Chapter 33: State Board of Election
Subtitle 11 ABSENTEE BALLOTS
Chapter 05 Canvass of Ballots—Rejecting Ballots
Authority: Election Law Article, §§2-102(b)(4), 2-202(b), 9-303, 11-301, and 11-302, Annotated Code of Maryland

.01 Vote Required.
Neither an absentee ballot nor any vote on it may be rejected except by unanimous vote of all members of the local board.

.02 Voter Intent.
A. Scope. This regulation applies whenever a ballot is not marked specifically in accordance with the instructions provided to the voter; for example, where the instructions call for marking a choice with an "x" in a box, and the voter uses a "check mark"; or the instructions call for filling in a circle, but the voter marks the choice with an asterisk; or the voter marks a box rather than removing a pre-scored hole.

B. Board's Duties. In the situations described in §A of this regulation, the board shall:

(1) Attempt to determine the intent of the voter; and
(2) Appropriately mark or duplicate the ballot for tabulating acceptability, if it is able to do so.

.03 Ballot Rejection—Basic Grounds.
The board shall reject an absentee ballot if:

A. The ballot was not timely received;

B. A majority of the board makes a determination under Regulation .01B of this chapter;

C. The ballot was issued to an agent and was not in a sealed envelope when returned; or

D. The voter was required to submit personal identification information under COMAR 33.11.02.07 but failed to submit that information before the absentee ballot canvass began, in which case the absentee ballot shall be treated as a provisional ballot properly applied for and canvassed insofar as possible under the procedures in COMAR 33.16.04.06B and C, 33.16.04.07, and 33.16.05.

.04 Ballot Rejection—Multiple Ballots from the Same Individual.
A. The board shall reject multiple absentee ballots as follows:

(1) If a single ballot envelope contains more than one voted ballot from the same individual for the same election, all ballots from that individual shall be rejected; and
(2) Except as provided in §B of this regulation, if more than one ballot is received from the same individual in different ballot envelopes all ballots shall be rejected.

B. If two absentee ballots were received from the same individual, the board shall accept the ballot with the later date, if:
(1) After the voter cast and returned his or her ballot, there was a disqualification, death, or other change that would affect the content of the ballot; and
(2) The ballot with the later date was issued to the voter by the election director pursuant to Election Law Article, §9-306(d), Annotated Code of Maryland.

C. If a federal write-in absentee ballot and an absentee ballot are received from the same voter, the board shall accept the absentee ballot and reject the federal write-in ballot.

D. If an absentee ballot and provisional ballot are received from the same individual, the Board shall reject both ballots.

E. The Board shall reject an absentee ballot that is received from an individual who cast a ballot in a polling place on election day.

.05 Ballot Rejection—Unusual Marking Device.
A. Duplication.

(1) Absentee ballots may be marked by any kind of pencil or ink.
(2) Certain types of pencil or ink, however, might not be readable by optical scanning equipment. Accordingly, ballots not marked with the appropriate pencil or ink should be referred by the board to the duplication team.

B. Possible Rejection. In a specific case, the board may consider the particular pencil or ink used to be unusual enough to be considered an attempt to intentionally identify the ballot.

.06 Ballot Rejection—Unsealed Ballot Envelope.
The board may not reject a ballot solely because its ballot envelope was unsealed unless:

A. The ballot had been issued to an agent; or

B. There is some indication that the integrity of the electoral process has been compromised.

.07 Vote or Contest Rejection.
A. Person No Longer a Candidate. If an absentee ballot is voted for an individual who has ceased to be a candidate, the vote for that individual may not be counted but does not invalidate the rest of the ballot.

B. Damaged or Marked Ballot. If an absentee ballot is damaged or otherwise marked so that the board cannot determine the voter's intent in a specific contest, the board shall reject that contest on the ballot.

C. Erasures or Alterations. If an absentee ballot has erasures or has been altered or repaired:

(1) For all contests where the voter's intent is clear, the board shall process the ballot or, if necessary, have it duplicated and processed; and
(2) For any contest where the board cannot determine the voter's intent, the board shall reject that contest on the ballot.