SPECIAL BALLOT APPEAL RIGHTS

715.1 A voter's act of signing a challenged or Special Ballot Envelope shall be deemed the filing of an appeal by the voter of the refusal by the Board's chief voter registration official to permit the voter to vote by regular ballot, and a waiver of personal notice from the Board of any denial or refusal to a later count of the challenged or Special Ballot.

715.2 The Board shall provide the voter, at the time of voting or after a challenge to an absentee ballot has been upheld pursuant to § 721.18, with written notice that indicates the manner by which he or she may learn whether the Executive Director has decided to count or reject, in whole or in part, the voter's Special Ballot, and of the dates scheduled for hearings for voters whose Special Ballots are rejected to contest the Executive Director's preliminary determination if they petition to do so.

715.3 Not later than the Tuesday following each election, the Board shall enable any voter who has voted a Special Ballot to learn of the Executive Director's preliminary decision to count or reject his or her ballot along with the reason(s) for each decision by accessing either a dedicated section of the Board's website or a telephone service which shall be maintained during regular business hours.

715.4 Not earlier than eight (8) days and not later than ten (10) days after the date of any election, the Board shall, upon petition of the voter, conduct a hearing for the voter to contest the Executive Director's preliminary determination to reject the voter's Special Ballot.

715.5 At the hearing, the voter may appear and give testimony on the question of the decision to reject the Special Ballot.

715.6 The Board shall make a final determination to either count or reject the voter's Special Ballot within two (2) days after the date of the hearing.

715.7 The voter may appeal an adverse decision of the Board to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia within three (3) days after the date of the Board's decision. The decision of the court shall be final and not appealable."

SOURCE: Final Rulemaking published at 39 D.C. Reg. 2467, 2490-91 (April 10, 1992); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 51 D.C. Reg. 7416 (July 30, 2004); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 57 D.C. Reg. 4245, 4266 (May 14, 2010); as amended by Notice of Emergency and Proposed Rulemaking published at 57 DCR 57 DCR 7081 (August 6, 2010)[EXPIRED]; as amended by Notice of Final Rulemaking published at 57 DCR 11123, 11135(November 26, 2010).