25-3008. Packing and separation of ballots and materials; appointment of write-in board, when. Before leaving the voting place the supervising judge shall ascertain that the election supplies and ballots that are to be returned have been packaged, packed and separated as provided in this section:

(a) All ballots both voted and unvoted, except void, objected to and provisional ballots, shall be placed in bags or sacks. Such bags or sacks shall be sealed and appropriately labeled. The method of sealing and labeling shall be a method approved by the secretary of state and directed by the county election officer.

(b) Ballots that are spoiled and returned by the voter shall be marked "spoiled" on the back thereof and shall be placed in the bags or envelopes specified in subsection (a) of this section.

(c) Provisional ballot envelopes containing ballots, with applications for registration attached, shall be placed in an appropriately labeled envelope, and shall be sealed as in subsection (a) of this section.

(d) Provisional ballot envelopes containing ballots cast after the polling place hours prescribed in K.S.A. 25-106, and amendments thereto, pursuant to a court or other order shall be separated from the provisional ballot envelopes described in subsection (c) of this section and packaged and sealed as required by subsection (a) of this section.

(e) Objected to ballots shall be placed in an appropriately labeled envelope, and shall be sealed as in subsection (a) of this section.

(f) Ballots that are cast but not counted shall be marked "void" on the back thereof and shall be placed in the same envelope that contains objected to ballots.

(g) Ballots specified in subsections (a) and (b) shall be separately packaged from ballots specified in subsections (c), (d), (e) and (f).

(h) Poll books, registration books, party affiliation lists, tally sheets, abstracts and election supplies not listed in the preceding subsections of this section shall be returned sealed but not packaged with the items specified in subsections (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f) and (g).

(i) (1) If upon receiving the sealed bags or sacks of ballots after the original canvass, the county election officer discovers that the board which conducted the original canvass failed to provide a tally sheet of write-in votes, the county election officer may appoint a special write-in board to unseal the ballots and count any write-in votes which appear on the ballots. Such write-in votes shall be reported to the county election officer, who shall include them with the official results of the election. When the board completes its tally of write-in votes, the bags or sacks shall be resealed.

(2) The special write-in board shall be appointed by the county election officer from the election boards of the county or from a pool of trained board workers maintained by the county election officer. One member of the board shall be designated by the county election officer as a supervising judge, and the remaining members of the board shall be of different political parties to the extent practicable.

History: L. 1968, ch. 406, § 37; L. 1996, ch. 187, § 18; L. 2003, ch. 48, § 1; L. 2004, ch. 25, § 15; July 1.