Bill Text: AZ SB1348 | 2022 | Fifty-fifth Legislature 2nd Regular | Introduced
Bill Title: Elections; hand count; tabulators prohibited
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-26 - Senate read second time [SB1348 Detail]
Download: Arizona-2022-SB1348-Introduced.html
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REFERENCE TITLE: elections; hand count; tabulators prohibited |
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State of Arizona Senate Fifty-fifth Legislature Second Regular Session 2022
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SB 1348 |
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Introduced by Senator Rogers
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AN ACT
AMENDING SECTIONS 16-442, 16-443, 16-444, 16-446, 16-448 AND 16-449, Arizona Revised Statutes; REPEALING SECTIONS 16-450 and 16-451, Arizona Revised Statutes; AMENDING SECTIONS 16-602, 16-621 and 16-663, Arizona Revised Statutes; repealing section 16-664, Arizona Revised Statutes; AMENDING SECTION 16-1011, Arizona Revised Statutes; RELATING TO THE CONDUCT OF ELECTIONS.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 16-442, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
16-442. Committee approval; emergency certification
A. The secretary of state shall appoint a committee of three persons, to consist of a member of the engineering college at one of the universities, a member of the state bar of Arizona and one person familiar with voting processes in the state, no not more than two of whom shall be of the same political party, and at least one of whom shall have at least five years of experience with and shall be able to render an opinion based on knowledge of, training in or education in electronic voting systems, procedures and security. The committee shall investigate and test the various types of vote recording or tabulating machines or devices that may be used under this article. The committee shall submit its recommendations to the secretary of state who shall make final adoption of the type or types, make or makes, model or models to be certified for use in this state. The committee shall serve without compensation.
B. Machines or devices used at any election for federal, state or county offices may only be certified for use in this state and may only be used in this state if they comply with the help America vote act of 2002, and if those machines or devices have been tested and approved by a laboratory that is accredited pursuant to the help America vote act of 2002 and if those machines or devices are to be used to comply with the accessibility requirements prescribed by section 16-442.01. except as required to comply with section 16-442.01, the secretary of state may not approve for general use electronic tabulating MACHINES or other tabulating machines.
C. After consultation with the committee prescribed by subsection A of this section, the secretary of state shall adopt standards that specify the criteria for loss of certification for equipment that was used at any election for federal, state or county offices and that was previously certified for use in this state. On loss of certification, machines or devices used at any election may not be used for any election for federal, state or county offices in this state unless recertified for use in this state.
D. The secretary of state may revoke the certification of any voting system or device for use in a federal, state or county election in this state or may prohibit for up to five years the purchase, lease or use of any voting system or device leased, installed or used by a person or firm in connection with a federal, state or county election in this state, or both, if either of the following occurs:
1. The person or firm installs, uses or permits allows the use of a voting system or device that is not certified for use or approved for experimental use in this state pursuant to this section.
2. The person or firm uses or includes hardware, firmware or software in a version that is not certified for use or approved for experimental use pursuant to this section in a certified voting system or device.
E. The governing body of a city or town or the board of directors of an agricultural improvement district may adopt for use in elections any kind of electronic voting system or vote tabulating device approved by the secretary of state, and thereupon the voting or marking device and vote tabulating equipment may be used at any or all elections for voting, and recording and counting votes cast at an election.
F. The secretary of state or the governing body may provide for the experimental use of a voting system or device without a final adoption of the voting system or device, and its use at the election is as valid as if the machines had been permanently adopted.
G. After consultation with the committee prescribed by subsection A of this section, the secretary of state may approve for emergency use an upgrade or modification to a voting system or device that is certified for use in this state if the governing body establishes in an open meeting that the election cannot be conducted without the emergency certification. Any emergency certification shall be limited to no not more than six months. At the conclusion of the certification period the voting system or device shall be decertified and unavailable for future use unless certified in accordance with this section.
Sec. 2. Section 16-443, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
16-443. Authorization of use at all elections
At all state, county, city or town elections, agricultural improvement district elections and primary and general elections, ballots or votes may be cast, and recorded and counted by voting or marking devices and vote tabulating devices as provided in this article. For all state, county, city or town elections, ballots shall be tabulated by hand.
Sec. 3. Section 16-444, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
16-444. Definitions
A. In this article, unless the context otherwise requires:
1. "Ballot" means a paper ballot on which votes are recorded.
2. "Computer program" includes all programs and documentation adequate to process the ballots at an equivalent counting center.
3. "Counting center" means one or more locations selected by the board of supervisors for the automatic counting of ballots.
4. "Electronic voting system" means a system in which votes are recorded on a paper ballot by means of marking, and such votes are subsequently counted and tabulated by vote tabulating equipment at one or more counting centers.
5. "E-pollbook" means an electronic system in which a voter is checked in and through which a voter's signature is recorded to indicate that the voter has voted.
6. "Instructions and procedures manual" means the manual prepared for use as a guide for the conduct of elections by an approved electronic voting system, including, but not limited to, detailed instructions for the performance of each task relating to the collection of ballots and the counting of votes in a manner that will provide maximum security, efficiency and accuracy.
7. "Vote tabulating equipment" includes apparatus necessary to automatically examine and count votes as designated on ballots and tabulate the results.
8. "Voting device" means an apparatus that the voter uses to record the voter's votes by marking a paper ballot, which votes are subsequently counted by electronic tabulating equipment hand.
B. The provisions of all state laws relating to elections not inconsistent with this article apply to all elections where electronic tabulating devices are used. Any provision of law that conflicts with this article does not apply to the elections in which electronic tabulating devices are used.
Sec. 4. Section 16-446, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
16-446. Specifications of electronic voting system
A. An electronic voting system consisting of a voting or marking device in combination with vote tabulating equipment shall provide facilities for voting for candidates at both primary and general elections.
B. An electronic voting system shall:
1. Provide for voting in secrecy when used with voting booths.
2. Permit allow each elector to vote at any election for any person for any office whether or not nominated as a candidate, and to vote for as many persons for an office as for which the elector is entitled to vote for and to vote for or against any question on which the elector is entitled to vote, and the vote tabulating equipment shall reject choices recorded on the elector's ballot if the number of choices exceeds the number that the elector is entitled to vote for the office or on the measure.
3. Prevent the elector from voting for the same person more than once for the same office.
4. Be suitably designed for the purpose used and be of durable construction, and may be used safely, efficiently and accurately in the conduct of elections and counting ballots.
5. Be provided with means for sealing the voting or marking device against any further voting after the close of the polls and the last voter has voted.
6. When properly operated, record correctly and count accurately every vote cast.
7. Provide a durable paper document that visually indicates the voter's selections, that the voter may use to verify the voter's choices, that may be spoiled by the voter if it fails to reflect the voter's choices and that permits allows the voter to cast a new ballot. This paper document shall be used in manual audits and recounts.
8. To the extent practicable, provide for the ballot layout to be in the same order of arrangement, including rotation, as provided for paper ballots, except that information may be printed in vertical or horizontal rows, or in a number of separate pages or screens that are placed or displayed on the voting device. The titles of offices may be arranged in vertical columns or in a series of separate pages or screens and shall be printed above or at the side of the names of candidates so as to indicate clearly the candidates for each office and the number to be elected. If there are more candidates for an office than can be printed in one column or on one ballot page or screen, the ballot shall be clearly marked that the list of candidates is continued on the following column, page or screen, and to the extent practicable, the same number of names shall be printed on each column, page or screen.
9. Provide for a color designation for use in the primary election for each political party represented.
Sec. 5. Section 16-448, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
16-448. Write-in votes; instructions
Sec. 6. Section 16-449, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
16-449. Required test of equipment and programs; notice; procedures manual
A. Within the period of time before the election day prescribed by the secretary of state in the instructions and procedures manual adopted pursuant to section 16-452, the board of supervisors or other election officer in charge, or for an election involving state or federal candidates, the secretary of state, shall have the automatic tabulating equipment and programs tested to ascertain that the equipment and programs will correctly count MARK the votes cast for all offices and on all measures. Public notice of the time and place of the test shall be given at least forty-eight hours prior thereto before the test by publication once in one or more daily or weekly newspapers published in the town, city or village using such equipment, if a newspaper is published therein, otherwise in a newspaper of general circulation therein. The test shall be observed by at least two election inspectors, who shall not be of the same political party, and shall be open to representatives of the political parties, candidates, the press and the public. The test shall be conducted by processing a preaudited group of ballots so marked as to record a predetermined number of valid votes for each candidate and on each measure and shall include for each office one or more ballots that have votes in excess of the number allowed by law in order to test the ability of the automatic tabulating voting equipment and programs to reject such votes. If any error is detected, the cause therefor for the error shall be ascertained and corrected and an errorless count shall be made before the automatic tabulating equipment and programs are approved. A copy of a revised program shall be filed with the secretary of state within forty-eight hours after the revision is made. If the error was created by automatic tabulating equipment malfunction, a report shall be filed with the secretary of state within forty-eight hours after the correction is made, stating the cause and the corrective action taken. The test shall be repeated immediately before the start of the official count of the ballots in the same manner as set forth above. After the completion of the count, the programs used and the ballots shall be sealed, retained and disposed of as provided for paper ballots.
B. Electronic ballot tabulating systems shall be tested for logic and accuracy within seven days before their use for early balloting pursuant to the instructions and procedures manual for electronic voting systems that is adopted by the secretary of state as prescribed by section 16-452. The instructions and procedures manual shall include procedures for the handling of ballots, the electronic scanning of ballots and any other matters necessary to ensure the maximum degree of correctness, impartiality and uniformity in the administration of an electronic ballot tabulating system.
C. B. Notwithstanding subsections SUBSECTION A and B of this section, if a county uses accessible voting equipment to mark ballots and that accessible voting equipment does not independently tabulate or tally votes, the secretary of state in cooperation with the county officer in charge of elections may designate a single date to test the logic and accuracy of both the accessible voting equipment and electronic ballot tabulating systems ANY OTHER EQUIPMENT OR DEVICES USED TO MARK THE BALLOTS.
Sec. 7. Repeal
Sections 16-450 and 16-451, Arizona Revised Statutes, are repealed.
Sec. 8. Section 16-602, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
16-602. Paper ballots; report
A. For any primary, special or general election in which the votes are cast on an electronic voting machine or tabulator, the election judge shall compare the number of votes cast as indicated on the machine or tabulator with the number of votes cast as indicated on the poll list and the number of provisional ballots cast and that information shall be noted in a written report prepared and submitted to the officer in charge of elections along with other tally reports. All ballots shall be counted by hand as prescribed in the secretary of state's instructions and procedures manual adopted pursuant to section 16-452.
B. For each countywide primary, special, general and presidential preference election, the county officer in charge of the election shall conduct a hand count at one or more secure facilities. The hand count shall be conducted as prescribed by this section and in accordance with hand count procedures established by the secretary of state in the official instructions and procedures manual adopted pursuant to section 16-452. The hand count is not subject to the live video requirements of section 16-621, subsection D, but the party representatives who are observing the hand count may bring their own video cameras in order to record the hand count. The recording shall not interfere with the conduct of the hand count and the officer in charge of the election may prohibit from recording or remove from the facility persons who are taking actions to disrupt the count. The sole act of recording the hand count does not constitute sufficient grounds for the officer in charge of the election to prohibit observers from recording or to remove them from the facility. The hand count shall be conducted in the following order:
1. At least two percent of the precincts in that county, or two precincts, whichever is greater, shall be selected at random from a pool consisting of every precinct in that county. The county political party chairman for each political party that is entitled to continued representation on the state ballot or the chairman's designee shall conduct the selection of the precincts to be hand counted. The precincts shall be selected by lot without the use of a computer, and the order of selection by the county political party chairmen shall also be by lot. The selection of the precincts shall not begin until all ballots voted in the precinct polling places have been delivered to the central counting center. The unofficial vote totals from all precincts shall be made public before selecting the precincts to be hand counted. Only the ballots cast in the polling places and ballots from direct recording electronic machines shall be included in the hand counts conducted pursuant to this section. Provisional ballots, conditional provisional ballots and write-in votes shall not be included in the hand counts and the early ballots shall be grouped separately by the officer in charge of elections for purposes of a separate manual audit pursuant to subsection F of this section.
2. The races to be counted on the ballots from the precincts that were selected pursuant to paragraph 1 of this subsection for each primary, special and general election shall include up to five contested races. After the county recorder or other officer in charge of elections separates the primary ballots by political party, the races to be counted shall be determined by selecting by lot without the use of a computer from those ballots as follows:
(a) For a general election, one statewide ballot measure, unless there are no measures on the ballot.
(b) One contested statewide race for statewide office.
(c) One contested race for federal office, either United States senate or United States house of representatives. If the United States house of representatives race is selected, the names of the candidates may vary among the sampled precincts.
(d) One contested race for state legislative office, either state house of representatives or state senate. In either case, the names of the candidates may vary among the sampled precincts.
(e) If there are fewer than four contested races resulting from the selections made pursuant to subdivisions (a) through (d) of this section and if there are additional contested federal, statewide or legislative races or ballot measures, additional contested races shall be selected by lot not using a computer until four races have been selected or until no additional contested federal, statewide or legislative races or ballot measures are available for selection.
(f) If there are no contested races as prescribed by this paragraph, a hand count shall not be conducted for that precinct for that election.
3. For the presidential preference election, select by lot two percent of the polling places designated and used pursuant to section 16-248 and perform the hand count of those ballots.
4. For the purposes of this section, a write-in candidacy in a race does not constitute a contested race.
5. In elections in which there are candidates for president, the presidential race shall be added to the four categories of hand counted races.
6. Each county chairman of a political party that is entitled to continued representation on the state ballot or the chairman's designee shall select by lot the individual races to be hand counted pursuant to this section.
7. The county chairman of each political party shall designate and provide the number of election board members as designated by the county officer in charge of elections who shall perform the hand count under the supervision of the county officer in charge of elections. For each precinct that is to be audited, the county chairmen shall designate at least two board workers who are registered members of any or no political party to assist with the audit. Any qualified elector from this state may be a board worker without regard to party designation. The county election officer shall provide for compensation for those board workers, not to include travel, meal or lodging expenses. If there are less than two persons for each audited precinct available to participate on behalf of each recognized political party, the recorder or officer in charge of elections, with the approval of at least two county party chairpersons in the county in which the shortfall occurs, shall substitute additional individual electors who are provided by any political party from anywhere in the state without regard to party designation to conduct the hand count. A county party chairman shall approve only those substitute electors who are provided by the county chairman's political party. The political parties shall provide to the recorder or officer in charge of elections in writing the names of those persons intending to participate in the hand count at the audited precincts not later than 5:00 p.m. on the Tuesday preceding the election. If the total number of board workers provided by all parties is less than four times the number of precincts to be audited, the recorder or officer in charge of elections shall notify the parties of the shortage by 9:00 a.m. on the Wednesday preceding the election. The hand count shall not proceed unless the political parties provide the recorder or officer in charge of elections, in writing, a sufficient number of persons by 5:00 p.m. on the Thursday preceding the election and a sufficient number of persons, pursuant to this paragraph, arrive to perform the hand count. The recorder or officer in charge of elections may prohibit persons from participating in the hand count if they are taking actions to disrupt the count or are unable to perform the duties as assigned. For the hand count to proceed, not more than seventy-five percent of the persons performing the hand count shall be from the same political party.
8. If a political party is not represented by a designated chairperson within a county, the state chairperson for that political party, or a person designated by the state chairperson, may perform the actions required by the county chairperson as specified in this section.
C. If the randomly selected races result in a difference in any race that is less than the designated margin when compared to the electronic tabulation of those same ballots, the results of the electronic tabulation constitute the official count for that race. If the randomly selected races result in a difference in any race that is equal to or greater than the designated margin when compared to the electronic tabulation of those same ballots, a second hand count of those same ballots and races shall be performed. If the second hand count results in a difference in any race that is less than the designated margin when compared to the electronic tabulation for those same ballots, the electronic tabulation constitutes the official count for that race. If the second hand count results in a difference in any race that is equal to or greater than the designated margin when compared to the electronic tabulation for those same ballots, the hand count shall be expanded to include a total of twice the original number of randomly selected precincts. Those additional precincts shall be selected by lot without the use of a computer.
D. In any expanded count of randomly selected precincts, if the randomly selected precinct hand counts result in a difference in any race that is equal to or greater than the designated margin when compared to the electronic tabulation of those same ballots, the final hand count shall be extended to include the entire jurisdiction for that race. If the jurisdictional boundary for that race would include any portion of more than one county, the final hand count shall not be extended into the precincts of that race that are outside of the county that is conducting the expanded hand count. If the expanded hand count results in a difference in that race that is less than the designated margin when compared to the electronic tabulation of those same ballots, the electronic tabulation constitutes the official count for that race.
E. If a final hand count is performed for an entire jurisdiction for a race, the final hand count shall be repeated for that race until a hand count for that race for the entire jurisdiction results in a count that is identical to one other hand count for that race for the entire jurisdiction and that hand count constitutes the official count for that race.
F. After the electronic tabulation of early ballots and at one or more times selected by the chairman of the political parties entitled to continued representation on the ballot or the chairman's designee, the chairmen or the chairmen's designees shall randomly select one or more batches of early ballots that have been tabulated to include at least one batch from each machine used for tabulating early ballots and those ballots shall be securely sequestered by the county recorder or officer in charge of elections along with their unofficial tally reports for a postelection manual audit. The chairmen or the chairmen's designees shall randomly select from those sequestered early ballots a number equal to one percent of the total number of early ballots cast or five thousand early ballots, whichever is less. From those randomly selected early ballots, the county officer in charge of elections shall conduct a manual audit of the same races that are being hand counted pursuant to subsection B of this section. If the manual audit of the early ballots results in a difference in any race that is equal to or greater than the designated margin when compared to the electronically tabulated results for those same early ballots, the manual audit shall be repeated for those same early ballots. If the second manual audit results in a difference in that race that is equal to or greater than the designated margin when compared to the electronically tabulated results for those same early ballots, the manual audit shall be expanded only for that race to a number of additional early ballots equal to one percent of the total early ballots cast or an additional five thousand ballots, whichever is less, to be randomly selected from the batch or batches of sequestered early ballots. If the expanded early ballot manual audit results in a difference for that race that is equal to or greater than the designated margin when compared to any of the earlier manual counts for that race, the manual counts shall be repeated for that race until a manual count results in a difference in that race that is less than the designated margin. If at any point in the manual audit of early ballots the difference between any manual count of early ballots is less than the designated margin when compared to the electronic tabulation of those ballots, the electronic tabulation shall be included in the canvass and no further manual audit of the early ballots shall be conducted.
G. During any hand count of early ballots, the county officer in charge of elections and election board workers shall attempt to determine the intent of the voter in casting the ballot.
H. Notwithstanding any other law, the county officer in charge of elections shall retain custody of the ballots for purposes of performing any required hand counts and the officer shall provide for security for those ballots.
I. The hand counts prescribed by this section shall begin within twenty-four hours after the closing of the polls and shall be completed before the canvassing of the election for that county. The results of those hand counts shall be provided to the secretary of state, who shall make those results publicly available on the secretary of state's website.
J. For any county in which a hand count has been expanded to all precincts in the jurisdiction, the secretary of state shall make available the escrowed source code for that county to the superior court. The superior court shall appoint a special master to review the computer software. The special master shall have expertise in software engineering, shall not be affiliated with an election software vendor nor with a candidate, shall sign and be bound by a nondisclosure agreement regarding the source code itself and shall issue a public report to the court and to the secretary of state regarding the special master's findings on the reasons for the discrepancies. The secretary of state shall consider the reports for purposes of reviewing the certification of that equipment and software for use in this state.
K. The vote count verification committee is established in the office of the secretary of state and all of the following apply:
1. At least thirty days before the 2006 primary election, the secretary of state shall appoint seven persons to the committee, not more than three of whom are members of the same political party.
2. Members of the committee shall have expertise in any two or more of the areas of advanced mathematics, statistics, random selection methods, systems operations or voting systems.
3. A person is not eligible to be a committee member if that person has been affiliated with or received any income in the preceding five years from any person or entity that provides election equipment or services in this state.
4. The vote count verification committee shall meet and establish one or more designated margins to be used in reviewing the hand counting of votes as required pursuant to this section. The committee shall review and consider revising the designated margins every two years for use in the applicable elections. The committee shall provide the designated margins to the secretary of state at least ten days before the primary election and at least ten days before the general election, and the secretary of state shall make that information publicly available on the secretary of state's website.
5. Members of the vote count verification committee are not eligible to receive compensation but are eligible for reimbursement of expenses pursuant to title 38, chapter 4, article 2. The committee is a public body and its meetings are subject to title 38, chapter 3, article 3.1 and its reports and records are subject to title 39, chapter 1.
Sec. 9. Section 16-621, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
16-621. Proceedings at the counting center: video recording
A. All proceedings at the counting center shall be under the direction of the board of supervisors or other officer in charge of elections and shall be conducted in accordance with the approved instructions and procedures manual issued pursuant to section 16-452 under the observation of representatives of each political party and the public. The proceedings at the counting center may also be observed by up to three additional people representing a candidate for nonpartisan office, or representing a political committee in support of or in opposition to a ballot measure, proposition or question. A draw by lot shall determine which three groups or candidates shall have representatives participate in the observation at the counting center. Persons representing a candidate for nonpartisan office or persons or groups representing a political committee in support of or in opposition to a ballot measure, proposition or question, who are interested in participating in the observation, shall notify the officer in charge of elections of their desire to be included in the draw not later than seventeen days before the election. After the deadline to receive submissions from the interested persons or groups, but prior to fourteen days before the election, the county officer in charge of elections shall draw by lot, from the list of those that expressed interest, three persons or groups and those selected shall be notified and allowed to observe the proceedings at the counting center. If a group is selected the group may alter who represents that group for different days of observation but on any given observation day a selected group shall not send more than one observer. A group may rotate an observer throughout the day. Only those persons who are authorized for the purpose shall touch any ballot or ballot card or return. All persons who are engaged in processing and counting of the ballots shall be qualified electors, shall be deputized in writing and shall take an oath that they will faithfully perform their assigned duties. There shall be no preferential counting of ballots for the purpose of projecting the outcome of the election. tHE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OR OTHER OFFICER IN CHARGE OF ELECTIONS SHALL NOT ALLOW THE USE OF ELECTRONIC OR OTHER TABULATING EQUIPMENT and all counting shall be done by hand. bALLOTS SHALL BE ORGANIZED AND REMAIN SEGREGATED BY PRECINCT, BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER COUNTING. If any ballot, including any ballot received from early voting, is damaged or defective so that it cannot properly be counted by the automatic tabulating equipment, a true duplicate copy shall be made of the damaged or defective ballot in the presence of witnesses and substituted for the damaged or defective ballot. All duplicate ballots created pursuant to this subsection shall be clearly labeled "duplicate" and shall bear a serial number that shall be recorded on the damaged or defective ballot.
B. If the counting center automatic tabulating equipment includes an electronic vote adjudication feature that has been certified for use as prescribed by section 16-442 and the board of supervisors or officer in charge of elections authorizes the use of this feature at the counting center, all of the following apply:
1. The electronic vote adjudication feature shall be included in the tabulation system logic and accuracy testing prescribed by section 16-449.
2. The board of supervisors or officer in charge of elections shall appoint an electronic vote adjudication board that consists of two judges who are overseen by an inspector, with the two judges equally divided between the two largest political parties as prescribed by section 16-531, subsection D to adjudicate and submit for tabulation a ballot that is read by the tabulation machine as blank in order to determine if voter intent is clear on a portion or all of the ballot, or any portion of any ballot as prescribed by section 16-610 or 16-611, or to tally write-in choices as prescribed by section 16-612.
3. The electronic vote adjudication process used by the electronic vote adjudication board shall provide for:
(a) A method to track and account for the original ballot and the digital duplicate of the ballot created by the electronic vote adjudication feature that includes a serial number on the digital image that can be used to track electronic vote adjudication board actions.
(b) The creation and retention of comprehensive logs of all digital duplication and adjudication actions performed by an electronic vote adjudication board.
(c) The retention of the original ballot and the digital duplicate of the ballot.
C. If for any reason it becomes impracticable to count all or a part of the ballots with tabulating equipment, the officer in charge of elections may direct that they be counted manually, following as far as practicable the provisions governing the counting of paper ballots.
D. B. For any statewide, county or legislative election, the county recorder or officer in charge of elections shall provide for a live video recording of the custody of all ballots while the ballots are present in a tabulation room in the counting center. The live video recording shall include date and time indicators and shall be linked to the secretary of state's website. The secretary of state shall post links to the video coverage for viewing by the public. The county recorder or officer in charge of elections shall record the video coverage of the ballots at the counting center and shall retain those recordings as a public record for at least as long as the challenge period for the general election. If the live video feed is disrupted or disabled, the recorder or officer in charge of elections is not liable for the disruption but shall attempt to reinstate video coverage as soon as is practicable. Any disruption in video coverage shall not affect or prevent the continued tabulation of ballots. This subsection is contingent on legislative appropriation.
E. C. The county recorder or other officer in charge of elections shall maintain records that record the chain of custody for all election equipment and ballots during early voting through the completion of provisional voting tabulation.
Sec. 10. Section 16-663, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
16-663. Recount of votes
A. The superior court to which the facts requiring a recount are certified shall forthwith promptly make and enter an order requiring a recount of the votes cast for such office, measure or proposal. The recount shall be conducted in accordance with the laws pertaining to contests of elections.
B. When the court orders a recount of votes which were cast and tabulated on electronic voting equipment, such recount shall be pursuant to section 16-664. On completion of the recount, and for legislative, statewide and federal candidate races only, the county chairmen of the political parties entitled to continued representation on the ballot or the chairman's designee shall select at random without the use of a computer five per cent of the precincts for the recounted race for a hand count, and if the results of that hand count when compared to the electronic tabulation of that same race are less than the designated margins calculated pursuant to section 16-602, the recount is complete and the electronic tabulation is the official result. If the hand count results in a difference that is equal to or greater than the designated margin for that race, the procedure established in section 16-602, subsections C, D, E and F applies.
Sec. 11. Repeal
Section 16-664, Arizona Revised Statutes, is repealed.
Sec. 12. Section 16-1011, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
16-1011. Counterfeiting election returns; violation; classification
A. A person who knowingly forges or counterfeits returns of an election purporting to have been held at a precinct or place where no election was in fact held, or who knowingly substitutes, forges or counterfeits returns of election instead of the true returns for a precinct or place where an election was actually held, is guilty of a class 3 felony.
B. A person who knowingly substitutes, forges, counterfeits or tampers with ballot tabulations or totals or election results by electronic means or through the use of a computer, machine or other device is guilty of a class 3 felony. This subsection does not apply to the casting or tallying of ballots as provided by law or to the substitution or duplication of ballots as prescribed by sections 16-573, and 16-574 and 16-621.
C. Notwithstanding sections 13-907 and 13-908, a person who is convicted under this section shall not be automatically restored the right to vote.
Sec. 13. Effective date
This act is effective from and after December 31, 2022.
