Sarasota County Charter, January 2019

January 2019 edition 23 ARTICLE VI ELECTIONS AND ELECTED OFFICERS Section 6.1 Applicability of General Laws. The Florida Constitution and all general laws applicable to county electors, candidates, qualifications for elections and elections shall apply to the elections and referenda of the County government. Section 6.2 Votes Required in an Election or Referendum. The results of elections and referenda shall be determined by the vote of the majority voting in the election unless otherwise required by the Florida Constitution or by this Charter. 6.2A [Voter Verified Paper Ballot, Mandatory Audits, and Certification of Election Results.] Be it enacted by the people of Sarasota County to amend this section as follows: Effective January 1, 2008, the following additional requirements shall apply to voting in all elections of persons or referenda in Sarasota County to ensure accuracy in elections and voter confidence in election results: (1) Voter Verified Paper Ballot. (a) No voting system shall be used in Sarasota County that does not provide a voter verified paper ballot. The voter verified paper ballots shall be the true and correct record of the votes cast and shall be the official record for purposes of any audit conducted with respect to any election in which the voting system is used. While votes may be tallied electronically, subject to audit, no electronic record shall be deemed a ballot. (b) Any electronic voting machine shall allow the voter to correct his or her ballot by rejecting overvoted ballots at the time of voting when voting in person at the polling place. (2) Mandatory Audits. In addition to Voting System Audits allowed in F.S. 101.591, the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections shall provide for mandatory, independent, random audits of the voting system in Sarasota County. These audits shall consist of public observable hand count of the voter verified paper ballots in comparison to the