3511.11 Procedure upon board receiving ballots.

(A) Upon receipt of any return envelope bearing the designation “Official Election Armed Service Absent Voter’s Ballot” prior to the twenty-first day after the day of a presidential primary election or prior to the eleventh day after the day of any other election, the director of the board of elections shall open it but shall not open the identification envelope contained in it. If, upon so opening the return envelope, the director finds ballots in it that are not enclosed in and properly sealed in the identification envelope, the director shall not look at the markings upon the ballots and shall promptly place them in the identification envelope and promptly seal it. If, upon so opening the return envelope, the director finds that ballots are enclosed in the identification envelope but that it is not properly sealed, the director shall not look at the markings upon the ballots and shall promptly seal the identification envelope.

(B) Armed service absent voter’s ballots delivered to the director not later than the close of the polls on election day shall be counted in the manner provided in section 3509.06 of the Revised Code.

(C) A return envelope that indicates that the voter will be outside of the United States on the day of an election is not required to be postmarked in order for an armed service absent voter’s ballot contained in it to be valid. Except as otherwise provided in this division, whether or not the return envelope containing the ballot is postmarked or contains an illegible postmark, an armed service absent voter’s ballot that is received after the close of the polls on election day through the tenth day after the election day or, if the election was a presidential primary election, through the twentieth day after the election day, and that is delivered in a return envelope that indicates that the voter will be outside the United States on the day of the election shall be counted on the eleventh day after the election day or, if the election was a presidential primary election, on the twenty-first day after the election day, at the office of the board of elections in the manner provided in divisions (C) and (D) of section 3509.06 of the Revised Code. However, if a return envelope containing an armed service absent voter’s ballot is so received and so indicates, but it is postmarked, or the identification envelope in it is signed, after the close of the polls on election day, the armed service absent voter’s ballot shall not be counted.

(D) Armed service absent voter’s ballots contained in return envelopes that bear the designation “Official Election Armed Service Absent Voter’s Ballots,” that are received by the director after the close of the polls on the day of the election, and that do not indicate they are from voters who will be outside the United States on the day of the election, armed service absent voter’s ballots contained in return envelopes that bear that designation, that indicate that the voter will be outside the United States on the day of the election, and that either are postmarked, or contain an identification envelope that is signed, after the close of the polls on the day of election, and armed service absent voter’s ballots contained in return envelopes that bear that designation, that so indicate, and that are received after the tenth day following the election or, if the election was a presidential primary election, after the twentieth day following the election, shall not be counted, but shall be preserved in their identification envelopes unopened until the time provided by section 3505.31 of the Revised Code for the destruction of all other ballots used at the election for which ballots were provided, at which time they shall be destroyed.

Effective Date: 08-28-2001