HAVA Update April 11, 2005
SUMMARY OF “THE HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT” OF 2002 Section-By-Section ...
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Vote Act of 2002,” known as HAVA. This significant piece of national election ... Provide voters
an opportunity to check for and correct ballot errors ...
http://www.sos.state.ms.us/elections/HAVA/Summary.pdf
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Section 1: Compliance with Requirements of Title II
Section 254(a)(1), page 72
How the state will use the requirements payment to meet the requirements of
Title III, and, if applicable under Section 251(a)(2), to carry out other activities to improve the administration of elections.
Title III, commencing with Section 301 (page 96), sets forth “Uniform and Non-Discriminatory Election
Technology and Administration Requirements.”
Below is a summary of the requirements of Title III of HAVA and how California will use the requirements
payment to comply with that federal law. It should be noted that, pursuant to Section 305 (page 124), the specific choices
on the methods of complying with the requirements of Title III are left to the discretion of the State.
A. Voting Systems Standards
Section 301(a), pages 96-102
Federal Law
HAVA
requires that each voting system used in a federal election on or after January 1, 2006, meet each of the following requirements.
Balloting errors
The voting system must permit the voter to verify privately and independently
the votes selected before casting a ballot and must permit the voter privately and independently to change or correct a ballot
before it is cast, including receiving a replacement ballot.
Note that the requirement that a voting system permit the
voter to verify the votes selected before casting a ballot may not be defined in a manner that makes it impossible for a paper
ballot voting system to meet the new requirements of HAVA.
Voter notice on overvoting and correction
The voting system must:
- notify the voter of an overvote (casting votes for more candidates than allowed);
- notify the voter of the effect of overvoting (i.e. the vote for that office will not be counted);
- provide the voter with the opportunity to correct the ballot, if he or she has overvoted.
Paper-based voting systems compliance
Paper-based voting systems, including absentee
balloting systems, may meet the above requirements with:
- voting-system specific voter education programs notifying the voter of the effect of overvoting;
- instructions on how to correct a ballot before it is cast, including instructions on obtaining a replacement
ballot; and
- system designs that preserve voter confidentiality.
http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/hava_section_1.htm
