2010 California Code
Elections Code
Article 2. Election Day Procedures

14210.  The members of each precinct board shall distribute the
duties devolving upon the precinct board, which are in addition to
their individual duties, in a manner they deem most advantageous.



14211.  The polling places shall be arranged so that neither the
ballot containers nor the voting booths or compartments shall be
hidden from the view of those present.



14212.  The polls shall be open at 7 a.m. of the day of any
election, and shall be kept open until 8 p.m. of the same day, when
the polls shall be closed, except as provided in Section 14401.



14213.  Before the precinct board receives any ballots, it shall
proclaim aloud at the place of election that the polls are open.



14214.  Voting shall commence as soon as the polls are opened and
shall be continued during the time the polls remain open.



14215.  Before receiving any ballots, the precinct board, in the
presence of any persons assembled at the polling place, shall open
and exhibit and close the ballot container or containers. Thereafter,
the ballot container or containers shall not be removed from the
polling place or presence of the bystanders until all the ballots are
counted, nor opened until after the polls are finally closed.



14216.  Any person desiring to vote shall announce his or her name
and address in an audible tone of voice, and when one of the precinct
officers finds the name in the index, the officer shall in a like
manner repeat the name and address. The voter shall then write his or
her name and residence address or, if the voter is unable to write,
shall have the name and residence address written by another person
on a roster of voters provided for that purpose, whereupon a
challenge may be interposed as provided in this article.



14217.  If the precinct board is unable to find a voter's name upon
the index of registration, it shall inform the voter that he or she
may cast a provisional ballot and the procedure for doing so. If the
voter elects to cast a provisional ballot, the precinct board shall
furnish the voter with a provisional ballot, in accordance with
Section 14310.



14218.  If the surname of any person offering to vote has been
changed since the person has registered, the person shall sign his or
her name as it was before the change and also the appropriate name
as it is at the time the person votes, indicating on the roster on
the same line by brackets or other means that the two names are the
name of one person.



14219.  The precinct board shall provide, upon request, to any voter
for use in the voting booth or compartment, a copy of the facsimile
ballot containing ballot measures and instructions printed in Spanish
or in other languages, as required by Section 14201, unless sample
ballots and ballots for voting are already being provided in that
language under the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended by
Public Law 94-73.



14220.  At any election, a majority of the members of any precinct
board shall be present at the polling place at all times while the
polling place is open.


14221.  Only voters engaged in receiving, preparing, or depositing
their ballots and persons authorized by the precinct board to keep
order and enforce the law may be permitted to be within the voting
booth area before the closing of the polls.




14222.  Nothing contained in this code shall prevent a voter from
being accompanied by a child or children under the age of 18 years
while the voter is within the voting booth area if the child is, or
children are, under the voter's care.


14223.  (a) Only members of the precinct board, and persons while
signing their names on the roster, shall be permitted, during the
hours within which voting is in progress, to sit at the desk or table
used by the precinct board.
   (b) Any person may inspect the roster while voting is in progress
and while votes are being counted. However, this shall not be done at
a time or in a manner which will impede, interfere, or interrupt the
normal process of voting.


14224.  Except as provided in Section 14222, voting booths or
compartments shall not be occupied by more than one person at a time,
unless the voter is eligible under the assisted-voter provisions.
Voters shall not remain in or occupy the booths or compartments
longer than is necessary to mark their ballots, which shall not
exceed 10 minutes. However, where no other voter would be
inconvenienced, a longer period shall be allowed.



14225.  Members of the precinct board shall not deposit in the
ballot container any ballot from which the slip containing the number
of the ballot has not been removed by a member of the precinct board
and handed to the voter. This section does not apply to a vote by
mail ballot.



14227.  Any member of the precinct board, when using a language
other than English at the polls, shall communicate with voters in
that language only as he or she would be lawfully permitted to
communicate in English under the code. The member shall be subject to
like penalty for any illegal communication as if it had occurred in
English.