19:53A-7. Elections; conduct, report

7. a. Thirty minutes before the opening of the polls the local district election officers shall arrive at the polling place, place the voting devices in position for voting, and examine them to see that they have the correct ballot labels by comparing them with the sample ballots, and are in proper working order. They shall open and check the ballot cards, supplies, records and forms, and post the sample ballots and instructions to voters.

b. Each voter requesting assistance shall be instructed how to operate the voting device before he enters the voting booth. If he needs additional instruction after entering the voting booth and requests assistance, two members of the district board who are not members of the same political party may if necessary enter the booth and give him additional instructions.

c. The district election official attending the voting machine shall inspect the face of the machine and the ballot at least once per hour to see that the face of the machine and the ballot are in their proper place and that neither has been mutilated, defaced, tampered with or changed and that the machine has not been changed.

d. After the voter has marked his ballot cards, he shall place the ballot card inside the envelope provided for this purpose and return it to the election officer, who shall remove the stub, place it on a file string, and deposit the envelope with the ballot card inside in the ballot box. No ballot card from which the stub has been detached shall be accepted by the election official in charge of the ballot box, but it shall be marked "Spoiled" and placed with the spoiled ballot cards.

e. Any voter who spoils his ballot card may return it enclosed in the envelope and secure another. The word "Spoiled" shall be written across the face of the envelope, which shall be placed on the same string with the stubs.

f. As soon as the polls have been closed and the last qualified voter has voted, all unused ballot cards shall be placed in a container and sealed for return to the board of elections. The ballot box shall be opened and any write-in votes counted, unless these votes are to be counted by duly appointed bipartisan tabulating teams at the counting center. Before write-in votes are counted they shall be compared with votes cast on the ballot card for the same office. If the voter has cast more votes for an office than he is entitled to vote for, the vote for that office shall be declared null and void and that vote shall not be counted for that office. Votes cast for duly nominated candidates on the ballot card will not be voided because of an invalid write-in vote, but if otherwise valid shall be counted. The voted ballot cards shall next be placed in the ballot card container for delivery to the counting center, and the voting devices shall be placed in their containers for returning to the county board of elections.

g. The district board election officers shall prepare a report of the number of voters who have voted, as indicated by the poll list, the number of write-in votes and any other votes counted by the district board and the number of spoiled ballots, and shall place the original copy of this report in the ballot card container for delivery to the counting center, which thereupon shall be sealed so that no additional ballot cards may be deposited or removed. Such container shall be durably constructed so as to be resistant to fire, water and tampering. The duplicate copy of said report shall be returned to the county election board with other records. Two district election board officers who are not members of the same political party shall forthwith deliver the ballot card container to the counting center or other place designated by the county board. The county board may, in its discretion, direct that ballots be delivered to one or more collection points from which points the ballots shall be transported collectively to the counting center by two duly appointed deputies who are not members of the same political party. The district board shall receive a receipt before releasing the ballots to said deputies.

L.1973,c.82,s.7; amended 1975, c.316, s.5; 1996, c.120, s.9.