§ 8-506 — Challenges; early mail, absentee, military, special federal and special presidential ballots

§ 8-506. Challenges; early mail, absentee, military, special federal\nand special presidential ballots. 1. During the examination of early\nmail, absentee, military, special federal and special presidential\nvoters' ballot envelopes, any inspector shall, and any watcher or\nregistered voter properly in the polling place may, challenge the\ncasting of any ballot upon the ground or grounds allowed for challenges\ngenerally, or (a) that the voter was not entitled to cast an early mail,\nabsentee, military, special federal or special presidential ballot, or\n(b) that notwithstanding the permissive use of titles, initials or\ncustomary abbreviations of given names, the signature on the ballot\nenvelope does not correspond to the signature on the registration poll\nrecord, or (c) that the voter died before the day of the election. A\nchallenge to an early mail ballot may not be made on the basis that the\nvoter should have applied for an absentee ballot. A challenge to an\nabsentee ballot may not be made on the basis that the voter should have\napplied for an early mail ballot.\n 2. The board of inspectors forthwith shall proceed to determine each\nchallenge. Unless the board by majority vote shall sustain the\nchallenge, an inspector shall endorse upon the envelope the nature of\nthe challenge and the words "not sustained", shall sign such\nendorsement, and shall proceed to cast the ballot as provided herein.\nShould the board, by majority vote, sustain such challenge, the reason\nand the word "sustained" shall be similarly endorsed upon the envelope\nand an inspector shall sign such endorsement. The envelope shall not be\nopened and such envelope shall be returned unopened to the board of\nelections. If a challenge is sustained after the ballot has been removed\nfrom the envelope, but before it has been deposited in the ballot box,\nsuch ballot shall be rejected without being unfolded or inspected and\nshall be returned to the envelope. The board shall immediately enter the\nreason for sustaining the challenge on such envelope and an inspector\nshall sign such endorsement.\n 3. If the board of inspectors determines by majority vote that it\nlacks sufficient knowledge and information to determine the validity of\na challenge, the inspectors shall endorse upon the ballot envelope the\nwords "unable to determine", enter the reason for the challenge in the\nappropriate section of the challenge report and return the envelope\nunopened to the board of elections. Such ballots shall be cast and\ncanvassed pursuant to the provisions of section 9-209 of this chapter.\n