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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO ELECTIONS -- STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS

     Introduced By: Representatives Diaz, Slater, Alzate, Edwards, Kennedy, Azzinaro,
Perez, DeSimone, McGaw, and Giraldo

     Date Introduced: February 08, 2023

     Referred To: House State Government & Elections

     (Secretary of State)

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 17-7-3 of the General Laws in Chapter 17-7 entitled "State Board of

Elections" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     17-7-3. Appointment of members — Vacancies.

     (a) The governor shall forthwith upon June 8, 1979 appoint seven (7) members of initial

terms as follows: one member upon initial appointment shall serve for a term of two (2) years; one

member upon initial appointment shall serve for a term of four (4) years; one member upon initial

appointment shall serve for a term of six (6) years; one member upon initial appointment shall serve

for a term of eight (8) years; one member upon initial appointment shall serve for a term of ten (10)

years; one member upon initial appointment shall serve for a term of twelve (12) years; one member

upon initial appointment shall serve for a term of fourteen (14) years; and upon the expiration of

the terms, the governor shall appoint persons for succeeding terms of fourteen (14) years,

respectively. All members of the board appointed or reappointed after January 1, 2008, shall serve

for terms of nine (9) years beginning in January 2008, and in January of every even numbered year

thereafter, the chairperson and vice chairperson of the board shall be elected by majority vote of

the members of the board.

     (b) In the event a vacancy occurs in the office of chairperson or vice chairperson after

January 1, 2008, the board shall in the manner provided in subsection 17-7-3(a) elect another of its

members to be chairperson or vice chairperson, to fill the vacancy; provided, if the vacancy occurs

as a result of death or resignation, the new chairperson or vice chairperson shall only fill the

unexpired term.

     (c) In the event a vacancy occurs on the board, the governor shall appoint within thirty (30)

days a new member to fill the vacancy; provided if the vacancy occurs as a result of death or

resignation, the new member shall only fill the unexpired term. All appointments to fill vacancies

shall be made in accordance with Article IX, section 5 of the Constitution of the state of Rhode

Island and §§ 36-1-10 through 36-1-12.

     (d) Notwithstanding the provisions of § 17-7-2 and in order to facilitate communication

between the department of state and the board of elections, the secretary of state shall designate a

liaison (the director of elections or the deputy secretary of state who oversees the elections division)

to serve as a reporting and informational resource at all board of elections meetings with the

exception of when the board meets in executive session or is engaged in agenda items addressing

issues related to campaign finance or appeal. The board may call upon the department of state

liaison to offer insight or clarification, or answer any direct questions, through the chair, from

members, in real time, at any time during a meeting, The board of elections shall make a platform

available to the liaison to facilitate this process.

     SECTION 2. Sections 17-19-3 and 17-19-14 of the General Laws in Chapter 17-19 entitled

"Conduct of Election and Voting Equipment, and Supplies" are hereby amended to read as follows:

     17-19-3. Voting equipment and services — Specifications.

     (a) The board of elections shall, in consultation with the office of secretary of state shall

develop, from time to time, and, in coordination with the general assembly for the purpose of

funding procurement, submit specifications to the department of administration that the department

of administration shall utilize in procuring voting equipment, voting systems, and services related

thereto in accordance with this chapter and chapter 2 of title 37 of the general laws. These

specifications and requests for proposals for the options of purchasing, leasing to own, or renting

precinct-count voting systems that utilize technologies, methods, and equipment considered

reasonable best practices for the state and in compliance with all laws, and for a full-service contract

for such voting systems, shall be constructed and shall operate in a manner that meets the following

minimum requirements:

     (1) It shall enable the voter to:

     (i) Mark his or her ballot and cast his or her vote in secrecy;

     (ii) Vote for all candidates of political parties or organizations, and for, or against, questions

as submitted;

     (iii) Vote for as many persons for an office as the voter is lawfully entitled to vote for, but

no more; and

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     (iv) Vote on any question the voter may have the right to vote on;

     (2) It shall prevent the voter from voting for the same person more than once for the same

office;

     (3) The voting equipment shall allow the voter to cast one vote, thereby allowing the voter

to vote for all the presidential electors of a party by a clear and unambiguous means; provided, that

means shall be furnished by which the voter can cast a vote in part for the candidates for presidential

electors of one party, and in part for those of one or more other parties, or in part or in whole, for

persons not nominated by any party;

     (4) The precinct-counting system shall meet the following specifications:

     (i) Vote counting, including absentee ballots, shall be performed through the use of

automated electronic equipment;

     (ii) All vote counting shall be performed on equipment supplied as part of the bid. The

system shall not require the use of non-supplied equipment to count ballots or tabulate results;

     (iii) There shall be privacy enclosures in which a voter may mark his or her ballot or

otherwise cast his or her vote in secret;

     (iv) There shall be a device located in each polling place that can record the vote count and

tally the vote count in that polling place and that can produce a printed tally of all races contained

on said ballot in human, readable form. The device shall automatically print a “zero report” at the

beginning of the day when the device is activated. The device that receives ballots for counting

shall have an external counter indicating the number of ballots received. The actual vote tally shall

be capable of being performed only by election officials and shall not be visible during the actual

voting process. Each recording device shall ensure the security of voted ballots and ease of access;

     (v) As part of the voting process, there shall be created a physical ballot showing the votes

cast by an individual voter that is capable of being hand counted so that electronic-recorded device

totals can be checked for accuracy;

     (vi) There shall be a device at each polling place to receive the physical audit trail of ballots

cast and that shall securely store the ballots and have the capability of restricting access to the

ballots only to authorize officials;

     (vii) In the event of loss of electrical power, the polling place vote count shall be stored on

an ongoing basis in media that will retain the count of the votes cast to that point in time for a

period of no less than five (5) years;

     (viii) The polling place vote counts shall be stored on a stable media that may be easily

transported and that may be accessed and counted by an electronic device so that state, city, and/or

town vote totals can be electronically calculated by combining individual polling place totals. It

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shall not be necessary to enter individual polling place totals by, and into, a central computer or

device for the purpose of producing the state, city, and/or town totals, but rather the electronic

media on which the polling place totals are stored shall be directly readable and accessible by a

regional or central device;

     (ix) There shall be a device that has the capability to electronically read the storage device

upon which the individual polling place totals are stored and that shall produce a combined total

for all races, which total can be printed in easily readable and legible form in a format prescribed

by the state board of elections;

     (x) The system provided shall allow the secretary of state to have the capability to design

the ballot format;

     (xi) The system shall provide a capability for the state, without the use of outside services,

to set up and prepare the counting devices to total an election; and

     (xii) The system must be capable of receiving voted ballots without counting when without

power and must provide for securely storing uncounted ballots;

     (5) The following minimum equipment shall be required for the state:

     (i) There shall be a minimum number of units to permit counting to be conducted in each

polling place within the state with a reserve of equipment on hand;

     (ii) There shall be a sufficient number of voting booths for each precinct to accommodate

voters as determined in this title;

     (iii) The number of polling place units and voting booths must be sufficient to permit the

election to run smoothly without excessive waiting of voters;

     (iv) If there is an increase in the number of polling places statewide during the term of the

contract, the vendor will supply additional polling place units and voting booths at a cost

proportional to the cost of the initial units pro rated for the balance of the agreement years;

     (v)(A) There shall be high-speed, absentee vote tabulating equipment. These tabulators, as

a whole, must be capable of counting absentee ballots at a reasonable best practices rate. The

tabulators shall utilize the same ballots used in the polling place;

     (B) This system shall have the following capabilities in connection with the counting of

ballots and producing results:

     (I) This system shall be able to read the media from the polling place units on which polling

place results are stored and shall be able to compile polling place results producing a ballot total

for each race; and

     (II) This system shall be capable of producing and printing out ballot totals on a polling-

place-by-polling-place basis for each race, and shall be capable of producing a final total and

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subtotals of all races from all races and polling places in the state. All totals must be able to be

produced at any time, based upon the number of polling places counted up to that point in time,

and these printout results shall state the number of precincts counted and the percentage of precincts

reporting;

     (vi) There shall be all equipment necessary to program the system and erase the memory

devices;

     (vii) Reasonable best-practices tabulating equipment shall be located in each of the thirty-

nine (39) local boards of canvassers and the central tabulation equipment shall be located at the

state board of elections. The state board of elections, in conjunction with the service contract

vendor, no less than thirty (30) days prior to an election, shall test the tabulation system to be

utilized for the election and determine whether regional and/or central tabulation is adequate, and

if regional tabulation is required, so implement it. The tabulation system shall have the following

capabilities in connection with the counting of ballots and producing results:

     (A) This system shall be able to read the media from the polling place units on which

polling place results are stored and shall be able to compile polling place results producing a ballot

total for each race;

     (B) This system shall be capable of producing and printing out ballot totals on a polling-

place-by-polling-place basis for each race and shall be capable of producing a final total and

subtotal of all races from all races and polling places in the state;

     (C) All totals must be able to be produced at any time based upon the number of polling

places counted up to that point in time, and the printout results shall state the number of precincts

counted and the percentage of precincts reporting; and

     (D) This system shall be capable of transferring information gathered from the precincts

and, if regional and/or central tabulation sites are utilized, the system shall be capable of

transferring information gathered at any regional or central sites utilized by the thirty-nine (39)

local boards of canvassers;

     (6) All necessary programming and accumulation software shall be provided to run the

election system in accordance with the required specifications as well as all necessary and required

modules. Any software updates during the term of the agreement shall not be charged to the state;

     (7) The vendor of the precinct-count system shall provide written proof of compliance with

federal standards then in place and administered by the designated federal agency or organization

from an independent testing company and this written proof must be on file with the office of the

secretary of state and the state board of elections;

     (8) The vendor shall also provide the following information to be included in the vendor’s

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bid proposal:

     (i)(A) An audited financial statement covering the previous five (5) years, and if the vendor

is not the manufacturer of the equipment, both the agent and manufacturer must submit an audited

financial statement covering the previous five (5) years with the bid;

     (B) In the event that either the vendor, agent, or manufacturer has been in existence for less

than five (5) years, that entity must submit an audited financial statement for each and every full

year that they have been in existence;

     (ii) Proof of experience in the field of elections including, but not limited to, years of

experience in this field and experience with a jurisdiction having the same needs as the state of

Rhode Island; and

     (iii) Names and addresses of the support organizations that will provide support of all

equipment.

     (b) The full-service plan shall include the following services, but, at the discretion of the

office of the secretary of state, shall not be limited to the following services:

     (1) Computer coding and layout of all ballots to be used in each election under contract,

including the printing of the ballot and the preparation of the ballot-reading and accessible voting

device to ensure that the ballots are compatible with the ballot-reading device. Subsequent thereto,

the state board of elections shall be responsible for the following:

     (2) Testing of each precinct count and accessible voting unit for logic and accuracy

including calibration of any touchscreens and the testing of the coding by creating a sufficient

number of ballots on the accessible voting units and ensuring the ballots are accurate and properly

read by the precinct count unit;

     (3) Testing of each programmed memory device on each precinct count and accessible

voting unit;

     (4) Set up of each precinct-count and accessible voting unit at each polling place;

     (5) Maintenance of all precinct-count and accessible voting units;

     (6) Training of poll workers;

     (7) On-site election night staff at the central tabulation location and any other locations as

may be determined by the state board to receive and transmit election results;

     (8) On-site election day field technicians to respond to repair calls;

     (9) Providing the following equipment and supplies:

     (i) Secrecy covers for voted ballots;

     (ii) Demonstration ballots;

     (iii) Precision-cut shell program ballots ready for printing with timing marks;

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     (iv) Marking pens;

     (v) Ballot transfer cases;

     (vi) Envelopes for mailing and receiving absentee ballots; and

     (vii) Printer ribbons, paper tape rolls, and seals.

     (c) Any bid proposal by an offeror for a precinct-count system and a full-service agreement

for a precinct-count system that does not conform in all respects to the requirements of subdivisions

(a)(1) — (b)(9)(vii) of this section may be accepted by the office of the secretary of state with the

consent of the department of administration. The office of the secretary of state shall memorialize

the acceptance of any bid proposal that does not conform with the requirements of subsections

(a)(1) — (b)(9)(vii) of this section in each instance of such non-conformance.

     (d) The office of the secretary of state periodically shall conduct a review of the election

system, provide a report to the general assembly, and shall be responsible for establishing minimum

requirements and specifications for the procurement of voting equipment and services.

     17-19-14. Preparation of voting equipment for election — Testing.

     (a) Prior to any election at which optical scan precinct count voting units are to be used,

including those that are accessible for voters who are blind, visually impaired or disabled, the

secretary of state shall prepare the layout and format of the computer ballot in conjunction with the

voting equipment vendor under contract with the state. The secretary of state shall be responsible

for the coding and layout of all computer ballots to be used in each election under contract,

including the printing of the ballot and the preparation of the device to ensure that the ballots are

displayed correctly on the accessible voting units and compatible with the device, and shall transfer

all information relative to the ballot and its preparation to the state board.

     (b) Subsequently, the state board, in conjunction with the voter equipment vendor under

contract with the state, shall be responsible for the testing of the programmed memory cartridge,

the testing of each unit for logic and accuracy, including ensuring the accessible voting unit is

properly calibrated and correctly coded, and the set up of each optical scan precinct unit at each

polling place. The state board of elections shall determine, and document on the forms provided

for that purpose, the fact that the programmed memory device cartridges for the optical scan

precinct count and accessible voting units are in good working order, that the daily counter is at

zero, and all of the candidates’ counters are set at zero and record no vote for any candidate.

     (c) The state board of elections, in conjunction with the voting equipment vendor under

contract with the state, shall publicly conduct these tests on each programmed cartridge for each

optical scan precinct count and accessible voting unit to be used for the election. This testing shall

be made as near to the time of the election as is feasible.

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     (d) The state board of elections in consultation with the secretary of state, shall promulgate

rules and regulations on logic and accuracy testing protocols, pursuant to chapter 35 of title 42

("administrative procedures").

     SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO ELECTIONS -- STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS

***

     This act would designate a liaison position within the secretary of state's office to formulate

communication between the department of state and the board of elections, and would add

accessible voting devices to the equipment maintained by the secretary of state.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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