SB2340sam001 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Sen. M. Maggie Crotty

Filed: 2/9/2006

09400SB2340sam001 LRB094 16578 JAM 55298 a

AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 2340

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 2340 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 5. The Election Code is amended by changing Sections 24A-9, 24A-15, 24A-16, 24B-9, 24B-15, 24B-16, 24C-9, 24C-15, and 24C-16 as follows:

(10 ILCS 5/24A-9) (from Ch. 46, par. 24A-9)

Sec. 24A-9. Prior to the public test, the election authority shall conduct an errorless pre-test of the automatic tabulating equipment and program to ascertain that they will correctly count the votes cast for all offices and all measures. On any day not less than 5 days prior to the election day, the election authority shall publicly test the automatic tabulating equipment and program to ascertain that they will correctly count the votes cast for all offices and on all measures. Public notice of the time and place of the test shall be given at least 48 hours prior thereto by publication once in one or more newspapers published within the election jurisdiction of the election authority if a newspaper is published therein, otherwise in a newspaper of general circulation therein. Timely written notice stating the date, time and location of the public test shall also be provided to the State Board of Elections. The test shall be open to representatives of the political parties, the press, representatives of the State Board of Elections, and the public. The test shall be conducted by processing a preaudited group of ballots so punched or marked as to record a predetermined number of valid votes for each candidate and on each measure, and shall include for each office one or more ballots which have votes in excess of the number allowed by law in order to test the ability of the automatic tabulating equipment to reject such votes. Such test shall also include the use of precinct header cards and may include the production of an edit listing. In those election jurisdictions where in-precinct counting equipment is utilized, a public test of both such equipment and program shall be conducted as nearly as possible in the manner prescribed above. The State Board of Elections may select as many election jurisdictions as the Board deems advisable in the interests of the election process of this State in which to order a special test of the automatic tabulating equipment and program prior to any regular election. The Board may order a special test in any election jurisdiction where, during the preceding twelve months, computer programming errors or other errors in the use of electronic voting systems resulted in vote tabulation errors. Not less than 30 days prior to any election, the State Board of Elections shall provide written notice to those selected jurisdictions of their intent to conduct a test. Within 5 days of receipt of the State Board of Elections' written notice of intent to conduct a test, the selected jurisdictions shall forward to the principal office of the State Board of Elections a copy of all specimen ballots. The State Board of Elections' tests shall be conducted and completed not less than 2 days prior to the public test utilizing testing materials supplied by the Board and under the supervision of the Board. The vendor, person, or other private entity shall be solely responsible for the production and cost of: all ballots; additional temporary workers; and other equipment or facilities needed and used in the testing of the vendor's, person's, or other private entity's respective equipment and software. , and the Board shall reimburse the election authority for the reasonable cost of computer time required to conduct the special test. After an errorless test, materials used in the public test, including the program, if appropriate, shall be sealed and remain so until the test is run again on election day. If any error is detected, the cause therefor shall be ascertained and corrected and an errorless public test shall be made before the automatic tabulating equipment is approved. Each election authority shall file a sealed copy of each tested program to be used within its jurisdiction at an election with the State Board of Elections prior to the election. The Board shall secure the program or programs of each election jurisdiction so filed in its office for the 60 days following the canvass and proclamation of election results. Upon the expiration of that time, if no election contest or appeal therefrom is pending in an election jurisdiction, the Board shall destroy return the sealed program or programs to the election authority of the jurisdiction. Except where in-precinct counting equipment is utilized, the test shall be repeated immediately before the start of the official count of the ballots, in the same manner as set forth above. After the completion of the count, the test shall be re-run using the same program. An election jurisdiction that was employing, as of January 1, 1983, an electronic voting system that, because of its design, is not technically capable of compliance with such a post-tabulation testing requirement shall satisfy the post-tabulation testing requirement by conducting the post-tabulation test on a duplicate program until such electronic voting system is replaced or until November 1, 1992, whichever is earlier. Immediately thereafter the ballots, all material employed in testing the program and the program shall be sealed and retained under the custody of the election authority for a period of 60 days. At the expiration of that time the election authority shall destroy the voted ballot cards, together with all unused ballots returned from the precincts. Provided, if any contest of election is pending at such time in which such ballots may be required as evidence and such election authority has notice thereof, the same shall not be destroyed until after such contest is finally determined. If the use of back-up equipment becomes necessary, the same testing required for the original equipment shall be conducted.

(Source: P.A. 86-873; 86-874; 86-1028; 87-1052.)

(10 ILCS 5/24A-15) (from Ch. 46, par. 24A-15)

Sec. 24A-15. The precinct return printed by the automatic tabulating equipment shall include the number of ballots cast and votes cast for each candidate and proposition and shall constitute the official return of each precinct. In addition to the precinct return, the election authority shall provide the number of applications for ballots in each precinct, the write-in votes, the total number of ballots counted in each precinct for each political subdivision and district and the number of registered voters in each precinct. However, the election authority shall check the totals shown by the precinct return and, if there is an obvious discrepancy with respect to the total number of votes cast in any precinct, shall have the ballots for such precinct retabulated to correct the return. The procedures for retabulation shall apply prior to and after the proclamation is completed; however, after the proclamation of results, the election authority must obtain a court order to unseal voted ballots except for election contests and discovery recounts. In those election jurisdictions that utilize in-precinct counting equipment, the certificate of results, which has been prepared by the judges of election in the polling place after the ballots have been tabulated, shall be the document used for the canvass of votes for such precinct. Whenever a discrepancy exists during the canvass of votes between the unofficial results and the certificate of results, or whenever a discrepancy exists during the canvass of votes between the certificate of results and the set of totals which has been affixed to such certificate of results, the ballots for such precinct shall be retabulated to correct the return. As an additional part of this check prior to the proclamation, in those jurisdictions where in-precinct counting equipment is utilized, the election authority shall retabulate the total number of votes cast in 5% of the precincts within the election jurisdiction. The precincts to be retabulated shall be selected after election day on a random basis by the State Board of Elections election authority, so that every precinct in the election jurisdiction has an equal mathematical chance of being selected. The State Board of Elections shall design a standard and scientific random method of selecting the precincts which are to be retabulated, and the election authority shall be required to utilize such method. The State Board of Elections, the State's Attorney and other appropriate law enforcement agencies, the county chairman of each established political party and qualified civic organizations shall be given prior written notice of the time and place of such random selection procedure and may be represented at such procedure. Such retabulation shall consist of counting the ballot cards which were originally counted and shall not involve any determination as to which ballot cards were, in fact, properly counted. The ballots from the precincts selected for such retabulation shall remain at all times under the custody and control of the election authority and shall be transported and retabulated by the designated staff of the election authority.

As part of such retabulation, the election authority shall test the computer program in the selected precincts. Such test shall be conducted by processing a preaudited group of ballots so punched so as to record a predetermined number of valid votes for each candidate and on each public question, and shall include for each office one or more ballots which have votes in excess of the number allowed by law in order to test the ability of the equipment to reject such votes. If any error is detected, the cause therefor shall be ascertained and corrected and an errorless count shall be made prior to the official canvass and proclamation of election results.

The State Board of Elections, the State's Attorney and other appropriate law enforcement agencies, the county chairman of each established political party and qualified civic organizations shall be given prior written notice of the time and place of such retabulation and may be represented at such retabulation.

The results of this retabulation shall be treated in the same manner and have the same effect as the results of the discovery procedures set forth in Section 22-9.1 of this Act. Upon completion of the retabulation, the election authority shall print a comparison of the results of the retabulation with the original precinct return printed by the automatic tabulating equipment. Such comparison shall be done for each precinct and for each office voted upon within that precinct, and the comparisons shall be open to the public.

(Source: P.A. 89-700, eff. 1-17-97.)

(10 ILCS 5/24A-16) (from Ch. 46, par. 24A-16)

Sec. 24A-16. The State Board of Elections shall approve all voting systems provided by this Article.

No voting system shall be approved unless it fulfills the following requirements:

(1) It enables a voter to vote in absolute secrecy;

(2) (Blank);

(3) It enables a voter to vote a ticket selected in part from the nominees of one party, and in part from the nominees of any or all parties, and in part from independent candidates and in part of candidates whose names are written in by the voter;

(4) It enables a voter to vote a written or printed ticket of his own selection for any person for any office for whom he may desire to vote;

(5) It will reject all votes for an office or upon a proposition when the voter has cast more votes for such office or upon such proposition than he is entitled to cast;

(6) It will accommodate all propositions to be submitted to the voters in the form provided by law or, where no such form is provided, then in brief form, not to exceed 75 words.

The State Board of Elections is authorized to withdraw its approval of a voting system if the system fails to fulfill the above requirements.

The vendor, person, or other private entity shall be solely responsible for the production and cost of: all ballots; additional temporary workers; and other equipment or facilities needed and used in the testing of the vendor's, person's, or other private entity's respective equipment and software.

No vendor, person or other entity may sell, lease or loan a voting system or voting system component to any election jurisdiction unless the voting system or voting system component is first approved by the State Board of Elections pursuant to this Section.

(Source: P.A. 89-700, eff. 1-17-97.)

(10 ILCS 5/24B-9)

Sec. 24B-9. Testing of Precinct Tabulation Optical Scan Technology Equipment and Program; Custody of Programs, Test Materials and Ballots. Prior to the public test, the election authority shall conduct an errorless pre-test of the automatic Precinct Tabulation Optical Scan Technology tabulating equipment and program and marking device to determine that they will correctly detect Voting Defects and count the votes cast for all offices and all measures. On any day not less than 5 days prior to the election day, the election authority shall publicly test the automatic Precinct Tabulation Optical Scan Technology tabulating equipment and program to determine that they will correctly detect Voting Defects and count the votes cast for all offices and on all measures. Public notice of the time and place of the test shall be given at least 48 hours before the test by publishing the notice in one or more newspapers within the election jurisdiction of the election authority, if a newspaper is published in that jurisdiction. If a newspaper is not published in that jurisdiction, notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in that jurisdiction. Timely written notice stating the date, time, and location of the public test shall also be provided to the State Board of Elections. The test shall be open to representatives of the political parties, the press, representatives of the State Board of Elections, and the public. The test shall be conducted by processing a preaudited group of ballots marked to record a predetermined number of valid votes for each candidate and on each measure, and shall include for each office one or more ballots having votes exceeding the number allowed by law to test the ability of the automatic tabulating equipment or marking device to reject the votes. The test shall also include producing an edit listing. In those election jurisdictions where in-precinct counting equipment is used, a public test of both the equipment and program shall be conducted as nearly as possible in the manner prescribed above. The State Board of Elections may select as many election jurisdictions as the Board deems advisable in the interests of the election process of this State, to order a special test of the automatic tabulating equipment and program before any regular election. The Board may order a special test in any election jurisdiction where, during the preceding 12 months, computer programming errors or other errors in the use of electronic voting systems resulted in vote tabulation errors. Not less than 30 days before any election, the State Board of Elections shall provide written notice to those selected jurisdictions of their intent to conduct a test. Within 5 days of receipt of the State Board of Elections' written notice of intent to conduct a test, the selected jurisdictions shall forward to the principal office of the State Board of Elections a copy of all specimen ballots. The State Board of Elections' tests shall be conducted and completed not less than 2 days before the public test utilizing testing materials supplied by the Board and under the supervision of the Board. The vendor, person, or other private entity shall be solely responsible for the production and cost of: all ballots; additional temporary workers; and other equipment or facilities needed and used in the testing of the vendor's, person's, or other private entity's respective equipment and software. , and the Board shall reimburse the election authority for the reasonable cost of computer time required to conduct the special test. After an errorless test, materials used in the public test, including the program, if appropriate, shall be sealed and remain sealed until the test is run again on election day. If any error is detected, the cause of the error shall be determined and corrected, and an errorless public test shall be made before the automatic tabulating equipment is approved. Each election authority shall file a sealed copy of each tested program to be used within its jurisdiction at an election with the State Board of Elections before the election. The Board shall secure the program or programs of each election jurisdiction so filed in its office for the 60 days following the canvass and proclamation of election results. At the expiration of that time, if no election contest or appeal is pending in an election jurisdiction, the Board shall destroy return the sealed program or programs to the election authority of the jurisdiction. Except where in-precinct counting equipment is used, the test shall be repeated immediately before the start of the official counting of the ballots, in the same manner as set forth above. After the completion of the count, the test shall be re-run using the same program. Immediately after the re-run, all material used in testing the program and the programs shall be sealed and retained under the custody of the election authority for a period of 60 days. At the expiration of that time the election authority shall destroy the voted ballots, together with all unused ballots returned from the precincts. Provided, if any contest of election is pending at the time in which the ballots may be required as evidence and the election authority has notice of the contest, the same shall not be destroyed until after the contest is finally determined. If the use of back-up equipment becomes necessary, the same testing required for the original equipment shall be conducted.

(Source: P.A. 93-574, eff. 8-21-03.)

(10 ILCS 5/24B-15)

Sec. 24B-15. Official Return of Precinct; Check of Totals; Retabulation. The precinct return printed by the automatic Precinct Tabulation Optical Scan Technology tabulating equipment shall include the number of ballots cast and votes cast for each candidate and proposition and shall constitute the official return of each precinct. In addition to the precinct return, the election authority shall provide the number of applications for ballots in each precinct, the write-in votes, the total number of ballots counted in each precinct for each political subdivision and district and the number of registered voters in each precinct. However, the election authority shall check the totals shown by the precinct return and, if there is an obvious discrepancy regarding the total number of votes cast in any precinct, shall have the ballots for that precinct retabulated to correct the return. The procedures for retabulation shall apply prior to and after the proclamation is completed; however, after the proclamation of results, the election authority must obtain a court order to unseal voted ballots except for election contests and discovery recounts. In those election jurisdictions that use in-precinct counting equipment, the certificate of results, which has been prepared by the judges of election in the polling place after the ballots have been tabulated, shall be the document used for the canvass of votes for such precinct. Whenever a discrepancy exists during the canvass of votes between the unofficial results and the certificate of results, or whenever a discrepancy exists during the canvass of votes between the certificate of results and the set of totals which has been affixed to the certificate of results, the ballots for that precinct shall be retabulated to correct the return. As an additional part of this check prior to the proclamation, in those jurisdictions where in-precinct counting equipment is used, the election authority shall retabulate the total number of votes cast in 5% of the precincts within the election jurisdiction. The precincts to be retabulated shall be selected after election day on a random basis by the State Board of Elections election authority, so that every precinct in the election jurisdiction has an equal mathematical chance of being selected. The State Board of Elections shall design a standard and scientific random method of selecting the precincts which are to be retabulated, and the election authority shall be required to use that method. The State Board of Elections, the State's Attorney and other appropriate law enforcement agencies, the county chairman of each established political party and qualified civic organizations shall be given prior written notice of the time and place of the random selection procedure and may be represented at the procedure. The retabulation shall consist of counting the ballots which were originally counted and shall not involve any determination of which ballots were, in fact, properly counted. The ballots from the precincts selected for the retabulation shall remain at all times under the custody and control of the election authority and shall be transported and retabulated by the designated staff of the election authority.

As part of the retabulation, the election authority shall test the computer program in the selected precincts. The test shall be conducted by processing a preaudited group of ballots marked to record a predetermined number of valid votes for each candidate and on each public question, and shall include for each office one or more ballots which have votes in excess of the number allowed by law to test the ability of the equipment and the marking device to reject such votes. If any error is detected, the cause shall be determined and corrected, and an errorless count shall be made prior to the official canvass and proclamation of election results.

The State Board of Elections, the State's Attorney and other appropriate law enforcement agencies, the county chairman of each established political party and qualified civic organizations shall be given prior written notice of the time and place of the retabulation and may be represented at the retabulation.

The results of this retabulation shall be treated in the same manner and have the same effect as the results of the discovery procedures set forth in Section 22-9.1 of this Code. Upon completion of the retabulation, the election authority shall print a comparison of the results of the retabulation with the original precinct return printed by the automatic tabulating equipment. The comparison shall be done for each precinct and for each office voted upon within that precinct, and the comparisons shall be open to the public. Upon completion of the retabulation, the returns shall be open to the public.

(Source: P.A. 93-574, eff. 8-21-03.)

(10 ILCS 5/24B-16)

Sec. 24B-16. Approval of Precinct Tabulation Optical Scan Technology Voting Systems; Requisites. The State Board of Elections shall approve all Precinct Tabulation Optical Scan Technology voting systems provided by this Article.

No Precinct Tabulation Optical Scan Technology voting system shall be approved unless it fulfills the following requirements:

(a) It enables a voter to vote in absolute secrecy;

(b) (Blank);

(c) It enables a voter to vote a ticket selected in part from the nominees of one party, and in part from the nominees of any or all parties, and in part from independent candidates, and in part of candidates whose names are written in by the voter;

(d) It enables a voter to vote a written or printed ticket of his or her own selection for any person for any office for whom he or she may desire to vote;

(e) It will reject all votes for an office or upon a proposition when the voter has cast more votes for the office or upon the proposition than he or she is entitled to cast; and

(f) It will accommodate all propositions to be submitted to the voters in the form provided by law or, where no form is provided, then in brief form, not to exceed 75 words.

The State Board of Elections is authorized to withdraw its approval of a Precinct Tabulation Optical Scan Technology voting system if the system fails to fulfill the above requirements.

The vendor, person, or other private entity shall be solely responsible for the production and cost of: all ballots; additional temporary workers; and other equipment or facilities needed and used in the testing of the vendor's, person's, or other private entity's respective equipment and software.

No vendor, person or other entity may sell, lease or loan a voting system or Precinct Tabulation Optical Scan Technology voting system component to any election jurisdiction unless the voting system or voting system component is first approved by the State Board of Elections pursuant to this Section.

(Source: P.A. 89-394, eff. 1-1-97; 89-700, eff. 1-17-97.)

(10 ILCS 5/24C-9)

Sec. 24C-9. Testing of Direct Recording Electronic Voting System Equipment and Programs; Custody of Programs, Test Materials and Ballots. Prior to the public test, the election authority shall conduct an errorless pre-test of the Direct Recording Electronic Voting System equipment and programs to determine that they will correctly detect voting defects and count the votes cast for all offices and all public questions. On any day not less than 5 days prior to the election day, the election authority shall publicly test the Direct Recording Electronic Voting System equipment and programs to determine that they will correctly detect voting errors and accurately count the votes legally cast for all offices and on all public questions. Public notice of the time and place of the test shall be given at least 48 hours before the test by publishing the notice in one or more newspapers within the election jurisdiction of the election authority, if a newspaper is published in that jurisdiction. If a newspaper is not published in that jurisdiction, notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in that jurisdiction. Timely written notice stating the date, time, and location of the public test shall also be provided to the State Board of Elections. The test shall be open to representatives of the political parties, the press, representatives of the State Board of Elections, and the public. The test shall be conducted by entering a pre- audited group of votes designed to record a predetermined number of valid votes for each candidate and on each public question, and shall include for each office one or more ballots having votes exceeding the number allowed by law to test the ability of the automatic tabulating equipment to reject the votes. The test shall also include producing an edit listing. In those election jurisdictions where in-precinct counting equipment is used, a public test of both the equipment and program shall be conducted as nearly as possible in the manner prescribed above. The State Board of Elections may select as many election jurisdictions as the Board deems advisable in the interests of the election process of this State, to order a special test of the automatic tabulating equipment and program before any regular election. The Board may order a special test in any election jurisdiction where, during the preceding 12 months, computer programming errors or other errors in the use of System resulted in vote tabulation errors. Not less than 30 days before any election, the State Board of Elections shall provide written notice to those selected jurisdictions of their intent to conduct a test. Within 5 days of receipt of the State Board of Elections' written notice of intent to conduct a test, the selected jurisdictions shall forward to the principal office of the State Board of Elections a copy of all specimen ballots. The State Board of Elections' tests shall be conducted and completed not less than 2 days before the public test utilizing testing materials supplied by the Board and under the supervision of the Board. The vendor, person, or other private entity shall be solely responsible for the production and cost of: all ballots; additional temporary workers; and other equipment or facilities needed and used in the testing of the vendor's, person's, or other private entity's respective equipment and software. , and the Board shall reimburse the election authority for the reasonable cost of computer time required to conduct the special test. After an errorless test, materials used in the public test, including the program, if appropriate, shall be sealed and remain sealed until the test is run again on election day. If any error is detected, the cause of the error shall be determined and corrected, and an errorless public test shall be made before the automatic tabulating equipment is approved. Each election authority shall file a sealed copy of each tested program to be used within its jurisdiction at an election with the State Board of Elections before the election. The Board shall secure the program or programs of each election jurisdiction so filed in its office for the 60 days following the canvass and proclamation of election results. At the expiration of that time, if no election contest or appeal is pending in an election jurisdiction, the Board shall destroy return the sealed program or programs to the election authority of the jurisdiction. Except where in-precinct counting equipment is used, the test shall be repeated immediately before the start of the official counting of the ballots, in the same manner as set forth above. After the completion of the count, the test shall be re-run using the same program. Immediately after the re-run, all material used in testing the program and the programs shall be sealed and retained under the custody of the election authority for a period of 60 days. At the expiration of that time the election authority shall destroy the voted ballots, together with all unused ballots returned from the precincts. Provided, if any contest of election is pending at the time in which the ballots may be required as evidence and the election authority has notice of the contest, the same shall not be destroyed until after the contest is finally determined. If the use of back-up equipment becomes necessary, the same testing required for the original equipment shall be conducted.

(Source: P.A. 93-574, eff. 8-21-03.)

(10 ILCS 5/24C-15)

Sec. 24C-15. Official Return of Precinct; Check of Totals; Audit. The precinct return printed by the Direct Recording Electronic Voting System tabulating equipment shall include the number of ballots cast and votes cast for each candidate and public question and shall constitute the official return of each precinct. In addition to the precinct return, the election authority shall provide the number of applications for ballots in each precinct, the total number of ballots and absentee ballots counted in each precinct for each political subdivision and district and the number of registered voters in each precinct. However, the election authority shall check the totals shown by the precinct return and, if there is an obvious discrepancy regarding the total number of votes cast in any precinct, shall have the ballots for that precinct audited to correct the return. The procedures for this audit shall apply prior to and after the proclamation is completed; however, after the proclamation of results, the election authority must obtain a court order to unseal voted ballots or voting devices except for election contests and discovery recounts. The certificate of results, which has been prepared and signed by the judges of election in the polling place after the ballots have been tabulated, shall be the document used for the canvass of votes for such precinct. Whenever a discrepancy exists during the canvass of votes between the unofficial results and the certificate of results, or whenever a discrepancy exists during the canvass of votes between the certificate of results and the set of totals reflected on the certificate of results, the ballots for that precinct shall be audited to correct the return.

Prior to the proclamation, the election authority shall test the voting devices and equipment in 5% of the precincts within the election jurisdiction. The precincts to be tested shall be selected after election day on a random basis by the State Board of Elections election authority, so that every precinct in the election jurisdiction has an equal mathematical chance of being selected. The State Board of Elections shall design a standard and scientific random method of selecting the precincts that are to be tested, and the election authority shall be required to use that method. The State Board of Elections, the State's Attorney and other appropriate law enforcement agencies, the county chairman of each established political party and qualified civic organizations shall be given prior written notice of the time and place of the random selection procedure and may be represented at the procedure.

The test shall be conducted by counting the votes marked on the permanent paper record of each ballot cast in the tested precinct printed by the voting system at the time that each ballot was cast and comparing the results of this count with the results shown by the certificate of results prepared by the Direct Recording Electronic Voting System in the test precinct. The election authority shall test count these votes either by hand or by using an automatic tabulating device other than a Direct Recording Electronic voting device that has been approved by the State Board of Elections for that purpose and tested before use to ensure accuracy. The election authority shall print the results of each test count. If any error is detected, the cause shall be determined and corrected, and an errorless count shall be made prior to the official canvass and proclamation of election results. If an errorless count cannot be conducted and there continues to be difference in vote results between the certificate of results produced by the Direct Recording Electronic Voting System and the count of the permanent paper records or if an error was detected and corrected, the election authority shall immediately prepare and forward to the appropriate canvassing board a written report explaining the results of the test and any errors encountered and the report shall be made available for public inspection.

The State Board of Elections, the State's Attorney and other appropriate law enforcement agencies, the county chairman of each established political party and qualified civic organizations shall be given prior written notice of the time and place of the test and may be represented at the test.

The results of this post-election test shall be treated in the same manner and have the same effect as the results of the discovery procedures set forth in Section 22-9.1 of this Code.

(Source: P.A. 93-574, eff. 8-21-03; 94-645, eff. 8-22-05.)

(10 ILCS 5/24C-16)

Sec. 24C-16. Approval of Direct Recording Electronic Voting Systems; Requisites. The State Board of Elections shall approve all Direct Recording Electronic Voting Systems that fulfill the functional requirements provided by Section 24C-11 of this Code, the mandatory requirements of the federal voting system standards pertaining to Direct Recording Electronic Voting Systems promulgated by the Federal Election Commission or the Election Assistance Commission, the testing requirements of an approved independent testing authority and the rules of the State Board of Elections.

The State Board of Elections is authorized to withdraw its approval of a Direct Recording Electronic Voting System if the System, once approved, fails to fulfill the above requirements.

The vendor, person, or other private entity shall be solely responsible for the production and cost of: all ballots; additional temporary workers; and other equipment or facilities needed and used in the testing of the vendor's, person's, or other private entity's respective equipment and software.

No vendor, person or other entity may sell, lease or loan a Direct Recording Electronic Voting System or system component to any election jurisdiction unless the system or system component is first approved by the State Board of Elections pursuant to this Section.

(Source: P.A. 93-574, eff. 8-21-03.)".