A. It shall be the mandatory duty of the county commissioners of each county to furnish, at county expense, in each county seat a suitable office for the county election board. The office shall provide adequate space for storage of election records and supplies, voting devices, ballot boxes and adequate space for the exercise of other functions required by law of the county election board and shall be equipped with suitable furniture and office equipment and a telephone. The office shall be convenient to the public, shall have furniture, furnishings and fixtures and other equipment comparable to other county offices within the county, and necessary to the operation of the office.

B. 1. The county commissioners of each county shall, at county expense, implement security measures at the county election board that are equivalent to security measures the county provides to its other county agencies, in order to ensure the county election board office is adequately protected from physical intrusions or attacks and to provide cybersecurity for county-owned computer systems operated by the county election board.

2. County officials shall immediately notify the Secretary of the State Election Board upon learning of an attempted or successful physical or cyber attack or intrusion committed against the county election board.

C. To ensure the security of election records, equipment, computers, software, ballots, supplies and other materials necessary to conduct elections:

1. The county election board shall not share storage space where ballots, voter registration records or election equipment are stored with any other county agency unless authorized by the Secretary of the State Election Board; and

2. No county personnel other than those employed by the county election board shall be assigned workspace within the physical offices that are assigned to the county election board.

Provided, nothing in this subsection shall prohibit the county election board office from being located within the county courthouse or another county-owned building shared by multiple county agencies, nor shall it restrict the county election board from utilizing common areas intended for use by multiple county agencies other than as specifically prohibited in this subsection.

D. The Secretary of the State Election Board shall have the authority to enforce the requirements of, and may promulgate administrative rules to implement the provisions of, this section.

Added by Laws 1974, c. 153, § 2-121, operative Jan. 1, 1975. Amended by Laws 1991, c. 321, § 1, eff. March 1, 1992; Laws 2019, c. 163, § 3, eff. Nov. 1, 2019.