SECTION 81.62. Audit Logs for an Election Management System's Central Accumulator

(a) For any Election Management System's central accumulator to be certified for use in Texas elections, the central accumulator shall include a real-time audit log. All significant election events and their date and time stamps shall be maintained in the audit log.

(b) The definition of "significant election events" in subsection (a) of this rule includes but is not limited to:

(1) error and/or warning messages and operator response to those messages;

(2) number of ballots read for a given precinct;

(3) completion of reading ballots for a given precinct;

(4) identity of the input ports used for modem transfers from precincts;

(5) users logging in and out from election system;

(6) precincts being zeroed;

(7) reports being generated;

(8) diagnostics of any type being run; and

(9) change to printer status.

(c) The audit logs for an election shall be retained by the custodian of election records for the appropriate preservation period.

(d) The "Election Management System" as used in this rule is defined as a system that consists of any or all of the following elements: functions and databases within a voting system that define, develop and maintain election databases, perform election definition and setup functions, format ballots, count votes, consolidate and report results, and maintain audit trails.

(e) The "central accumulator" as used in this rule is the part of an Election Management System that tabulates and/or consolidates the vote totals for multiple precincts/devices.

(f) An Election Management System that uses a central accumulator may not be used in an election unless the central accumulator creates in real time an audit log that includes a date and time stamp of each significant election event.

(g) An audit log produced by a central accumulator is considered part of the election records.

(h) A poll watcher may request a printed copy of an audit log produced by a central accumulator:

(1) before any votes are tabulated;

(2) after early voting results are tabulated; and

(3) immediately following the completion of the vote tabulation.

(i) After the automatic counting of ballots for each precinct is completed, the manager of a central counting station shall print a copy of the entire audit log to retain with other election records.

Source Note: The provisions of this §81.62 adopted to be effective January 31, 1999, 24 TexReg 553; amended to be effective March 25, 2003, 28 TexReg 2303; amended to be effective January 9, 2008, 33 TexReg 75; amended to be effective November 7, 2017, 42 TexReg 6129