Cal. Elec. Code § 19202
Procedures for Certification of Voting Systems
Redline — January 1, 2011 → current.View current text →
Current — January 1, 2017
As of January 1, 2011
(a) A person or corporation owning or being interested in a voting system or a part of a voting system may apply to the Secretary of State to examine it and report on its accuracy and efficiency to fulfill its purpose. As part of its application, the vendor of a voting system or the part of a voting system shall notify the Secretary of State in writing of any known defect, fault, or failure of the version of the hardware, software, or firmware of the voting system or a part of the voting system submitted. The Secretary of State shall not begin his or her examination until he or she receives a completed application from the vendor of the voting system or a part of the voting system. The vendor shall also notify the Secretary of State in writing of any defect, fault, or failure of the version of the hardware, software, or firmware of the voting system or a part of the voting system submitted that is discovered after the application is submitted and before the Secretary of State submits the report required by Section 19207. The Secretary of State shall complete his or her examination without undue delay.
(b) After receiving a vendor’s written notification of a defect, fault, or failure, the Secretary of State shall notify the United States Election Assistance Commission or its successor entity of the problem as soon as practicable so as to present a reasonably complete description of the problem. The Secretary of State shall subsequently submit a report regarding the problem to the United States Election Assistance Commission or its successor entity. The report shall include any report regarding the problem submitted to the Secretary of State by the vendor.
(c) The following definitions apply for purposes of this article:
(1) “Defect” means any flaw in the hardware or documentation of an approved or conditionally approved voting system that could result in a state of unfitness for use or nonconformance to the manufacturer’s specifications.
(2) “Failure” means a discrepancy between the external results of the operation of any software or firmware in an approved or conditionally approved voting system and the manufacturer’s product requirements for that software or firmware.
(3) “Fault” means a step, process, or data definition in any software or firmware in an approved or conditionally approved voting system that is incorrect under the manufacturer’s program specification.
(a) Except as authorized by Section 19209, a voting system, in whole or in part, shall not be used unless it has been certified or conditionally approved by the Secretary of State prior to any election at which it is to be used.
(b) A voting system that has been tested and approved for use in all elections by the Secretary of State before January 1, 2014, shall be deemed certified or conditionally approved by the Secretary of State and may be used in an election subject to any conditions placed on the use of the voting system by the Secretary of State before January 1, 2014, including conditions imposed in the reapproval documents issued by the Secretary of State in 2007 and 2008 following the Top-to-Bottom Review, and its subsequent revisions. The voting systems described in this subdivision shall remain subject to review and decertification by the Secretary of State at any time pursuant to Section 19232.
(c) A vendor or county, upon obtaining federal qualification on or before April 28, 2016, may request approval of the voting system from the Secretary of State based on the examination and review requirements in place before January 1, 2014.
(d) A jurisdiction shall not purchase or contract for a voting system unless it has been certified or conditionally approved by the Secretary of State.
(e) Notwithstanding subdivision (d), a local jurisdiction may contract and pay for the following:
(1) Research and development of a new voting system that has not been certified or conditionally approved by the Secretary of State and uses only nonproprietary software and firmware with disclosed source code, except for unmodified commercial off-the-shelf software and firmware, as defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 19209.
(2) Manufacture of the minimum number of voting system units reasonably necessary for either of the following purposes:
(A) To test and seek certification or conditional approval of the voting system pursuant to Sections 19210 to 19214, inclusive.
(B) To test and demonstrate the capabilities of the voting system in a pilot program pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of, and subdivision (c) of, Section 19209.
Official source: California Legislative Information. Reproduced from public-domain California statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.