trial of such case is pending may authorize suchinspection or a part thereof, and if so authorized shall name three inspectors,and if there is no intervenor one inspector shall be selected by each ofthe parties and a third selected by the two inspectors named by the parties. In case either party neglects or refuses to name an inspector, or the twoselected inspectors cannot agree on the name of a third inspector, or thereis an intervenor, the inspectors shall be named by the judge. Thecompensation of inspectors shall be the same as for witnesses in civil cases,unless otherwise stipulated.
(b) The party applying for the inspection shall file with the clerk ofthe district court a bond in the sum of two hundred fifty dollars ($250)if the contest be within a single county; otherwise the bond shall be ina sum to be fixed by the court in its discretion, with such sureties asshall be approved by the court, and conditioned that such party will paythe costs and expenses thereof in case the party fails.
(c) If the contest relates to a state office or to the result determinedof a constitutional amendment or other question submitted on a statewidebasis, the party applying for the inspection shall designate the precinctsin the counties in which such party desires the inspection to be made. Ifthe court authorizes the inspection, it shall order the appointment of asmany sets of three inspectors as may be necessary to expeditiously countand inspect the ballots and voting machines, and the same shall be inspectedin the office of the legal custodianof the ballots in question. The inspectors in a state contest shall beselected in the manner provided in subsection (a).
(d) The inspection shall be made in the presence of the legal custodianof the ballots or voting machines, and the inspectors shall recanvass thevotes cast for the parties to the contest or the question submitted in accordancewith the rules for counting votes provided in the applicable Kansas electionlaws. The inspectors shall make a written report of such recanvass andreport the number of votes cast for each of the parties to the contest,or for and against a question submitted, for each precinct that is recountedand report any disputed votes upon which the inspectors cannot agree.
History: L. 1978, ch. 138, § 14; July 1.