CHAPTER 3. Semifinal Official Canvass [15150. - 15290.]

Chapter 3 repealed and added by Stats. 1998, Ch. 1073, Sec. 27.

§§ 15150–15290 · 40 sections

1. ARTICLE 1. General Provisions §§ 15150–15154 · 5 sections

   • § 15150 For every election, the elections official shall conduct a semifinal official canvass by tabulating vote by mail and precinct ballots and compiling the…
   • § 15151 (a) The elections official shall transmit the semifinal official results to the Secretary of State in the manner and according to the schedule prescribed by…
   • § 15152 Neither the elections official, any member of a precinct board, nor any other person shall count any votes, either for a ballot proposition or candidate, until…
   • § 15153 During the semifinal official canvass, write-in votes shall be counted in accordance with Article 3 (commencing with Section 15340) of Chapter 4.
   • § 15154 (a) Any ballot that is not marked as provided by law shall be rejected. The rejected ballots shall be placed in the package marked for voted ballots or in a…
2. ARTICLE 2. Automated Count in a Central Location §§ 15200–15213 · 13 sections

   • § 15200 If paper ballots are used in conjunction with this system, counting shall be as provided in Article 5 (commencing with Section 15270) and Article 6 (commencing…
   • § 15201 (a) As soon as the polls are closed, the precinct board shall, in the presence of the public do all of the following: (1) Seal the container used to transport…
   • § 15202 If the ballots are to be counted at a central counting place, no fewer than two precinct board members shall, following the close of the polls, deliver the…
   • § 15203 The vote tabulating device may be located at any place within the state approved by the elections official of the county or other political subdivision using…
   • § 15204 All proceedings at the central counting place, or counting places, if applicable, shall be open to the view of the public but no person, except one employed…
   • § 15205 (a) A person may be employed to count, tally, and certify the ballots if he or she is not a candidate at the election and if he or she satisfies either of the…
   • § 15206 The elections official or any deputy authorized by the elections official may excuse or dismiss any person from any counting board and enforce the order.
   • § 15207 The elections official or authorized deputy shall segregate the persons employed to count the ballots into counting boards. These counting boards shall be…
   • § 15208 (a) Each container of ballots shall be opened and its contents removed. The ballots shall be checked to ascertain if the ballots are properly grouped and shall…
   • § 15209 Any magnetic or electronic storage medium, or copy thereof, used for the ballot tabulation program and any magnetic or electronic storage medium, or copy…
   • § 15210 In preparing the voted ballots for processing, any ballot that is torn, bent, or otherwise defective shall be corrected so that every vote cast by the voter…
   • § 15212 If voting at all precincts within a county is not conducted using the same voting system, the result as to the precincts not subject to this article shall be…
   • § 15213 In case of an emergency in which it becomes impossible to transport the ballots from the precinct to a central counting place, the elections official may…
3. ARTICLE 3. Automated Vote Count in Precincts §§ 15250–15251 · 3 sections

   • § 15250 This article applies to all elections in which votes are counted by means of a voting machine at a polling place or vote center.
   • § 15250.5 (a) As soon as the polls are closed on election day, the precinct board, in the presence of the watchers and all others lawfully present, shall immediately…
   • § 15251 Upon receipt of the result of votes cast from the precinct boards, the elections official shall do either of the following: (a) Compile and make available to…
4. ARTICLE 4. Establishing Election Return Centers and Multiple Counting Centers §§ 15260–15261 · 2 sections

   • § 15260 (a) The elections official of the jurisdiction shall establish one or more election return centers for the purpose of facilitating the compilation of election…
   • § 15261 The elections official may establish one or more centers to count ballots from designated precincts and transmit the results via voice telephone connection or…
5. ARTICLE 5. Manual Vote Count in the Precinct §§ 15270–15281 · 16 sections

   • § 15270 This article applies to all elections in which ballots are counted by hand.
   • § 15270.1 (a) An elections official shall not conduct a manual vote count pursuant to this article or Article 6 (commencing with Section 15290) in any election unless…
   • § 15270.2 The Secretary of State shall adopt regulations regarding manual vote counts.
   • § 15270.3 Notwithstanding Section 15270.1 or subdivision (a) of Section 19207.5, an elections official may conduct a manual vote count in the event of a natural disaster…
   • § 15271 As soon as the polls are finally closed, the precinct board shall commence to count the votes by taking the ballots cast, unopened, out of the box and counting…
   • § 15272 The count shall be public and shall be continued without adjournment until completed and the result is declared. During the reading and tallying, the ballot…
   • § 15273 Unless otherwise provided in this code, the precinct board members may not constitute themselves into separate squads in an attempt to conduct more than one…
   • § 15274 The members of the precinct board may relieve each other in the duties of counting ballots.
   • § 15275 Those ballots not rejected shall be placed in one pile, and the board shall proceed to count by tallying the vote for one or more offices or measures at a time.
   • § 15276 The precinct board members shall ascertain the number of votes cast for each person and for and against each measure in the following manner: One precinct…
   • § 15277 (a) Two of the precinct board members shall each keep a tally sheet in a form prescribed by the elections official. Each tally sheet shall contain all of the…
   • § 15278 On completion of the canvass of the returns for each election, the elections official shall compare the vote by mail voters’ list with the roster for each…
   • § 15278.5 No precinct board member may make any tally of votes in any other manner than is provided in this article, nor in any place other than on the tally sheets…
   • § 15279 The ballots, as soon as all of the names and measures marked on them as voted for are read and tallied, shall not thereafter be examined by any person, but, as…
   • § 15280 The precinct board shall complete, sign, and return to the elections official all furnished forms requiring its signatures. When votes are counted at the…
   • § 15281 The precinct board shall sign and post conspicuously on the outside of the polling place a copy of the result of the votes cast. The copy shall remain posted…
6. ARTICLE 6. Manual Vote Count in a Central Place § 15290 · 1 section

   • § 15290 Ballots that are to be counted manually in a central place shall be transported as provided in Sections 15201 and 15202. Each counting board shall proceed to…