6232946 Elections, Board of - Notice of Emergency Rulemaking - Action to Adopt Amendments to Title 3: Chapter 8 "Tabulation and Certification of Election Results", which determines the procedures and rules for conducting a recount.
-
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BOARD OF ELECTIONS
NOTICE OF EMERGENCY RULEMAKING
The District of Columbia Board of Elections, pursuant to the authority set forth in the District of Columbia Election Code of 1955, approved August 12, 1955, as amended (69 Stat. 699; D.C. Official Code § 1-1001.05(a)(14) (2014 Repl.)), hereby gives notice of emergency rulemaking action to adopt amendments to Chapter 8 (Tabulation and Certification of Election Results) of Title 3 (Elections and Ethics) of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR).
The amendments establish that write-in votes will only be tabulated in contests where an individual has timely filed an Affirmation of Write-in Candidacy, and there is either no candidate printed on the ballot in order to determine a winner, or the total number of write-in votes reported is sufficient to elect a write-in candidate. The amendment to recount procedures determines that procedures and rules for conducting a recount.
This emergency rulemaking is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace and welfare of District residents because the rules regarding write-in candidacies and recounts need to be finalized prior to the November 8, 2016 General Election.
The Board adopted these emergency rules at its regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday, October 5, 2016, at which time the amendments became effective. The emergency rules shall remain in effect until February 2, 2017 (one hundred and twenty (120) days from the adoption date), unless superseded by publication of a Notice of Final Rulemaking in the D.C. Register.
Chapter 8, TABULATION AND CERTIFICATION OF ELECTION RESULTS, of Title 3 DCMR, ELECTIONS AND ETHICS, is amended as follows:
Section 806, TABULATION PROCEDURES, is amended in its entirety, to read as follows:
806 TABULATION PROCEDURES
806.1 The tabulation of votes shall be started immediately on Election Day after the close of polls, and shall be conducted under the direct supervision of the Executive Director or his or her designee.
806.2 Whenever votes are counted by machines, the Executive Director shall utilize personnel qualified to operate the system. Additional personnel may be employed to perform such tasks as may be deemed necessary by the Executive Director.
806.3 Only those persons authorized by the Board, including credentialed poll watchers and election observers, shall be admitted to the Counting Center while tabulation is in progress.
806.4 All valid ballots shall be counted by mechanical tabulation unless otherwise determined by the Executive Director.
806.5 Special Ballots, together with any damaged ballots received from the polling places, shall be tabulated separately at a time designated by the Executive Director.
806.6 The valid votes recorded on damaged ballots shall be reproduced on duplicate ballots, in the presence of watchers, with the original and the reproduced ballots marked for identification with corresponding serial numbers.
806.7 The reproduced duplicate ballots, which have converted the votes on the damaged ballots to a machine readable form, shall be tabulated by machine.
806.8 Federal write-in absentee ballots shall be reproduced and tabulated in the same manner as damaged ballots, in accordance with §§ 806.6 - 806.7.
806.9 A Special Ballot cast by a voter who votes in a precinct that does not serve the address listed on the Board’s registration records shall not be counted.
806.10 A count of the number of ballots tallied for a precinct, ballots tallied by groups of precincts and city-wide, shall be accumulated.
806.11 The total of votes cast for each candidate whose name appears pre-printed on the ballot shall be calculated by precinct and city-wide.
806.12 The total number of write-in votes marked by voters shall be reported for each contest.
806.13 The total number of votes cast for each write-in nominee shall be calculated only in contests where at least one individual has timely filed an Affirmation of Write-in Candidacy in accordance with Section 602 of this title, and:
(a) There is no candidate printed on the ballot in order to determine a winner, or;
(b) The total number of write-in votes reported, under § 806.12, is sufficient to elect a write-in candidate.
806.14 Following tabulation of all ballots, a consolidated report shall be produced showing the total votes cast and counted for all offices and ballot questions. Unless otherwise mandated by the Board, the consolidated ballot report shall be made by precinct.
Section 815, PETITIONS FOR RECOUNT, RECOUNT DEPOSITS, AND REFUNDS OF RECOUNT DEPOSITS, is amended in its entirety, to read as follows:
815 PETITIONS FOR RECOUNT, RECOUNT DEPOSITS, AND REFUNDS OF RECOUNT DEPOSITS
815.1 Any qualified candidate in any election may, within seven (7) days after the Board certifies the election results, petition the Board for a recount of the ballots cast in that election. Such petition shall be in writing and shall specify the precincts in which the recount shall be conducted.
815.2 Upon receipt of a recount petition, the Board shall prepare an estimate of:
(a) The costs to perform the recount; and
(b) The number of hours to complete the recount.
815.3 If the petitioner chooses to proceed, the petitioner shall deposit fifty dollars ($50.00) for each precinct included in the recount within seven (7) days of receipt of the estimate of the cost of the recount and the hours required to complete the recount.
815.4 Deposits shall be paid by certified check or money order made payable to the order of the "D.C. Treasurer." No cash will be accepted.
815.5 The petitioner shall not be required to make a deposit for or pay the cost of any recount in any election where the difference between the number of votes received by the petitioner and the number of votes received by the person certified as having been elected to that office is:
(a) In the case of a ward-wide contest, less than one percent (1%) of the total valid ballots cast in the contest or less than fifty (50) votes, whichever is less; or
(b) In the case of an at-large contest, less than one percent (1%) of the total valid ballots cast in the contest or less than three hundred fifty (350) votes, whichever is less; and
(c) In the case of an Advisory Neighborhood Commission Single-Member District contest, less than ten (10) votes.
815.6 If the recount changes the result of the election, the entire amount deposited by the petitioner shall be refunded.
815.7 If the result of the election is not changed, the petitioner is liable for the actual cost of the recount, minus the deposit already made.
815.8 If the results of the election are not changed as a result of the recount, but the cost of the recount was less than fifty dollars ($50.00) per precinct, the difference shall be refunded to the petitioner.
815.9 A candidate may, at any time, request in writing that the recount be terminated and the Board shall refund the deposit remaining for any uncounted precincts.
Section 816, RECOUNT PROCEDURES, is amended in its entirety to read as follows:
816 RECOUNT PROCEDURES
816.1 The Executive Director shall conduct recount proceedings in accordance with provisions of this section.
816.2 The validity of ballots and votes recounted shall be determined pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
816.3 Manual tabulation of votes in a recount proceeding shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
816.4 Within two (2) days following the Board’s determination to grant a recount petition or a court order directing the Board to conduct a recount, notice of recount proceedings shall be delivered via email to all qualified candidates for the contest being recounted. Public notice of recount proceedings shall be posted on the Board’s website at least twenty-four (24) hours in advance of the commencement of the recount.
816.5 Each candidate, or organizational group in support of or opposition to a ballot question, in a contest involved in a recount shall be permitted to have no more than two (2) poll watchers at all phases of the recount, regardless of whether the candidate properly applied for poll watcher credentials pursuant to § 706. Candidates may also observe all phases of the recount in addition to their assigned poll watchers.
816.6 Apart from the election officials necessary to conduct the recount, priority of access to the place where the recount will occur will first be given to the candidate, or organizational groups in support of or opposition to a ballot question, in the contest being recounted. Space permitting, poll watchers and election observers credentialed pursuant to § 706, then members of the public and media shall also be given access.
816.7 Recount officials shall re-run all official ballots through a tabulator and count only the votes for the office or ballot question at issue in the recount. All ballots which are not machine-readable shall be tabulated manually, pursuant to the rules provided in this chapter.
816.8 [REPEALED].
816.9 At the conclusion of the recount proceedings, a recount results report shall be presented to the Board and posted on the Board’s website. The Board shall determine the number of votes received by each candidate as a result of the recount, but shall not make a new certification of the results of the election unless the outcome of the contest has changed as a result of the recount.
816.10 There shall be only one (1) recount per contest.
816.11 Results of the recount are final and not appealable.
