(1)
City or Town Clerk
Responsible for Testing. The vendor for each electronic voting
system shall conduct a training session before each election which all new city
or town clerks shall attend. The city or town clerk shall be fully responsible
for all pre-election testing and for counting the ballots after the election.
This responsibility shall not be delegated to the vendor.
(2)
Ballot Testing.
For punch-cards only, no later than two weeks after the delivery of ballots for
state elections, the city or town clerk shall randomly select a sufficient
number of punchcard ballots to be inserted into at least one marking unit per
precinct to test adequately whether the punchcards fit into the marking units.
The city or town clerk shall immediately notify the Director of Elections if
the test demonstrates an improper fit.
(3)
Vendor
Responsibility. Any marking units stored by the vendor must be
delivered by the vendor to the city or town clerk no later than one week after
the delivery of the ballots for the state primary and general elections for the
purpose of permitting the city or town clerk to complete the ballot testing
requirement. Any additional cost incurred by the Secretary as a result of the
failure of the vendor to deliver the marking units on time pursuant to 950 CMR
54.02 shall be the responsibility of the vendor.
(4)
Computer Program
Testing. Under the supervision of the city or town clerk a "test
deck" shall be prepared of at least 50 punch cards or optical scanner ballots
marked in such a way as to:
(a) adequately
test the computer program;
(b)
demonstrate rejection of overvoted punchcards or optical scanner ballots;
and
(c) test any other contents of
the program which may have a bearing upon the accuracy of the count.
The test deck must contain at least the elements provided in a
model test deck prepared by the Secretary.
For primaries a "test deck" of cards/ballots must be prepared
and tested for each political party. If more than one punch card or optical
scanner ballot format is used in any election, all such formats shall be tested
using the proper program and test deck.
Written notice of the time and place of the computer program
test shall be given by the city or town clerk to the chairman of the city or
town committee of each political party, and shall be posted in the city or town
clerk's office, at least three days before the test.
(5)
Time of Computer
Program Testing. The computer program must be tested using the
test deck no later than four days before each election. A copy of the computer
print out of the test results, dated and signed by the city or town clerk,
shall be filed at once with the Secretary for state elections. For punch-cards
only, another test must be completed immediately before the program is used to
count the ballots, and a final test immediately after the ballots are
counted.
(6)
Computer
Program Delivered to Secretary. Each vendor or city or town
official that prepares a computer program for a state election shall deliver an
exact duplicate of the program to the Secretary, along with a certificate
signed by the preparer, naming the election jurisdiction for which the program
was prepared, and stating that the program is an exact duplicate of the program
sent to that jurisdiction.
(7)
Security of Computer Programs. The city or town clerk
shall secure all computer programs, test decks, and computer results in a
container sealed and stored in a secure location.
(8)
Reporting
Requirements. The city or town clerk shall report all computer
problems, including tabulation errors and mechanical failures, to the
Secretary.
