South Carolina § 7-13-1340 - Requirements for vote recorders or optical scan voting devices.

§ 7-13-1340. Requirements for vote recorders or optical scan voting devices.

A vote recorder or optical scan voting device must not be adopted or used unless it:

(a) provides facilities for voting for the candidates as may be nominated and upon the questions as may be submitted;

(b) permits each elector, at other than primaries, to vote a straight party or body ticket, in one operation; and, in one operation, to vote for all the candidates of one party or body for every office to be voted for, except those offices as to which the elector votes for individual candidates;

(c) permits each elector, at other than primaries, to vote a ticket selected from the nominees of any and all parties or bodies, from independent nominations, and from persons not in nomination;

(d) permits each elector to vote, at any election, for any person and for any office for whom and for which the elector is lawfully entitled to vote, whether or not the name of the person or persons appears upon a ballot label as a candidate for election, and to vote for as many persons for an office as the elector is entitled to vote for, and to vote for or against any question upon which the elector is entitled to vote;

(e) precludes, when used in conjunction with a tabulating machine, the counting of votes for any candidate, or upon any question, for whom or upon which an elector is not entitled to vote, and precludes the counting of votes for more persons for any office than the elector is entitled to vote for or for fewer than the elector is required to vote for, and precludes the counting of votes for any candidate for the same office or upon any question more than once;

(f) permits voting in absolute secrecy, so that a person shall not see or know for whom any other elector has voted or is voting, except an elector whom the person has assisted or is assisting in voting, as prescribed by law;

(g) is constructed of material of good quality, in a neat and workmanlike manner;

(h) records, when properly operated, correctly and accurately every vote cast;

(i) is constructed so that an elector may readily learn the method of operating it;

(j) is safely transportable; and

(k) disables, at all times while utilized in a current election, the following:

(1) a connection to the Internet or an external network;

(2) the capability to establish a wireless connection to an external network;

(3) the establishment of a connection to an external network through a cable, a wireless modem or any other mechanism or process; and

(4) automatic resolution functionality for ballots flagged for further review.

HISTORY: 1962 Code SECTION 23-400.104; 1970 (56) 2022; 1999 Act No. 103, SECTION 5, eff June 30, 1999; 2006 Act No. 223, SECTION 1, eff February 3, 2006; 2022 Act No. 150 (S.108), SECTION 14, eff May 13, 2022.

Effect of Amendment

2022 Act No. 150, SECTION 14, rewrote (k).