Part 4. OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE
Subchapter D. VOTING SYSTEM CERTIFICATION
The Office of the Secretary of State, Elections Division, proposes an amendment to §81.62, concerning the requirement of having a continuous feed printer dedicated to a real-time audit log on automatic tabulation equipment. This rule was written prior to the 2002 federal voluntary voting system guidelines that require system audit records to be provided in the form of printed reports, or electronic memory which can be printed centrally. The rule is being amended to reflect federal voluntary voting system guidelines.
Ann McGeehan, Director of Elections, has determined that for the first five-year period the amended rule is in effect, there will be no fiscal implications for state or local government as a result of enforcing or administering the amended rule.
Ms. McGeehan has also determined that for each year of the first five years the amendment is in effect, the public benefit anticipated as a result of enforcing the change is conformity to existing law. There will be no effect on small businesses or micro-businesses or individuals who are required to comply with the amendment as proposed.
Comments on the proposal may be submitted to the Office of the Secretary of State, Ann McGeehan, Director of Elections, P.O. Box 12060, Austin, Texas 78711.
The amendment is proposed under the Texas Election Code, §31.003, which provides the Office of the Secretary of State with the authority to obtain and maintain uniformity in the application, interpretation, and operation of provisions under the Texas Election Code and other election laws.
Statutory Authority: Texas Election Code, Chapter 31, Subchapter A, §31.003
Texas Election Code §122.001 is affected by this proposal.
§81.62. Continuous Feed Printer Dedicated to the Central Accumulator Audit Log [ Use of Audit Logs in Automatic Tabulation Equipment ].
(a) For any
Election Management System's central accumulator
[
voting tabulation device, or any modification
to a voting tabulation device,
] to be certified for use in Texas
elections, the
central accumulator
[
device
]
shall include a continuous feed printer dedicated to a real-time audit
log. All significant election events and their date and time stamps
shall be printed to the audit log.
(b) The definition of "significant election events" in subsection (a) of this rule includes but is not limited to:
(1) error and/or warning messages and operator response to those messages;
(2) - (6) (No change.)
(7) reports being generated; [
and
]
(8) diagnostics of any type being run
; and
[
.
]
(9) change to printer status.
(c) The continuous-feed printed audit log for an election shall be retained by the custodian of election records for the appropriate preservation period.
(d)
The "Election Management System" in subsection
(a) of this rule is defined as a system that consists of any or all
of the following elements: functions and databases within a voting
system that define, develop and maintain election databases, perform
election definition and setup functions, format ballots, count votes,
consolidate and report results, and maintain audit trails.
[
An
alternative to the real-time printed audit log requirement may be
approved by the Secretary of State for use on a precinct level voting
system if the Secretary determines that the alternative produces at
a minimum a sufficient record of items (b)(1)-(8) listed above and
any administrative functions performed prior to opening the polls,
the opening and closing of the polls, all ballot images, and any administrative
functions performed after the closing of the polls. The alternative
audit must be capable of being printed and a printed copy must be
made available upon request.
]
(e) The definition of "central accumulator" in subsection (a) of this rule is the part of an Election Management System that tabulates and/or consolidates the vote totals for multiple precincts/devices.
This agency hereby certifies that the proposal has been reviewed by legal counsel and found to be within the agency's legal authority to adopt.
Filed with the Office of the Secretary of State on July 5, 2007.
TRD-200702851
Ann McGeehan
Director of Elections
Office of the Secretary of State
Earliest possible date of adoption: August 19, 2007
For further information, please call: (512) 463-5650