Administrative Rules of Montana › Department 44 - SECRETARY OF STATE › Chapter 44.3 - ELECTIONS › Subchapter 44.3.17 - Voting Machines and Devices and Postelection Audit of Voting Machines › Rule 44.3.1719 - POSTELECTION AUDIT PROCESS FOR A FEDERAL ELECTION

Current through Register Vol. 13, July 5, 2024
(1) Within seven to nine days after a federal
				election, the Secretary of State will call a public meeting of the state board
				of canvassers, to randomly select the races, ballot issues, and precincts to be
				audited pursuant to the Postelection Audit Act, Title 13, chapter 17, part 5,
				MCA. The public meeting will be posted no later than five days prior to the
				meeting date on the Secretary of State's website.
(2) A county that has a race within the
				margins of a recount pursuant to Title 13, chapter 16, part 2, MCA, shall
				notify the Secretary of State of its exemption no later than seven days after
				the election by submitting a notice for exemption on the form approved by the
				Secretary of State.
(3) Pursuant to
				13-17-503, MCA, at least 10% of
				the precincts in each county, or a minimum of two precincts in each county,
				shall be audited, whichever is greater. If there is only one precinct, that
				precinct is automatically selected. The state board of canvassers shall utilize
				current official precinct information provided by the counties to the Secretary
				of State to determine the number of precincts to be audited per county. Three
				additional precincts, or as many as possible up to three, in each county will
				be selected in case a discrepancy in vote tallies occurs that necessitates
				further auditing.
(4) The state
				board of canvassers shall select the races, ballot issues, and precincts by
				rolling ten-sided dice with numerals from 0 to 9. The dice shall be red, white,
				and blue, with red as the first digit, white the second, and blue the third.
				For example, rolling 1 on a red die, 2 on a white die, and 3 on a blue die,
				would indicate the number 123.
(5)
				To select precincts, each shall be assigned numbers which, when matched with
				dice rolls, indicate the precincts to be audited.
(a) For counties consisting of ten or fewer
				precincts, each shall be assigned numbers 1-10. One red, ten-sided die shall be
				rolled. The number on the die shall be the precinct audited. (The number zero
				shall represent precinct 10).
(b)
				For counties having from 11 to 100 precincts, since two dice will be needed,
				each precinct must be assigned two-digit numbers. For example, number 1 is 01,
				2 is 02, and so on up to the number of precincts in the county. Precinct 100
				shall be assigned 00. A red and a white ten-sided die shall be rolled, with red
				indicating the first digit, and white the second digit. The number rolled shall
				be the precinct audited (i.e., a red 3 and white 2 shall designate precinct
				32.).
(c) For counties with 101 or
				more precincts, three dice will be needed, and precincts shall be assigned
				three-digit numbers from 001 up to the actual number of precincts. The red die
				indicates the first digit, white the second, and blue the third.
(d) The board may decide to assign a number
				range of equal intervals to each precinct to reduce the number of dice throws
				needed, e.g., 0 - 2 = precinct 1, 3 - 5 = precinct 2, 6 - 8 = precinct 3,
				etc.