(a) At the time a voting place is opened, the supervising judge shall cause the ballot boxes to be opened in the presence of people there assembled. The ballot boxes shall be turned upside down so as to empty such boxes of everything therein. Each ballot box shall then be locked securely and shall not be opened again until opened for the purpose of canvassing.

(b) The provisions of this section shall only apply to elections conducted in counties that do not use tabulators or optical scanners to count votes.