Drop-box procedure

The statute establishes a clear, mandatory procedure for ballot-box security and chain-of-custody: a voting officer must examine and prepare the box before reuse, in the presence of scrutineers. This provides statutorily-grounded, enumerated procedure for secure handling. While this section addresses reuse rather than initial placement, it defines the security protocol that satisfies the procedural-clarity criterion—the requirement is set in statute, the responsible actor is named, and the supervisory mechanism (scrutineer presence) is specified.

Чл. 239 codifies the mobile box service: commission members visit voters at home, no later than 20:00; box sealed after last vote (no later than 21:00); sealed paper tape signed by members; box returned to designated location. Comprehensive chain-of-custody.

“Членовете на подвижната секционна избирателна комисия, които обслужват подвижната избирателна кутия, посещават избирателите от списъка по домовете им”

Iowa Code § 53.17 establishes comprehensive statutory procedures for ballot drop-boxes covering placement (single box at commissioner's office or county property), security (video surveillance, tamper-evident seal, lock access restrictions, secure fastening), and chain-of-custody (mandatory log with date/time/name, expeditious retrieval no less than four times daily, recording of retrieval details on ballot). All requirements are enumerated in statute rather than delegated to administrative discretion.

KRS 117.086 codifies the use of secure drop boxes: a voter may return a mail-in absentee ballot 'to a secure drop-box or receptacle,' and the section ('Return of absentee ballot -- Secure drop-boxes and receptacles -- Locked ballot box') codifies the locked ballot box and the clerk's duty to keep separate lists of ballots returned by each method. Drop-box return is codified — notable as part of Kentucky's 2021 bipartisan election law.

Statute defines placement criteria (subsec. 4), security/design requirements (subsec. 6), video monitoring (subsec. 7), and chain-of-custody by authorizing only clerks/deputies/sworn staff to collect ballots (subsec. 9). All key procedural elements are statutorily grounded and enumerated.

“(6) An absent voter ballot drop box must meet all of the following requirements: (a) Be clearly labeled as an absent voter ballot drop box that can be used to return completed absent voter ballot applications and voted absent voter ballots. (b) Be securely locked, be affixed to the ground or to another stationary object, and be designed to prevent the removal of absent voter ballot applications and absent voter ballots when locked.”

§ 203B.082 codifies absentee-ballot drop boxes with statutory 'SECURITY AND INTEGRITY' requirements — defining a drop box as 'a secure receptacle or container established to receive completed absentee ballots 24 hours per day.' § 203B.08 codifies that ballots may be returned via a drop box. Comprehensive drop-box framework codified.

“As used in this section, "drop box" means a secure receptacle or container established to receive completed absentee ballots 24 hours per day.”

§ 13-19-307 codifies the ballot drop-off framework for mail-ballot elections — designated places of deposit, each staffed by at least two election officials, with an official ballot transport box secured as provided by law and poll watchers permitted.

“Each place of deposit must be staffed by at least two election officials”

§ 8-416 codifies absentee-ballot drop-box requirements (secure receptacle established by board of elections). § 8-412 codifies polling-place ballot delivery procedure. § 8-410 codifies absentee-ballot marking. Drop-box procedure statutorily defined and required by board.

Art. 45 codifies the mobile ballot box ('urna specială') procedure: at least 2 section commission members transport sealed mobile box only within section territorial range, with 'VOTAT' stamp, ballots, and tape; one mobile box per section.

The statute explicitly defines drop-box placement (at least one per municipality/reservation), security (24-hour video surveillance without audio, required signage), and chain-of-custody (video access limited to named officials and voters, retention requirements until end of calendar year or election contest resolution). All procedures are grounded in statute with enumerated requirements rather than administrative discretion.

§ 2543a codifies secure ballot drop boxes: 'a board of civil authority may vote to install one or more secure outdoor ballot drop boxes (drop boxes) for the return of voted ballots,' located on municipal property (at the clerk's office if a town has only one), available for ballot return at any time of day. Drop-box placement, security, and timing codified.

“A board of civil authority may vote to install one or more secure outdoor ballot drop boxes (drop boxes) for the return of voted ballots.”

The statute enumerates specific, mandatory procedures for drop-box security (two-person removal requirement, record-keeping of date/time/names), chain-of-custody (secured transport containers, record copies, seal verification), and placement (minimum density and geographic distribution). These requirements are set directly in statute with clear, actionable language rather than delegated to administrative discretion.

“The county auditor must prevent overflow of each ballot drop box to allow a voter to deposit his or her ballot securely. Ballots must be removed from a ballot drop box by at least two people, with a record kept of the date and time ballots were removed, and the names of people removing them. Ballots from drop boxes must be returned to the counting center in secured transport containers. A copy of the record must be placed in the container, and one copy must be transported with the ballots to the counting center, where the seal number must be verified by the county auditor or a designated representative. All ballot drop boxes must be secured at 8:00 p.m. on the day of the primary, special election, or general election.”

§ 21-2-382 codifies additional buildings as additional registrar's office for receiving absentee ballots — drop-off locations. § 21-2-568.2 codifies photographic/electronic monitoring prohibition near ballots. Drop-box procedure was extensively codified pre-2021 SB 202; post-SB 202 drop-boxes limited to inside early-voting locations during business hours.

No matching sections in corpus.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: This section enumerates criminal penalties for electoral violations (fraud, coercion, ballot tampering, etc.) but does not address ballot drop-box procedures—neither placement, security, nor chain-of-custody. The statute provides enforcement (criminal sanctions) but no procedural rules governing drop-box administration. The criterion requires statutory definition of drop-box procedures; this section contains only penal law, not procedural law for drop-box operations.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: § 16-1005 defines criminal prohibitions and penalties for ballot abuse, misrepresentation of official drop sites, and unauthorized ballot collection—addressing enforcement against illegal drop-box conduct. However, it does not define any affirmative procedures for placement, security, or chain-of-custody of lawful drop-boxes. The statute criminalizes false drop sites and unlawful collection but delegates the actual procedural requirements (location, security, handling protocols) to election officials' administrative authority, not to statutory enumeration.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: This section prohibits drop boxes entirely rather than permitting them with statutory procedures. The criterion asks whether drop-box procedures (placement, security, chain-of-custody) are defined in statute if drop boxes are permitted. Since Arkansas law forbids drop boxes, there is no drop-box procedure to evaluate. This is a jurisdictional prohibition, not a procedural framework.

No candidate sections returned by FTS.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: § 87 NRWO addresses contingency procedures for election day disruptions (postponement, extension, document security) and data processing failures. It contains no provisions regarding ballot drop-boxes, their placement, security, chain-of-custody procedures, or any related administrative framework. The section is entirely inapplicable to the criterion being evaluated.

No candidate sections returned by FTS.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: This section addresses electronic voting system malfunctions and expert oversight protocols, not ballot drop-box procedures. It contains no provisions regarding drop-box placement, security, or chain-of-custody. The section is entirely inapplicable to the criterion being evaluated.

No matching sections in corpus.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: § 18302 criminalizes misdirection literature about polling-place locations but does not codify drop-box procedure. CA's drop-box framework is in Elec Code §§ 3025-3025.5 (Div 3, not ingested).

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: CEA s. 140 governs the opening and sealing of in-person polling station ballot boxes at the start of voting, not drop-box procedures. It specifies ballot-box handling for traditional polling stations but does not address drop-box placement, security, or chain-of-custody procedures, which are the subject of the criterion.

This section addresses only drop-box operating hours, not the procedural elements required by the criterion: placement, security, and chain-of-custody procedures are not enumerated here. While drop-boxes are permitted and hours are statutorily defined, the three core procedural topics (placement, security, chain-of-custody) are either absent from this section or referenced to other statutory provisions not included in the text for evaluation.

The statute establishes drop-box authority and mandates video recording with specific temporal requirements (capture from first issuance through last retrieval, public release within 5 days, 12-month retention). However, critical procedural details—placement, positioning, security standards, and chain-of-custody protocols—are explicitly delegated to Secretary of State regulations rather than enumerated in statute. The statute satisfies the video-recording and retrieval elements but fails the core criterion's requirement that placement, security, and chain-of-custody procedures be defined in statute, not administrative directive.

“The Secretary of the State may adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, concerning the use of secure drop boxes for the deposit of absentee ballots, including, but not limited to, the placement and positioning of any such drop box and the video recording of any such drop box and retention of any such recording.”

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: This section addresses campaign financing, membership fees, and donation reporting requirements for political parties and candidates in Croatia. It contains no provisions whatsoever regarding ballot drop-boxes, their placement, security, or chain-of-custody procedures. The section is entirely outside the scope of voting methods or ballot collection infrastructure.

No matching sections in corpus.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: While the statute authorizes drop-box use and specifies that boxes must be 'secure' and in 'publicly accessible' locations within Department offices, it does not enumerate placement standards (e.g., distance from polling places, lighting, camera requirements), security specifications (e.g., lock types, tamper-evident seals, material standards), or chain-of-custody procedures (e.g., pickup frequency, documentation, witness requirements, log maintenance). These critical procedural elements are left to administrative discretion rather than statutory specification.

No candidate sections returned by FTS.

No matching sections in corpus (FTS returned 0 candidates) — concept not codified in this jurisdiction's election statute.

No candidate sections returned by FTS.

No candidate sections returned by FTS.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: This section addresses only the physical specifications of ballot papers themselves (color, weight, dimensions, typography)—not ballot drop-boxes, their placement, security, or chain-of-custody procedures. The criterion requires statutory definition of drop-box procedures, which this section does not address at all.

No candidate sections returned by FTS.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: This section addresses the physical table at which the polling board sits and where the ballot box is placed during in-person voting. It contains no reference to drop-boxes, their placement, security protocols, or chain-of-custody procedures. The criterion requires statutory definition of drop-box procedures, which are entirely absent from this text.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: Άρθρο 97 governs mixed ετεροδημότες polling-station procedures (envelope-based out-of-district voting); not a drop-box procedure.

No matching sections in corpus.

The statute authorizes drop-boxes ('places of deposit') and imposes a general security standard (ballots 'can be securely maintained'), but does not enumerate specific placement criteria, security protocols, or chain-of-custody procedures. The phrase 'as may be permitted by the operational hours' delegates further definition to administrative discretion, leaving the core procedural details unspecified in statute.

“The clerks may designate and provide for places of deposit to be open as early as the mailing of ballots by the clerks; provided that the locations and apparatus for receiving voted ballots can be securely maintained during the period of use for each election, and as may be permitted by the operational hours.”

No matching sections in corpus.

No candidate sections returned by FTS.

The statute establishes a rejection rule for non-compliant drop boxes but does not affirmatively define statutory procedures for placement, security, and chain-of-custody. It specifies a negative requirement (what triggers rejection) without enumerating the affirmative drop-box procedures themselves, leaving those details to administrative implementation under IC 3-11-10-24.

The section provides statutory grounding for ballot box security and chain-of-custody elements (sealing, agent oversight, safe custody), but does not address placement procedures. More critically, 'safe custody' is a directive to the returning officer without specific enumerated security protocols or chain-of-custody detail, leaving implementation to administrative discretion. The criterion requires all three procedural elements (placement, security, chain-of-custody) defined in statute; this section covers only partial ground on two of them.

No matching sections in corpus.

No matching sections in corpus (FTS returned 0 candidates) — concept not codified in this jurisdiction's election statute.

No matching sections in corpus (FTS returned 0 candidates) — concept not codified in this jurisdiction's election statute.

No matching sections in corpus.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: Article 301 addresses ballot box procedures during voting and counting at polling stations (urne, dépouillement), but does not discuss ballot drop-boxes or any remote/unsupervised ballot deposit mechanisms. The statute contains no provisions regarding drop-box placement, security standards, or chain-of-custody procedures for unsupervised ballot containers. The criterion is inapplicable to this section.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: Article 169 describes ballot-counting and tabulation procedures at polling stations (opening urns, counting ballots, recording votes) but contains no reference to ballot drop-boxes, their placement, security, or chain-of-custody procedures. The section addresses post-voting ballot handling at a central location, not remote deposit mechanisms. Since the statute text does not address drop-box procedures at all, the criterion cannot be satisfied.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: Section 674 is a criminal penalties statute that prohibits interference with drop boxes and other election crimes. It does not define drop-box placement, security, or chain-of-custody procedures; it merely criminalizes misconduct related to them. The actual procedural requirements for drop boxes would be found in other sections of Maine's election code, not in this penalties provision.

The statute defines placement factors statutorily with some enumeration (subsection a lists five criteria) and establishes a review process with the State Administrator. However, the section contains no statutory definition of security procedures or chain-of-custody procedures—both critical elements of the criterion. The placement factors themselves are also somewhat discretionary (e.g., 'maximizing voter participation' and 'equitable distribution') rather than mechanically enumerated. Security and chain-of-custody are entirely absent from this statutory text.

“(a) A local board shall consider the following factors when determining the location of a ballot drop box: (1) the accessibility of the ballot drop box to historically disenfranchised communities, including voters with disabilities, cultural groups, ethnic groups, and minority groups; (2) proximity of the ballot drop box to dense concentrations of voters; (3) accessibility of the ballot drop box by public transportation; (4) equitable distribution of ballot drop boxes throughout the county; and (5) maximizing voter participation, including through placement of ballot drop boxes at community centers and public gathering places.”

The statute permits secured municipal drop boxes as a return method but does not enumerate placement, security, or chain-of-custody procedures—these details are left to municipal or administrative discretion. Only the existence and general security characterization ('secured') appear in statute; operational specifics are not defined.

“via a secured municipal drop box, where provided”

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: This section addresses procedures for counting and tabulating ballots at polling places (escrutinio y cómputo en la casilla), not ballot drop-boxes. The criterion evaluates whether drop-box procedures are statutorily defined; this section contains no mention of drop-boxes, their placement, security, or chain-of-custody. The section is not applicable to the criterion.

No matching sections in corpus.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: This section prohibits drop boxes entirely rather than permitting them and defining procedural safeguards. The criterion asks whether drop-box procedures are defined in statute when drop boxes are permitted; this statute eliminates the category entirely, making the procedural-clarity question inapplicable. The section does not address placement, security, or chain-of-custody because the practice is forbidden.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: Article 80 addresses security of the voting process at polling stations on election day, including ballot box sealing, identity badges, mobile ballot boxes for voters unable to attend, and observer presence. It contains no mention of drop-boxes, their placement, security protocols, or chain-of-custody procedures. The section does not engage with the drop-box criterion at all.

The statute requires drop-boxes and specifies availability (24 hours, 10+ days before election), but does not statutorily define placement, security standards, or chain-of-custody procedures—these elements are left to administrative discretion under the county clerk's approval process. The word 'secure' is used but not defined by the statute itself.

“Shall maintain at least one secure ballot drop-box available for voters to deposit completed ballots twenty-four hours per day, starting at least ten days before the election through the deadline provided in subsection (1) of this section for the receipt of ballots”

This section addresses the inapplicability of proxy voting and voter pass mechanisms in a specific chapter context, but contains no substantive content regarding ballot drop-boxes, their placement, security, or chain-of-custody procedures. The section is not responsive to the criterion question.

The statute requires ballot drop boxes and addresses placement (within Indian reservation boundaries, approved by tribe), but delegates the actual criteria for placement, security, and chain-of-custody to the city clerk's general standards rather than enumerating them in statute. The phrase 'criteria the city clerk uses' leaves these procedural details to administrative discretion, not statutory definition.

No matching sections in corpus.

No matching sections in corpus.

No matching sections in corpus.

No candidate sections returned by FTS.

No candidate sections returned by FTS.

No matching sections in corpus (FTS returned 0 candidates) — concept not codified in this jurisdiction's election statute.

No matching sections in corpus.

The statute authorizes drop-boxes and mandates minimum hours of operation (8+ hours, open until 8 p.m. on election day), but delegates placement criteria, security requirements, and chain-of-custody procedures to administrative rulemaking by the Secretary of State rather than enumerating them in statute. This violates the core procedural-clarity principle that substantive procedural rules must be set by statute, not left to administrator discretion.

No matching sections in corpus (FTS returned 0 candidates) — concept not codified in this jurisdiction's election statute.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: Article 44 addresses auxiliary urns (secondary ballot boxes) in healthcare and care facilities, but does not statutorily define placement, security, or chain-of-custody procedures. The section permits their use after coordination with a higher electoral commission (§1) and specifies they are for specific facility types (§2) and require two-person supervision from different electoral committees during ballot insertion (§3), but contains no enumerated procedures for physical placement, security standards, sealing protocols, transport, or custody documentation. These procedural details are left to administrative implementation by the electoral commissions.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: Article 46.º addresses the designation and credentialing of poll delegates and substitutes for electoral assemblies and polling sections. It contains no provisions whatsoever regarding ballot drop-boxes, their placement, security, or chain-of-custody procedures. The section is entirely procedural for delegate appointment and does not engage with the criterion's topic.

No matching sections in corpus.

No candidate sections returned by FTS.

No candidate sections returned by FTS.

No matching sections in corpus.

No matching sections in corpus.

No candidate sections returned by FTS.

No candidate sections returned by FTS.

No matching sections in corpus.

No matching sections in corpus (FTS returned 0 candidates) — concept not codified in this jurisdiction's election statute.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: Turkey does not use ballot drop-boxes. Law 298 Article 14 enumerates YSK powers over ballot-envelope procurement but does not codify drop-box procedures because no drop boxes exist.

No candidate sections returned by FTS.

No matching sections in corpus (FTS returned 0 candidates) — concept not codified in this jurisdiction's election statute.

No matching sections in corpus.

The statute delegates drop-box regulation to the Secretary of State rulemaking rather than enumerating requirements in the statute itself. While subsection (b) requires the Secretary to propose rules addressing placement ('designation'), hours of operation, and security, these procedural specifics are not statutorily enumerated—they remain subject to administrative discretion within rulemaking. Only the minimum hours requirement (8 p.m.) is set in statute. The criterion requires statutory definition, not a mandate that rules be created.

No candidate sections returned by FTS.

No matching sections in corpus.