An Act To Establish Random Audits of Voting Machines
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 1150
Committee: Legal and Veterans Affairs
Sponsors: PINGREE, EDMONDS, CAIN, CRAVEN, CUMMINGS, FAIRCLOTH, FISCHER, VALENTINO, WEBSTER
Amends: 21-A MRSA §737-B

Legislative Document 
No. 1150 
H.P.843 
House of Representatives, March 7,2007 
An Act To Establish Random Audits of Voting Machines 
Reference to the Committee on Legal and Veterans Affairs suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative PINGREE of North Haven. 
Cosponsored by President EDMONDS of Cumberland and 
/rjdtwAd: /J7.1lldC~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Representatives: CAIN of Orono, CRAVEN of Lewiston, Speaker CUMMINGS of Portland, 
FAIRCLOTH of Bangor, FISCHER of Presque Isle, VALENTINO of Saco, WEBSTER of 
Freep0l1. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 21-A MRSA §737-B is enacted to read: 
§737-B. Random sample recounts for the purpose of auditing voting machinery 
1. Random sample recount. Following each election in an even-numbered year, 
the Secretary of State shall randomly select, by means of a ping-pong-ball-style lottery, a 
sample of .05% of all voting machines used in state elections for a manual vote recount to 
audit the machines' accuracy and performance. These recounts must be performed on 
November 11 th, unless that date falls on a Saturday or Sunday, in which case the recount 
must take place on the first Monday following November 11 tho 
Recounts must be 
performed pursuant to the requirements of section 737-A and must: 
II 
A. Use the ballots produced or employed by machine tabulation; 
B. Be held in the offices of the Secretary of State in Augusta or at a similarly situated 
central location as the Secretary of State designates before the recount; 
C. Be performed by volunteer teams of notaries duly authorized by the State who are 
organized and trained specifically for random sample recounts by the Secretary of 
State. 
The teams must consist of enrolled and unenrolled registered voters in 
proportion to the percentages, by party and nonparty affiliation, of voter enrollment 
registered in the previous election cycle; 
D. Be open to public observation; and 
E. Serve as the final tally for the voting locations involved. 
2. Escalating recount trigger. If a recount indicates a discrepancy greater than 
.01% between a machine tally and the recount tally conducted pursuant to subsection 1 
that cannot be accounted for by voter error or ambiguity of voter intent, a further manual 
recount of the vote tally of an additional 1 % random sample of machines from voting 
places that employ the same machine type as the discrepant machine must be conducted 
as described in subsection 1. 
If more than 2 recounts are triggered pursuant to the 
requirements of this subsection, all vote totals by machines of the same type as those 
found to be discrepant must be recounted. Recounts must proceed without delay. The 
recounted vote totals for triggered recounts serve as the final tally for those machines. 
3. Statistical analysis of recount results. Before the ballots associated with any 
election are discarded, the Secretary of State shall undertake a statistical analysis of all 
recount discrepancies discovered by random sample recounts or by candidate-initiated 
recounts. This analysis must be published for public scrutiny 4 months prior to the 
disposal of any ballots as ordered by the Secretary of State. Further recounts for any 
election may be instituted by order of the Secretary of State upon the Secretary of State's 
determination that such recounts are warranted by virtue of any statistical anomalies that 
the analysis performed pursuant to this subsection may have discovered. 
Prior to 
conducting a recount pursuant to this subsection, the Secretary of State must obtain a 
warrant issued by the Attorney General. 
4. Recount costs. The Department of Secretary of State. Bureau of Corporations, 
Elections and Commissions, Elections Division must be reimbursed for the costs 
associated with recounts performed pursuant to this section as specified in this 
subsection. 
A. Costs associated with recounts conducted pursuant to subsection 1 or 3 must be 
reimbursed using funds from the fund established in subsection 5. 
B. 
Costs associated with recounts conducted pursuant to subsection 2 must be 
recovered from the vendor or manufacturer of the voting machines involved in those 
recounts unless the cause of the discrepancv is shown to be due to negligence or 
malfeasance on the part of state employees, in which case the costs must be borne bv 
the State. 
All contracts between the State and voting machine vendors and 
manufacturers must contain provisions stating the requirements of this paragraph. 
C. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections 1, 2 and 3, if the amount of monev 
in the fund established in subsection 5 is inadequate to offset the costs of 
implementing a recount under subsection 1 or 3, the recount procedures of this 
section must be temporarily limited to those for which there is sufficient funding. 
Recounts conducted pursuant to subsection 1 have priority over recounts required 
pursuant to subsection 3. 
5. Maine Electoral Transparency Fund. The Maine Electoral Transparency Fund, 
referred to in this section as "the fund," is established to finance recounts and auditing of 
voting machines pursuant to this section. The fund is a special, dedicated, nonlapsing 
fund, and any interest generated by the fund is credited to the fund. The Secretary of 
State shall administer the fund. 
A. The fund receives revenue from the tax checkoff established in Title 36, section 
5291, allowing a resident of the State who files a tax return with the State Tax 
Assessor to contribute 25¢ to the fund. If a husband and wife file a joint return, each 
spouse may designate that 25¢ be paid. The State Tax Assessor shall report annually 
the amounts designated for the fund to the State Controller, who shall transfer that 
amount to the fund. 
B. In addition to the contributions described in paragraph A, the fund may receive 
other voluntary contributions. Any contributions received pursuant to this paragraph 
may be used only for the purposes of subsection 1 and may not be transferred to the 
General Fund. 
C. If the fund, for any 2 consecutive election cycles. produces a surplus of more than 
100% of the previous cycle's expenses related to subsections 1 and 3, then 50% of 
that surplus may be assigned, at the Secretary of State's discretion, to the operating 
budget of the Department of Secretary of State, Bureau of Corporations, Elections 
and Commissions, Elections Division for that year. 
Sec. 2. 36 MRS A §5291 is enacted to read: 
§5291. Contribution to Maine Electoral Transparency Fund; voluntary checkoff 
1. 
Designation. 
Resident taxpayers may designate that 25¢ of their taxes be 
deposited in the Maine Electoral Transparency Fund in accordance with Title 21-A, 
section 737-B, subsection 5, paragraph A. 
2. Forms. The State Tax Assessor shall provide on the first page of the income tax 
form a space for the filing individual to indicate whether that filer wishes to pay 25¢, or 
50¢ if filing a joint return, from the General Fund to finance the Maine Electoral 
Transparency Fund created in Title 21-A, section 737-B, subsection 5. 
3. Transfer of funds. The State Tax Assessor shall transfer funds pursuant to this 
section from the General Fund in accordance with Title 21-A, section 1124. 
SUMMARY 
This bill establishes a procedure for regular scientific audits of the State's election 
machinery on a biennial basis, by means of manually recounting the ballots of a random 
sample of all voting machines in the State. The bill also establishes an escalating recount 
procedure in the event that unacceptable discrepancies are discovered during the random 
sample recount process, and it mandates the regular statistical analysis of those 
discrepancies. This bill establishes the Maine Electoral Transparency Fund to provide 
reimbursement for costs incurred in performing the recounts. Resources of the fund come 
from an income tax checkoff and voluntary contributions. 
Contingency plans for 
shortages and surpluses in the fund are also addressed.