A. If a voter is required to vote on a provisional paper ballot, the presiding judge or election judge shall give the voter written instructions on how the voter may determine whether the vote was counted and, if the vote was not counted, the reason it was not counted.

B. The secretary of state shall provide a free access system, such as a toll-free telephone number or internet website, that a voter who casts a provisional paper ballot may access to ascertain whether the voter's ballot was counted and, if the vote was not counted, the reason it was not counted and how to appeal the decision pursuant to rules issued by the secretary of state. Access to information about an individual voter's provisional paper ballot through the free access system is restricted to the voter who cast the ballot.

C. Beginning with the closing of the polls on election day through the tenth day following the election, the county clerk shall notify by mail each person whose provisional paper ballot was not counted of the reason the ballot was not counted. The voter shall have until the Friday prior to the meeting of the state canvassing board to appeal to the county clerk a decision to reject the voter's ballot.

History: Laws 2003, ch. 356, § 3; 2005, ch. 270, § 70; 2007, ch. 336, § 17; 2011, ch. 137, § 94; 2017, ch. 101, § 15.

The 2017 amendment, effective June 16, 2017, removed the duty from the county clerk, and placed the duty on the secretary of state, to provide a free access system through which voters can ascertain whether their vote was counted; and, in Subsection B, deleted "county clerk" and added "secretary of state", and after "voter's provisional paper ballot", added "through the free access system".

The 2011 amendment, effective July 1, 2011, included the presiding judge within the scope of this section.

The 2007 amendment, effective April 2, 2007, required that the free access system inform voters how to appeal a decision that the voter's ballot was not counted.

The 2005 amendment, effective July 1, 2005, added Subsection C to provide that the county clerk shall notify each person whose provisional ballot was not counted the reason the ballot was not counted, that the voter may appeal to the county clerk the decision to reject the ballot, and that the secretary of state shall establish procedure for appeals to the canvassing board.