52.35 Equipment tested.

Before the date of any election at which votes are to be cast by means of an optical scan voting system, the commissioner shall have the automatic tabulating equipment, including the portable tabulating devices, tested to ascertain that it will correctly count the votes cast for all offices and on all public questions. Testing shall be completed not later than twelve hours before the opening of the polls on the morning of the election. The procedure for conducting the test shall be as follows:

1. For any election to fill a partisan office, the county chairperson of each political party shall be notified in writing of the date, time, and place the test will be conducted, so that they may be present or have a representative present. For every election, the commissioner shall publish notice of the date, time, and place the test will be conducted. The commissioner may include such notice in the notice of the election published pursuant to section 49.53. The test shall be open to the public.

2. The test shall be conducted by processing a preaudited group of ballots marked so as to record a predetermined number of valid votes for each candidate, and on each public question, on the ballot. The test group shall include for each office and each question one or more ballots having votes in excess of the number allowed by law for that office or question, in order to test the ability of the automatic tabulating equipment to reject such votes. Any observer may submit an additional test group of ballots which, if so submitted, shall also be tested. The state commissioner shall promulgate administrative rules establishing procedures for any additional test group of ballots submitted by an observer. If any error is detected, its cause shall be ascertained and corrected and an errorless count obtained before the automatic tabulating equipment is approved. When so approved, a statement attesting to the fact shall be signed by the commissioner and kept with the records of the election.

3. The test group of ballots used for the test shall be clearly labeled as such, and retained in the commissioner’s office. The test group of ballots and the programs used for the counting procedure shall be sealed, retained for the time required for and disposed of in the same manner as ballots cast in the election.

4. Those present for the test shall sign a certificate which shall read substantially as follows:

The undersigned certify that we were present and witnessed the testing of the following tabulating devices; that we believe the devices are in proper condition for use in the election of ........................ (date); that following the test the vote totals were erased from the memory of each tabulating device and a report was produced showing that all vote totals in the memory were set at 0000; that the devices were securely locked or sealed; and that the serial numbers and locations of the devices which were tested are listed below.

Signed ............................................................

(name and political party affiliation, if applicable)

............................................................

(name and political party affiliation, if applicable)

............................................................

Voting equipment custodian

Dated ................................................

Precinct Location Serial Number

.................... ........................ ........................

.................... ........................ ........................

.................... ........................ ........................

[C77, 79, 81, §52.35]

86 Acts, ch 1224, §26; 97 Acts, ch 170, §63; 98 Acts, ch 1123, §9; 2002 Acts, ch 1134, §59, 115; 2007 Acts, ch 190, §10 – 12

Referred to in §49.128