New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 9 - EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT › Subtitle V - State Board of Elections › Part 6210 - Routine Maintenance and Testing of Voting Systems, Operational Procedures, and Standards for Determining Valid Votes › Section 6210.15 - Standards for determining valid votes on optical scan voting systems and/or paper ballots

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(a)
				Standards indicating a valid vote. A vote cast on a paper ballot shall be the
				choice made by a voter, not to exceed the maximum allowable votes per race or
				question than the number for which the voter is eligible to vote, by: (the
				examples below in this section apply to all types of voting position target
				areas on ballots, regardless of what form they may take
e.g.
rectangle, oval, circle, square, open arrow):
(1) voter indicates vote choice by
				consistently filling inside the entire voting position target;
(2) voter indicates choice by consistently
				filling in less than the entire voting position target for all vote choices on
				the ballot and the ballot is processed in a manner consistent with the use
				procedures provided and approved for the voting system;
(3) voter indicates vote choice by
				consistently placing a distinctive mark, such as properly filled in voting
				position targets, a cross mark "X", a checkmark "[TICK]"", a circle, or
				complete an open arrow "<- " inside the associated voting position target
				area for a candidate choice or ballot question;
(4) voter marks vote choices by circling the
				entire voting position target area for a candidate or ballot
				question;
(5) voter writes in or
				stamps the name of a candidate in the designated write-in space for that race,
				even if the write-in square, oval or arrow is not marked;
(6) a write-in vote in addition to a vote for
				another candidate for the office, with a greater number of choices of different
				candidates than the number for which he or she is lawfully entitled to vote,
				the vote shall not be counted for that contest, but shall be counted in all
				other contests in which there are not overvotes and the voter's choices can be
				clearly determined;
(7) any ballot
				which has any other mark or marks in the target area or sensitive area
				including circling the target area and/or candidate's name or making a mark
				through the target area, provided that the votes do not exceed the maximum
				allowable votes per race or question than the number for which the voter is
				eligible to vote, shall be counted as a vote for such candidate(s) or ballot
				question(s);
(8) any ballot which
				has a mark or marks in the target area or sensitive area for one candidate,
				which extended partially into one or more other target areas or sensitive
				areas, shall be counted as a vote for the candidate so marked only if it is
				readily apparent that at least 3/4th of the mark is in that candidate's area or
				target area, and no other candidate is similarly marked;
(9) any ballot which has a mark that is
				clearly next to (either before or after) a candidate's name, or across the
				name, shall be recognized as a mark and shall be counted as a vote for the
				candidate or question so marked; or
(10) writings or remarks which appear to be
				ranking the candidates (
e.g.
letters, numbers +/-) shall not
				be considered valid marks unless the number of such marks does not exceed the
				maximum allowable votes per race than the number for which the voter is
				eligible to vote.