Manual recounts of overvotes and undervotes.

(1) If the second set of unofficial returns pursuant to s. 102.141 indicates that a candidate for any office was defeated or eliminated by one-quarter of a percent or less of the votes cast for such office, that a candidate for retention to a judicial office was retained or not retained by one-quarter of a percent or less of the votes cast on the question of retention, or that a measure appearing on the ballot was approved or rejected by one-quarter of a percent or less of the votes cast on such measure, a manual recount of the overvotes and undervotes cast in the entire geographic jurisdiction of such office or ballot measure shall be ordered unless:

(a) The candidate or candidates defeated or eliminated from contention by one-quarter of 1 percent or fewer of the votes cast for such office request in writing that a recount not be made; or

(b) The number of overvotes and undervotes is fewer than the number of votes needed to change the outcome of the election.

The Secretary of State is responsible for ordering a manual recount for federal, state, and multicounty races. The county canvassing board or local board responsible for certifying the election is responsible for ordering a manual recount for all other races. A manual recount consists of a recount of marksense ballots or of digital images of those ballots by a person.

(2) Any hardware or software used to identify and sort overvotes and undervotes for a given race or ballot measure must be certified by the Department of State. Any such hardware or software must be capable of simultaneously identifying and sorting overvotes and undervotes in multiple races while simultaneously counting votes. Overvotes and undervotes must be identified and sorted while recounting ballots pursuant to s. 102.141. Overvotes and undervotes may be identified and sorted physically or digitally.

(3) Any manual recount shall be open to the public.

(4)(a) A vote for a candidate or ballot measure shall be counted if there is a clear indication on the ballot that the voter has made a definite choice.

(b) The Department of State shall adopt specific rules for the federal write-in absentee ballot and for each certified voting system prescribing what constitutes a “clear indication on the ballot that the voter has made a definite choice.” The rules shall be consistent, to the extent practicable, and may not:

1. Authorize the use of any electronic or electromechanical reading device to review a hybrid voting system ballot that is produced using a voter interface device and that contains both machine-readable fields and machine-printed text of the contest titles and voter selections, unless the printed text is illegible;

2. Exclusively provide that the voter must properly mark or designate his or her choice on the ballot; or

3. Contain a catch-all provision that fails to identify specific standards, such as “any other mark or indication clearly indicating that the voter has made a definite choice.”

(c) The rule for the federal write-in absentee ballot must address, at a minimum, the following issues: