Chapter 1. General Provisions of California Elections Code >> Division 19. >> Chapter 1.

This division shall be liberally construed so that the real will of the electors will not be defeated by any informality or failure to comply with all of the provisions of the law.

Any provision of this division, insofar as it is inconsistent with any other provision of this code relating to the same subject matter, shall be controlling as to any election or precinct for which the provisions of this division are adopted.

Notwithstanding any other provision of the law to the contrary, including any city or county ordinance, unless that other provision of the law is deemed consistent with this division, this division shall govern voting systems.

Voting equipment may be loaned or rented for any purposes with the consent of the board of supervisors, if payment for the expenses incident to the use of the machine is made.

In the case of electrical failure or other emergency, the official conducting the election may direct that ballots may be marked by pencil or ink. In that event, the elections official may duplicate the voted ballot cards as provided in Section 15210 and count the duplicate ballots by automatic tabulating device, or may count the voted ballots pursuant to Article 5 (commencing with Section 15270) of Chapter 3 of Division 15.

It is the intent of the Legislature that:
  (a) All voting systems be certified or conditionally approved by the Secretary of State, independent of voluntary federal qualification or certification, before they are used in future elections to ensure that the voting systems have the ability to meet accuracy, accessibility, and security standards.
  (b) The Secretary of State adopt and publish testing standards that meet or exceed federal voluntary standards set by the United States Election Assistance Commission or its successor agency.
  (c) The Secretary of State study and encourage the development of voting systems that use nonproprietary source code and that are easy to audit.
  (d) A local jurisdiction may use available public funds to purchase and maintain any certified or conditionally approved voting system or part of a voting system.
  (e) California receive the benefits of the publicly funded development of a nonproprietary voting system in the state.
  (f) A local jurisdiction may use available public funds to research and develop a nonproprietary voting system that uses disclosed source codes, including the manufacture of a limited number of voting system units, for use in a pilot program or for submission to the Secretary of State for certification.