§ 22-9-121 — Examination of absentee ballot affidavit; rejection; voting ballots

(a) After the judges of election are sworn in and as
activity permits, the judges shall examine the affidavit on the
absentee ballot envelope to determine if it is legally
sufficient.
(b) If it is not, they shall write on the unopened inner
envelope "REJECTED" and reasons for rejection. A rejected ballot
envelope and the ballot therein shall be returned to the clerk
who delivered it and retained by the clerk as required by state
and federal law or until the final termination of any court
action in which it may be involved, whichever is later, and then
destroyed.
(c) If it is sufficient:
(i) In a paper ballot precinct, the name of the
absent elector shall be entered in the pollbook, the inner
ballot envelope shall be opened by a judge of election and the
ballots therein shall be removed. The ballot shall then be
placed in the regular ballot box by a judge of election;
(ii) In a voting machine precinct, the inner ballot
envelope shall be opened after the judges are sworn in and as
activity permits, the ballots therein removed and each ballot
deposited in its proper box. After the absentee ballots have
been so deposited, they shall be mixed within the box, removed
from the box and once the polls open and as activity permits,
voted on a voting machine in the following manner: A judge of
election shall read the vote for each candidate and ballot
proposition. A judge of a different political party affiliation
shall record the vote as read on the machine. A third judge
shall observe this procedure to see that the vote is correctly
cast.