808 ABSENTEE BALLOT TABULATION

808.1 The provisions of this section shall govern the tabulation of absentee ballots submitted to the Board electronically or by mail, or those delivered to an early voting center or polling place on Election Day.

808.2 The handling and tabulation of absentee ballots shall:

1. (a) Be conducted separately from the tabulation of all other ballots;
2. (b) Be conducted publicly; and
3. (c) Otherwise be conducted in the same manner as non-absentee regular ballots, insofar as those procedures do not conflict with the provisions of this section.

808.3 All absentee ballots received by the Board shall be tabulated as soon as practicable after the deadline for the receipt of absentee ballots received by mail.

808.4 Prior to tabulation, the Executive Director's designee shall verify that the voter signed the absentee ballot envelope.

808.5 In preparation for tabulation, the Executive Director's designee shall open the outer mailing envelopes and remove the inner secrecy envelope which contains the absentee ballot.

808.6 Working precinct by precinct, the Executive Director's designee shall:

1. (a) Open the inner secrecy envelopes, being careful not to damage the ballot inside. If an absentee ballot is damaged in this process, the valid votes shall be reproduced on duplicate ballots, in accordance with the rules of this chapter; and
2. (b) Inspect the absentee ballots for machine tabulation acceptability. All absentee ballots that are identified as not being machine readable shall be removed and reproduced on duplicate ballots in accordance with the rules of this chapter.

808.7 The absentee ballot shall be tabulated and counted as being cast in the ward and precinct in which the voter resides provided that the voter signs the absentee ballot envelope to certify that they are a registered voter in the District of Columbia, that they have not voted and will not vote more than one ballot in the election, and that they are not voting in any other jurisdiction in the United States.

SOURCE: Final Rulemaking published at 35 DCR 2006, 2016-17 (March 11, 1988); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 51 DCR 5067 (May 14, 2004); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 51 DCR 7426 (July 30, 2004); as amended by Emergency and Proposed Rulemaking published at 57 DCR 7705 (August 20, 2010)[EXPIRED]; as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 57 DCR 11149 (November 26, 2010); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 62 DCR 14744 (November 13, 2015); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 65 DCR 6543 (June 15, 2018); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 69 DCR 009504 (July 29, 2022).