An agreement by a county auditor to purchase a signature verification system is subject to that system passing an acceptance test that demonstrates the system is operating as it was when it was approved by the secretary of state. The minimum acceptance test standards are listed below.

(1) The version number of the signature verification software must be the same as the version number of the software approved by the secretary of state. Any hardware must be the same model number and contain the same version of firmware that is certified by the secretary of state.

(2) The county auditor must receive all training and manuals necessary for the proper operation of the system.

(3) The county auditor must perform a series of tests to verify that the software is not accepting signatures that the county auditor's trained signature verification personnel would not accept. The test should include the county auditor's own signature envelopes, and be run against the county auditor's election management system signatures.

(4) The county auditor must perform a series of tests to verify the system integrates with the county election management system and ballot accountability processes.

(5) The county auditor must include the secretary of state where the signature verification system is being integrated with an election management system that has not been previously approved for that system.

(6) When participation by the secretary of state is not required under these rules, the county auditor must certify the results of the acceptance tests to the secretary of state. The certification must include version numbers of hardware, software and firmware installed and tested and ballot accountability procedures which incorporate the signature verification system.