Secretary
of State
Bruce
McPherson
State of
Uniform Vote Counting
Standards
Effective:
Secretary
of State
Bruce
McPherson
State of
Uniform Vote Counting
Standards
Effective:
California Secretary
of State
Uniform Vote Counting
Standards
Table of Contents
Section IV Mark Sense (Optical Scan) Voting Systems
Section V Punch Card Voting Systems
Section VI Other Paper Voting Systems
Section VII Direct Recording Electronic Voting Systems
Section VIII Absentee Voting Systems
Section IX Provisional Ballots
California Secretary of State
Uniform
Vote Counting Standards
Pursuant to Section 301 (a)(6) of the Help America Vote Act
(HAVA) of 2002, the Secretary of State has developed these standards to define
the circumstances under which “marking” of a ballot constitutes a vote and when
a vote will or will not count for each category of voting system certified and
in use in California.
The following are practical definitions as used herein and
are not the definitions provided in the California
Blank Ballot A blank ballot is one on which the voter has made
no marks in any voting position target, or one which has been marked with an
unreadable marker, or one which has been consistently marked outside of the
“read” area of the scanner.
Candidate A
candidate is a person who is seeking nomination or election to a specified
office and who either has met the legal requirements to have his/her name
printed on the ballot or is eligible to have his/her name written in on the ballot
and counted as the voter’s choice for the contest.
Damaged Ballot A damaged ballot is one that has
been torn, bent, or otherwise mutilated or rendered unreadable such that it
cannot be processed by the ballot tabulating equipment designed for use with
the ballot.
Duplicated Ballot A duplicated ballot is a ballot
which is a true copy of the originally cast ballot. It is created when damage, improper marking
or some other action/defect prevents the original ballot from being read by a
ballot tabulating machine, and is used to properly process and count the votes
originally cast by the voter. (
Listed Candidate A listed candidate is a candidate
whose name appears on the ballot at the time the voter received the ballot, as
opposed to a write-in candidate.
Measure A
measure is a ballot proposition, which appears on a ballot and requires voter
action in order to enact or reject a proposed law.
Overvote An
overvote occurs when a voter marks more than the maximum number of voting
position targets allowed in the contest.
Punch Card Ballot A
punch card ballot is a ballot card that contains voting position targets that a
marking device must pierce to form a hole in order to record a voter’s choice
for a candidate or measure.
Undervote An
undervote occurs when a voter marks less than the maximum number of voting
position targets allowed in a contest.
Voting Position Target A
voting position target refers to that area of the ballot adjacent to each
candidate or measure, or that area of the ballot, specifically designated to
record the voter’s choice for that contest.
The term applies to all types of voting position targets on ballots, regardless
of what form they may take, including, but not limited to, rectangle, oval,
circle, square, hole punch, cross punch, slotting and open arrow.
The
following general standards shall apply in the counting of all ballots and
votes, regardless of the voting system used, for both the initial count and for
any recount.
A.
A ballot that is marked or signed by the voter in such a way that it can
be identified from other ballots must be voided and none of its votes counted.
Examples of such markings include, but are not limited to: voter signature,
initials, voter name and address, voter identification number, social security
number or driver’s license number, messages or text, or unusual markings not
related to indication of the vote choice for a contest. Generic text meant to clarify the voter’s choice regarding a contest,
such as the word “yes” or “no” next to a candidate’s name, shall not be
sufficient cause to void a ballot. If
there are distinctly identifiable markings on one page of a multiple-page
ballot, the entire ballot must be voided. (
B.
A vote for any candidate or ballot measure shall not be rejected solely
because the voter failed to follow instructions for marking the ballot. If, for any reason, it is impossible to
determine the choice of the voter for any candidate or ballot measure, the vote
for that candidate or ballot measure shall be considered void. (
C.
A mark is considered valid when
it is clear that it represents the voter’s choice and is the technique
consistently used by the voter to indicate his or her selections. Such marks may include, but are not limited
to, properly filled-in voting position targets, checkmarks, X’s, circles,
completed arrows, or any other clear indication of the voter’s choice, such as
the word “yes” next to a candidate’s name or a voting position target for a
ballot measure.
Conversely, a mark crossed out by the voter, or the word “no” next to a
candidate’s name or a voting position target for a ballot measure shall not be
considered to be a valid vote but will, instead, be deemed an indication that
the voter did not choose to cast a vote for that candidate or measure.
D.
In determining the validity of a partially filled-in voting position
target, the consistency of a voter’s marks on the entire ballot shall be taken
into consideration. A “hesitation mark”
such as a dot in the voting position target shall not be considered a valid
mark unless it is demonstrated that the voter consistently marked his or her
ballot in such a manner.
E.
If a contest is marked with more choices than there are offices to be
filled or measures that may prevail, the vote shall not be counted for that
contest, but shall be counted in all other contests in which there is no
overvote and the voter's choice can be clearly determined.
F.
If a contest is marked with fewer choices than there are offices to be
filled or measures that may prevail, the vote choice(s) for all otherwise
properly marked candidates or measures shall be counted.
G.
Write-in votes are counted pursuant to the
provisions established in
When optical scan technology is used to count the votes on a
ballot, the provisions of this section shall apply.
The following standards shall be used to determine whether
there is a clear indication on the ballot that the voter has made a definite
choice. The examples used in this
section refer to the “voting position target” as defined in Section II of this
document. The same principles demonstrated in the examples below shall apply to
all types of voting position targets on optical scan ballots, regardless of
what form they may take (e.g. rectangle, oval, circle, square, hole punch,
cross punch, slotting, open arrow).
A.
Standards Indicating a Valid Vote
A voter’s choice shall be
considered a valid vote, if the:
1.
Voter indicates vote choice by consistently filling inside the entire
voting position target.
2.
Voter indicates vote choice by consistently filling in less than the
entire voting position target for all vote choices on the ballot and the ballot is processed in a manner consistent
with the use procedures provided and approved for the voting system.
3.
Voter indicates vote choice by consistently placing a distinctive mark,
such as (X) or (Ö) or (←), inside the
associated voting position target for a candidate choice or ballot measure.
4.
Voter indicates vote choice by consistently placing a distinctive mark,
such as (X) or (Ö) or (←), in the corresponding
space directly above, below or beside the associated voting position target for
a candidate or ballot measure.
5.
Voter marks vote choices by encircling the entire voting position target
for a candidate or ballot measure.