8 Colo. Code Regs. § 1505-1-11
Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 19, October 10, 2024
Rule 8 CCR 1505-1-11 - [Effective until 1/7/2025] Voting Systems11.1 Voting system access 11.1.1 In accordance with section 24-72-305.6, C.R.S., all permanent and temporary county staff and all vendor staff who have access to the voting system or any voting or counting equipment must pass a criminal background check. A person convicted of an election offense or an offense containing an element of fraud may not have access to a code, combination, password, or encryption key for the voting equipment, ballot storage area, counting room, or tabulation workstation.11.2 Voting system inventory. 11.2.1 The designated election official must maintain an inventory record for each component of the voting system. The record must include the manufacturer, make, model, serial number, and date of acquisition.11.2.2 The inventory must be in an electronic format and exportable to a comma separated value (CSV), Excel spreadsheet (XLS or XLSX), or quote or tab separated (TXT) file before delivery to the Secretary of State.11.2.3 The designated election official must file the voting system inventory required by Rule 11.2.1, noting which equipment will be used for the election, with the Secretary of State no later than ten days before the election.11.2.4 A county clerk must notify the Secretary of State if a license agreement with a voting system vendor is terminated within one week after the agreement is terminated. A county clerk must also notify the Secretary if a voting system component is no longer going to be used as part of the voting system, but the component will be retained by the county. The county clerk must follow the requirements found in Rule 20.5.7 for all retained components.11.3 The clerk must perform a hardware diagnostic test and a logic and accuracy test. 11.3.1 Hardware Diagnostic Test (a) The designated election official must perform the Hardware Diagnostic Test before the election on each device that the designated election official will use in the election, including spare or back up devices. The test must include the following devices and provide the following information:(1) All input and output devices;(2) Communications ports;(4) System modems when applicable;(5) System screen displays;(6) Boot performance and initializations;(7) Display of firmware or software hash value (MD5 or SHA-1) when possible;(8) Confirmation that screen displays are functioning;(9) Date, time and calibration of systems, if applicable; and(10) Scanner calibration, if applicable.(b) The designated election official must seal each device upon the successful completion of the test and retain documentation of the seal information and all records in accordance with section 1-7-802, C.R.S.11.3.2 Logic and Accuracy Test (a) The county clerk must conduct the public Logic and Accuracy Test no later than the 21st day before election day.(b) The county must ensure that the Logic and Accuracy Test is open to the extent allowable in accordance with section 1-7-509(2)(b), C.R.S. The county clerk may limit the number of representatives from each group because of space limitations.(c) Preparing for the Logic and Accuracy Test(1) A county that is conducting an election with at least one plurality voting contest must prepare a test deck of ballots that: (A) Includes every ballot style and, where applicable, precinct;(B) Includes a sufficient number of ballots so that each vote position in each contest receives a unique, known vote total for that contest, including write-in candidates, contests that permit an elector to vote for two or more positions, and overvotes and undervotes for each contest;(C) Includes at least one write-in vote for each qualified write-in candidate so that all qualified write-in candidate names will appear in the LAT result uploaded to ENR as required by Rule 11.9.3; and (2) A county that is conducting an election with at least one instant runoff voting contest must, for each voting contest: (A) Include a sufficient number of ballots to mark a vote position for every candidate in the contest in the first round of tabulation, including write-in candidates;(B) Include at least one overvote, at least one skipped ranking, and at least one duplicate ranking; and(C) Be marked in such a manner so that no candidate receives a majority of the first ranking votes in the first round. (3) Any county test deck must include ballots printed from a ballot-ondemand or mobile ballot production printer if either will be used in the upcoming election and must include commercially printed ballots.(4) The county must convene a Testing Board of one registered elector from each of the major political parties. Testing Board members must be registered to vote in the county and be sworn in as election judges.(5) The county must provide at least 25 ballots that are clearly marked as test ballots to each Testing Board member. A county conducting an instant runoff election must ensure that instant runoff voting contests are included on at least 25 test ballots per board member.(6) Testing Board members must mark their test ballots following the instructions printed on the ballots and retain a record of the tally. In a county conducting an instant runoff election, if after a review of the machine and hand tally of the testing board member's test ballots it is found that the ballots did not require a second round of tabulation, the testing board member must mark 25 additional test ballots which will result in no candidate receiving a majority of votes in the first round of tabulation. A county clerk may remove a member of the Testing Board from their duties if that member refuses to mark their ballot according to the instructions printed on the ballot or as required by this Rule.(7) The Testing Board must test the ballots on each type of voting device used in the election and each type of ballot including audio ballots. (d) Conducting the Test (1) The county and Testing Board must observe the tabulation of all test ballots, compare the tabulation with the previously retained records of the test vote count, and correct any discrepancies before the device is used in the election.(2) The county must reset the public counter to zero on all devices and present the summary report to the Testing Board for verification.(3) The county must make an appropriate number of voting devices available and the Testing Board may witness the programming of devices necessary for the test.(4) The Testing Board and designated election official must count the test ballots as follows, as applicable: (A) Ballot Scanners: (i) The Testing Board must test at least one central count ballot scanner.(ii) The Testing Board must randomly select the machines to test.(iii) The Testing Board must count the board and county's test ballot batches separately and generate reports to verify that the machine count is identical to the predetermined tally.(B) Ballot Marking Devices (BMDs): (i) The Testing Board must randomly select and test at least one BMD.(ii) At least two members of the Testing Board must use the selected BMD to mark and print at least 25 ballots in the same manner that the testing board member manually marked his or her test ballots. At least two members of the Testing Board must mark at least one of his or her test ballots using the audio ballot playback and accessible input devices.(iii) A Testing Board member or county election official must separately scan and tabulate the test ballots marked with and printed from the BMD on one central count or polling location scanner, and generate a results report.(iv) Each Testing Board member must verify that the results report generated from the scanner exactly corresponds to the testing board member's tally of the votes on the manually marked paper ballots comprising his or her test ballots.(e) Completing the test (1) The county must keep all test materials, when not in use, in a durable, secure box. Each member of the Testing Board must verify the seals and initial the chain-of-custody log maintained by the county clerk. If the records are opened for inspection, at least two election officials must verify the seals and initial the chain-of-custody log.(2) The county must backup and preserve the election database or project containing test results, and export and preserve the test results and CVR files. The county must prepare and preserve a ballot manifest corresponding to the test CVR file.(3) The county must upload the test results file during the ENR test required under Rule 11.9.3. The county must hash and upload the CVR and ballot manifest to the RLA software during the RLA practice period, as required under Rule 25.2.2(b).(4) After testing, the Testing Board must watch the county reset and seal each voting device, if applicable.(5) The Testing Board and the county clerk must sign a written statement attesting to the qualification of each device successfully tested, the number of the seal attached to the voting device at the end of the test, if applicable, any problems discovered, and any other documentation necessary to provide a full and accurate account of the condition of a given device.(6) The county may not change the programming of any voting device after completing the logic and accuracy test for an election, except as required to conduct a recount or as authorized by the Secretary of State.37 CR 19, October 10,2014, effective 10/30/201438 CR 17, September 10, 2015, effective 9/30/201539 CR 05, March 10, 2016, effective 3/30/201639 CR 17, September 10, 2016, effective 9/30/201640 CR 17, September 10, 2017, effective 9/30/2017Renumbered from 8 CCR 1505-1-1.1.3140 CR 17, September 10, 2017, effective 9/30/2017Renumbered from 8 CCR 1505-1-1.1.4940 CR 17, September 10, 2017, effective 9/30/2017Renumbered from 8 CCR 1505-1-10.1040 CR 17, September 10, 2017, effective 9/30/2017Renumbered from 8 CCR 1505-1-10.1140 CR 17, September 10, 2017, effective 9/30/2017Renumbered from 8 CCR 1505-1-10.1240 CR 17, September 10, 2017, effective 9/30/2017Renumbered from 8 CCR 1505-1-10.1340 CR 17, September 10, 2017, effective 9/30/2017Renumbered from 8 CCR 1505-1-10.540 CR 17, September 10, 2017, effective 9/30/2017Renumbered from 8 CCR 1505-1-10.640 CR 17, September 10, 2017, effective 9/30/2017Renumbered from 8 CCR 1505-1-10.740 CR 17, September 10, 2017, effective 9/30/2017Renumbered from 8 CCR 1505-1-10.840 CR 17, September 10, 2017, effective 9/30/2017Renumbered from 8 CCR 1505-1-10.940 CR 17, September 10, 2017, effective 9/30/2017Renumbered from 8 CCR 1505-1-11.340 CR 17, September 10, 2017, effective 9/30/2017Renumbered to 8 CCR 1505-1-1.1.3240 CR 17, September 10, 2017, effective 9/30/2017Renumbered to 8 CCR 1505-1-1.1.5140 CR 17, September 10, 2017, effective 9/30/201741 CR 01, January 10, 2018, effective 1/30/201841 CR 08, April 25, 2018, effective 5/15/201841 CR 18, September 25, 2018, effective 10/15/201842 CR 18, September 25, 2019, effective 10/15/201943 CR 05, March 10, 2020, effective 2/3/202043 CR 15, August 10, 2020, effective 8/30/202044 CR 18, September 25, 2021, effective 10/15/202145 CR 15, August 10, 2022, effective 8/30/202246 CR 09, May 10, 2023, effective 5/30/202346 CR 20, October 25, 2023, effective 11/14/202347 CR 19, October 10, 2024, effective 9/9/2024, exp. 1/7/2025 (Emergency)