SB2216

Election Code 123.034 already required a political subdivision’s governing body to arrange proper maintenance and storage of its voting-system equipment. The bill adds an explicit requirement that equipment used in operating a voting system be stored in a locked room. It does not specify a new brand of lock, camera system or security vendor. Final law, section 1; Prior storage requirement.

The separate additions to 129.051 require the election-records custodian’s electronic-storage-media inventory to identify the polling location where each medium will be used. The custodian must place security seals on each unit of voting-system equipment and create a procedure recording which seals are on which units, every removal, who removed the seals and accessed the equipment, and why. Existing chain-of-custody, secured-storage and breach-response duties are not newly created by this bill. Final law, section 2; Existing security procedures.

The chapter containing those inventory and seal additions applies only to voting systems using direct-recording electronic machines—machines that accept a direct vote and electronically record individual votes and totals. The locked-room rule is in the broader equipment chapter. Keeping those two scopes distinct avoids treating every electronic ballot-marking device as a direct-recording machine. Chapter applicability; Machine and equipment definitions; Final law.

Changes during passage: All five posted versions have the same operative text; both committees reported without amendments and the official index lists none. The effective date is September 1, 2025, with applicability determined by the date the election is ordered. Introduced; Senate committee; Senate-passed; House committee; Final law, sections 3–4; Version index; Amendment index.

Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.

Election administrators must provide the specified storage and records, and the seal log can make equipment access easier to trace. The bill is a security procedure, not evidence that a past election was compromised or a guarantee that future equipment can never be tampered with. It does not change voter eligibility or how a vote is counted. Final law.

The April 4 fiscal note anticipates no state fiscal implication and no significant local-government fiscal implication. That does not mean every local office has no work or supply costs; the act makes no appropriation. Fiscal note.