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SB1568 - 572R - S Ver
Senate Engrossed
early
ballots; registration signatures; curing
(now: election
systems; software; timekeeping; requirements)
State of Arizona
Senate
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
SENATE BILL 1568
AN
ACT
amending section 16-449, Arizona Revised
Statutes; amending title 16, chapter 4, article 4, Arizona Revised Statutes, by
adding section 16-449.01; relating to election equipment.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 16-449, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE
16-449.
Required test of equipment and programs; notice; procedures
manual
A. Within the period of time before the election day
prescribed by the secretary of state in the instructions and procedures manual
adopted pursuant to section 16-452, the board of supervisors or other
election
officer in charge
of elections
,
or for an election involving state or federal candidates, the secretary of
state, shall
have
test
the automatic
tabulating equipment and programs
tested
to ascertain that
the equipment and programs will correctly count the votes cast for all offices
and on all measures
and that any internal clocks and timekeeping
functions comply with section 16-449.01
.� Public notice of the time and
place of the test shall be given at least forty-eight hours
prior thereto
before the test
by
publication once in one or more daily or weekly newspapers published in the
town, city or village using such equipment, if a newspaper is published
therein
in the town, city or village
,
otherwise in a newspaper of general circulation
therein
in the area affected
.� The test shall be observed by at least
two election inspectors, who shall not be of the same political party, and
shall be open to representatives of the political parties, candidates, the
press and the public. The test shall be conducted by processing a
preaudited group of ballots so marked as to record a predetermined number of
valid votes for each candidate and on each measure and shall include for each
office one or more ballots that have votes in excess of the number allowed by
law in order to test the ability of the automatic tabulating equipment and
programs to reject such votes.�
The test also shall include
verification that the internal clocks of the equipment and programs are set and
MAINTAINED as prescribed by section 16-449.01 and that any DEVIATION is
corrected and retested.�
If any error is detected, the cause
therefor
for the error
shall be
ascertained and corrected and an errorless count shall be made before the
automatic tabulating equipment and programs are approved.� A copy of a revised
program shall be filed with the secretary of state within forty-eight
hours after the revision is made. If the error was created by
automatic tabulating equipment malfunction, a report shall be filed with the
secretary of state within forty-eight hours after the correction is made,
stating the cause and the corrective action taken.� The test shall be repeated
immediately before the start of the official count of the ballots in the same
manner as set forth
above
in this
subsection
.� After the completion of the count, the programs used and
the ballots shall be sealed, retained and disposed of as provided for paper
ballots.
B. Electronic ballot tabulating systems shall be
tested for logic and accuracy within seven days before their use for early
balloting pursuant to the instructions and procedures manual for electronic
voting systems that is adopted by the secretary of state as prescribed by
section 16-452. The instructions and procedures manual shall
include procedures for the handling of ballots, the electronic scanning of
ballots and any other matters necessary to ensure the maximum degree of
correctness, impartiality and uniformity in the administration of an electronic
ballot tabulating system.
C. Notwithstanding subsections A and B of this
section, if a county uses accessible voting equipment to mark ballots and that
accessible voting equipment does not independently tabulate or tally votes, the
secretary of state in cooperation with the county officer in charge of
elections may designate a single date to test the logic and accuracy of both
the accessible voting equipment and electronic ballot tabulating systems.
END_STATUTE
Sec. 2. Title 16, chapter 4, article 4, Arizona
Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 16-449.01, to read:
START_STATUTE
16-449.01.
Election systems and software; time accuracy requirements;
violation; classification; definitions
A. Before their use during an
election period, all election systems and software shall have their clocks and
internal timekeeping functions set to and maintained at the accurate current
time, within sixty seconds of the official time as provided by the national
institute of standards and technology and as adjusted for the appropriate time
zones in this state.� This section applies throughout the election period and
includes all timestamps that are generated for logs, records, affidavits, cure
periods, ballot issuance and ballot processing and for test and audit purposes.
B. For election systems and software
under their respective statutory authority AND duties, the board of
supervisors, or other officer in charge of elections, and the county recorder,
shall:
1. Set and verify compliance with
subsection a OF THIS SECTION during preelection preparation, programming, data
entry, system setup and voter registration activities.
2. Verify compliance as part of each
required test and review of equipment and election systems and software,
including all of the following:
(
a
) Logic and
accuracy testing prescribed by section 16-449.
(
b
) Any
compatibility reviews for voter registration systems under section 16-168.
(
c
) Any
security reviews for voter registration systems under section 16-168.
3. Maintain and reverify time
accuracy during the election period, including on election day AND during
central counting, early ballot processing, signature verification and all other
processes PRESCRIBED BY this section.
4. Perform and document a final time
accuracy verification as part of postelection procedures, including for THE
canvass and any audits, recounts and chain of custody reviews IN WHICH
timestamps are material.
c. The secretary of state shall
include pROCEDURES FOR All verifications required by subsection b OF THIS
SECTION IN THE INSTRUCTIONS AND procedures manual adopted pursuant to section
16-452, including methods, frequency and responsible personnel and any
corrective actions for noncompliance.
d. A person who violates this section
is GUILTY of a class 2 misdemeanor.
e. For the purposes of this section:
1. "ELECTION PERIOD" MEANS
THE TIME FROM INITIAL PREPARATION, PROGRAMMING AND DATA ENTRY FOR AN ELECTION
THROUGH the FINAL CANVASS, CERTIFICATION OF RESULTS AND COMPLETION OF ANY
REQUIRED POSTELECTION AUDIT or RECOUNT.
2. "ELECTION SYSTEM and
SOFTWARE":
(
a
) means ALL
HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, DATABASES, ELECTRONIC POLLBOOKS, VOTER REGISTRATION
SYSTEMS, SIGNATURE VERIFICATION SYSTEMS, EARLY BALLOT PROCESSING EQUIPMENT,
ACCESSIBLE VOTING DEVICES, AUTOMATIC TABULATING EQUIPMENT, ELECTRONIC VOTING
SYSTEMS, VOTE RECORDING DEVICES, BALLOT SCANNERS, BALLOT PRINTERS, ELECTION
MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS and STATEWIDE VOTER REGISTRATION DATABASE INTERFACES.
(
b
) includes
ANY OTHER TECHNOLOGY USED TO REGISTER VOTERS, PROCESS BALLOTS, RECORD VOTES,
TABULATE RESULTS, VERIFY SIGNATURES, GENERATE LOGS, TRACK CHAIN OF CUSTODY,
CONDUCT AUDITS AND CERTIFY ELECTION OUTCOMES IN AN ELECTION CONDUCTED PURSUANT TO
THIS TITLE.
END_STATUTE