Manual Recount

PURPOSE: This rule provides a method for the election authority, the secretary of state, and the general public to compare electronically tabulated vote results with manual recounts by hand of selected races and ballot issues in certain election precincts. (1) Definitions. (A) County—whenever the word county is used in this rule, it includes the cities of St. Louis and Kansas City. (B) Precinct—the election authority, at his/her discretion, may consider polling sites containing more than one (1) precinct to be counted as a single precinct for all purposes of this rule. (2) Prior to the certification of the election results, the accuracy certification team shall randomly select not less than five percent (5%) of all election precincts through the use of a random drawing, but not less than one (1) precinct, in order to conduct a manual recount by hand of selected contested races and ballot issues in the selected precinct(s). Random selection of the precincts shall be open to any member of the public, and the election authority shall notify the public of the time and place of the selection process no later than forty-eight (48) hours prior to the beginning of the selection process by posting a notice in a prominent place, which is easily accessible to the public and clearly designated for that purpose, at the principal office of the election authority. (3) Recount of the randomly selected precinct(s) shall be conducted in the following manner: (A) The election authority shall select not less than one (1) manual recount team made up of not less than two (2) persons selected from lists as outlined in 15 CSR 30-10.040(6) except when an election authority is a board of election commissioners, the election authority may designate persons of its own choosing. Each person so appointed shall have the qualifications of and take the oath of office prescribed for election judges in section 115.091, RSMo. The election authority may utilize the accuracy certification team selected in 15 CSR 30-10.040; (B) For the selected precinct(s), the manual recount team shall unseal the appropriate ballot containers and manually recount by hand certain randomly selected contested races and ballot issues; and (C) One (1) contested race or ballot issue to be manually recounted by hand shall be randomly selected from each of the following categories, where applicable: 1. Presidential and Vice-Presidential electors, United States senate candidates, and state-wide candidates; 2. State-wide ballot issues; 3. United States representative candidates and state general assembly candidates; 4. Partisan circuit and associate circuit judge candidates and all nonpartisan judicial retention candidates; 5. In addition to the candidates and issues previously listed, the manual recount team shall select not less than one (1) contested race or ballot issue from all political subdivisions and special districts, including the county, in the selected precinct(s); and 6. In addition to the candidates and issues previously listed, the manual recount team shall select all races in which the margin of victory between the two (2) top candidates is equal to or less than one-half of one percent (0.5%) of the number of votes cast for the office or issue. (4) If the results of the manual recount of the selected races and ballot issues differ by more than one-half of one percent (0.5%) from the results of the electronically tabulated vote results, the manual recount team shall immediately notify the election authority, who shall investigate the causes of any discrepancy and resolve any discrepancies prior to the date of certification set forth in section 115.507, RSMo. (5) Upon completion of the manual recount, the manual recount team shall reseal the ballots and other support materials in the appropriate containers. The results of the manual recount shall be reported on certificates provided by the secretary of state. One (1) copy shall be filed with the secretary of state within four (4) weeks of the election date and one (1) copy shall be filed with the public records of the election. (6) The secretary of state may make grant funds available to reimburse election authorities for the cost of conducting manual recounts under section (2) and paragraph (3)(C)6. of this rule. AUTHORITY: section 115.225.1., RSMo Supp. 2023.* Original rule filed Jan. 3, 1990, effective March 26, 1990. Emergency amendment filed Sept. 15, 2008, effective Sept. 25, 2008, expired March 23, 2009. Amended: Filed Sept. 15, 2008, effective March 30, 2009. Amended: Filed Nov. 29, 2023, effective June 30, 2024. *Original authority: 115.225, RSMo 1977, amended 1993, 1995, 2002, 2006, 2018, 2022.