Kentucky Administrative Regulations › Title 31 - STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS › Chapter 5 - Voting › Section 31 KAR 5:026 - Ballot standards and election security

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 1, July 1, 2024
RELATES TO:
				KRS
				117.001,
				117.025,
				117.085,
				117.086,
				117.0861,
				117.087,
				117.145,
				117.225,
				117.228,
				117.295(1),
				117.365
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY:
				KRS
				117.015(1)(a) authorizes the
				State Board of Elections to promulgate administrative regulations necessary to
				properly carry out its duties. Several Kentucky Revised Statutes in Chapter 117
				require the State Board of Elections to promulgate administrative regulations
				that provide for measures that establish standards for the ballots used during
				elections, as well as, measures that ensure that votes cast during an election
				are done so in a free, fair, and secure manner. This administrative regulation
				provides for those measures.
Section
			 1. In addition to the requirements for printed ballots established
			 in KRS
			 117.145, ballots caused to be printed by the
			 county clerk of each county shall meet quality and size standards specific to
			 the voting systems certified by both the State Board of Elections and the
			 United States Election Assistance Commission.
Section 2. The outer envelope of all mail-in
			 absentee ballots shall bear a barcode or other label that is unique to the
			 individual voter and capable of being read by an electronic optical scanner.
			 The unique barcode or label for each mail-in absentee ballot outer envelope
			 shall be issued by the State Board of Elections. Upon the need to issue a voter
			 a second mail-in absentee ballot pursuant to
			 KRS
			 117.085(9), the outer
			 envelope of the subsequent second mail-in absentee ballot shall bear a new
			 unique barcode or label.
Section 3.
(1) Upon the time of certification of each
			 candidate and each question to be voted upon, all pre-printed paper ballots
			 shall be secured by the county clerk of each county, under lock and key, in an
			 area under the direct control of the county clerk and approved by the county
			 board of elections.
(2) The
			 possession of all pre-printed ballots shall be accounted for on SBE Form 76,
			 Ballot Reconciliation Statement.
(3) If paper ballots need to be printed at a
			 county clerk's office, an accounting of the printed ballots shall be made on
			 either the SBE Form 76, Ballot Reconciliation Statement, or by the printing
			 equipment.
(4) Upon the transfer of
			 ballots from the area under the direct control of the county clerk to a polling
			 location, the transfer shall be noted on the SBE Form 76, Ballot Reconciliation
			 Statement.
(5) Beginning with the
			 in-person casting of ballots during the period described in
			 KRS
			 117.076, each voted in-person ballot shall
			 remain in a locked and sealed receptacle, until the conclusion of the period
			 described in KRS
			 117.295(1).
(6) At the conclusion of each day of voting,
			 an accounting of the number of all voted, unvoted, and spoiled ballots shall be
			 recorded on the SBE Form 76, Ballot Reconciliation Statement.
(7) All ballots and election materials not
			 secured in an area under the direct control of the county clerk after the close
			 of polls shall be secured at the voting location in a secure manner, based upon
			 the advice and recommendations of the county board of elections and the sheriff
			 from the time described in
			 KRS
			 117.076 until the conclusion of voting on the
			 day of an election.
(8) As mail-in
			 absentee ballots are received by county clerks, they shall have their unique
			 barcode or label scanned.
(9) Upon
			 each mail-in absentee ballot being processed, the unique barcode or label shall
			 be scanned again.
(10) If a mail-in
			 absentee ballot is found to be without the need for a signature cure, or a
			 mail-in absentee ballot has been returned along with a completed SBE Form 77,
			 Discrepant Mail-in Absentee Signature, the ballot shall be recorded into an
			 optical scanner, to be deposited in a locked and sealed receptacle for the
			 period described in KRS
			 117.295(1).
(11) Any completed SBE Form 76, Ballot
			 Reconciliation Statement shall be turned over to the local Commonwealth's
			 Attorney along with any other materials required under
			 KRS
			 117.365.