| (a) General provisions
(1) For general elections for state and county officers, the
early voting ballot board shall reconvene on the 6th day after the election
to count any late ballots received in accordance with the Texas Election Code, §86.007.
For all other elections, the early voting ballot board may reconvene any time
after the 2nd day after the election and prior to the official canvass.
(2) The presiding judge shall notify the early voting clerk
of the time and place where the board will reconvene. The notice to the early
voting clerk must be made in time so the early voting clerk may give proper
notice of the delivery of the late ballots. The early voting clerk must post
notice of delivery of jacket envelopes and any other accompanying papers to
the ballot board at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the delivery. The
notice shall be posted at the main early voting polling place. For purposes
of this provision, the Texas Election Code, §1.006 does not apply.
(3) The presiding judge shall send notice to the custodian
of the key and the custodian of election records to redeliver the ballot box
containing the counted ballots and the key to the box. After the late ballots
have been counted, the presiding judge shall lock the late counted ballots
in the ballot box. The presiding judge shall deliver the ballot box to the
general custodian of election records and the key to the ballot box to custodian
of the key.
(4) Poll watchers are entitled to be present for the late counting
of ballots.
(5) If all mail ballots were received by the close of voting
on election day or no ballots were received by the appropriate deadline for
the election, the early voting clerk shall certify that fact and deliver the
certification to the canvassing board before it convenes to canvass the votes.
(b) Provisions For Paper Ballots
(1) Once the ballots have been qualified, the presiding judge
shall use the regular method of counting ballots by keeping three new tally
sheets, counting the ballots by precinct, and having two members present per
tally team. For purposes of this provision, the Texas Election Code, §87.1231(b)
does not apply.
(2) Once the board has counted all the ballots, an original
and three copies of the return sheet shall be prepared.
(3) The distribution of the tally sheets and return sheets
shall be made in accordance with the Texas Election Code, Subchapter B, Chapter
66.
(4) The canvassing board shall add the returns from both early
voting return sheets when canvassing the vote.
(c) Provisions for Electronic Voting Systems
(1) The manager of the central counting station shall decide
whether the ballot board shall manually count the ballots and be manually
added to the computer count for a canvass total or whether the central counting
station shall reconvene.
(2) The manager shall send notice to the presiding judge of
the ballot board prior to the reconvening the board as to whether the ballots
are to be counted manually by the board or whether the ballots are merely
to be prepared for delivery to the central counting station.
(3) If the ballots are to be counted by the central counting
station, the manager must post notice at least twenty-four (24) hours prior
to reconvening the central counting station. For purposes of this provision,
Texas Election Code, §1.006 does not apply.
(4) A ballot transmittal form must be completed by the presiding
judge of the ballot board. The transmittal form will accompany the qualified
ballots.
(5) The manager must order a second test to be conducted prior
to the count. The test must be successful.
(6) Poll watchers are entitled to be present at the central
counting station.
(7) After the second successful test is conducted, the unofficial
election results, preserved by electronic means, shall be loaded in the tabulating
equipment.
(8) The tabulation supervisor shall print a status report before
the count begins. This status report shall be compared with the report run
on election night. If the two status reports do not match, the electronic
ballots must be counted by hand and manually added to the returns printed
on election night.
(9) If the status report matches the report run on election
night, the tabulation supervisor may order the count to begin. The precinct
returns from these counts may be included with the original precinct counts.
The tabulation supervisor does not need to keep the precinct-by-precinct results
of the late ballots separate from other early voted ballots.
(10) Once the ballots have been counted, results shall be prepared
in the regular manner. The manager shall prepare a certification and attach
it to the returns, then place the certification and returns in envelope #1
to be delivered to the presiding officer of the canvassing board indicating
that the result supersedes any returns printed prior to the reconvening of
the central counting station after election day.
(11) After the results have been prepared, a successful third
test must be performed.
(12) The results, ballots, and distribution of ballots and
all records shall be made in the regular manner.
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