(a) A voting tabulator approved by the Secretary of the State shall be so constructed as to provide facilities for voting for the candidates of at least nine different parties or organizations. It shall permit voting in absolute secrecy. It shall be provided with a lock by means of which any illegal movement of the voting or registering mechanism is absolutely prevented. Such tabulator shall be so constructed that an elector cannot vote for a candidate or on a proposition for whom or on which the elector is not lawfully entitled to vote.

(b) It shall be so constructed as to prevent an elector from voting for more than one person for the same office, except when the elector is lawfully entitled to vote for more than one person for that office, and it shall afford the elector an opportunity to vote for only as many persons for that office as the elector is by law entitled to vote for, at the same time preventing the elector from voting for the same person twice. It shall be so constructed that all votes cast will be registered or recorded by the tabulator. In the event that a candidate is cross endorsed and an elector casts more than one vote for such candidate, such vote shall be attributed by the head moderator to the endorsing parties as provided for in this subsection. The head moderator shall (1) determine the percentage of all attributable votes the candidate received that are attributable to each endorsing party, (2) determine the number of ballots upon which an elector voted for the candidate more than once, and (3) apply the percentage determined under subdivision (1) of this subsection for an endorsing party to the total determined under subdivision (2) of this subsection. The resulting number from the calculation under subdivision (3) of this subsection shall be the number of votes the head moderator attributes to the endorsing party associated with the percentage used in the calculation under subdivision (3) of this subsection. The head moderator shall repeat the calculation in subdivision (3) of this subsection for each endorsing party. For any result under subdivision (3) of this subsection that is a fractional number, the head moderator shall round such result to the nearest whole number, provided a half number shall be rounded to the next highest whole number, and provided further that each such endorsing party with a percentage greater than zero under subdivision (1) of this subsection shall receive at least one such vote, with the remaining parties receiving a proportional reduction in votes, if necessary. If any vote remains that can not be evenly attributed to such parties, such vote shall be attributed to the endorsing party with the most votes.

(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, the Secretary of the State may approve a voting tabulator which requires the elector in the polls to place the elector’s ballot into the recording device and which meets the voluntary performance and test standards for voting systems adopted by (1) the Federal Election Commission on January 25, 1990, as amended from time to time, or (2) the Election Assistance Commission pursuant to the Help America Vote Act of 2002, P.L. 107-252, 42 USC 15481-85, as amended from time to time, whichever standards are most current at the time of the Secretary of the State’s approval, and regulations which the Secretary of the State may adopt in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, provided the voting tabulator shall (A) warn the elector of overvotes, (B) not record overvotes, and (C) not record more than one vote of an elector for the same person for an office. In the event that a candidate is cross endorsed and an elector casts more than one vote for such candidate, such vote shall be attributed by the head moderator to the endorsing parties as provided for in this subsection. The head moderator shall (i) determine the percentage of all attributable votes the candidate received that are attributable to each endorsing party, (ii) determine the number of ballots upon which an elector voted for the candidate more than once, and (iii) apply the percentage determined under subparagraph (C)(i) of this subsection for an endorsing party to the total determined under subparagraph (C)(ii) of this subsection. The resulting number from the calculation under subparagraph (C)(iii) of this subsection shall be the number of votes the head moderator attributes to the endorsing party associated with the percentage used in the calculation under subparagraph (C)(iii) of this subsection. The head moderator shall repeat the calculation in subparagraph (C)(iii) of this subsection for each endorsing party. For any result under subparagraph (C)(iii) of this subsection that is a fractional number, the head moderator shall round such result to the nearest whole number, provided a half number shall be rounded to the next highest whole number, and provided further that each such endorsing party with a percentage greater than zero under subparagraph (C)(i) of this subsection shall receive at least one such vote, with the remaining parties receiving a proportional reduction in votes, if necessary. If any vote remains that can not be evenly attributed to such parties, such vote shall be attributed to the endorsing party with the most votes.

(d) Any direct recording electronic voting tabulator approved by the Secretary of the State for an election or primary held on or after July 1, 2005, shall be so constructed as to:

(1) (A) Contemporaneously produce an individual, permanent, paper record containing all of the elector’s selections of ballot preferences for candidates and questions or proposals, if any, prior to the elector’s casting a ballot, as set forth in this subsection, and (B) produce at any time after the close of the polls a voting tabulator generated, individual, permanent, paper record of each such elector’s selections of ballot preferences for candidates and questions or proposals, if any. Both the contemporaneously produced paper record and the voting tabulator generated paper record of each elector’s selections of ballot preferences shall include a voting tabulator generated unique identifier that can be matched against each other and which preserves the secrecy of the elector’s ballot as set forth in subdivision (4) of this subsection;

(2) Provide each elector with an opportunity to verify that the contemporaneously produced, individual, permanent, paper record accurately conforms to such elector’s selection of ballot preferences, as reflected on the electronic summary screen, and to hear, if desired, an audio description of such electronic summary screen, for the purpose of having an opportunity to make any corrections or changes prior to casting the ballot. If an elector makes corrections or changes prior to casting the ballot, the voting tabulator shall void such contemporaneously produced paper record, contemporaneously produce another paper record containing such corrections or changes and provide the elector with another opportunity to verify ballot preferences in accordance with the provisions of this subdivision. As used in this section, “electronic summary screen” means a screen generated by a direct recording electronic voting tabulator that displays a summary of an elector’s selections of ballot preferences for candidates and questions or proposals, if any, at an election or primary;

(3) Provide that a ballot shall be deemed cast on the voting tabulator at the time that an elector’s contemporaneously produced, individual, permanent, voter-verified paper record, containing all of the elector’s final selections of ballot preferences, is (A) deposited inside a receptacle designed to store all such paper records produced by such voting tabulator on the day of the election or primary, and (B) the elector’s selection of ballot preferences is simultaneously electronically recorded inside the voting tabulator for the purpose of (i) being electronically tabulated immediately after the polls are closed on the day of the election or primary, and (ii) producing, on such other day as required under § 9-242b, a voting tabulator generated, individual, permanent, paper record of each such elector’s selections of ballot preferences for candidates and questions or proposals, if any;

(4) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (1) of § 9-242b, secure the secrecy of each such elector’s ballot by making it impossible for any other individual to identify the elector in relationship to such elector’s selection of ballot preferences at the time that the elector (A) selects ballot preferences; (B) verifies the accuracy of the electronic summary screen by comparing it to the contemporaneously produced, individual, permanent, paper record or the audio description of such electronic summary screen, prior to casting a ballot; (C) makes corrections or changes by reselecting ballot preferences and verifies the accuracy of such preferences in accordance with the provisions of subdivision (2) of this subsection prior to casting a ballot; and (D) casts the ballot; and at the time that all electors’ ballots are canvassed, recanvassed or otherwise tallied to produce a final count of the vote for candidates and questions or proposals, if any, whether through the electronic vote tabulation process or through the manual count process of each elector’s contemporaneously produced, individual, permanent, voter-verified paper record, as set forth in § 9-242b; and

(5) (A) Be accessible to blind or visually impaired persons by providing each elector, if desired by the elector, an audio description of the contemporaneously produced individual, permanent, paper record containing all of the elector’s selections of ballot preferences, in addition to an audio description of the electronic summary screen and comply with such additional standards of accessibility included in regulations that the Secretary of the State may adopt in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54.

(B) Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph (A) of this subdivision, on or before June 30, 2007, the Secretary of the State may approve an electronic voting tabulator that does not comply with the provisions of said subparagraph if (i) the Secretary determines that there are no electronic voting tabulators available for purchase or lease at the time of such approval that are capable of complying with said subparagraph (A), (ii) the electronic voting tabulator complies with the provisions of subdivisions (1) to (4), inclusive, of this subsection, and (iii) the person applying to the Secretary for approval of the electronic voting tabulator agrees to include a provision in any contract for the sale or lease of such voting tabulators that requires such person, upon notification by the Secretary that modifications to such tabulators that would bring the tabulators into compliance with said subparagraph (A) are available, to (I) so modify any electronic voting tabulators previously sold or leased under such contract in order to comply with said subparagraph (A), and (II) provide that any electronic voting tabulators sold or leased after receipt of such notice comply with said subparagraph (A). No voting tabulator approved under this subparagraph shall be used on or after July 1, 2007, unless it has been modified to comply with the provisions of subparagraph (A) of this subdivision.