| (2) The ballot, carrier envelope, and other by mail voting materials supplied to a protected applicant shall be the same as provided to voters who vote by mail due to absence from the county during early voting, except that the county early voting clerk shall number the carrier envelope with the number representing the protected applicant's place on the confidential roster of protected applicants. (3) The early voting clerk shall also mark and initial the carrier envelope to indicate that the ballot is voted under this administrative rule. (4) The protected applicant must mark and seal the ballot in the same manner as any voter voting by mail. The protected applicant completes the carrier envelope in the regular manner. (g) Confidential Roster of Protected Applicants. Upon acceptance of a confidential application for ballot by mail, the early voting clerk shall list the applicant's name on the early voting roster of protected applicants, the date the ballot was mailed out, and the date the voted ballot was received by the early voting clerk. A protected applicant to whom a ballot is provided is not included on the regular early voting roster. (h) Confidential Roster Not Subject to Disclosure. In compliance with §56.88, Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, the names of protected applicants listed on the confidential roster of protected applicants are not available for public inspection or copying, and are categorized as confidential records that are not subject to public disclosure in reply to requests under the Texas Public Information Act. (i) Processing Confidential Ballots Voted by Protected Applicants. Upon receipt of a carrier envelope containing a ballot from a protected applicant, the early voting clerk shall make a note on the confidential roster of protected applicants showing the date of receipt. The results shall be processed in accordance with the procedures applicable to processing early voting ballots voted by mail, except that the comparison of the signatures on the confidential ballot application and the carrier envelope shall be conducted by the early voting clerk. The early voting clerk shall record on the confidential roster all ballots accepted for counting after the signature review is completed. If the signature on the carrier envelope and signature on the confidential application are determined not to have been made by the same person, the clerk shall treat the ballot as not timely returned in accordance with §86.011, Texas Election Code and indicate this reason on the confidential roster. The carrier envelopes from voters in the Address Confidentiality Program shall be delivered to the early voting ballot board in an envelope designated as "Envelopes for Confidential Ballots" together with the Early Voting Roster of Protected Voters. The confidential applications for ballot by mail are not delivered to the board but are kept by the county early voting clerk. The early voting ballot board shall verify the carrier envelopes received with the early voting roster of Protected Applicants to ensure that the number of carrier envelopes do not exceed the number of names on the roster. If there is no date of receipt indicated on the roster, there will not be a carrier envelope for that person. (j) Early Voting Ballot Board Review. Notwithstanding the absence of comparing signatures, the early voting ballot board shall treat as valid all carrier envelopes marked as containing confidential ballots voted pursuant to this section that were received in the envelope for confidential ballots. The carrier envelopes shall be opened and set aside, and the security envelopes containing the voted confidential ballots shall be set aside with all other accepted ballots by mail. The ballots shall be counted with the other accepted ballots by mail. The number of ballots voted and counted under this section would have already been recorded on the Confidential Roster of Protected Applicants pursuant to subsection (i) of this section. |
