An Act to provide for the disclosure of a cast vote record and ballot images as a public record and declare an emergency.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of South Dakota:
Section 1. That 12-17B-13 be AMENDED:
12-17B-13.
The procedure for
tabulating the votes by the automatic tabulating equipment
shall
must be under
the direction of the person in charge of the election, and
shall
must conform to
the specifications and requirements of the automatic tabulating
equipment. The results printed by the automatic tabulating equipment
shall constitute
are
the immediate
unofficial returns. These returns
shall be open to the public
and the cast vote record and the ballot images collected from the
automatic tabulating equipment, if any, are public records.
The final returns printed by the automatic tabulating equipment
shall
must be
presented to the canvassing board for review and certification as the
official returns.
For the purposes of this section, the term "cast vote record” means an electronic record of how the marks on a ballot are tabulated as a vote for a candidate or other ballot question. For the purposes of this section, the term "ballot image" means a digital rendering or facsimile of a paper ballot tabulated in the election. Nothing in this section may be construed to require the person in charge of the election to capture the cast vote record or ballot images.
Section 2. Whereas, this Act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, an emergency is hereby declared to exist, and this Act shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage and approval.