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TO AMEND SECTION 7-13-1340, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF VOTE RECORDERS, SO AS TO ADD REFERENCES TO OPTICAL SCAN VOTING DEVICES AND DELETE PROVISIONS REQUIRING SEPARATE VOTES FOR PRESIDENT; AND TO AMEND SECTION 7-13-320, RELATING TO BALLOT STANDARDS AND SPECIFICATIONS, SO AS TO DELETE THE PROHIBITION AGAINST COMBINING THE OFFICIAL BALLOT FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS WITH ANY OTHER OFFICIAL BALLOTS.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 7-13-1340 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 7-13-1340. No vote recorder or optical scan voting device shall may be adopted or used unless it shall, at the time, satisfy the following requirements:
(a) It shall provide provides facilities for voting for such the candidates as may be nominated and upon such the questions as may be submitted;
(b) It shall permit permits each elector, at other than primaries, to vote a straight party or body ticket, with the exception of candidates for the offices of presidential electors, in one operation; and, in one operation, to vote for all the candidates of one party or body for presidential electors; and, in one operation, to vote for all the candidates of one party or body for every office to be voted for, except those offices as to which he the elector votes for individual candidates and the offices of presidential electors;
(c) Except as provided in subsection (b) for presidential electors, it shall permit permits each elector, at other than primaries, to vote a ticket selected from the nominees of any and all parties or bodies, from independent nominations, and from persons not in nomination;
(d) It shall permit permits each elector to vote, at any election, for any person and for any office for whom and for which he the elector is lawfully entitled to vote, whether or not the name of such the person or persons appears upon a ballot label as a candidate for election, and to vote for as many persons for an office as he the elector is entitled to vote for, and to vote for or against any question upon which he the elector is entitled to vote;
(e) When used in conjunction with a tabulating machine, it shall preclude precludes, when used in conjunction with a tabulating machine, the counting of votes for any candidate, or upon any question, for whom or upon which an elector is not entitled to vote, and shall preclude precludes the counting of votes for more persons for any office than he the elector is entitled to vote for or for fewer than he the elector is required to vote for, and shall preclude precludes the counting of votes for any candidate for the same office or upon any question more than once;
(f) It shall permit permits voting in absolute secrecy, so that no a person can shall not see or know for whom any other elector has voted or is voting, save except an elector whom he the person has assisted or is assisting in voting, as prescribed by law;
(g) It shall be is constructed of material of good quality, in a neat and workmanlike manner;
(h) It shall, when properly operated, record records, when properly operated, correctly and accurately every vote cast;
(i) It shall be so is constructed so that an elector may readily learn the method of operating it; and
(j) It shall be is safely transportable.; and
(k) if approved after July 1, 1999, or if an upgrade in software, hardware, or firmware is submitted for approval as required by Section 7-13-1330(C), the voting system must be is able to electronically transmit vote totals for all elections to the State Election Commission in a format and time frame specified by the commission."
SECTION 2. The last sentence of Section 7-13-320(C) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"The official ballot for presidential electors shall not be combined with any other official ballots."
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
This web page was last updated on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 2:14 P.M.