§3-4A-8. Approval of electronic voting system by State Election Commission; expenses; compensation of persons examining system.

(a) Any person or corporation owning or interested in any electronic voting system may apply to the State Election Commission so that the 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 or her office in charge of receiving filings for any purpose, the Secretary of State shall fix a date, time and place, not more than thirty days after the receipt of the application, for a meeting of the State Election Commission for mutual consideration of the application. The Secretary of State shall mail notice of the hearing by certified mail to each member of the commission.

(b) 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 on the system to the commission within ninety days from the date the State Election Commission approves the consideration of the application. They shall state in the report whether the examined system complies with the requirements of this article and the federal agency responsible for certifying voting systems and can be safely used by voters at elections under the conditions prescribed in this article. If the report is in the affirmative on that question, the commission may approve the system and adopt a system of its make and design for use at elections as provided in this article: Provided, That under no circumstances may a system be approved that is not capable of accurately tabulating returns based upon all possible combinations of voting patterns. The vendor of the approved system shall provide the State Election Commission with a report, due on January 1, of each even-numbered year, that outlines any problem that has been experienced with the equipment by any jurisdiction in the state or in any jurisdiction outside the state that uses the same or a similar version of the equipment that has been certified for use in this state.

(c) No electronic voting system may be used at any election unless it has been approved under this section or its former provisions and by the appropriate agency of the federal government whose purpose is to review and issue a certificate of approval. Each of the two qualified computer experts appointed by the commission are entitled to reasonable compensation and expenses in making the examination and report, to be paid in advance of the examination required by subsection (b) of this section by the person or corporation applying for the examination. This sum shall be the sole compensation to be received by any expert for any work performed pursuant to this section. The State Election Commission shall determine the compensation at the time of approving the application for certification.