N.Y. Election Law § 9-126: Unofficial tally of election results

§ 9-126. Unofficial tally of election results. 1. In an election

district of the county of Nassau, the chair of the board of inspectors,

upon the completion of the return of canvass, and the announcement

thereof in a primary or general election, shall deliver to the police

officer on duty at the polling place a statement signed by the board of

inspectors stating the number of votes received by each person voted for

and the number of votes cast for and the number of votes cast against

each ballot proposal. Such officer forthwith shall convey the statement

to the stationhouse of the police precinct in which such place of

canvass is located, and shall deliver it inviolate to the officer in

command thereof, who shall immediately transmit by telegraph, telephone

or messenger, the contents of such statement to the officer commanding

the police department of such county who shall immediately make the

contents of such statement available for the press. The chair of the

board of inspectors in each election district of such county shall make

two copies of the statement hereinbefore provided for, which shall be

taken to the police station, whence one such copy shall be transmitted

without delay to police headquarters, or such other location as may be

designated by the officer commanding the police department, where it

shall be made immediately available to the press for purposes of

tabulation. The other copy shall be transmitted within twenty-four hours

to the board of elections. All statements made pursuant to this section

shall be preserved for six months by the police and shall be presumptive

evidence of the result of such canvass.

2. (a) Except in the county of Nassau, the chair of the board of

inspectors, upon completion of the return of canvass and the

announcement thereof, in a general or primary election, shall

immediately communicate such results by telephone, or delivery, to the

board of elections. Such results shall include the number of votes

received by each person voted for and the number of votes cast for and

against each ballot proposal.

(b) The board of elections shall remain open after the close of the

polls and shall receive and tabulate the voting results as they are

received. The board of elections shall make such unofficial results

available to the media and the state board of elections, and shall post

running totals in a public place and on the internet as the results

become known to it.

3. The results made public pursuant to this section shall be released

as the unofficial tally.

4. A county board of elections may require the chair of the board of

inspectors in each election district to report unofficial election night

results by telephone, fax or other means. Such results shall include the

total aggregate number of votes received by each person voted for, the

total aggregate number of write-ins and the number of votes cast for and

against each ballot proposal.

5. (a) The board of elections of counties in which voting machines

which have portable memory devices are used, may establish written

procedures consistent with the provisions of this section and filed with

the state board of elections by which such devices may be used to

provide the unofficial tally of results required by this section.

(b) Such procedures may include: the installation, at the board of

elections or at town or city halls, police stations, sheriff's offices

or other public buildings, of machines which record and transmit the

totals recorded in such devices to the board of elections or directly to

a representative of the press; the delivery of the devices from the

polling places to such locations and the removal of such devices, by at

least two clerks or other agents of such board of elections of opposite

political parties, from the containers or envelopes in which they were

sealed at the polling places and the insertion of such devices into such

machines.

(c) In the city of New York, unless the board of elections of such

city designates two clerks or other agents of opposite political parties

for delivery of the devices from the polling places to such locations,

police officers or peace officers designated by the police commissioner

of such city shall provide such delivery as soon as practicable.

(d) The board of elections shall provide containers, at all such

locations other than the offices of such board, into which all such

devices shall be placed by the clerks or other agents of such board of

elections after they are removed from such machines. Such containers

shall be sealed by such clerks or agents who shall also enter on a

certificate which shall be printed on each such container, the total

number of such devices placed in such container and the election

districts from which such devices came. Such clerks shall also sign such

certificate in the places provided.

(e) Such containers shall be delivered to the board of elections by

the public officials in whose offices such machines were installed

within twenty-four hours after the closing of the polls. In the city of

New York, unless the board of elections of such city designates two

clerks or other agents of opposite political parties for delivery of

such containers to the board of elections, police officers or peace

officers designated by the police commissioner of such city shall

deliver such containers. The board of elections shall give such

officials, police officers, or peace officers a receipt therefor which

states therein the date and hour of delivery, the name of the person

making the delivery and the name of the person to whom such delivery was

made. The board of elections shall keep a duplicate of such receipt on

file at the office of such board.

(f) The cost of installing such machines at locations other than the

board of elections and the cost of transmitting the results from such

machines may be paid by the board of elections or by a representative of

the press. If such results are transmitted from a location other than

the board of elections directly to a representative of the press, such

cost shall be paid by such representative of the press.