(1) A member of the Postal Ballot Board designated by the Postal Ballot Officer opens the postal ballot return letters one by one and removes the polling card and the ballot paper envelope. If the polling card is listed in a register of polling cards declared invalid or if any concerns are raised about the validity of the polling card, the postal ballot return letters in question and their contents must be set aside under the supervision of the Postal Ballot Officer and subsequently processed in accordance with subsection (2). The ballot paper envelopes removed from the other postal ballot return letters are put in the ballot box unopened; the polling cards are collected.
(2) If concerns are raised about a postal ballot return letter, the Postal Ballot Board decides on the admission or rejection of the letter. The postal ballot return letter must be rejected by the Postal Ballot Board in any of the circumstances described in section 39 subsection (4), first sentence, numbers 2 to 8 of the Federal Elections Act. The number of postal ballot return letters queried, the number admitted after a specific decision has been taken and the number of letters rejected must be noted in the electoral record. The rejected postal ballot return letters and their contents must be set aside, marked with a note providing the reason for rejection, resealed and allocated a consecutive number. The senders of rejected postal ballot return letters are not counted as voters; their votes are deemed uncast (section 39 subsection (4), second sentence, of the Federal Elections Act).
(3) Once the ballot paper envelopes have been removed from the postal ballot return letters and put into the ballot box, but not before the end of general polling hours, the Postal Ballot Board determines and establishes the election result, stating the details specified in section 67 numbers 2 to 6. Sections 68 to 70 apply accordingly, with the proviso that the unopened ballot paper envelopes must first be counted and that empty ballot paper envelopes must be treated as required by section 69 subsection (1), first sentence, number 3, subsection (3) and subsection (8), number 3 and that ballot paper envelopes which contain two or more ballot papers or have given cause for concern must be treated as required by section 69 subsection (1), second sentence, subsection (6) and subsection (8) number 4.
(4) As soon as the result of the postal ballot has been established, the Postal Ballot Officer reports it to the Constituency Returning Officer by the quickest means available. If Postal Ballot Boards have been established for individual or for several municipalities by virtue of an order under section 8 subsection (3) of the Federal Elections Act, the Postal Ballot Officer reports the result of the postal ballot to the municipal authority responsible for him or her, which then incorporates it into the early report for the area of the municipality; if Postal Ballot Boards have been established for individual administrative districts within a constituency, the Postal Ballot Officer reports the result to the administrative authority of the district, which compiles the postal ballot results and reports them to the Constituency Returning Officer. The early reports are made as shown in Annex 28.
(5) A record of the admission of postal ballot return letters as well as of the determination and establishment of the postal ballot result must be drawn up by the record keeper as shown in Annex 31. Attached to it must be
1. the ballot papers and ballot paper envelopes on which the Postal Ballot Board has taken specific decisions as required by section 69 subsection (6),
2. the postal ballot return letters rejected by the Postal Ballot Board,
3. the polling cards on which the Postal Ballot Board has taken a decision without the postal ballot return letters having been rejected.
(6) The Postal Ballot Officer hands over the election record and its accompanying documents to the Constituency Returning Officer without delay. If Postal Ballot Boards have been established for individual or several municipalities or for individual administrative districts within a constituency, the election record and its accompanying documents must be handed over to the municipal authority, or to the municipal authority charged with conducting the postal ballot, or to the administrative authority of the district. The competent municipal authority or the administrative authority of the district forwards the election records of the Postal Ballot Boards, together with the accompanying documents, to the Constituency Returning Officer and, if required, attaches summary tables of the postal ballot results as shown in Annex 30. Section 72 subsection (4) applies accordingly.
(7) The Postal Ballot Officer packs the electoral documents as per section 73 subsection (1) and hands them over to the Constituency Returning Officer, who stores them until their destruction has been authorised (section 90). If Postal Ballot Boards have been established for individual or several municipalities or for individual administrative districts within a constituency, the Postal Ballot Officer hands the documents over to the authority which appointed the Postal Ballot Board. This authority proceeds in accordance with section 73 subsections (2) to (4). Section 72 subsection (4) applies accordingly.
(8) Otherwise, the provisions that apply to the Electoral Board also apply accordingly to the work of the Postal Ballot Board.
(9) The result of the postal ballot is incorporated into the early report by the Constituency Returning Officer as per section 71 subsection (3) and into the summary table of the final election result for the constituency as per section 76.
(10) If the Federal Returning Officer finds that the regular transportation of postal ballot return letters has been disrupted in the electoral area due to natural disasters or similar force majeure events, the postal ballot return letters thereby affected and received by the competent authority (section 66 subsection (2)) after the consequences of the event have been remedied, but not later than on the 22nd day after the election, are deemed to have been received in time if they would have been received by 6 p.m. on election day at the latest had the disruption not occurred. Postal ballot return letters posted within the electoral area and postmarked at the latest on the second day before the election are deemed to have been received in time. The postal ballot return letters deemed to have been received in time must be forwarded by the quickest means available to the competent Postal Ballot Board for the subsequent establishment of the postal ballot result, provided that the Constituency Returning Officer establishes that the number of postal ballot return letters required under section 7 number 1 has been reached. If that number has not been reached for individual Postal Ballot Boards, the Constituency Returning Officer decides to which Postal Ballot Board of the constituency the postal ballot return letters affected by the event are forwarded; if the number of postal ballot return letters required under section 7 number 1 has not been reached in the constituency, the Constituency Returning Officer determines which Postal Ballot Board decides about the admission or rejection of postal ballot return letters and which Postal Ballot Board of the constituency decides about the validity of the votes cast and subsequently establishes the postal ballot result. Otherwise, the Land Returning Officer may make arrangements to respond to the special circumstances in individual cases.