EVBB Processes

If the SVC has decided that the signatures are from the same person, the EVBB may not override the committee’s decision. If the SVC has decided that the signatures are not from the same person, the EVBB may override the committee’s decision that the signatures are of the same person by a majority vote of the Board.

The SVC committee chair delivers the sorted election materials to the EVBB at the time specified by the board’s presiding judge.314

The EVBB must open each individual carrier envelope for mail ballots and determine whether to accept the voter’s ballot. The criteria for acceptance includes ensuring that the voter’s signature on the ballot and carrier envelope are those of the same voter, the voter’s application states a valid reason for voting by mail, the voter is registered to vote, and the voter has provided the correct address/statement of residence. If a ballot is accepted, the board enters the voter’s name on a poll list separate from the list of voters who cast ballots by personal appearance. If any requirement for ballot acceptance is not satisfied, the board shall reject that ballot.315

Carrier envelopes containing rejected ballots must be placed in a sealed envelope and the EVBB must track the number of rejected ballots in each envelope.316 They must be labeled with the date and identity of the election, include the reason for rejection, and must be clearly labeled as “rejected early voting ballots” and signed by the board’s presiding judge. They must be stored for the period for preserving the precinct election records and cannot be mixed in with the box containing the voted ballots.317 After election day, the presiding judge of the EVBB has no more than 10 days to deliver a written notice of the reason for the rejection of a ballot to the voter. No later than 30 days after election day, the early voting clerk must deliver a notice to the attorney general including certified copies of the rejected ballots and the reasons for rejection.318

The EVBB may not count BBMs until the polls open on election day; or for counties with a population of 100,000 or more or conducted jointly with such a county, the end of the period for early voting by personal appearance.319 All BBMs received by 7 p.m. on election day must be qualified by the EVBB and, if accepted, counted on

314 Tex. Elec. Code § 87.027 (i). 315 Tex. Elec. Code § 87.041 (a). 316 Tex. Elec. Code § 87.043. 317 Tex. Elec. Code § 87.043. 318 Tex. Elec. Code § 87.0431 (b). 319 Tex. Elec. Code § 87.0241 (b).