11.40.080 Counting of ballots.
A. All action of the election officials shall be accomplished in full view of any persons present. The public may not be excluded from the area in which ballots and optical scan results are handled in any way. However, the chair of the election board shall not permit anyone present to interfere in any way or to distract the appointed officials from their duties and no one other than appointed election officials may handle the ballots. The ballots and optical scan results shall not be marked in any way by anyone during the tallying and reconciliation.
B. Immediately following the closing of the polls and the removal of unused ballots pursuant to HBC 11.40.070, the election officials shall print out the tally of all ballots on the optical scan machine, comparing the results with the signature register. With necessary adjustment to account for the number of ballots required to present to each voter all of the offices and propositions on which the voter is entitled to vote, the number of ballots issued shall agree with the number of signatures on the signature register. If a discrepancy exists which cannot be resolved, the election officials shall explain the discrepancy to the best of their ability in writing for delivery to the borough clerk.
C. Ballots not counted shall be retained and with counted ballots be delivered to the borough clerk.
D. Hand Count. In the case of an election where ballots are counted by hand, the election officials shall follow the same procedures as for machine counting, except as follows: Ballots shall be removed from the ballot box and separated into stacks of 25. Election officials shall then tally the votes according to the following rules:
1. A voter may mark a ballot only by the use of cross marks, “X” marks, diagonal, horizontal, or vertical marks, solid marks, stars, circles, asterisks, checks, or plus signs that are clearly placed within the oval opposite the name of the candidate or proposition the voter desires to designate.
2. Failure to properly mark a ballot as to one or more candidates or propositions does not itself invalidate the entire ballot.
3. If a voter marks more names than there are persons to be elected to the office the votes for that office shall not be counted.
4. An erasure or correction invalidates only that section of the ballot in which it appears, unless the intent of the voter is clear.
5. One official shall read the votes, with another official watching.
6. Two officials shall tally votes with officials watching to assure proper tallying, comparing tallies each time they finish a group of 25 ballots.
7. The results shall be transferred onto a final report, showing votes received by each candidate and for each question, and recording write-in votes cast.
8. The report shall be signed by all election officials present.
9. In the event a mark on any ballot is questionable, it shall be decided by the election officials whether the intent of the voter is clear by the manner the ballot is marked. If the intent of the voter is not clear, the vote shall not be counted.
E. Write-In Votes. Write-in votes shall be counted pursuant to the rules set forth in this section and according to the following additional rules:
1. Write-in votes are not invalidated by writing in the name of a candidate whose name is printed on the ballot unless the election board determines, on the basis of other evidence, that the ballot was so marked for the purpose of identifying the ballot.
2. In order to vote for a write-in candidate, the voter must write in the candidate’s name in the space provided and fill in the oval opposite the candidate’s name in accordance with subsection (D)(1) of this section.
3. A vote for a write-in candidate shall be counted if the oval is filled in or marked for that candidate and if the name, as it appears on the write-in declaration of candidacy, of the candidate or the last name of the candidate is written in the space provided. Write-in votes are not invalidated by misspelling the name of the candidate if the election officials determine that the intent of the voter is clear.
4. Hand counting individual write-in votes in a borough election will only be done if the aggregate of all votes cast for all write-in candidates for the particular office, as shown on the machine tally, meets one of the following requirements:
a. The number is the highest of votes received by any candidate for the office; or
b. The number is high enough to conceivably affect the outcome of the race when all outstanding votes are counted.
If the election officials determine that one of these requirements has been met, the ballots shall be hand-tallied on election night following poll closure.
F. The rules set out in this section are mandatory and there are no exceptions to them. A ballot may not be counted if it is not in compliance with these rules. (Ord. 14-04-373 § 4)