2005 West Virginia Code - §3-4A-8. — Approval of electronic voting system by state election commission; expenses; compensation of persons examining system.

§3-4A-8. Approval of electronic voting system by state election commission; expenses; compensation of persons examining system.

Any person or corporation owning or being interested in any electronic voting system may apply to the state election commission to the end that such system may be examined and a report be made on its accuracy, efficiency, capacity and safety. Upon the written application of any vendor tendered to the secretary of state or to any clerks in his office in charge of receiving filings for any purpose, it shall be the nondelegable, nondiscretionary duty of the secretary of state to fix a date, time and place, not more than thirty days after the receipt of such application, for a meeting of the state election commission for mutual consideration of such application, and to mail notice thereof by certified mail to each member of the commission.
The state election commission shall appoint two qualified computer experts who are not members of the same political party to examine the system and make full reports thereon to the commission within thirty days from the date of the application. They shall state in the report whether or not the system so examined complies with the requirements of this article and can be safely used by voters at elections under the conditions prescribed in this article. If the report be in the affirmative on said question, the system may be approved by the commission and, if approved by the commission, a system of its make and design may be adopted for use at elections as herein provided: Provided, That under no circumstances shall a system be approved that is not capable of accurately tabulating returns based upon all possible combinations of voting patterns including, but not limited to, crossover voting and in accordance with section five, article six of this chapter.
No electronic voting system shall be used at any election unless it has heretofore or hereafter been approved under this section or its former provisions. Each of the two qualified computer experts appointed by the commission shall be entitled to reasonable compensation and expenses in making such examination and report, and such compensation shall be paid by the person or corporation applying for such examination, which sum shall be paid in advance of making the examination and which sum shall be the sole compensation to be received by any such expert for his work hereunder.