Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 5012A – Audits; audit discrepancy procedure
(a) For purposes of this section, “audit” means counting by hand the votes on each paper ballot from a voting device and comparing the paper ballot totals to the totals kept by the voting device electronically.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 5012A
- Ballot: means those portions of cardboard, paper or other material to be placed within the ballot frames of a voting machine or to be used for absentee voting in order to list the names of the offices to be voted for, the name of each candidate and the designation of the party by which the candidate is nominated, a space for the voter to write in the name of any candidate of that voter's choice for any office, and the statement of any question submitted with provision for a "yes" or "no" vote. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
- Board: means that body of individuals appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate to serve or who otherwise serve as the State Board of Elections in accordance with Chapter 2 of this title, and are, as such, vested with the responsibility and power to see to the administration of the election laws of this State as more particularly defined in this title. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
- Department: means the State Department of Elections, consisting of the State Board of Elections and such staff as the Board shall appoint under this title, but shall not include the State Election Commissioner. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
(b) Within 48 hours of the certification of the results of the primary and general elections, and school board elections conducted under Title 14, the Department shall audit the results of 1 randomly selected voting device in each county and 1 randomly selected election district in the City of Wilmington.
(c) Within 60 days of the certification of the results of the primary and general elections, and school board elections conducted under Title 14, the Department shall conduct an audit of all such elections, as follows:
(1) The Department shall audit all results of 1 randomly selected election district in each county and 1 randomly selected election district in the City of Wilmington. An election district selected for audit under this paragraph (c)(1) of this section must be different than the election districts selected under subsection (b) and paragraph (c)(2) of this section.
(2) The Department shall audit the results of 1 randomly selected election district in each county and 1 randomly selected election district in the City of Wilmington in 1 randomly selected statewide race. An election district selected for audit under this paragraph (c)(2) of this section must be different than the election districts selected under subsection (b) and paragraph (c)(1) of this section.
(d) The Department shall conduct an audit under this section in public.
(e) Within 60 days of an audit under this section, the Department shall do all of the following:
(1) Publish a report containing the results of the audit conducted under this section.
(2) Post the report on the Department’s website.
(f) The Department shall promulgate regulations to govern the procedure to be used if an audit reveals a discrepancy, including all of the following:
(1) The thresholds that trigger the Department or others to take a specific action.
(2) The specific actions to be taken by the Department or others once a threshold is triggered.
(3) The corrective actions that must be taken by the Department or others to avoid the discrepancy in the future.