Bill Text: TX SB829 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced


Bill Title: Relating to the use of direct recording electronic voting machines.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-03-27 - Co-author authorized [SB829 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-SB829-Introduced.html
  85R6404 ADM-D
 
  By: Hughes S.B. No. 829
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the use of direct recording electronic voting machines.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 129, Election Code, is
  amended by adding Sections 129.003 and 129.004 to read as follows:
         Sec. 129.003.  PAPER AUDIT TRAIL REQUIRED. (a) Except as
  provided by Subsection (e), a voting system that consists of direct
  recording electronic voting machines may not be used in an election
  unless the system:
               (1)  has:
                     (A)  been certified or otherwise approved by means
  of qualification testing by a nationally recognized test
  laboratory; and
                     (B)  met or exceeded the minimum requirements
  contained in "Voting System Standards Volumes I and II" or a
  successor voluntary standards document developed and adopted by the
  Federal Election Commission, the Election Assistance Commission,
  or the National Institute of Standards and Technology; and
               (2)  creates a contemporaneous auditable paper record
  copy of each electronic ballot that allows a voter to confirm the
  choices the voter made through both a visual and a nonvisual method,
  such as through an audio component, before the voter casts the
  ballot.
         (b)  A voter must be allowed to privately and independently
  view the paper record copy required under Subsection (a)(2) without
  being allowed to handle the copy. Once the voter has confirmed that
  the paper record copy corresponds to the vote the voter has
  indicated electronically, the vote may be recorded electronically
  and the paper record copy must be deposited in a secure storage
  container. If the voter finds that the paper record copy does not
  correspond to the voter's choices indicated electronically, the
  system must:
               (1)  invalidate or otherwise spoil the paper record
  copy;
               (2)  allow the voter to review the choices the voter
  made electronically; and
               (3)  generate a new paper record copy for the voter to
  review as provided by this subsection.
         (c)  The paper record copy must:
               (1)  indicate the voter's choice on each office or
  measure for which the voter cast a vote and indicate the offices and
  measures for which the voter did not cast a vote;
               (2)  be printed in the same language that the voter used
  to cast the voter's electronic vote; and
               (3)  be designed to be read electronically.
         (d)  Except for a recount under Title 13, the electronic vote
  is the official record of the ballot. For a recount of ballots cast
  on a system involving direct recording electronic voting machines,
  the paper record copy is the official record of the vote cast.
         (e)  A system involving direct recording electronic voting
  machines that was acquired before January 1, 2018, may be used in an
  election without meeting the requirements of this section only if:
               (1)  a voter has the option of casting a paper ballot
  instead of using the machine;
               (2)  a permanent record of each ballot is created at the
  time the ballot is cast or during the local canvass of the votes;
               (3)  the system is subject to parallel monitoring; and
               (4)  at least 46 days before the date the system is to
  be used for voting, the authority responsible for holding the
  election submits a technical security plan for the system to the
  secretary of state.
         (f)  The record created under Subsection (e)(2) may be in a
  paper format or be an electronically recorded image.
         Sec. 129.004.  REQUIREMENTS FOR SYSTEM USING DIRECT
  RECORDING ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES.  (a) On request of the
  secretary of state, the authority adopting a system that uses
  direct recording electronic voting machines must provide:
               (1)  the source code for any software and firmware used
  as part of the system;
               (2)  all documents relating to the federal
  qualification process; and
               (3)  complete documentation of all hardware, software,
  and firmware components, including detailed change logs, and
  documentation regarding the development process.
         (b)  Not later than the 90th day before the date a system
  using direct recording electronic voting machines will be used in
  an election, the authority responsible for holding the election
  shall submit to the secretary of state a physical security plan for
  the system.
         (c)  Not later than the 46th day before the date a system
  using direct recording electronic voting machines will be used in
  an election, the authority responsible for holding the election
  shall submit to the secretary of state:
               (1)  all changes or modifications to the system that
  might impair the accuracy and efficiency of the system, unless the
  secretary of state specifically provides otherwise;
               (2)  a training plan for election officers at each
  polling place; and
               (3)  a communication plan explaining the manner in
  which election officers at each polling place will communicate on
  election day.
         (d)  A component of a system that uses direct recording
  electronic voting machines may not:
               (1)  transmit or receive official election results
  through an exterior communication network;
               (2)  permit wireless communication to be transmitted or
  received; or
               (3)  be connected to the Internet.
         (e)  A provisional vote may not be cast on a direct recording
  electronic voting machine.
         (f)  A disability access device must be connected to a direct
  recording electronic voting machine before the machine is used for
  voting.
         (g)  At each polling place at which a direct recording
  electronic voting machine is used for voting, postings must
  indicate the penalties for tampering with the machines in each
  language used at that polling place for the ballot.
         SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect July 1, 2018.
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