§ Iowa Code § 52.5Testing and examination of voting equipment

52.5 Testing and examination of voting equipment.
1. A person or corporation owning or being interested in an optical scan voting system
may request that the state commissioner call upon the board of examiners to examine and
test the system. Within seven days of receiving a request for examination and test, the state
commissioner shall notify the board of examiners of the request in writing and set a time and
place for the examination and test.
2. The state commissioner shall formulate, with the advice and assistance of the
examiners, and adopt rules governing the testing and examination of any optical scan
voting system by the board of examiners. The rules shall prescribe the method to be used
in determining whether the system is suitable for use within the state and performance
standards for voting equipment in use within the state. The rules shall provide that all optical
scan voting systems approved for use by the examiners after April 9, 2003, shall meet voting
systems performance and test standards, as adopted by the federal election commission on
April 30, 2002, and as deemed adopted by Pub. L. No. 107-252, §222. The rules shall include
standards for determining when recertification is necessary following modifications to the
Tue Dec 09 22:30:54 2025
Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 52 (35, 0)
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VOTING SYSTEMS, §52.19
equipment or to the programs used in tabulating votes, and a procedure for rescinding
certification if a system is found not to comply with performance standards adopted by the
state commissioner.
3. The state commissioner may employ a competent person or persons to assist the
examiners in their evaluation of the equipment and to advise the examiners as to the
sufficiency of the equipment. Consultant fees shall be paid by the person who requested the
certification. Following the examination and testing of the optical scan voting system, the
examiners shall report to the state commissioner describing the testing and examination of
the system and upon the capacity of the system to register the will of voters, its accuracy
and efficiency, and with respect to its mechanical perfections and imperfections. Their
report shall be filed in the office of the state commissioner and shall state whether in their
opinion the kind of system so examined can be safely used by voters at elections under the
conditions prescribed in this chapter. If the report states that the system can be so used, it
shall be deemed approved by the examiners, and systems of its kind may be adopted for use
at elections as provided in this section. Any form of system not so approved cannot be used
at any election.
4. Before actual use by a county of a particular optical scan voting system which has been
approved for use in this state, the state commissioner shall formulate, with the advice and
assistance of the examiners, and adopt rules governing the development of vote counting
programs and all procedures used in actual counting of votes by means of that system.
§29; 2009 Acts, ch 57, §50