Sec. 5. (a) If a ballot card is damaged or defective so that it cannot properly be counted by the automatic tabulating machines, then a remake team composed of one (1) person from each of the major political parties of the county shall have the card prepared for processing so as to record accurately the intention of the voter insofar as it can be ascertained.

     (b) If the ballot card voting system is designed to allow the counting and tabulation of votes by the precinct election board, the members of the remake team must be members of the precinct election board in which the ballot was cast. If a county provides for the counting and tabulation of ballot card voting systems in a central location, the members of the remake team shall be appointed by the county election board.

     (c) If necessary, a true, duplicate copy shall be made of the damaged ballot card in the presence of witnesses and substituted for the damaged card. Similarly, a duplicate ballot card shall be made of a defective card, not including the uncounted votes.

     (d) This subsection applies to an absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter permitted to transmit an absentee ballot by fax or electronic mail under IC 3-11-4-6. To facilitate the transmittal and return of the voter’s absentee ballot by fax or electronic mail, the county election board may provide the voter with a paper ballot rather than a ballot card. The paper ballot must conform with the requirements for paper ballots set forth in IC 3-10 and IC 3-11. After the voter returns the ballot by fax or electronic mail, a remake team appointed by the county election board under this section shall prepare a ballot card for processing that accurately records the intention of the voter as indicated on the paper ballot. The ballot card created under this subsection must include the initials of each member of the remake team and be marked and counted as a duplicate ballot under sections 6 through 7 of this chapter.

     (e) If an automatic tabulating machine fails during the counting and tabulation of votes following the close of the polls, the county election board shall immediately arrange for the repair and proper functioning of the system. The county election board may, by unanimous vote of its entire membership, authorize the counting and tabulation of votes for this election on an automatic tabulating machine approved for use in Indiana by the commission:

(1) until the repair and retesting of the malfunctioning machine; and

(2) whether or not the machine was tested under IC 3-11-13-22.

[Pre-1986 Recodification Citation: 3-2-4-5(c) part.]

As added by P.L.5-1986, SEC.8. Amended by P.L.6-1986, SEC.41; P.L.3-1987, SEC.350; P.L.1-1993, SEC.11; P.L.3-1997, SEC.341; P.L.263-2003, SEC.4; P.L.97-2004, SEC.12; P.L.198-2005, SEC.16; P.L.194-2013, SEC.75; P.L.193-2021, SEC.87.