Source: https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections-officers-digest/conduct-of-elections.htm
Timestamp: 2015-04-01 03:11:03
Document Index: 499011927

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 2000', '§ 3500', '§ 14249', '§ 14252', '§ 14222', '§ 14282', '§ 14284', '§ 14288', '§ 14290', '§ 14225', '§ 14294', '§ 3201', '§ 3015', '§ 3016', '§ 3021', '§ 14401', '§ 14405', '§ 14405', '§ 14215', '§ 14224', '§ 2', '§ 2000', '§ 2118', '§ 2118', '§ 14216', '§ 14217', '§ 14310', '§ 14310', '§ 14310', '§ 14313', '§ 14313', '§ 14313', '§ 14242', '§ 14244', '§ 14243', '§ 14245', '§ 14246', '§ 349', '§ 2025', '§ 2027', '§ 2031', '§ 2032', '§ 346', '§ 14252', '§ 14224', '§ 14282', '§ 14287', '§ 3017', '§ 3017', '§ 3017', '§ 3017', '§ 3020', '§ 3117', '§ 3108', '§ 3109', '§ 3110', '§ 19370', '§ 14403', '§ 14404', '§ 14405']

Elections Officers Digest 2014 - Conduct of Elections - Elections & Voter Information - California Secretary of State
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This chapter defines for the precinct official those regulations pertaining to voters' rights and to the rights of election officers to deny access to the polls. This chapter also outlines proper balloting procedures.
Any United States citizen, 18 years or older, properly registered to vote in the State of California may vote in any election held within the territory where he or she resides. (§§ 2000, 10000.) On election day, a "new citizen" can register to vote at designated locations and can vote. (§ 3500.) The procedure to take if a voter is erroneously placed in a precinct other than the one in which he or she lives is found below in 3. Voting.
An election officer may orally challenge a prospective voter within a polling place for any number of reasons. The procedure and the various grounds for which a voter may be challenged are found below in 5. Challenge. Determining the domicile of a voter plays a pivotal role in the challenge process. The domicile of a person is that place where a voter's habitation is fixed, so that after any absence he or she intends to return. The definitions of "residence" and "domicile" for voting purposes and laws relating to the definitions are listed below in 5. Challenge. Any challenged person refusing to take a properly administered oath or who refuses to be sworn and to answer questions of residence must not be permitted to vote. (§ 14249.) The precinct board is under obligation to keep a list of all challenges, containing all information listed below in 5. Challenge. (§ 14252.)
Voting booths shall be occupied by only one person at a time unless a voter is accompanied by children in the voter's care or if the voter is eligible to receive assistance under the assisted voter provisions. (§§ 14222, 14224.) The precinct officers shall keep a list of those voters receiving help under the assisted voter provisions and shall return the list to the elections official. (§§ 14282, 14283.)
A ballot shall be marked only with the marking device provided by law. (§ 14284.) If a voter spoils or defaces a ballot, the voter should immediately return the ballot to the ballot clerk and receive another ballot; a voter shall not receive more than a total of three ballots. (§ 14288.) Those ballots marked by the ballot clerk as spoiled will be returned to the elections official with the unused ballots. (§ 14290.) Before depositing a properly voted ballot into the ballot box, the precinct inspector will remove the slip containing the number of the ballot and hand it to the voter. (§ 14225.) At least once each hour until 6 p.m., a precinct board member shall identify, on a posted copy of the index of registration, those voters who have voted, by drawing a line through their names. (§ 14294.)
A "permanent vote-by-mail voter" is a registered voter who has requested his or her county elections official send him or her a vote-by-mail ballot for every election. (§ 3201.) A vote-by-mail voter can vote in a polling booth by surrendering the unused vote-by-mail ballot to the precinct inspector. (§ 3015.) Any vote-by-mail voter who is unable to surrender his or her vote-by-mail voter’s ballot shall be issued a provisional ballot. (§ 3016.) Persons not planning to vote by mail but who find themselves physically incapable of reaching the polls on election day may have a ballot delivered by an elections official to any authorized representative of the voter. (§ 3021.) Voting restrictions placed on military or overseas voters reentering the county prior to election day can be found below in 7. Vote-By-Mail and Military or Overseas Voters Voting. If at the hour of closing there are any other voters in the polling place, or in line at the door, who are qualified to vote and have not been able to do so since appearing, the polls shall be kept open a sufficient time to enable them to vote. Any one who arrives at the polling place after the time provided for closing the polls shall not be entitled to vote, even though the polls are open when the voter arrives. When the polls are closed, the precinct board shall proclaim that fact aloud at the place of election. After the proclamation no ballot shall be received. (§§ 14401, 14402.) Members of the precinct board shall account for the ballots delivered to them by returning a sufficient number of unused ballots to make up, when added to the number of official ballots cast and the number of spoiled and canceled ballots returned, the number of ballots given to them. The officers receiving returned ballots shall compel this accounting. (§ 14405(a).) The precinct board shall also complete and sign the certificate of performance prescribed in Section 15280, if that section applies. (§ 14405(b).)
1. Opening of the Polls.
Time of Opening Polls
Before receiving any ballots, the precinct board, in the presence of any persons assembled at the polling place, shall open and exhibit and close the ballot container or containers. Thereafter, the ballot container or containers shall not be removed from the polling place or presence of the bystanders until all the ballots are counted, nor opened until after the polls are finally closed. (§ 14215.)
2. Regulations at Polls.
Only Voters and Authorized Persons Permitted Within Barricade
Except as provided in Section 14222, voting booths or compartments shall not be occupied by more than one person at a time, unless the voter is eligible under the assisted-voter provisions. Voters shall not remain in or occupy the booths or compartments longer than is necessary to mark their ballots, which shall not exceed 10 minutes. If a voter informs a precinct board member that the voter requires additional time to mark his or her ballot, a longer period shall be allowed. However, if the precinct board member determines that the voter is attempting to interfere with the conduct of the election and does not require additional time to mark his or her ballot, the precinct board member may contact the elections official, who may order that the voter not be provided with additional time to mark his or her ballot. (§ 14224.)
When Voting May Commence
Every United States citizen at least 18 years of age at the time of the election and resident in this State who complies with this Code governing the registration of electors may vote at any election held within the territory within which he or she resides and the election is held. (Cal. Const., art. II, § 2; §§ 2000, 10000.)
If a voter is erroneously assigned to a precinct, the voter may apply to the elections official for a certificate showing the record of registration. The elections official shall give the voter the certificate on or before election day. Upon presentation of this certificate to the precinct board of the proper precinct, the board shall permit the voter to vote. If the voter does not obtain the certificate provided for in this section, and votes in the precinct into which the voter has been erroneously assigned by the elections official, and the election is contested, the voter's vote shall not be rejected for those candidates and on those measures with respect to which the voter would have been entitled to vote had the voter voted in the proper precinct, and no inquiry shall be made as to how the voter voted for those candidates or on those measures. (§ 2118.5(a).)
No voter who receives a certificate of registration as described in the preceding paragraph shall be charged a fee by the elections official. (§ 2118.5(b).)
Any person desiring to vote shall announce his or her name and address in an audible tone of voice, and when one of the precinct officers finds the name in the index, the officer shall in a like manner repeat the name and address. The voter shall then write his or her name and residence address or, if the voter is unable to write, shall have the name and residence address written by another person on a roster of voters provided for that purpose, whereupon a challenge may be interposed as provided in this article. (§ 14216.)
4. Voter's Name Not On Index.
Inability to Find Voter's Name on Index
If the precinct board is unable to find a voter's name upon the index of registration, it shall inform the voter that he or she may cast a provisional ballot and the procedure for doing so. If the voter elects to cast a provisional ballot, the precinct board shall furnish the voter with a provisional ballot, in accordance with Section 14310. (§ 14217.)
At all elections, a voter claiming to be properly registered but whose qualification or entitlement to vote cannot be immediately established upon examination of the index of registration for the precinct or upon examination of the records on file with the county elections official, shall be entitled to vote a provisional ballot as follows: (1) An election official shall advise the voter of the voter's right to cast a provisional ballot. (2) The voter shall be provided a provisional ballot, written instructions regarding the process and procedures for casting the provisional ballot, and a written affirmation regarding the voter's registration and eligibility to vote. The written instructions shall include the information set forth in subdivisions (c) and (d) of Section 14310. (3) The voter shall be required to execute, in the presence of an elections official, the written affirmation stating that the voter is eligible to vote and registered in the county where the voter desires to vote. (§ 14310(a).)
During the official canvass, the elections official shall examine the records with respect to all provisional ballots cast. Using the procedures that apply to the comparison of signatures on vote-by-mail ballots, the elections official shall compare the signature on each provisional ballot envelope with the signature on the voter's affidavit of registration. If the signatures do not compare or the provisional ballot envelope is not signed, the ballot shall be rejected. A variation of the signature caused by the substitution of initials for the first or middle name, or both, shall not invalidate the ballot. (§ 14310(c)(1).)
Provisional ballots shall not be included in any semiofficial or official canvass, except upon: (A) the elections official's establishing prior to the completion of the official canvass, from the records in his or her office, the claimant's right to vote; or (B) the order of a superior court in the county of the voter's residence. A voter may seek the court order specified in this paragraph regarding his or her own ballot at any time prior to completion of the official canvass. Any judicial action or appeal shall have priority over all other civil matters. (§ 14310(c)(2).)
Be cast by the voter no later than the close of the polls on election day.
Be received by the county elections official where the voter is registered on or before the 10th day following the date of the election. (§ 14313(b).)
If the requirements in subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 14313 are met and the ballot is eligible to be counted, the ballot shall be duplicated and all other materials preserved according to the procedures set forth in this code. (§ 14313(d).)
"Emergency worker" for the purposes of this section means a person who is officially engaged in responding to the proclaimed state of emergency and whose vocation has been identified in an executive order relating to the state of emergency. (§ 14313(e).)
Conditions for Challenge
The ground for challenging a voter who is not a resident of the precinct at which he or she is offering to vote shall not apply to any person who is duly registered as a voter in any precinct in California and who has moved from that precinct within 14 days prior to an election. (§ 14242.)
If the challenge is on the ground that the person seeking to vote is not a resident of the precinct, the person challenged shall be sworn to answer questions, and after having been sworn, a member of the precinct board shall ask that person: "Are you a resident of this precinct?" If the answer to the question is "Yes," without significant qualification, no other questions shall be asked. (§ 14244.)
If the challenge is on the ground that the person seeking to vote is not the person whose name appears on the index, a member of the precinct board shall tender the following oath: "You do swear (or affirm) that you are the person whose name is entered on the index." (§ 14243.)
If the challenge is on the ground that the person challenged has already cast a ballot for this election, a member of the precinct board shall tender to the person challenged this oath: "You do swear (or affirm) that you have not previously voted in this election, either by vote-by-mail ballot or at a polling place." (§ 14245.)
If the challenge is on the ground that the person challenged is not the person whose name appears on the index, or that he or she has voted that day, the challenge shall be determined in favor of the person challenged if that person takes the oath as set forth either in Section 14243 or Section 14245. (§ 14246.)
"Residence" for voting purposes means a person's domicile. The "domicile" of a person is that place in which his or her habitation is fixed, wherein the person has the intention of remaining and to which, whenever he or she is absent, the person has the intention of returning. At a given time, a person may have only one domicile. The residence of a person is that place in which the person's habitation is fixed for some period of time, but wherein he or she does not have the intention of remaining. At a given time, a person may have more than one residence. (§ 349.)
A person does not gain or lose a domicile solely by reason of his or her presence or absence from a place while employed in the service of the United States or of this state, nor while engaged in navigation, nor while a student of any institution of learning, nor while kept in an almshouse, asylum or prison. Section 2025 shall not be construed to prevent a student at an institution of learning from qualifying as an elector in the locality where he or she domiciles while attending that institution, when in fact the student has abandoned his or her former domicile. (§ 2025.)
The place where a person's family is domiciled is his or her domicile unless it is a place for temporary establishment for his or her family or for transient objects. Residence in a trailer or vehicle or at any public camp or camping ground may constitute a domicile for voting purposes if the registrant complies with the other requirements of this article. (§ 2027.)
If a person has more than one residence and such person maintains a homeowner's property tax exemption on the dwelling of one of the residences pursuant to Section 218 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the residence subject to the homeowner's property tax exemption is that person's domicile. However, this presumption shall not apply in the event any other residence is listed as the person's current residence address on any driver's license, identification card, or vehicle registration issued to that person by, and on file with, the Department of Motor Vehicles. If a person has more than one residence and that person claims a renter's tax credit for one of the residences pursuant to Section 17053.5 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the residence subject to the renter's tax credit is that person's domicile. However, this presumption shall not apply in the event any other residence is listed as the person's current residence address on any driver's license, identification card, or vehicle registration issued to such person by, and on file with, the Department of Motor Vehicles. This section shall not be applicable to state or federal elected officials. (§ 2031.)
Except as provided in Division 2, Chapter 1, Article 2 of the Elections Code, if a person has more than one residence and such person has not physically resided at any one of the residences within the immediate preceding year, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that those residences in which he or she has not so resided within the immediate preceding year are merely residences as defined in Section 349(c) and not his or her domicile. (§ 2032.)
"Rebuttable presumption" shall be deemed a presumption that affects the burden of producing evidence. (§ 346.)
The name and address of each person challenged.
The name, address, and any other identification as a voter, of each person offering information concerning any person's qualifications to vote, or testifying pursuant to Section 14247, together with the name and address and any other identification of the person about whom the information or testimony is given.
The grounds of each challenge.
The determination of the board upon the challenge, together with any written evidence pertaining thereto.
If evidence has been presented to the board requesting challenges, the evidence shall be returned to the elections official responsible for the conduct of the election. (§ 14252.)
Except as provided in Section 14222, voting booths or compartments shall not be occupied by more than one person at a time, unless the voter is eligible under the assisted voter provisions (see below). Voters shall not remain in or occupy the booths or compartments longer than is necessary to mark their ballots, which shall not exceed 10 minutes. If a voter informs a precinct board member that the voter requires additional time to mark his or her ballot, a longer period shall be allowed. However, if the precinct board member determines that the voter is attempting to interfere with the conduct of the election and does not require additional time to mark his or her ballot, the precinct board member may contact the elections official, who may order that the voter not be provided with additional time to mark his or her ballot. (§ 14224.)
In those polling places that are inaccessible under the guidelines promulgated by the Secretary of State for accessibility by the physically handicapped, a physically handicapped person may appear outside of the polling place and vote a regular ballot. The person may vote the ballot in a place that is as near as possible to the polling place and that is accessible to the physically handicapped. A precinct board member shall take a regular ballot to that person, qualify that person to vote, and return the voted ballot to the polling place. In those precincts in which it is impractical to vote a regular ballot outside the polling place, vote-by-mail ballots shall be provided in sufficient numbers to accommodate physically handicapped persons who present themselves on election day. The vote-by-mail ballot shall be presented to and voted by a physically handicapped person in the same manner as a regular ballot may be voted by that person outside the polling place. (§ 14282(c).)
The signature of the voter.
The initials, name, or address of the voter.
A voter identification number.
A driver's license number. (§ 14287.)
All vote-by-mail ballots cast under this division shall be voted on or before the day of the election. After marking the ballot, the vote-by-mail voter shall do either of the following: (1) return the ballot by mail or in person to the elections official from whom it came or (2) return the ballot in person to a member of a precinct board at a polling place within the jurisdiction. However, a vote-by-mail voter who is unable to return the ballot may designate his or her spouse, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister, or a person residing in the same household as the vote-by-mail voter to return the ballot to the elections official from whom it came or to the precinct board at a polling place within the jurisdiction. The ballot must, however, be received by either the elections official from whom it came or the precinct board before the close of the polls on election day. (§ 3017(a).) The elections official shall establish procedures to insure the secrecy of any ballot returned to a precinct polling place. (§ 3017(b).)
The provisions of Section 3017, described here, are mandatory, not directory, and a ballot shall not be counted if it is not delivered in compliance with Section 3017. (§ 3017(d).)
Notwithstanding subdivision (a), of Section 3017, a vote-by-mail voter's ballot shall not be returned by any paid or volunteer worker of any general purpose committee, controlled committee, independent expenditure committee, political party, candidate's campaign committee, or any other group or organization at whose behest the individual designated to return the ballot is performing a service. However, this prohibition does not apply to a candidate or a candidate's spouse. (§ 3017(e).)
All vote-by-mail ballots cast under Division 3 of the Elections Code shall be received by the elections official from whom they were obtained or by the precinct board no later than the close of the polls on election day. (§ 3020.)
A valid ballot cast shall be counted if it is received by the elections official by the time the polls close on the day of the election. (§ 3117.)
After the close of the period for requesting vote-by-mail voter ballots by mail, any voter unable to go to the polls because of illness or disability resulting in his or her confinement in a hospital, sanatorium, nursing home, or place of residence, or any voter unable because of a physical handicap to go to his or her polling place or because of that handicap is unable to vote at his or her polling place due to existing architectural barriers at his or her polling place denying him or her physical access to the polling place, voting booth, or voting apparatus or machinery, or any voter unable to go to his or her polling place because of conditions resulting in his or her absence from the precinct on election day may request in a written statement, signed under penalty of perjury, that a ballot be delivered to him or her. This written statement shall not be required if the vote-by-mail voter ballot is voted in the office of the elections official as defined by Section 3018(b), at the time of the request. This ballot shall be delivered by the elections official to any authorized representative of the voter who presents this written statement to the elections official.
If a military or overseas voter who is qualified pursuant to Section 300(b)(1) is released from service after the closing date of registration for an election and has returned to the county of his or her residence and is not a registered voter, he or she may apply in person to the elections official for permission to register. If the elector furnishes documentary proof of release from service after the closing date of registration for the election, the elections official shall allow him or her to be registered and to vote in the election. On or before the day of election the elections official shall deliver to the precinct board a list of military or overseas voters registered under this section. (§ 3108.)
If any military or overseas voter to whom a vote-by-mail ballot has been mailed and which ballot has not been voted by him or her returns to the county in which he or she is registered, or for a military or overseas voter qualified pursuant to Section 321(b)(2), to the county in which the applicant's parent or legal guardian resided when the parent or legal guardian last lived within the territorial limits of the United States or the District of Columbia on or before election day, he or she may apply for a second vote-by-mail ballot pursuant to Section 3014. The elections official shall require him or her to sign an authorization to cancel the vote-by-mail ballot previously issued when it is returned to the county elections official. The elections official shall then issue another vote-by-mail ballot to the voter, or the elections official shall certify to the precinct board that the voter is eligible to vote in the precinct polling place of his or her residence. (§ 3109.)
If any military or overseas voter returns to the county of his or her residence, or for a military or overseas voter qualified pursuant to Section 321(b)(2), to the county in which the applicant's parent or legal guardian resided when the parent or legal guardian last lived within the territorial limits of the United States or the District of Columbia, after the final day for making application for a vote-by-mail voter ballot, he or she may appear before the elections official and make application for registration, vote-by-mail ballot, or both. The elections official shall register the voter, if he or she is not registered, and deliver to him or her a vote-by-mail ballot, which may be voted in the elections official's office or voted outside the elections official's office on or before the close of the polls on the day of election and returned as are other vote-by-mail ballots. (§ 3110.)
Procedures after the Close of Polls
As soon as the polls are closed, the precinct board, in the presence of the watchers and all others lawfully present, shall immediately lock the voting machine against voting and open the counting compartments, giving full view of all counter numbers. A board member shall, in the order of the offices as their titles are arranged on the machine, read and distinctly announce the name or designating number and letter on each counter for each candidate's name and the result as shown by the counter numbers. He or she shall also in the same manner announce the vote on each measure.
If the machine is provided with a recording device, in lieu of opening the counter compartment, the precinct board shall proceed to operate the mechanism to produce the statement of return of votes cast record in a minimum of three copies, remove the irregular ballot, if any, record on the statement of return of votes cast record. The irregular ballot shall be attached to the statement of result record of votes cast for the machine and become a part thereof. One copy of the statement of return of votes cast for each machine shall be posted upon the outside wall of the precinct for all to see. To protect a person's right to cast a secret ballot under Section 7 of Article II of the California Constitution, in cases where fewer than 10 voters cast ballots on any single machine on which the results are tallied at the precinct, the precinct board shall post only the total number of people who voted at that precinct on the machine that keeps vote tallies. The statement of return of votes cast for each machine for the precinct shall constitute the precinct statement of result of votes cast. (§ 19370.)1
Immediately upon the closing of the polls and before any voted ballot is taken from any of the ballot containers, the precinct board member shall, in the presence of all persons in the room who may desire to observe them, proceed to render the unused ballots unusable in one of the following ways:
By drawing across its face, in ink or indelible pencil, two lines that cross each other, the cross to be more than three inches square. The precinct board member shall thereupon, immediately and before any ballots are taken from any ballot container, place all defaced ballots within an envelope or other receptacle provided for that purpose.
By tearing or cutting in a manner so that it is apparent that the ballot has been intentionally destroyed to prevent its use. If this method of destruction is used, it shall be done in a manner so that the serial number of the ballots is retained for the purpose of reconciliation.
By placing all of the unused ballots into a special container provided for that purpose. A tamperproof seal containing spaces for entering the total number of unused ballots enclosed, the beginning and ending serial numbers thereof, and signature lines for all members of the precinct board following a statement certifying that all the ballots were placed in the container in their presence and the information on the seal is true and correct, shall be provided. After signing the seal, it shall be placed on the container in a manner so that the container cannot be opened without tearing the seal. (§ 14403.)
Immediately upon the arrival of the hour when the polls are required by law to be closed on election day, the elections official conducting the election shall openly, in the elections official's main office, in the presence of any persons who are present to observe, according to the procedure set forth in Section 14403, proceed to render every unused ballot remaining in the control of the elections official unusable. The elections official shall forthwith make and file an affidavit, in writing, as to the number of ballots destroyed. If the procedure in Section 14403(c) is used, the tamperproof seal shall be signed by the elections official and at least one deputy or assistant elections official or registrar. The sealed container shall then be placed, with the sealed containers containing unused ballots from the precincts, in a security area by the elections official until disposition is made pursuant to Section 17301 or 17302.
Alternatively, the elections official may, immediately upon the arrival of the hour when the polls are closed, recycle for any other lawful purpose any unused ballots remaining in the control of the elections official that clearly identify the election for which they were prepared. No later than 30 days following the last day to certify the official results of the election, the elections official shall make and file an affidavit, in writing, as to the number of ballots recycled. At the elections official's discretion, the unused ballots may be recycled up to six months following an election, or at the conclusion of an election contest proceeding, whichever is later. (§ 14404.)
The members of the precinct board shall account for the ballots delivered to them by returning a sufficient number of unused ballots to make up, when added to the number of official ballots cast and the number of spoiled and canceled ballots returned, the number of ballots given to them. The officers receiving returned ballots shall compel this accounting. (§ 14405(a).)
The principle purpose of this section applies to old lever machines. ↑