§ La. R.S. 18:1313(untitled)

Tabulation and counting of absentee by mail and early voting ballots
A. The parish board of election supervisors may conduct the tabulation and counting of absentee
by mail and early voting ballots in accordance with this Section. The parish board shall notify the secretary
of state in writing no later than five days prior to a primary or general election that the tabulation and
counting of absentee by mail and early voting ballots will be conducted pursuant to this Section or pursuant
to R.S. 18:1313.1.
B.(1) The parish board of election supervisors shall be responsible for the preparation, verification,
counting, and tabulation of all absentee by mail and early voting ballots in the parish. The board may utilize
parish board commissioners to count the absentee by mail and early voting ballots in the parish. If the board
determines that parish board commissioners are necessary to prepare, verify, count, and tabulate the absentee
by mail and early voting ballots, it shall select parish board commissioners in accordance with the provisions
of R.S. 18:1314.
(2) If an insufficient number of parish board commissioners was selected pursuant to R.S. 18:1314
to count the absentee by mail and early voting ballots, the board, through the registrar of voters, shall request
approval from the commissioner of elections to select a sufficient number of parish board commissioners on
election day to assist in the counting of the ballots.
C.(1) Absentee by mail and early voting ballots shall be counted at a public facility within the parish
designated by the registrar of voters at a time fixed by the parish board of election supervisors, which time
shall be on election day no later than 8:00 p.m.
(2) Prior to the counting of absentee by mail and early voting ballots on election day, any person
authorized by the secretary of state may assist the registrar of voters in the challenge removal process on the
early voting machines, in the reading of the early voting machine results cartridges on the secretary of state's
equipment, and in producing the early voting machine results report. All early voting machine results reports
shall be placed in the special, secure absentee by mail and early voting container.
D.(1) If the preparation, verification, counting, and tabulation of absentee by mail and early voting
ballots begins prior to the closing of the polls, such preparation, verification, counting, and tabulation shall
be conducted in a location and manner to prevent disclosure of the results prior to the closing of the polls.
Each person except a person providing security to the parish board of election supervisors; a representative
of the attorney general, with written approval of the secretary of state; the clerk of court; the registrar of
voters; or a person providing technical assistance pursuant to Paragraph (2) of this Subsection who enters
the location in which the absentee by mail and early voting ballots are being prepared, verified, counted, and
tabulated shall remain in that location and shall not be allowed to leave except temporarily, and then only
when accompanied by a law enforcement officer, and shall not communicate with any person outside until
the polls are closed. The parish board of election supervisors may take any action necessary to ensure that
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no information with respect to the preparation, verification, counting, and tabulation of absentee by mail and
early voting ballots is transmitted from the location where the absentee by mail and early voting ballots are
being counted and tabulated prior to the close of the polls on election day.
(2) Any person authorized by the secretary of state may provide security or technical assistance
including advice, analysis, diagnosis, or repair for voting machines at the location where absentee by mail
and early voting votes are being prepared, verified, counted, and tabulated. Such security or technical
assistance shall be provided only upon the request of the parish board of election supervisors or a team of
parish board commissioners, and may be made in person at the location where absentee by mail and early
voting votes are being prepared, verified, counted, and tabulated, or by telephone, or both. Any authorized
person providing such security or technical assistance may enter and leave the location where absentee by
mail and early voting votes are being prepared, verified, counted, and tabulated before the closing of the polls
and during the process of counting and tabulation. No such person shall disclose any information with
respect to the preparation, verification, counting, and tabulation of absentee by mail and early voting ballots
prior to the close of the polls on election day.
E.(1) Candidates, their representatives, and qualified electors may be present during the preparation,
verification, counting, and tabulation of absentee by mail and early voting ballots. If the counting and
tabulation of absentee by mail and early voting ballots begin prior to the closing of the polls, the board shall
give notice reasonably calculated to inform any person who wants to be present during the preparation,
verification, counting, and tabulation that no person will be allowed to leave or to communicate with any
other person outside, until such time as the polls are closed, nor shall any person who is present during the
preparation, verification, counting, and tabulation of absentee by mail and early voting ballots possess a
cellular telephone or electronic communication or recording device.
(2) The preparation, verification, counting, and tabulation of absentee by mail and early voting
ballots shall not be video, audio, or tape recorded, filmed, or broadcast live.
F. The board shall count the absentee by mail and early voting ballots and post the results after the
closing of the polls as the total number of absentee by mail and early voting votes cast in the election for each
candidate and the total number cast for and against each proposition.
G. The procedure for the preparation, verification, counting, and tabulation of absentee by mail
ballots shall be as follows:
(1) A member of the board shall remove all certificates, envelopes, and ballots from the special,
secure absentee by mail and early voting ballot container.
(2) The board shall announce the name of each absentee by mail voter and the ward and precinct
where he is registered to vote and shall compare the name on the certificate with the names on the absentee
by mail voter report.
(3) The board shall determine the validity of challenges filed in accordance with R.S. 18:1315.
(4) If the board determines that an absentee by mail ballot is valid, a member of the board shall make
a check mark on the absentee by mail voter report beside the name of the voter as it appears on the report and
write his initials on each page of the report. If applicable, a member of the board shall remove the certificate
and leave the envelope sealed.
(5) If a majority of the members of the board determine that an absentee by mail ballot is invalid,
the members shall not remove the certificate, leave the envelope sealed, and a member of the board shall
write the word "rejected", together with the reasons for rejecting the ballot, across the envelope containing
the ballot or across the certificate. The member shall also write the word "rejected" and his initials on the
absentee by mail voter report beside the name of the voter as it appears in the report. The rejected absentee
by mail ballots and certificates shall be replaced in the special, secure absentee by mail and early voting
ballot container. No rejected absentee by mail ballot shall be counted.
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(6) After the validity of all absentee by mail ballots has been determined, the members of the board
shall place the valid certificates in the container provided for that purpose and seal the container. Two of
the members shall execute the certificate on the container.
(7) The members shall open the envelopes containing the valid absentee by mail ballots and remove
the ballots.
(8) The board shall, in accordance with the requirements of R.S. 18:1316, reject any ballot which
contains a distinguishing mark or feature making the ballot susceptible of identification. However, a ballot
shall not be rejected as containing a distinguishing mark if the ballot was transmitted electronically to a
member of the United States Service, as defined in R.S. 18:1302, or a person residing outside the United
States.
(9) If a ballot is physically damaged or cannot properly be counted by the counting equipment and
the vote cast by the voter is clearly discernible from a physical inspection of the defective ballot, the ballot
may be counted by hand or a true duplicate may be made of the defective ballot in the presence of witnesses
and substituted for the ballot. Any duplicate ballot shall be clearly labeled "duplicate", bear a ballot number
which shall be recorded on the defective ballot, and be counted in lieu of the defective ballot. After a ballot
has been duplicated, the defective ballot shall be placed in the special, secure absentee by mail and early
voting ballot container, and the duplicate ballot shall be counted with the other valid ballots.
(10) The special absentee ballots cast by members of the United States Service or persons who
reside outside of the United States shall be counted either by hand or as a true duplicate.
H. The procedure for counting early voting machine ballots and paper ballots voted during early
voting shall be as follows:
(1) A member of the board shall remove the early voting verification forms, early voting machine
public counter logs, early voting confirmation sheets, paper ballots voted during early voting, early voter
report, and all early voting machine results reports from the special, secure absentee by mail and early voting
ballot container.
(2) The board shall review the early voting verification forms and early voting machine public
counter logs and, if found to be acceptable to the board, sign each early voting verification form. If the board
does not find an early voting verification form to be acceptable, it may review any early voting confirmation
sheet and shall document its correction to the early voting verification form and then sign it.
(3) The board shall post the results from each early voting machine results report for the early voting
ballots, unless an early voting ballot has been challenged pursuant to R.S. 18:1309(E)(6) or 1315.
(4) For each paper ballot voted during early voting, the board shall announce the name of the person
who voted by paper ballot during early voting and the ward and precinct where the person is registered to
vote and shall compare the name on the certificate with the names on the early voter report.
(5) The board shall determine the validity of challenges made in accordance with R.S. 18:1315.
(6) If the board determines that a paper ballot voted during early voting is valid, a member of the
board shall write the words "voted early" and his initials on the early voter report beside the name of the
voter as it appears on the report. A member of the board shall remove the certificate and leave the envelope
sealed.
(7) If a majority of the members of the board determine that a paper ballot voted during early voting
is invalid, the members shall not remove the certificate, leave the envelope sealed, and a member of the board
shall write the word "rejected" together with the reasons for rejecting the ballot across the envelope
containing the ballot. The member shall also write the word "rejected" and his initials on the early voter
report beside the name of the voter as it appears on the report. The rejected ballot shall be placed in the
special, secure absentee by mail and early voting ballot container. No rejected paper ballot voted during
early voting shall be counted.
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(8) After the validity of all paper ballots voted during early voting has been determined, the
members of the board shall place the valid early voting confirmation sheets and certificates in the container
provided for that purpose and seal the container. Two of the members shall execute the certificate on the
container.
(9) The members shall open the envelopes containing the valid paper ballots voted during early
voting and remove the ballots.
(10) The board shall, in accordance with the requirements of R.S. 18:1316, reject any ballot which
contains a distinguishing mark or feature making the ballot susceptible of identification.
(11) If a ballot is physically damaged or cannot properly be counted by the counting equipment and
the vote cast by the voter is clearly discernible from a physical inspection of the defective ballot, the ballot
may be counted by hand or a true duplicate may be made of the defective ballot in the presence of witnesses
and substituted for the ballot. Any duplicate ballot shall be clearly labeled "duplicate", bear a ballot number
which shall be recorded on the defective ballot, and be counted in lieu of the defective ballot. After a ballot
has been duplicated, the defective ballot shall be placed in the special, secure absentee by mail and early
voting ballot container, and the duplicate ballot shall be counted with the other valid ballots.
(12)(a) Prior to utilizing any absentee by mail and early voting counting equipment, the parish board
of election supervisors shall generate a zero tally to ensure that the equipment's candidate and question
counters are set at zero and that no votes have been cast for any candidate or for or against any proposition.
(b) The board shall sign and certify to the correctness of each zero proof sheet and place all zero
proof sheets in the special, secure absentee by mail and early voting container.
(13) The absentee by mail a