(1) If the county clerk and recorder or designated election official has mailed or delivered mail ballots to five hundred or more electors, the county clerk and recorder or designated election official shall appoint, in addition to the voter service and polling center judges appointed to staff voter service and polling centers described in section 1-7.5-107, at least three counting judges, not more than two of whom shall be from any one major political party. For each additional five hundred mail ballots so mailed or delivered, the county clerk and recorder or designated election official may appoint additional counting judges as needed.
In all political subdivisions in which electronic or electromechanical voting systemsare used, the county clerk and recorder or designated election official, for each five hundred mail ballots mailed or delivered, may appoint, in addition to the voter service and polling center judges appointed to staff voter service and polling centers as described in section 1-7.5-107, five counting judges, not more than three of whom shall be from any one major political party in a partisan election.
In political subdivisions to which this section applies and in the event that only twomajor political parties are represented, the county clerk and recorder or designated election official shall make the appointments so that one major political party is represented by a majority of election judges on the mail ballot receiving board and the other major political party is represented by a majority of election judges on the mail ballot counting board. The county clerk and recorder or designated election official shall appoint those electors certified by the county party chairpersons of the major political parties to the county clerk and recorder as mail ballot receiving judges and mail ballot counting judges. If an elector certified by a major political party is not willing or able to serve, then the major political party that certified the elector may certify a replacement judge to the county clerk and recorder. If the major political parties do not certify a sufficient number of mail ballot receiving and counting judges, the county clerk and recorder may appoint a sufficient number of qualified electors to serve as mail ballot receiving and counting judges.
In all political subdivisions to which this section applies, where the county clerk andrecorder or designated election official has appointed one or more student election judges pursuant to article 6 of this title, the student election judge shall be appointed to serve as a judge for the purpose of counting mail ballots pursuant to this section; except that the student election judge need not satisfy any party affiliation required of election judges by this section.
Source: L. 2013: Entire part added, (HB 13-1303), ch. 185, p. 737, § 92, effective May 10.