SBE-49-07-00002-P Operation and Maintenance of Voting Machines and Systems

12/5/07 N.Y. St. Reg. SBE-49-07-00002-P

NEW YORK STATE REGISTER

VOLUME XXIX, ISSUE 49

December 05, 2007

RULE MAKING ACTIVITIES

STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS

PROPOSED RULE MAKING

NO HEARING(S) SCHEDULED

 

I.D No. SBE-49-07-00002-P

Operation and Maintenance of Voting Machines and Systems

PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE State Administrative Procedure Act, NOTICE is hereby given of the following proposed rule:

Proposed action:

Repeal of Parts 6210, 6211 and section 6209.11; and addition of new Part 6210 to Title 9 NYCRR.

Statutory authority:

Election Law, sections 3-100; 7-20; 7-206

Subject:

Operation and maintenance of voting machines and systems.

Purpose:

To ensure uniform maintenance on voting equipment statewide, which provides for reliability of the systems used in elections in New York State.

Substance of proposed rule (Full text is posted at the following State website: www.elections.state.ny.us):

These regulations prescribe procedures for ongoing testing and maintenance of voting systems and equipment, to assure continued functionality.

They also provide the definition of what constitutes a vote on both paper-based and DRE systems.

And finally, these regulations provide detailed procedures for conducting the mandatory audit of voting systems after each election, and sets the discrepancy thresholds for escalated audits, up to and including the audit of an entire election.

Text of proposed rule and any required statements and analyses may be obtained from:

Todd D. Valentine, Board of Elections, 40 Steuben St., Albany, NY 12207, [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]

Data, views or arguments may be submitted to:

Same as above.

Public comment will be received until:

45 days after publication of this notice.

Regulatory Impact Statement

1. Statutory Authority:

Election Law sections 3-100; 7-201; 7-206

2. Legislative Objectives:

These provisions set standards for the routine maintenance of all voting equipment to ensure the systems remain in proper working condition; that in turn helps to provide the assurance that the voting equipment used in New York State is safe and reliable and will accurately record votes case on them in the elections in which they are used.

3. Needs and Benefits:

Public trust in our elections is fundamental to governmental effectiveness. Uniform maintenance standards help ensure that public confidence in the fairness and accuracy of elections is maintained.

4. Costs:

Ongoing maintenance of equipment owned by the county boards of elections is a standard business process, accomplished by county board employees with such maintenance as part of their job description. Costs to counties will depend upon the salaries of the employees responsible for such maintenance and any overtime hours that accrue because of the maintenance testing.

5. Local Governmental Mandates:

These maintenance procedures are mandated to be followed by county boards of elections, and, as noted in ¶4 above, is a standard business procedure.

6. Paperwork:

Counties are required to keep maintenance logs for each piece of equipment they own, again, a standard business procedure.

7. Duplication:

These regulations do not duplicate or overlap with any other federal or state regulations.

8. Alternatives:

There are no significant alternatives to be considered.

9. Federal Standards:

There are no federal standards for ongoing maintenance of voting systems.

10. Compliance Schedule:

Compliance can be achieved immediately.

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

1. Effect of Rule:

There are 58 local boards of elections which must meet these requirements.

2. Compliance Requirements:

County boards of elections are required to keep maintenance logs for each piece of voting equipment owned and used by the county in elections.

3. Professional Services:

The purchase contracts for the equipment local boards own, includes the provision of 5 years maintenance services by the manufacturer/vendor of the equipment. Local boards are free to negotiate any additional services as they deem appropriate.

4. Compliance Costs:

Ongoing maintenance of equipment owned by the county boards of elections is a standard business process, accomplished by county board employees with such maintenance as part of their job description. Costs to counties will depend upon the salaries of the employees responsible for such maintenance and any overtime hours that accrue because of the maintenance testing.

5. Economic and Technological Feasibility:

County boards of elections currently perform routine maintenance testing for the voting equipment they currently own. This is a continuation of an ongoing obligation.

6. Minimizing Adverse Impact:

These regulations standardize a normal business process and have no adverse effect of the local boards of elections who are impacted.

7. Small Business and Local Government Participation:

Local boards of elections have been asked to provide their experience with current maintenance requirements. And they will have the opportunity to comment on these regulations prior to final adoption.

Rural Area Flexibility Analysis

These regulations will have no adverse impact on private or public entitles in rural areas of this state.

Job Impact Statement

These regulations will have neither an adverse nor a positive impact on employment opportunities in New York State.