Central Counting Station & Central Accumulating Station Texas Secretary of State Elections Division 12/31/2018 Central Counting Station & Central Accumulating Station Andre Montgomery, Staff Attorney Elections Division – Texas Secretary of State 33rd Annual Election Seminar – August 2015 12/31/2018 Texas Secretary of State Elections Division Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

Texas Secretary of State Elections Division Central Count Central Counting Station = Location for optical scan ballots to be tabulated. 12/31/2018 Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

Texas Secretary of State Central Accumulation Central Accumulation Station = Location for results from precinct tabulators and DREs to be accumulated and tabulated. 12/31/2018 Texas Secretary of State

Texas Secretary of State Elections Division Establishing CCS Established by authority that adopted electronic voting system. Commissioners court for the November 3, 2015 constitutional amendment election. 12/31/2018 Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

Texas Secretary of State CCS Personnel Central Counting Station Manager = Manages overall administration of station and supervision of personnel. Tabulation Supervisor = Operates automatic tabulating equipment. Assistant Tabulation Supervisor = Assists Tabulation Supervisor. Presiding Judge = Maintains order at CCS and administers oaths. Receives ballot boxes. 12/31/2018 Texas Secretary of State

Texas Secretary of State CCS Manager Same qualifications as an election judge, but doesn’t have to be a registered voter of the political subdivision during first year voting system is adopted or if person is employee of the political subdivision. Must have knowledge and experience with elections and voting systems. Employee of political subdivision is eligible. General custodian of election records is eligible regardless of status as a candidate/officeholder. Appointed by authority establishing CCS. 12/31/2018 Texas Secretary of State

Tabulation Supervisor Same qualifications as an election judge. Must be trained on equipment used. Employee of political subdivision is eligible. Appointed by authority establishing CCS. 12/31/2018 Texas Secretary of State

Assistant Tabulation Supervisor Must have competence, training and experience required to assist. Employee of political subdivision is eligible. Appointed by Tabulation Supervisor. 12/31/2018 Texas Secretary of State

Texas Secretary of State Presiding Judge Same qualifications as election judge. General custodian of election records and his/her employees are eligible regardless of candidate/officeholder status. Appointed by the authority appointing election judges (commissioners court for state and county officer election). Must appoint an alternate judge for county election. 12/31/2018 Texas Secretary of State

Texas Secretary of State Clerks Same qualifications as election clerks. General custodian of election records or his/her employees or an employee of the political subdivision are eligible, even not a resident of the county. Appointed by CCS Manager and Presiding Judge. 12/31/2018 Texas Secretary of State

Texas Secretary of State Time of Appointment If a county commissioners’ court establishes a CCS, it is recommended that CCS personnel be appointed in July or August. CCS judges and clerks are appointed from lists provided by county chairs under 32.002. 12/31/2018 Texas Secretary of State

People Permitted to be at CCS CCS/CAS personnel. (§§ 127.002-127.006) Precinct election officers delivering locked and sealed ballot boxes. (§ 127.066(c)) Poll watchers and inspectors. (§§ 33.052, 34.002) 12/31/2018 Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

Texas Secretary of State Elections Division Peace officers summoned or appointed by CCS presiding judge to preserve order. (§§ 32.075, 127.005(c)) SOS and Staff. (§ 34.004) Federal Observers. (Voting Rights Act, 42 U.S.C.A. § 1973(f)) Election staff people delivering election supplies. (§ 51.004) Sheriff delivering election supplies. (§ 51.009) 12/31/2018 Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

Texas Secretary of State Elections Division Persons approved to assist with electronic voting equipment. (§§ 125.004, 125.006) County chairs in primary election. (§ 31.092(d)) Emergency personnel, if needed. 12/31/2018 Texas Secretary of State Elections Division

Texas Secretary of State Plan for CCS CCS Manager must establish and implement a written plan for operation of CCS. (§ 127.007) Must include procedure for comparing votes cast with number of signatures on combination forms. Recommend that the plan takes into account tracking procedures for electronic storage and voting systems that are established by general custodian of election records. 12/31/2018 Texas Secretary of State

Texas Secretary of State Counting Ballots Ballot boxes are received at the CCS by the presiding judge or designee. Ballot boxes should be delivered with list of seal serial numbers. Once these are checked, the judge should issue a signed receipt. 12/31/2018 Texas Secretary of State

Texas Secretary of State Counting Ballots, cont. After ballot boxes are opened, clerks should do some preliminary sorting: Separate provisional ballots from other ballots, and compare with List of Provisional Voters. Separate write-in votes, partially invalid ballots, damaged ballots and irregularly marked ballots. 12/31/2018 Texas Secretary of State

Texas Secretary of State Counting Ballots, cont. Once ballots are sorted, they should be delivered to the CCS Manager. Manager may send irregularly-marked ballots to Judge to determine if voter intent can be ascertained. Manager will determine if ballots need to be duplicated or hand-counted. 12/31/2018 Texas Secretary of State

Texas Secretary of State Counting Ballots, cont. Once ballots are ready to be counted, CCS Manager shall deliver them to the Tabulation Supervisor and Assistant. Tabulation Supervisor and Assistants shall handle ballots and equipment. Write-in votes and ballots that cannot be tabulated with electronic system shall be manually tabulated. 12/31/2018 Texas Secretary of State

Texas Secretary of State Central Accumulation Procedures established by general custodian of election records for ensuring that electronic storage from DREs or precinct tabulators have an established chain of custody. Next, follows written plan established by CCS Manager for getting storage medium to Tabulation Supervisor to upload precinct results. 12/31/2018 Texas Secretary of State

Central Accumulation, cont. Election judge should compare voted ballot numbers to voters on combination forms. Write-in votes are reviewed by presiding judge. 12/31/2018 Texas Secretary of State

Texas Secretary of State Release of Results Results shall be released as soon as they are available, but may be withheld until last voter has cast their ballot. 12/31/2018 Texas Secretary of State

Texas Secretary of State Testing of Equipment A logic and accuracy (L&A) tests should be conducted on the electronic voting system: First test = At least 48 hours before equipment is used. Second test = Immediately before the counting of ballots. Third test = Immediately after the counting of ballots. 12/31/2018 Texas Secretary of State