Missouri Laws 115.585 – Recounts, how conducted
1. Whenever a recount is ordered pursuant to section 115.583 or 115.601, the court or legislative body trying the contest shall issue a writ to each election authority responsible for conducting the election in any area in which an alleged irregularity occurred, commanding the election authority to prepare its office and all records and materials relating to the contested election for the recount. Such writ shall be served immediately on the election authority by the sheriff of the county. Upon receipt of a writ, each election authority shall set a day, not more than twenty days after receiving the writ, on which it will have its office and all records and materials relating to the contested election prepared. Immediately upon setting the day, the election authority shall send by certified or registered mail a notice to the court or legislative body issuing the writ. The notice shall set forth the day selected by the election authority for the recount.
2. Whenever a recount is ordered pursuant to section 115.583, the court or legislative body shall have authority to pass upon the form and determine the legality of the votes brought into question and to determine the qualifications of any voter whose vote is brought into question, provided that the name of a voter upon a precinct register for the polling place shall be prima facie evidence of the proper qualifications of the voter. A comparison may be made between the signatures on the identification certificates and those which appear in the precinct registers, and no votes shall be counted except the votes of registered voters and those entitled to vote as provided in subsection 2 of section 115.137 and section 115.277 without being registered. No votes of any person found by the court to be unqualified to vote at the election shall be counted.
Terms Used In Missouri Laws 115.585
- Automatic tabulating equipment: the apparatus necessary to examine and automatically count votes, and the data processing machines which are used for counting votes and tabulating results and which are air-gapped and not physically able to be connected to a network. See Missouri Laws 115.013
- 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
- District: an area within the state or within a political subdivision of the state from which a person is elected to represent the area on a policy-making body with representatives of other areas in the state or political subdivision. See Missouri Laws 115.013
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, and to partnerships and other unincorporated associations. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- Polling place: the voting place designated for all voters residing in one or more precincts for any election. See Missouri Laws 115.013
- Question: any measure on the ballot which can be voted "YES" or "NO". 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
- Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
3. Whenever a recount of votes cast on paper ballots is ordered pursuant to section 115.583 or 115.601, the court or legislative body shall proceed to open and count the votes and, after the count has been completed, shall tabulate by voting district the votes cast for the contestant and the contestee.
4. Whenever a recount of votes cast on any voting machine is ordered pursuant to section 115.583 or 115.601, the court or legislative body shall make visible the registering counters of the machine and, without unlocking the machine against voting, shall record the votes cast on the machine.
5. Whenever a recount of votes cast on ballot cards is ordered pursuant to section 115.583 or 115.601, the court or legislative body shall supervise a test of the automatic tabulating equipment conducted in the manner provided in section 115.233 and shall cause the votes to be recounted automatically, or may order a hand count of the votes. In its discretion, the court or legislative body may order a new computer program to be made, which shall be tested in the manner provided in section 115.233 before the votes in question are recounted automatically.