Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 2, § 20111 - Definitions

Current through Register 2022 Notice Reg. No. 14, April 8, 2022

NOTE: See Executive Order N-34-20 (2019 CA EO 34-20), issued in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which extends certain deadlines relating to the presidential primary and special general elections.

As used in this Chapter, the following terms have the following meanings:

(a) "Ballot" shall have the meaning set forth in Elections Code section 15366(a). A validly cast ballot is any ballot that is eligible to be counted in the canvass of an election, as specified in Division 15, Chapters 2 through 4 of the Elections Code.

(b) "Ballot card" means a card upon which is printed, or identified by reference to the ballot, the names of candidates for nomination or election to one or more offices or the ballot titles of one or more measures. A ballot may be comprised of multiple ballot cards.

(c) "Ballot-level comparison audit" shall have the meaning set forth in Elections Code section 15366(b). In preforming this type of risk-limiting audit, the elections official shall export a cast vote record from the voting system for every cast ballot card and cast voter verified paper audit trail containing the contest(s) under audit. The cast number of cast vote records must be exported in a way that enables the elections official to determine whether the number of cast vote records matches the number of ballot cards physically accounted for in the ballot manifest and to find particular physical ballot card or voter-verified paper audit trail associated with each cast vote record.

(d) "Ballot manifest" means a detailed description of how the ballot cards are stored and organized, listing at minimum the unique physical location of each and every ballot card cast in the election in such a way that individual ballot cards or batches of ballot cards can be found, retrieved, and examined manually.

(e) "Ballot polling audit" shall have the meaning set forth in Elections Code section 15366(c). In examining voter markings, the audit board shall perform a hand-to-eye, human interpretation of voter markings but shall not compare those interpretations to the corresponding cast vote records.

(f) "Batch comparison audit" means a type of risk-limiting audit in which the audit board examines voter markings on ballot cards, in randomly selected batches of ballot cards. This type of risk-limiting audit involves the following steps:

(1) The elections official divides the ballot cards cast in the contests under audit into physically identifiable batches, such as the ballot cards cast in different precincts or vote centers.

(2) The elections official exports vote subtotals from the voting system for each such physically identifiable batch of cast ballot cards.

(3) The elections official verifies that the number of ballot cards according to these subtotals does not exceed the number of ballot cards physically accounted for in the ballot manifest.

(4) The elections official compares some or all of those batch-level subtotals to subtotals derived by hand-to-eye, human interpretation of voter markings from the corresponding ballot cards marked by the voter verified paper audit trail, as defined by Elections Code section 19271.

(g) "Cast vote record" shall have the meaning set forth in Elections Code section 15366(d). The cast vote record shall be generated by the voting system.

(h) "Elections official" shall have the meaning set forth in Elections Code section 320.

(i) "Electoral outcome" shall have the meaning set forth in Elections Code section 15366(e).

(j) "Hybrid audit" means a type of risk-limiting audit which involves, at a minimum, the following steps:

(1) The elections official divides the ballot cards cast in the contests under audit into physically identifiable batches, such as the ballot cards cast in different precincts or vote centers or ballot cards processed by different voting equipment.

(2) The elections official exports vote subtotals or cast vote records from the voting system for some of those batches of cast ballot cards from paragraph (1) and exports, at a minimum, aggregate results for the remaining batches of ballot cards.

(3) The elections official verifies that the number of ballot cards according to the subtotals in paragraph (2) does not exceed the number of ballot cards physically accounted for in the ballot manifest.

(4) The audit board compares some or all of the vote subtotals or cast vote records exported in paragraph (2) to a tabulation or interpretation derived by hand-to-eye, human interpretation of voter markings from the corresponding ballot cards marked by the voter, as defined by Elections Code section 19271.

(5) The audit board examines some or all of the ballot cards in the remaining batches from paragraph (2) and performs a hand-to-eye, human interpretation of voter markings from the corresponding ballot cards marked by the voter, as defined by Section 19271.

(k) "Public notice" means the release of information to the public through two or more of the following readily available communication channels: a website update, a social media post, an email list mailing, a press release, and a notice posted at an office open to the public.

(1) Elections officials are encouraged to maintain an email mailing list of persons who would like to be notified about risk-limiting audits. If an elections official maintains such a list, public notice for the purposes of this Chapter must include sending an email to all persons on this list.

(l) "Random seed" means a randomly generated number consisting of at least 20 digits that is used to generate a random number sequence to select ballot cards or batches of ballot cards for audit.

(m) "Risk-limiting audit" or "RLA" shall have the meaning set forth in Elections Code section 15366(f).

(n) "Risk-limiting audit software tool" or "RLA software tool" means software that can perform any of the audit types described in Section 20112. Pursuant to Elections Code section 15367(b)(2)(E), the algorithms and source code of the RLA software tool shall be disclosed to the public. The Secretary of State shall effect this disclosure by posting the source code, or a link to the source code hosted on another publicly available website, on its website.

(o) "Voting system" shall have the meaning set forth in Elections Code section 362.

Notes

Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 2, § 20111

Note: Authority cited: Section 12172.5, Government Code; and Section 15367, Elections Code. Reference: Sections 320, 362, 15302, 15366 and 15367, Elections Code.

1. New section filed 3-5-2020; operative 3-5-2020 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2020, No. 10).
2. Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-34-20 (2019 CA EO 34-20), dated March 20, 2020, which extended certain deadlines relating to the presidential primary and special general elections, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
3. Repealer of subsections (g) and (j), subsection relettering and amendment of newly designated subsections (h) and (k) filed 9-10-2020 as an emergency; operative 9-10-2020. Emergency expiration extended 60 days (Executive Order N-40-20) plus an additional 60 days (Executive Order N-66-20) (Register 2020, No. 37). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 7-9-2021 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
4. Repealer of subsections (g) and (j), subsection relettering and amendment of newly designated subsections (h) and (k) refiled 7-26-2021 as an emergency; operative 7-26-2021 (Register 2021, No. 31). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL by 10-25-2021 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the following day.
5. Certificate of Compliance as to 7-26-2021 order, including amendment of section and Note, transmitted to OAL 10-25-2021 and filed 12-9-2021; amendments effective 12/9/2021 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2021, No. 50).