Validation of Ballot Letters, Establishment and Declaration of the Postal Ballot Result

(1) A member of the Postal Ballot Board designated by the Postal Ballot Officer shall open the ballot letters one by one and take out the polling card and the ballot paper envelope. If the polling card is listed in a register of invalidated polling cards or if doubts are expressed about the validity of the polling card, the ballot letter and its contents shall be set aside under the supervision of the Postal Ballot Officer and subsequently processed in accordance with subsection (2) below. The ballot paper envelopes taken from the other ballot letters shall be put in the ballot box unopened; the polling cards shall be collected together.

(2) If doubts are expressed about a ballot letter, the Postal Ballot Board shall decide on validation or rejection. The ballot letter must be rejected by the Postal Ballot Board if any of the circumstances described in Section 39 subsection (4), first sentence, numbers 2 to 8 of the Federal Elections Act exist. The number of ballot letters queried, the number validated by special decision and the number rejected shall be minuted in the electoral record. The rejected ballot letters and their contents shall be set aside, marked with a note of the reason for rejection, resealed and allocated a serial number. The senders of rejected ballot letters shall not be counted as voters; their votes shall be deemed uncast (Section 39 subsection (4), second sentence, of the Federal Elections Act).

(3) Once the ballot paper envelopes have been taken out of the ballot letters and put in the ballot box, but not before the end of the general polling hours, the Postal Ballot Board shall establish and declare the election result, stating the details specified in Section 67 numbers 2 to 6. Sections 68 to 70 shall be applied as appropriate, with the condition that the ballot paper envelopes have to be counted unopened first and that empty ballot paper envelopes have to be treated in accordance with Section 69 subsection (1), first sentence, number 3, (3) and (8), number 3 and that ballot paper envelopes that contain two or more ballot papers or that have given cause for doubt have to be treated in accordance with Section 69 subsections (1), second sentence, (6) and (8) number 4.

(4) As soon as the result of the postal ballot is declared, the Postal Ballot Officer shall report it by the quickest means to the Constituency Returning Officer. If Postal Ballot Boards are appointed for one or more municipalities within the constituency by virtue of an order pursuant to Section 8 subsection (3) of the Federal Elections Act, the Postal Ballot Officer shall report the result of the postal ballot to the local authority responsible for him or her, which shall incorporate it into the express report for the area of the municipality; if Postal Ballot Boards are appointed for individual districts within a constituency, the Postal Ballot Officer shall report the result to the administrative authority of the district, which shall compile the postal ballot results and report them in turn to the Constituency Returning Officer. The express reports shall be made in accordance with the specimen at Annex 28.

(5) A record of the validation of ballot letters as well as of the establishment and declaration of the postal ballot result shall be drawn up by the clerk in accordance with the specimen at Annex 31. Appended to it shall be

1. the ballot papers and ballot paper envelopes on which the Postal Ballot Board has taken special decisions in accordance with Section 69 subsection (6),
2. the ballot letters rejected by the Postal Ballot Board,

3. the polling cards on which the Postal Ballot Board has taken a decision but which have not been rejected.

(6) The Postal Ballot Officer shall hand over the election record and its annexes to the Constituency Returning Officer immediately. If Postal Ballot Boards are appointed for one or more municipalities or for individual districts within a constituency, the election record and its annexes shall be handed over to the local authority of the municipality, to the local authority charged to administer the postal ballot or to the administrative authority of the district. The competent local authority of the municipality or the administrative authority of the district shall forward the election records and their annexes to the Constituency Returning Officer and, if required, append compilations of the postal ballot result in accordance with the specimen at Annex 30. Section 72 subsection (4) shall apply as appropriate.

(7) The Postal Ballot Officer shall pack the electoral documents in accordance with Section 73 subsection (1) and hand them over to the Constituency Returning Officer, who shall store them until their destruction is authorized (Section 90). If Postal Ballot Boards are appointed for one or more municipalities or for individual districts within a constituency, the Postal Ballot Officer shall hand over the documents to the authority which appointed the Postal Ballot Board. This authority shall proceed in accordance with Section 73 subsections (2) to (4). Section 72 subsection (4) shall apply as appropriate.

(8) In all other respects, the provisions applying to the Electoral Board shall apply as appropriate to the procedure of the Postal Ballot Board.

(9) The result of the postal ballot shall be incorporated by the Constituency Returning Officer into the express report pursuant to Section 71 subsection (3) and into the compilation of the final election result for the constituency pursuant to Section 76.

(10) If the Federal Returning Officer finds that as a result of natural disasters or by force majeure the regular conveyance of ballot letters has been disrupted in the electoral area, the ballot letters thereby affected and received by the competent authority (Section 66 subsection (2)) after the consequences of the occurrence have been remedied, but not later than on the 22nd day after the election, shall be deemed to have been received in time if without such occurrence they would have been received on election day by 6 p.m. at the latest. Ballot letters posted within the electoral area shall be deemed to have been received in time if their postmark indicates that they have been posted not later than on the second day before the election. The ballot letters deemed to have been received in time shall be forwarded by the quickest means to the competent Postal Ballot Board for the deferred declaration of the postal ballot result, provided that the Constituency Returning Officer decides that the number of ballot letters required pursuant to Section 7 number 1 has been reached. If that number has not been reached for individual Postal Ballot Boards, the Constituency Returning Officer shall decide to which Postal Ballot Board of the constituency the ballot letters affected by the occurrence shall be forwarded; if number of ballot letters required pursuant to Section 7 number 1 has not been reached for the constituency, the Constituency Returning Officer shall decide which Post-al Ballot Board should decide about the ballot letters being admitted or rejected and which Postal Ballot Board of the constituency should decide about the validity of the votes cast and make the deferred declaration of the postal ballot result. In all other respects, the Land Returning Officer may make adjustments in line with special circumstances in individual cases.