24.2-642 - Inoperative equipment.
§ 24.2-642. Inoperative equipment.
A. When any voting or counting device becomes inoperative in whole or in partwhile the polls are open, the officers of election shall immediately notifythe electoral board. If possible, the electoral board shall dispatch aqualified technician to the polling place to repair the inoperative device.All repairs shall be made in the presence of two officers of electionrepresenting the two political parties or, in the case of a primary electionfor only one party, two officers representing that party. If the devicecannot be repaired on site, the electoral board shall, if possible,substitute a device in good order for the inoperative device, and at theclose of the polls the record of both devices shall be taken, and the votesshown on their counters shall be added together in ascertaining the resultsof the election.
No voting or counting equipment, including inoperative equipment, shall beremoved from the plain view of the officers of election or from the pollingplace at any time during the election and through the determination of thevote as provided in § 24.2-657 except as explicitly provided pursuant to theprovisions of this title.
No voting or counting device that has become inoperative and contains votesmay be removed from the polling place while the polls are open and votes arebeing ascertained. If the officers of election are unable to ascertain theresults from the inoperative device after the polls close in order to add itsresults to the results from the other devices in that precinct, the officersof election shall lock and seal the device without removing the memory card,cartridge or data storage medium and deliver the device to either the clerkof court or registrar's office as provided for in § 24.2-659. On the dayfollowing the election, the electoral board shall meet and ascertain theresults from the inoperative device in accordance with the proceduresprescribed by the device's manufacturer and add the results to the resultsfor the precinct to which the device was assigned.
Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit the removal of an inoperativedevice from a precinct prior to the opening of the polls or votes being caston that device. Any device so removed shall be placed in the custody of anauthorized custodian, technician or electoral board representative. If theinoperative device can be repaired, it shall be retested and resealedpursuant to § 24.2-634 and may be returned to the precinct by an authorizedcustodian, technician or electoral board representative. The officers ofelection shall then open the device pursuant to § 24.2-639.
B. In any precinct that uses a ballot that can be marked without the use ofthe counting device, if the counting device becomes inoperative and there isno other available counting device, the uncounted ballots shall be placed ina ballot container or compartment that is used exclusively for uncountedballots. If an operative counting device is available in the polling placeafter the polls have closed, such uncounted ballots shall be removed from thecontainer and fed into the counting device, one at a time, by an officer ofelection in the presence of all persons who may be lawfully present at thattime but before the votes are determined pursuant to § 24.2-657. If suchdevice is not available, the ballots may be counted manually or as directedby the electoral board.
C. If (i) the inoperative device cannot be repaired in time to continue usingit at the election, (ii) a substitute device is needed to conduct theelection but is not available for use, (iii) the supply of official paperballots, or other official ballots that can be cast without use of theinoperative device, is not adequate, and (iv) the local electoral boardapproves, an officer of election may have copies of the official paper ballotreprinted or reproduced by photographic, electronic, or mechanical processesfor use at the election. The voted ballot copies may be received by theofficers of election and placed in the ballot container and counted with thevotes registered on the voting or counting devices; and the result shall bedeclared the same as though no device has been inoperative. The voted ballotcopies shall be deemed official ballots for the purpose of § 24.2-665 andpreserved and returned with the statement of results and with a certificatesetting forth how and why the same were voted. The officer of election whohad the ballot copies made shall provide a written statement of the number ofcopies made, signed by him and subject to felony penalties for making falsestatements pursuant to § 24.2-1016, to be preserved with the unused ballotcopies.
(Code 1950, § 24-311; 1970, c. 462, § 24.1-221; 1981, c. 570; 1985, c. 458;1993, c. 641; 2000, c. 282; 2003, c. 1015; 2004, cc. 978, 993, 1006, 1010.)