721—22.264 (52) Unisyn OpenElect OVO unit—preparation and use in elections.
	   22.264(1) Security. The commissioner shall have a written security plan for the voting system. Access to equipment, programs and passwords shall be limited to those persons authorized in writing by the commissioner. The security plan shall be reviewed at least annually.
	      a.    	 Passwords used at the polling places on election day shall be changed for each election.
	      b.    	 For each election, the precinct chairperson shall be responsible for the custody and security of the keys for the voting equipment, the ballot boxes and the security of the voting system on election day.
	   22.264(2) Configuration choices. The following selections are mandatory for all elections:
	      a.    	  Access, messaging and tabulating selections. In the Election Manager, “Election Options” menu, the following selections shall be made:
	       (1)  	 “Allow Add Precinct” shall be checked.
	       (2)  	 “Full Voter Ballot Review” shall not be checked.
	       (3)  	 “Consolidate Splits” shall be checked.
	       (4)  	 “Overvote by Voter” shall not be checked.
	       (5)  	 “No Undervote Check” shall be selected in the Undervote Checking dropdown menu.
	      b.    	  Printing selections. In the Election Manager, “Printing Options” menu, the following selection shall be made:
	       (1)  	 “Auto Print Alerts” shall not be checked.
	       (2)  	 “Voter Receipts” shall not be checked.
	       (3)  	 “Display Contest Results on Summary” shall be checked.
	      c.    	  Ballot acceptance by the OVO unit. In an official election, the commissioner shall not program the OVO for unconditional acceptance of all ballots and shall program the OVO unit to accept undervoted ballots. The system shall also be programmed to query the voter and give the voter the on-screen option to “Cast Ballot as Marked” in each of the following situations:
	       (1)  	 Overvoted ballot.
	       (2)  	 Blank ballot.
	       (3)  	 Unreadable ballot.
	      d.    	  Reports. The following are required reports:
	       (1)  	 Opening the polls. Print a zero vote totals report.
	       (2)  	 Closing the polls. The poll report is the official record of the votes cast in the precinct on election day.
	       (3)  	 Certification text. The following shall appear at the end of the poll report:
We, the undersigned precinct election officials of this precinct, hereby attest that this tape shows the results of all ballots cast and counted on this tabulating device at this election.
(Include signature lines for each of the officials to sign.)
	   22.264(3) Ballot layout. Although the Unisyn OpenElect voting system software includes choices for variations in ballot layout, all ballots shall be prepared according to the requirements of Iowa Code sections 43.26 through 43.29 and 49.30 through 49.48.
	      a.    	  Format. The office title, instructions about the maximum number of choices the voter can make for the office, the candidate names and all write-in lines associated with each office on the ballot shall be printed in a single column on the same side of the ballot. All text and the “yes” and “no” choices for each public measure and for each individual judge on a ballot shall be printed in a single column on the same side of the ballot. No office or public measure on any ballot shall be divided to appear in more than one column or on more than one page of a ballot. For all elections, the voting target shall be printed on the left side of each choice on the ballot.
	      b.    	  Instructions for voters. The ballots shall contain instructions for voters including:
	       (1)  	 How to mark the ballot;
	       (2)  	 Straight party voting instructions in general elections as required by Iowa Code section 49.37;
	       (3)  	 Where to find the judicial ballot (if any); and
	       (4)  	 Constitutional amendment (if any) as required by Iowa Code section 49.48 and notices to voters on ballots with public measures (if any) as required by Iowa Code section 49.47.
	   22.264(4) System error messages. Precinct election officials shall be provided with a list of known system error messages and the appropriate responses. The officials shall be instructed to contact the commissioner or the commissioner’s designee for all other messages, errors or voting equipment malfunctions on election day.
	   22.264(5) Preelection testing. All voting equipment shall be tested pursuant to the provisions of Iowa Code section 52.30 and rule 721—22.42(52). At the commissioner’s discretion, additional logic and accuracy tests may be conducted.
	   22.264(6) Record retention. The OVO unit uses a thermal printer. The maximum anticipated life span of the results from each OVO unit is only five years. In order to preserve the permanent record of the precinct results required by Iowa Code section 50.19, the commissioner shall print a copy of the results of each precinct on permanent paper and store these copies with the tally lists from precincts where the OVO unit was used.
	   22.264(7) Central count automatic tabulator configuration choices. The following settings are mandatory for all elections in which the OVCS is used.
	      a.    	  Ballot control. In an official election, the commissioner shall program the central count automatic tabulator to accept overvoted ballots and undervoted ballots. The commissioner shall program the central count automatic tabulator to sort blank ballots and unreadable ballots as required by Iowa Code section 52.37. Ballots with write-in votes may be sorted for further review by the absentee and special voters precinct board at the commissioner’s discretion.
	      b.    	  Reports. The following are required reports:
	       (1)  	 Opening the polls. Before ballots are tabulated in the central count automatic tabulator, a Zero Certification report shall be printed and shall be signed by the members of the absentee and special voters precinct board.
	       (2)  	 Closing the polls. After all ballots are tabulated by the central count automatic tabulator, a poll report shall be printed. The poll report is the official record of ballots tabulated in the absentee precinct and shall be signed by the members of the absentee and special voters precinct board.
	      c.    	  Reopen polls. The commissioner shall enable the option to reopen the polls, but protect it against unauthorized use.
[ARC 0238C, IAB 8/8/12, effective 7/11/12; ARC 0801C, IAB 6/26/13, effective 7/31/13; ARC 1548C, IAB 7/23/14, effective 8/27/14]