CHAPTER 3. Procedures at Polls [14200. - 14314.]

Chapter 3 enacted by Stats. 1994, Ch. 920, Sec. 2.

§§ 14200–14314 · 70 sections

1. ARTICLE 1. Election Day Posting Requirements §§ 14200–14203 · 4 sections

   • § 14200 A member of each precinct board shall cause the following voting information to be publicly posted at each polling place: (a) A sample version of the ballot…
   • § 14201 (a) In counties and precincts where the Secretary of State has determined that it is appropriate, the county elections official shall provide facsimile copies…
   • § 14202 (a) Before opening the polls, the precinct board shall post in separate, convenient places at or near the polling place, and of easy access to the voters, at…
   • § 14203 The precinct officer shall post the signs required by Section 14106 in plain view within each voting booth or compartment whenever an election has been…
2. ARTICLE 2. Election Day Procedures §§ 14210–14227.5 · 18 sections

   • § 14210 The members of each precinct board shall distribute the duties devolving upon the precinct board, which are in addition to their individual duties, in a manner…
   • § 14211 The polling places shall be arranged so that neither the ballot containers nor the voting booths or compartments shall be hidden from the view of those present.
   • § 14212 The polls shall be open at 7 a.m. of the day of any election, and shall be kept open until 8 p.m. of the same day, when the polls shall be closed, except as…
   • § 14213 Before the precinct board receives any ballots, it shall proclaim aloud at the place of election that the polls are open.
   • § 14214 Voting shall commence as soon as the polls are opened and shall be continued during the time the polls remain open.
   • § 14215 Before receiving any ballots, the precinct board, in the presence of any persons assembled at the polling place, shall open and exhibit and close the ballot…
   • § 14216 (a) Any person desiring to vote shall state or provide his or her name and address and, upon the precinct officers finding the name in the roster, the voter…
   • § 14217 If the precinct board is unable to find a voter’s name upon the roster, it shall inform the voter that he or she may cast a provisional ballot and the…
   • § 14218 If the surname of any person offering to vote has been changed since the person has registered, the person shall sign his or her name as it was before the…
   • § 14219 The precinct board shall provide, upon request, to a voter for use in the voting booth or compartment, a copy of the facsimile ballot containing ballot…
   • § 14220 At any election, a majority of the members of any precinct board shall be present at the polling place at all times while the polling place is open.
   • § 14221 Only voters engaged in receiving, preparing, or depositing their ballots and persons authorized by the precinct board to keep order and enforce the law may be…
   • § 14222 Nothing contained in this code shall prevent a voter from being accompanied by a child or children under the age of 18 years while the voter is within the…
   • § 14223 (a) Only members of the precinct board, and persons while signing their names on the roster, shall be permitted, during the hours within which voting is in…
   • § 14224 (a) Except as provided in Section 14222, a voting booth or compartment shall not be occupied by more than one person at a time, unless the voter is eligible…
   • § 14225 Members of the precinct board shall not deposit in the ballot container any ballot from which the slip containing the number of the ballot has not been removed…
   • § 14227 Any member of the precinct board, when using a language other than English at the polls, shall communicate with voters in that language only as he or she would…
   • § 14227.5 (a) At a partisan primary election, before providing a voter who has declined to disclose a political party preference with a nonpartisan ballot or before the…
3. ARTICLE 3. Challenging a Voter §§ 14240–14253 · 14 sections

   • § 14240 (a) A person offering to vote may be orally challenged within the polling place only by a member of the precinct board upon any or all of the following…
   • § 14241 A piece of mailed matter returned undelivered by the post office shall not be accepted or used as evidence upon which to initiate a challenge as to residency…
   • § 14242 The ground for challenge set forth in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 14240 shall not apply to any person duly registered as a voter in any…
   • § 14243 If the challenge is on the ground that the person seeking to vote is not the person whose name appears on the roster, a member of the precinct board shall…
   • § 14244 If the challenge is on the ground that the person seeking to vote is not a resident of the precinct, or in an election conducted using a voter center, not a…
   • § 14245 If the challenge is on the ground that the person challenged has already cast a ballot for this election, a member of the precinct board shall tender to the…
   • § 14246 If the challenge is on the ground either that the person challenged is not the person whose name appears on the roster, or that he or she has voted that day,…
   • § 14247 Challenges of voters that they are not residents of the precinct or citizens of the United States shall be tried and determined by the precinct board at the…
   • § 14248 Before administering an oath to a person regarding his or her place of residence, a member of the precinct board shall read to the person challenged, the rules…
   • § 14249 If any person challenged refuses to take the oaths tendered, or refuses to be sworn and to answer the questions concerning the matter of residence, that person…
   • § 14250 The precinct board, in determining the place of residence of any person, shall be governed by the rules set forth in Article 2 (commencing with Section 2020)…
   • § 14251 Any doubt in the interpretation of the law shall be resolved in favor of the challenged voter.
   • § 14252 The precinct board shall compile a list showing all of the following: (a) The name and address of each person challenged. (b) The name, address, and any other…
   • § 14253 In the event that the precinct board determines that persistent challenging of voters is resulting in a delay of voting sufficient to cause voters to forego…
4. ARTICLE 4. Issuing Ballots and Voting §§ 14270–14300 · 29 sections

   • § 14270 The procedure at the polls where voting is conducted pursuant to this division shall be the same as at other polling places, except as provided in this article.
   • § 14271 After the opening of the polls, the precinct board shall not allow any voter to enter the voting booth until it ascertains that he or she is entitled to vote.
   • § 14272 Before each voter enters the voting booth, the precinct board shall inform him or her how to operate the voting device. If a marking or punching device is…
   • § 14273 The device for marking the ballot may be handed to the voter with his or her ballot before the voter goes into the voting booth, and shall be returned to the…
   • § 14274 In any election where ballots are to be counted both manually and by electromechanical tabulating devices, the marking device used for marking ballots to be…
   • § 14275 Before leaving the voting booth or compartment, the voter shall fold or place the ballot card in the envelope so that the ballot markings of the voter will not…
   • § 14277 The voter shall hand the folded ballot or the envelope containing the ballot to a precinct board member, who shall remove the ballot stub, hand it to the…
   • § 14278 The precinct board shall give each voter only one ballot, as provided in Section 13102.
   • § 14279 Unless otherwise provided by law, no person shall apply for or receive any ballot at any precinct other than that in which the voter is entitled to vote.
   • § 14280 Unless otherwise provided by law, a voter shall not receive a ballot from any person other than one of the precinct officers. No person other than a precinct…
   • § 14281 On receiving a ballot, the voter shall forthwith retire alone to one of the booths or compartments provided, and mark the ballot, unless Section 14222 or 14224…
   • § 14282 (a) If a voter is unable to mark a paper ballot or the ballot marking device, the voter shall receive the assistance of not more than two persons selected by…
   • § 14283 The precinct officers shall keep a list of the voters who have been assisted in marking their ballots. The list of assisted voters shall be returned to the…
   • § 14284 (a) All ballots shall be marked only with the marking device provided by the elections official or, for vote by mail ballots, recommended by the elections…
   • § 14285 To vote in a contest where two or more candidates for the same office are to be elected, a voter shall mark the voting targets next to the names of the…
   • § 14286 When a measure is submitted to the voters, the voter shall place a mark on the ballot in the appropriate space next to the answer the voter desires to give as…
   • § 14287 No voter shall place personal information upon a ballot that identifies the voter. “Personal information” includes all of the following: (a) The signature of…
   • § 14288 If a voter spoils or defaces a ballot, the voter shall at once return it to the ballot clerk and receive another ballot. A voter shall not receive more than a…
   • § 14290 The precinct board shall immediately cancel, without unfolding them, all the spoiled ballots returned. The board shall write the word “spoiled” on the back of…
   • § 14291 (a) After the ballot is marked, a voter shall not show it to any person in a manner that reveals its contents, except as provided in subdivision (b). (b) A…
   • § 14292 Before leaving the voting booth or compartment, the voter shall fold the ballot according to the instructions on it, so that the marks on its face are not…
   • § 14293 Having folded the ballot, the voter shall deliver it folded to a member of the precinct board, who shall then separate the slip containing the number from the…
   • § 14294 (a) At all elections, a member of the precinct board shall mark, in the space provided on the voter list posted at or near the polling place, the name of each…
   • § 14295 No voter shall deliver to any member of the precinct board any ballot other than the one received from the board member.
   • § 14296 Any voter who does not vote the ballot he or she has received, shall, before leaving the polling place, return it to the board member having charge of the…
   • § 14297 (a) No later than the time at which the voter delivers the voted ballot, a precinct board member in charge of the voter list shall write in the space opposite…
   • § 14298 (a) The precinct board shall maintain at least one printed copy of the voter list posted during the whole time of voting. The copies of the voter list shall…
   • § 14299 (a) If a precinct board is unable to furnish a ballot to a qualified voter because there is an insufficient number of ballots at the precinct, the elections…
   • § 14300 (a) In the case of an election for a state or federal office, each polling place using a direct recording electronic voting system, as defined by Section…
5. ARTICLE 5. Provisional Voting §§ 14310–14314 · 5 sections

   • § 14310 (a) At all elections, a voter claiming to be properly registered, but whose qualification or entitlement to vote cannot be immediately established upon…
   • § 14311 (a) A voter who has moved from one address to another within the same county and who has not reregistered to vote at that new address may, at his or her…
   • § 14312 This article shall be liberally construed in favor of the provisional voter.
   • § 14313 (a) Upon the declaration of a state of emergency by the Governor and the issuance of an executive order authorizing an emergency worker to cast a ballot…
   • § 14314 The Secretary of State shall promulgate regulations establishing guidelines for county elections officials relating to the processing of provisional ballots.