Chapter 6. Election Day, Before the Polls Open

6.D. Examine the Voting Machines

6.D.1. Observe the Opening of the Key Security Envelope

Before Election Day, the voting machine will be sealed after public testing and will be transported to the Polling Place.

The keys that unlock the voting machine will be given to one Election Judge at least an hour before the Election Judges assemble at the Polling Place. That key will be in a sealed envelope

Before the Key Security Envelope is opened, and without handling it, the poll watcher shall compare the information on the envelope to the list provided by their sponsoring organization's poll watcher team.

  • (1) The name, number, or designation of the election precinct or district;
  • (2) The number of the voting machine;
  • (3) The number of the seal securing the machine;
  • (4) The number shown on the protective counter or device, as reported by the custodian.

If any information on the envelope does not match the provided list, the poll watcher shall immediately contact their sponsoring organization's poll watcher team.

The poll watcher team will determine any necessary escalation. The poll watcher should then continue performing their assigned duties.

Relevant Illinois State Law

The election authority shall deliver the keys, which unlock the voting mechanism and the registering counters or counter compartment of the voting machine, to the precinct election board, not earlier than noon on the Saturday preceding the election day, nor later than one hour before the opening of the polls, and shall receive and file a receipt therefor.

The keys shall be enclosed in a sealed envelope on which shall be written or printed:

  • (1) The name, number of or designation of the election precinct or district;
  • (2) The number of the voting machine;
  • (3) The number of the seal with which the machine is sealed;
  • (4) The number registered on the protective counter or device as reported by the custodian.

No precinct election official shall break the seal of such envelope except in the presence of all members of the precinct election board, and such envelope shall not be opened until it shall have been examined by each member of the precinct election board to see that it has not been previously opened.

Such envelope shall not be opened until it shall have been found that the numbers and records recorded thereon are correct and agree in every respect with the numbers and records as shown on the machine. If any such number is found not to agree with the numbers on the machine, the envelope shall not be opened until the precinct election officials shall have notified the election authority, and until the election authority or some other person authorized by the election authority shall have presented himself at the polling place for the purpose of re-examining the machine, and shall have certified that it is properly arranged after testing and examining it.

10 ILCS 5/24-13

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