44.3.1721    VOTING SYSTEM TESTING

(1)  Pursuant to 13-17-103, MCA, a voting system must be tested by a third-party tester to be free of any modems or other unauthorized external communication devices before its first use in an election and as requested by a county for voting systems in the county's possession and use.  The third-party tester must not be an employee of the voting system manufacturer and must be trained and currently certified by the manufacturer as a maintenance technician for the voting system being tested.  The voting system manufacturer must provide a current list of certified maintenance technicians to the Secretary of State's Office.

(2)  The test referenced in (1) must be a physical examination of the voting system in which the hardware components of the voting system are compared to the diagram of the voting system retained and approved by the Secretary of State's Office.

(3)  The third-party tester must provide a report of the test to the county election administrator and to the Secretary of State's Office on a form approved by the Secretary of State's Office.  The test report must be maintained by the county election administrator according to the local government records retention schedule.

(4)  A voting system that does not conform to the diagram retained and approved by the Secretary of State's Office must not be used for any election.

(5)  The county election administrator or designee must be present and ensure the chain of custody of the voting system is documented throughout the testing process.

(6)  The county election administrator must ensure the voting system is performing properly before and after the test.

(7)  As used in this rule, the term "employee" does not include an independent contractor, individuals hired by an independent contractor, or a subcontractor.

History: 13-17-103, MCA; IMP, 13-17-103, MCA; NEW, 2023 MAR p. 1627, Eff. 11/18/23.