Article 2. Election Day Procedures of California Elections Code >> Division 14. >> Chapter 3. >> Article 2.

The members of each precinct board shall distribute the duties devolving upon the precinct board, which are in addition to their individual duties, in a manner they deem most advantageous.

The polling places shall be arranged so that neither the ballot containers nor the voting booths or compartments shall be hidden from the view of those present.

The polls shall be open at 7 a.m. of the day of any election, and shall be kept open until 8 p.m. of the same day, when the polls shall be closed, except as provided in Section 14401.

Before the precinct board receives any ballots, it shall proclaim aloud at the place of election that the polls are open.

Voting shall commence as soon as the polls are opened and shall be continued during the time the polls remain open.

Before receiving any ballots, the precinct board, in the presence of any persons assembled at the polling place, shall open and exhibit and close the ballot container or containers. Thereafter, the ballot container or containers shall not be removed from the polling place or presence of the bystanders until all the ballots are counted, nor opened until after the polls are finally closed.

Any person desiring to vote shall announce his or her name and address in an audible tone of voice, and when one of the precinct officers finds the name in the index, the officer shall in a like manner repeat the name and address. The voter shall then write his or her name and residence address or, if the voter is unable to write, shall have the name and residence address written by another person on a roster of voters provided for that purpose, whereupon a challenge may be interposed as provided in this article.

If the precinct board is unable to find a voter's name upon the index of registration, it shall inform the voter that he or she may cast a provisional ballot and the procedure for doing so. If the voter elects to cast a provisional ballot, the precinct board shall furnish the voter with a provisional ballot, in accordance with Section 14310.

If the surname of any person offering to vote has been changed since the person has registered, the person shall sign his or her name as it was before the change and also the appropriate name as it is at the time the person votes, indicating on the roster on the same line by brackets or other means that the two names are the name of one person.

The precinct board shall provide, upon request, to any voter for use in the voting booth or compartment, a copy of the facsimile ballot containing ballot measures and instructions printed in Spanish or in other languages, as required by Section 14201, unless sample ballots and ballots for voting are already being provided in that language under the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended by Public Law 94-73.

At any election, a majority of the members of any precinct board shall be present at the polling place at all times while the polling place is open.

Only voters engaged in receiving, preparing, or depositing their ballots and persons authorized by the precinct board to keep order and enforce the law may be permitted to be within the voting booth area before the closing of the polls.

Nothing contained in this code shall prevent a voter from being accompanied by a child or children under the age of 18 years while the voter is within the voting booth area if the child is, or children are, under the voter's care.

(a) Only members of the precinct board, and persons while signing their names on the roster, shall be permitted, during the hours within which voting is in progress, to sit at the desk or table used by the precinct board.
  (b) Any person may inspect the roster while voting is in progress and while votes are being counted. However, this shall not be done at a time or in a manner which will impede, interfere, or interrupt the normal process of voting.

(a) Except as provided in Section 14222, a voting booth or compartment shall not be occupied by more than one person at a time, unless the voter is eligible under the assisted-voter provisions.
  (b) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a voter shall not remain in or occupy a voting booth or compartment longer than is necessary to mark his or her ballot, which shall not exceed 10 minutes.
  (2) If a voter informs a precinct board member that the voter requires additional time to mark his or her ballot, a longer period shall be allowed. However, if the precinct board member determines that the voter is attempting to interfere with the conduct of the election and does not require additional time to mark his or her ballot, the precinct board member may contact the elections official, who may order that the voter not be provided with additional time to mark his or her ballot.

Members of the precinct board shall not deposit in the ballot container any ballot from which the slip containing the number of the ballot has not been removed by a member of the precinct board and handed to the voter. This section does not apply to a vote by mail ballot.

Any member of the precinct board, when using a language other than English at the polls, shall communicate with voters in that language only as he or she would be lawfully permitted to communicate in English under the code. The member shall be subject to like penalty for any illegal communication as if it had occurred in English.