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English: This map compiles information from lawyers writing in 2019-2020 for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP), a 2007 survey by the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS), court opinions, and news articles. The table shows information available for each state. The map does not address public access or observation during a recount, since state rules are unclear and variable, and that access is not available to most members of the public. The table has information where available.
Date
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Table

Public access to ballots and electronic ballot images in the United States
State Map Category Lawyer's Opinion, 2020 RCFP[1][2] Citation Cast Ballots Open to Public? 2007 NASS survey[3] Main Vendor if Any
Alabama
Alaska No ballots or images No election materials AS 15.15.370 & 470 https://law.justia.com/codes/alaska/2019/title-15/chapter-15/ §370 "...director shall prescribe the manner in which the ballots, registers, and all other election records and materials are thereafter preserved, transferred, and destroyed." §470 "director may permit the inspection of election materials upon call by the Congress, the state legislature, or a court of competent jurisdiction."
Arizona No ballots or images No ballots or images A.R.S. § 16-624; A.R.S. § 16-625. https://arizonadailyindependent.com/2017/05/31/pima-county-judge-rules-in-favor-of-voter-privacy-ballot-images-same-as-ballots/ "Voted ballots are statutorily preserved only for conducting a recount and, afterwards, they must be destroyed without examination... ballot images are expressly treated with the same sanctity as paper ballots" Arizona Superior Court (Pima County), Case No. 20163926, filed 8/23/2016, Hernandez v. Pima County, Judge Richard Gordon. YouTu.be/aVFHWYKbzzI and YouTu.be/g4HoUMP-fzI
Arkansas No ballots No Ark. Code Ann. §§7-5-702(c) https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/2019/title-7/chapter-5/subchapter-7/section-7-5-702/index.html (c) During the time the ballots may be retained or stored, the package containing them shall not be opened by anyone unless:
  1. Directed to do so by some competent tribunal before which an election contest or prosecution is pending in which the ballots are to be used as evidence; or
  2. Upon written instruction signed by the Director of the State Board of Election Commissioners under § 7-4-121...
(e) After a period of two (2) years, all marked ballots and ballot stubs may be destroyed in the following manner:...
California No ballots 2019 Citizen Oversight v. Vu 35 Cal.App.5th 612 (2019) " '[a]fter ballots are counted and sealed, the elections official may not open any ballots nor permit any ballots to be opened ....' (§ 15370" https://www.leagle.com/decision/incaco20190521042 ) In risk-limiting audits cast vote records are not to be put online, and Sec. of State interprets this as a blanket ban against putting any cast vote records or ballot images online, but is silent about FOIA access https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/ccrov/pdf/2020/march/20070jl.pdf
  • San Francisco has images since 2020 online.[4] Site lists earlier images, but link has numbers (maybe cast vote records), not images[5]
  • Humboldt County has images on request for all elections since 2008.[6]
  • In 2024 SoS "opinion" is that images should not be released, though her cited source says nothing about electronic ballot images.[7]
 Yes
Colorado Yes after recount Yes after recount Timing restrictions and need at least 10 ballots with the same contests, so rare combinations cannot be released. Requester pays cost to redact personal information (such as voters who make the mistake of initialing or signing changes on their ballot). CO Rev.Stat. §24-72-205.5(3) and (4)(b)(II,III,VI)
Connecticut LHS[12]
Delaware No ballots No
District of Columbia
Florida Yes Yes, ballots only handled by staff F.S.A. § 101.572; F.S.A. § 119.07; Fla. Office of the Att’y Gen., Op. No. 2004-11 (March 24, 2004); Tim Canova v. Brenda C. Snipes, 5/11/2018, Circuit court of the 17th judicial circuit in Broward County, CACE2017-010904 (21) Judge Raag Singhal, https://www.politico.com/states/f/?id=00000163-5b4e-dbc0-a56b-ffce12fa0000 and Attorney General Opinion 2004-11, "copies of voted ballots may be produced pursuant to public records request... I am not aware of, nor have you drawn my attention to, any provision of law that makes ballots or ballot stubs confidential or exempt from disclosure." http://www.myfloridalegal.com/ago.nsf/Opinions/BB9C48200F6BDA2F85256E6200551061 40 of the 62 counties keep ballot images[13] Yes, handled by staff
Georgia Images, not ballots No ballots or images Code §50-18-71"(k) Scanned ballot images created by a voting system authorized by Chapter 2 of Title 21 shall be public records subject to disclosure under this article." wording created by SB202 on 3/25/2021. Former rule was O.C.G.A § 21-2-72. Smith v. DeKalb Cty 288 GA App.574, 654SE2d 469(2007) https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1267859/smith-v-dekalb-county/ 2007 "CD-ROM... which shall include all ballot images... is statutorily designated to be kept under seal, it is by law prohibited or specifically exempted from being open to inspection by the general public and, therefore, is not an open record subject to disclosure... DeKalb County has provided the voting records from the 2006 4th Congressional District primary to Smith, allowing his attorney to use a county computer that runs the necessary software so that he could review the records and providing him with print-outs of the information." No
Hawaii
Idaho Yes after recount Yes, after recount deadline
Illinois No ballots No Kibort v. Westrom, 862 N.E.2d 609 (Ill. App. Ct. 2007) "preserve the ballots for 2 months, subject to their examination in a discovery recount proceeding in accordance with law. * * * At the expiration of that time such election authority shall... destroy the same..." https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2010641/kibort-v-westrom/
Indiana No ballots Only during contest
Iowa
Kansas No ballots No, but maybe after certification Lockwood Elections[14]
Kentucky No ballots No, unless there is a recount or contest lawsuit filed
Louisiana Yes "Yes, paper ballots cast are public records and stored as an election record for 6 months for state elections and 22 months for federal elections."[3] Yes
Maine No ballots or images No 21-A MRSA §22.2 "Official ballots, whether in paper form or in an electronic or image format, are not public records and may be inspected only in accordance with this Title." http://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/21-A/title21-Asec22.html Only[dead link] during contest LHS[12]
Maryland Yes after recount NASS: "we have allowed public and press to review each ballot but only after the canvass and time for recount had passed." https://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Media/Media-Files/Maryland-Election-Track-Condition-Report-For-2018---Activist---Public-Version-3-1-18-1.pdf Yes after recount deadline, by administrative decision Taylor, Single Point Sourcing, Runbeck[15]
Massachusetts Affidavit from SOS says state law requires that scanners not capture ballot images (gives no specific citation in state law).[16]
Michigan Yes Yes Office of the Mich. Att’y Gen., Op. No. 7247 (May 13, 2010); M.C.L. § 15.231 et seq. https://perma-archives.org/warc/20200914160917/https://www.ag.state.mi.us/opinion/datafiles/2010s/op10324.htm Chris Root, Alice Dreger, and Kepler Domurat-Sousa. "FOIA Reveals Actual Ballots for City Council, Confirming That a Recount Might Have Changed the Outcome". East Lansing Info. https://eastlansinginfo.org/actual-ballot-review
Minnesota No ballots No ballots 6,737 images from 2008 recount challenges are at http://perfect.cse.lehigh.edu/BallotTestData_MNChallengedBallots.html Only[dead link] during contest SeaChange[17]
Mississippi Images, not ballots Yes RCFP says "Election records are open..." and cites 1994 MS AG opinion, which says "The pollbooks used in a particular election are public records and must be made available to the public... The 'receipt booklet' which contains the signatures of each voter who voted is required to be locked and sealed in the ballot box along with the used and unused ballots and certain other materials. See MCA 23–15–591. The 'receipt booklets' therefore are, in our opinion, not subject to the Public Records Act." MS Atty Gen 11/2/1994 to F. Michael Gunn, 1994 WL 683385 (Miss.A.G.) Yes, by candidates during 12 days after canvass
Missouri
Montana Yes Yes Montana Code Annotated §13-1-109. "Unless specifically provided otherwise, all records pertaining to elector registration and elections are public records. They shall be open for inspection during regular office hours." https://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/title_0130/chapter_0010/part_0010/section_0090/0130-0010-0010-0090.html [dead link]
Nebraska No ballots No
Nevada No ballots No ballots N.R.S. § 293.391 "The voted ballots... must, after canvass of the votes by the board of county commissioners, be deposited in the vaults of the county clerk. The records of voted ballots that are maintained in electronic form must, after canvass of the votes by the board of county commissioners, be sealed and deposited in the vaults of the county clerk... The voted ballots... are not subject to the inspection of anyone, except in cases of a contested election..."
New Hampshire No ballots or images No ballots No ballots: 2012 Sumner v. NH Sec. of State https://www.leagle.com/decision/innhco20160322317

No ballot images: RSA 656:42 IX. Any electronic digital image of a marked ballot made by a ballot counting device, whether stored on the device, on a removable memory device, or on a government computer, shall be non-public and exempt from RSA 91-A. [rule added 2020 by SB 283-FN section 23:7]

Only during contest LHS[12][18]
New Jersey
New Mexico No ballots No
New York No ballots nor images Kosmider v. Whitney (Essex County). Court of Appeals. Footnote 2 noted ballots and images may be available after 24 months http://www.nycourts.gov/ctapps/Decisions/2019/Jun19/41opn19-Decision.pdf
North Carolina No ballots nor images No ballots nor images GS §163-165.1 "Voted ballots and paper and electronic records of individual voted ballots shall be treated as confidential, and no person other than elections officials performing their duties may have access..." https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/BySection/Chapter_163/GS_163-165.1.pdf No Dunn[dead link][19]
North Dakota No ballots Only during contest SeaChange[20]
Ohio Yes after recount Yes after recount Ohio Atty. Gen OPINION NO. 2004·050, Once the time within which a possible recount or election contest may occur has passed... ballots are subject to public inspection "under such reasonable regulations as shall be established by the board." https://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/getattachment/47137eb6-270b-4868-968b-f63a4a4e2a90/2004-050.aspx
Oklahoma No ballots No Milton v. Hayes 1989 OK 12, 770 P.2d 14 1989 Milton v. Hayes "election board shall not disturb anything in the ballot box" https://law.justia.com/cases/oklahoma/supreme-court/1989/10498.html Only[dead link] during contest
Oregon
Pennsylvania No ballots. Absentee images No 25 Pa. CSA §2648 "records of each county board of elections... except the contents of ballot boxes and voting machines and records of assisted voters, shall be open to public inspection" and 25 Pa. CSA §1309 "All official absentee ballots... are hereby designated and declared to be public records and shall be safely kept for a period of two years"[21]
Rhode Island Yes Yes, no exception identified LHS[12]
South Carolina No Yes, no exception identified Atty.Gen.Op. 9/28/2020 "court would likely hold the S.C. FOIA, S.C. Code § 30-4-10 et seq., does not require the production of voted ballots, scanned images of voted ballots, and vote cast records."[22] SeaChange[23]
South Dakota Yes Yes, no exception identified
Tennessee
Texas Yes for inspection: images day after final canvass, ballots 61 days after election day Yes after 22 months 2023 law: Election Code 1.012(f) and (g). 1.012(h) requires redaction of ballots. 2022 TX Atty.Gen. KP-0411(2022) "anonymous voted ballots, as public information." Old rule was from 1988 TX Atty.Gen. ORD-505(1988) "locked room in the locked ballot box... 22 months... retention period expires."
  • Dallas[24] and Tarrant (Fort Worth)[25] counties post images on the web.
Utah No ballots or images[26] No Utah Code §20A-4-202(4)(b)(ii) destroy the ballots and election returns remaining in his custody without opening or examining them if the time for preserving them under this section has run. http://ut.elaws.us/code/20a-4-202
Vermont Yes after 3 months Yes after 3 months Price v. Town of Fairlee 2011 Vt 48 ¶¶13-18, 190 Vt.66, 72-75, 26 A.3d 26, 31-33 "access to ballots during the statutory ninety-day preservation... exempt from disclosure during that period... Subsequent disclosure of the ballots and tally sheets can have no effect on the election’s outcome or finality... These findings are not undermined by the State’s claim that, since the Town’s conversion to electronic scanning machines to read and tally ballots, "human error" is less likely to occur in the future. Indeed, it is precisely to test such assertions that this action was filed." https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1043780/price-v-town-of-fairlee/ VT has election machines from a range of vendors, including Clear Ballot & Dominion which always save images. In 2021 Secretary of state's office said ballot images from Clear Ballot audit are public records. LHS[12][27]
Virginia No ballots Virginia Dept. of Elections Commissioner Christopher Piper archive copy at the Wayback Machine 10/19/2020 in radio interview at 47:00, on "HearSay with Cathy Lewis," WHRV National Public Radio affiliate, Norfolk, VA, "every time a ballot's run through a machine it's captured and the digital image is preserved by federal law for 22 months. The release of those images does take some requesting." https://mediaplayer.whro.org/program/hearsay/e/hearsay-monday-october-19th-2020 No
Washington No ballots or images http://mrsc.org/Home/Explore-Topics/Legal/Open-Government/Public-Records-Act-Court-Decisions.aspx#2015 2015 White v.Skagit County and Island County https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2816660/timothy-white-v-skagit-county-island-county/
West Virginia No ballots No W.Va.Code §3-6-9(i) "the ballots, pollbooks, tally sheets and certificates shall be destroyed by fire or otherwise, without opening the sealed packages of ballots." https://code.wvlegislature.gov/3-6-9/ Casto[dead link] Harris[28]
Wisconsin Yes Yes https://web.archive.org/web/20170823034708/http://tdmsresearch.com/2016/12/01/wisconsin-hand-count-of-ballots-is-public-records-law/"
  • Dane County (around Madison WI) posts ballot images on the web.[29]
 Yes
Wyoming Yes Yes RCFP: "All election records of a county are public unless specifically exempted... Personally identifiable information, such as Social Security Numbers, driver's license numbers, birth dates and telephone numbers, are confidential. Names, gender and addresses are not confidential." https://www.rcfp.org/open-government-guide/wyoming/#i-election-records

References

  1. ↑ Lawyers' summaries for Reporters' Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP): https://www.rcfp.org/open-government-sections/i-election-records/
  2. ↑ RCFP Election Legal Guide: https://www.rcfp.org/resources/election-legal-guide/#access-to-ballots-and-election-records
  3. ↑ a b Survey by National Association of Secretaries of State: https://web.archive.org/web/20130217200102/http://www.nass.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=95
  4. ↑ San Francisco CA 2020 images are individually at https://ballotaudit.com/sanfrancisco and in bulk under "Final Report": https://sfelections.sfgov.org/march-3-2020-election-results-detailed-reports Big zip files of .tif images, 32k-320k per ballot (3424x1728 handmarked, or 2188x1711 from ballot marking devices). Images omit red, so they do not show blank ovals, which are printed in red.
  5. ↑ San Francisco CA 2018: https://sfelections.sfgov.org/november-6-2018-election-results-detailed-reports
  6. ↑ Humboldt CA: https://democracycounts.blogspot.com/2013/ and https://electionstransparencyproject.com/
  7. ↑ California SOS CCROV 24220, Senate Bill 1328 Overview
  8. ↑ CO counties https://www.koaa.com/news/covering-colorado/county-clerks-release-ballot-images-from-2020-election
  9. ↑ Ballot images are published for election transparency https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/next/next-with-kyle-clark/pilot-program-ballot-audit-transparency-launches-weld-mesa-el-paso-counties/73-0feb5dfd-898b-4020-8b38-f6a1633fd674
  10. ↑ Fifield, 2023-03-14 A bill to enable do-it-yourself election audits sparks rare bipartisan interest in Arizona Votebeat
  11. ↑ Elbert County News by Nicky Quinby. September 9, 2024
  12. ↑ a b c d e GovTech 2022, LHS Associates
  13. ↑ FL settlement 8/2020 adds 8 biggest counties to 32 already saving images https://patch.com/florida/clearwater/election-officials-agree-save-ballot-images-case-recount
  14. ↑ www.cherokeecountyks.gov/main/images/documents/County-Clerk/Voting-Elections/2022/CKCO_Election_Issue_Release.pdf
  15. ↑ Leckrone, Bennett (2020-09-11). "Former Mail-In Ballot Vendor Won't Print Packets For November Election". Maryland Matters.
  16. ↑ pp.11,16 of Document 15-2 10/29/2020, Affidavit of Tassinari, in Ayyadurai v. Galvin 1:20-cv-11889-MLW "The scanner also has the ability to capture digital images of each ballot, but this function can be disabled to comply with current state law."
  17. ↑ 2 Minnesota counties seek court order after receiving flawed ballots MPR, Brian Bakst, October 13, 2022
  18. ↑ Concord Monitor 2022
  19. ↑ 2010 "sells and services all of North Carolina's Electronic Systems & Software voting machines and prints the ballots for 85 of the state's 100 counties" http://callcenterinfo.tmcnet.com/news/2010/08/15/4956892.htm Doing business as Printelect https://www.printelect.com/election-services/election-systems-software/ |accessed 4/28/2022
  20. ↑ VOTER PROCESS SECURITY ASSESSMENT 2022, SecureYeti
  21. ↑ https://www.pennlive.com/elections/2023/05/judge-rules-in-person-2020-ballot-images-in-pa-county-are-not-accessible-to-public.html
  22. ↑ 9/28/2020 On whether the S.C. Freedom of Information Act requires the production of voted ballots, scanned images of voted ballots, and vote cast records
  23. ↑ Lakelands election offices weigh in on SeaChange Election Services JAMES HICKS, Index Journal May 22, 2020
  24. ↑ March 2024 Primary records
  25. ↑ https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/article290928529.html and https://www.keranews.org/news/2024-08-10/tarrant-county-launches-new-website-that-allows-people-to-examine-election-results-at-home and https://www.fox4news.com/news/fort-worth-ballot-verify-civera-anit-voter-fruad-technology
  26. ↑ https://ksltv.com/683818/election-returns-are-protected-records-utahs-court-of-appeals-ruling-affirms/ and https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/ruling-on-records-access-to-election-materials-upheld
  27. ↑ Rutland Herald 2023
  28. ↑ "produce ballots for all 55 West Virginia counties... programmed and delivered in excess of 600 ES&S elections in addition to thousands of traditional paper-balloting elections." https://ballotprinting.com/about.htm |Accessed 4/28/2022
  29. ↑ Dane WI pdf images: https://elections.countyofdane.com/Election-Auditing archive copy at the Wayback Machine Downloadable zip file seems to have subdirectory for each precinct, 80k-180k per hand-marked ballot, 2k for pdf of each cast vote record (CVR), numbered in pairs. Images clearly show marked and unmarked ovals.

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current04:10, 1 August 2022Thumbnail for version as of 04:10, 1 August 20224,656 × 5,568 (2.01 MB)NumbersinstituteSC Atty.Gen said no
00:54, 7 July 2022Thumbnail for version as of 00:54, 7 July 20224,656 × 5,568 (1.58 MB)Numbersinstituteclearer diagonals
01:57, 12 April 2022Thumbnail for version as of 01:57, 12 April 20224,656 × 5,568 (2.02 MB)Numbersinstituteupdated that MD images are available
01:43, 18 September 2021Thumbnail for version as of 01:43, 18 September 20214,656 × 5,568 (1.6 MB)NumbersinstituteUpdated Vermont
22:16, 23 May 2021Thumbnail for version as of 22:16, 23 May 20214,656 × 5,568 (2.14 MB)Numbersinstitutecorrected Mississippi
16:20, 27 March 2021Thumbnail for version as of 16:20, 27 March 20214,656 × 5,568 (1.59 MB)Numbersinstituteupdate Georgia law amended 3/26/2021
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19:00, 4 December 2020Thumbnail for version as of 19:00, 4 December 20204,792 × 5,496 (1.94 MB)NumbersinstituteUpdated NH to match 2020 law restricting ballot images
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