§17-6-3. Voting districts; naming of precincts.

(a) Except as may be provided further by local election laws or by the electronic vote counting statutes, the counties in this state, as divided pursuant to this chapter into election precincts, and the boundaries of such precincts shall so remain until changed by order of the county governing body, but the county governing body, at its first regular meeting in March in each even-numbered year, shall subdivide any election precinct in which there are more than 2,400 qualified voters and electronic voting machines are used into voting districts or shall divide alphabetically the list of qualified voters in such precincts into groups and assign each qualified voter a designated voting place so as to provide an electronic voting machine for every person legally entitled to vote at a polling place at which not more than 2,400 votes on a single electronic voting machine will be cast.

(b) Except as may be provided further by local election laws, the county governing body, at its first regular meeting in March in each even-numbered year, shall in their respective counties examine the state voter registration list, and if it shall appear from such examination and from other available sources of information that it is anticipated in any election precinct as constituted pursuant to this chapter in which electronic voting machines are used that more than 2,400 qualified votes will be cast by electronic voting machines, they shall immediately provide additional electronic voting machines at established polling places in such precinct and shall authorize the judge of probate to separate the list of qualified registered voters in the precinct, as shown by the state voter registration list as reported for the county, into groups in alphabetical order so that no group in a precinct where electronic voting machines are used shall cause a single electronic voting machine to record more than 2,400 votes.

(c) If the manufacturers' recommended maximum number of ballots is less than 2,400, then that recommended number shall be used to determine the number of electronic voting machines.

(d) Whenever any election precinct has been subdivided into voting districts, pursuant to subsection (a) or (b), the county governing body making the subdivision shall immediately cause a description of the boundaries of the voting districts to be filed in the office of the judge of probate and with the board of registrars and shall post a copy thereof at the county courthouse.

(e) The precincts shall be named and designated by the county governing body numerically or alphabetically or by a combination thereof in a manner that shall be uniform statewide as determined by the Association of County Commissions and approved by the Permanent Legislative Committee on Reapportionment.

(Acts 1989, No. 89-952, p. 1874, §4; Act 2003-313, p. 733, §2; §17-5A-4; amended and renumbered by Act 2006-570, p. 1331, §27.)