Missouri Laws 115.257 – Electronic voting machines to be put in order, procedure — absentee ..
1. In jurisdictions where electronic voting machines are used, the election authority shall cause the voting machines to be put in order, set, adjusted and made ready for voting before they are delivered to polling places.
2. At least five days before preparing electronic voting machines for any election, notice of the time and place of such preparation shall be mailed to each independent candidate and the chairman of the county committee of each established political party named on the ballot. The preparation shall be watched by two observers designated by the election authority, one from each major political party, and shall be open to representatives of the political parties, candidates, the news media and the public.
Terms Used In Missouri Laws 115.257
- Ballot: the paper ballot, or ballot designed for use with an electronic voting system on which each voter may cast all votes to which he or she is entitled at an election. See Missouri Laws 115.013
- County: any county in this state or any city not within a county. See Missouri Laws 115.013
- Electronic voting machine: any part of an air-gapped electronic voting system on which a voter is able to cast a ballot under this chapter. See Missouri Laws 115.013
- Independent: a candidate who is not a candidate of any political party and who is running for an office for which political party candidates may run. See Missouri Laws 115.013
- Major political party: the political party whose candidates received the highest or second highest number of votes at the last general election. See Missouri Laws 115.013
- person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, and to partnerships and other unincorporated associations. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- Political party: any established political party and any new party. See Missouri Laws 115.013
- Polling place: the voting place designated for all voters residing in one or more precincts for any election. See Missouri Laws 115.013
- voter: is used in the laws of this state it shall mean registered voter, or legal voter. See Missouri Laws 1.035
3. When an electronic voting machine has been examined by such observers and shown to be in good working order, the machine shall be locked against voting. The observers shall certify the vote count on each machine is set at zero.
4. After an electronic voting machine has been properly prepared and locked, its keys shall be retained by the election authority and delivered to the election judges along with the other election supplies.
5. For the purpose of processing absentee ballots, cast by voters in person in the office of the election authority that is deemed designated as a polling place, the election authority may cause voting machines, if used, to be put in order, set, adjusted, tested, and made ready for voting within one business day of the printing of absentee ballots as provided in section 115.281. The election authority shall have the recording counter except for the protective counter on the voting machine set to zero (000). After the voting machines have been made ready for voting, the election authority shall not permit any person to handle any voting machine, except voters while they are voting and others expressly authorized by the election authority. The election authority shall neither be nor permit any other person to be in any position or near any position that enables the authority or person to see how any absentee voter votes or has voted.
6. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the on-site storage of electronic voting machines and the preparation of the electronic machines for voting, provided the electronic voting machines are put in order, set, adjusted and made ready for voting as provided in subsections 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of this section.