West Virginia Recount Laws

Required hand count of a sample of ballots in addition to other counting methods Mix of recount and retabulation Precincts that count paper ballots by hand on election day also conduct recounts by hand. See the West Virginia Code of State Rules, Rule Series 153-20, “Procedure for Recount of Election Results,” Rule 153-20-2, “Definitions,” Subsection 2.5, “Paper ballot”: http://apps.sos.wv.gov/adlaw/csr/rule.aspx?rule=153-20. For counties using optical scan tabulators or direct-recording machines (DREs) with voter-verified paper audit trails (VVPATs), the West Virginia Best Practices Guide to Canvass, Recount and Contest Procedure states: In electronically tabulated counties, if a candidate does not specify precincts, and requests the entire county, then the 5% recount method will be used. If specific precincts are recounted, then each precinct shall be hand counted including paper rolls from touch screen machines. See page 24: http://www.sos.wv.gov/elections/election-administrators-center/Elections.... The “5% recount method” refers to the procedure outlined in the West Virginia Code, which states that, for every recount, “at least five percent of the precincts are to be chosen at random” and in these precincts, the VVPATs are to be counted by hand. If there is a difference between the hand count and the machine count of more than one percent, or if the hand count results in a different outcome, all VVPATs are to be counted by hand. See the West Virginia Code, Chapter 3, “Elections,” Article 4A, “Electronic Voting Systems, Section 3-4A-28, “Post-election custody and inspection of vote-recording devices and electronic poll books; canvass and recounts,” Subsections (c) and (d): http://www.legis.state.wv.us/WVCODE/03/code/WVC 3 - 4 A- 28 .htm.