a. All proceedings at the counting center shall be under the direction of the City Clerk and shall be conducted in accordance with applicable law and procedures. The City Clerk shall make observation areas available for candidate representatives and for the public, but only election officials may touch any ballot or return. All persons who are engaged in processing and counting of the ballots shall be deputized by the City Clerk in writing and shall take an oath that they will faithfully perform their assigned duties.

b. The City Clerk may appoint qualified electors of the City to staff the special boards to receive, process, and tabulate the ballots at the counting center.

c. The ballots shall not be separated or counted for the purpose of projecting the outcome of any particular contest in the election.

d. If any ballot is marked in a manner that prevents the ballot from being properly counted by the vote tabulating equipment, the ballot shall be enhanced by marking it in a manner that allows the vote expressed by the voter to be tabulated without obscuring the voter’s original marks, if possible. If such ballot enhancement is not possible, or if the ballot is damaged, a true duplicate copy of the ballot shall be made in the presence of witnesses and substituted for the ballot. All duplicate ballots shall be clearly labeled "duplicate", and shall bear a serial number that shall also be recorded on the damaged or defective ballot. (Ord. No. G-5390, § 1, 2009; Ord. No. G-5737, 2012)