(a) Election day tabulation. For each office on the ballot, the number of first-choice votes cast for each candidate shall be tabulated by compiling the results from each precinct ballot counter plus accepted absentee ballots. If the vote total for a candidate, other than a
or
, is equal to or greater than the
, the tabulation for that office is complete.
(b) For any office which does not have a candidate reaching or exceeding the , the process shall proceed to Tabulation
as described in clause (c) below. At any time after tabulation begins, the
may declare a recess in the tabulation process. Notice of such recess, which must include the date, time and location at which the process of recording and tabulating votes will resume and the reason for the recess, shall be posted on the door(s) of the
.
(c) Tabulation
(s).
(1) Tabulation of votes shall proceed in
for each office to be counted. The total number of first choice votes for each candidate, including
, shall be tallied. The number of votes received by undeclared write-in candidates will be recorded as a group, by office.
(2) During any
of tabulation, when a
,
, or
is encountered on a ballot, that ballot shall count towards the
candidate that is not a
,
, or
. If any ballot cannot be advanced because no further
are ranked on that ballot, or because the only votes for further
ranked on that ballot are either
or repeat candidate rankings, the ballot shall become an
.
shall not count towards any candidate in that
or in subsequent
for the office being counted.
(3) During each tabulation
, the
shall establish the
to be declared the winner at the conclusion of that
.
are not included when establishing the
.
(4) At the end of each tabulation
, if a candidate has a vote total that is equal to or greater than the
determined in (3) above, the tabulation is complete. If no candidate meets the
, the candidate with the least number of votes, and all candidates for whom it is
, are eliminated. At the end of the first round of tabulation, all undeclared write-ins are eliminated.
(5) The
must resolve ties between candidates with the fewest votes
. The candidate chosen
proceeds to the next
or wins. The result of the tie resolution must be recorded and reused in the event of a recount.
(6) During subsequent
of tabulation, the
must transfer all votes counted for the eliminated candidate(s) in the previous
to the next ranked
. The total number of transferred votes shall be added to the total number of votes for each candidate from the previous
.
(7) Tabulation
continue until one candidate reaches the
, or until only one
remains.