SECTION 81.43. Optical Scanner Ballots

Optical scanner ballots may be divided into parts and printed upon two or more pages. When party columns appear on the ballot, there shall be printed at the head of the ballot the names of the parties and spaces for voting a straight party ticket, so that a voter may cast a straight ticket vote for all of a party's nominees on the ballot by making a single mark on the first page of the ballot. Where all candidates for the same office cannot be placed on the same face of the same page, the candidates may be carried on more than one page, but in such event the first page of the sequence shall contain a statement that the names of other candidates appear on the following page or pages. If the ballot is printed on more than one page, different tints of paper other than yellow, or some other suitable means may be used to facilitate the sorting of ballots. Each page shall bear the same ballot number, and other appropriate provision may be made for identifying the related parts of the ballot. For a mark-sense optical scanner voting system to be in compliance with the requirement of the Texas Election Code, §1.005(20) and §122.001(a)(10), it must provide for a single ballot card capable of containing all the candidates in an election in which candidates run by party, or alternatively, be programmed to permit straight party voting by means of a single mark, regardless of the number of ballot cards utilized. A system providing for straight party voting by means of a single mark on each of two or more separate ballot cards is not in compliance with the Election Code.

Source Note: The provisions of this §81.43 adopted to be effective June 27, 1986, 11 TexReg 2739; amended to be effective March 28, 2002, 27 TexReg 2219