19:53A-3 Requirements of electronic voting systems.

3. Every electronic voting system, consisting of a voting device in combination with automatic tabulating equipment, acquired or used in accordance with this act, shall:

a. Provide for voting in secrecy, except in the case of voters who have received assistance as provided by law;

b. Permit each voter to vote at any election for all persons and offices for whom and for which he is lawfully entitled to vote; to vote for or against any question upon which he is entitled to vote; and the automatic tabulating equipment shall reject choices recorded on his ballot if the number of choices exceeds the number which he is entitled to vote for the office or on the measure;

c. Permit each voter, at presidential elections, by one mark to vote for the candidates of that party for president, vice president, and their presidential electors;

d. Permit each voter, at other than primary elections, to vote for the nominees of one or more parties and for independent candidates; and personal choice or write-in candidates;

e. Permit each voter in primary elections to vote for candidates in the party primary in which he is qualified to vote, and the automatic tabulating equipment shall reject any votes cast for candidates of another party;

f. Prevent the voter from voting for the same person more than once for the same office;

g. Be suitably designed for the purpose used, of durable construction, and may be used safely, efficiently, and accurately in the conduct of elections and counting ballots;

h. When properly operated, record correctly and count accurately every vote cast, including all overvotes or undervotes and all affirmative votes or negative votes on all public questions or referenda;

i. (1) By January 1, 2009, each voting machine shall produce an individual permanent paper record for each vote cast, which shall be made available for inspection and verification by the voter at the time the vote is cast, and preserved for later use in any manual audit. In the event of a recount of the results of an election, the voter-verified paper record shall be the official tally in that election. A waiver of the provisions of this subsection shall be granted by the Secretary of State if the technology to produce a permanent voter-verified paper record for each vote cast is not commercially available.

(2) The provisions of paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be suspended until: (i) the Secretary of State and the State Treasurer certify in writing that sufficient funds have been provided by the federal government and received by the State to offset the entire cost of ensuring that each voting machine used in this State produces an individual permanent paper record for each vote cast; or (ii) the annual appropriation act contains an appropriation of sufficient funds to ensure that each voting machine used in this State produces an individual permanent paper record for each vote cast and such appropriated funds have not been reserved by the Governor under a spending reduction plan; or (iii) the Secretary of State and the State Treasurer certify in writing that sufficient funds have been provided by the federal government and received by the State, and the annual appropriation act contains an appropriation of sufficient unreserved funds, to ensure, when such funds are combined, that each voting machine used in this State produces an individual paper record for each vote cast.

L.1973, c.82, s.3; amended 2004, c.88, s.18; 2005, c.137, s.2; 2007, c.301, s.2; 2008, c.18, s.2; 2009, c.17, s.2.