Sec. 33.11.02.05. Processing Applications — In General

A. Date Stamp.

(1) Except as provided in §A(2) of this regulation, whenever an application is received by a local board office, the election director shall stamp it with the date received.

(2) An application need not be stamped if:

(a) It is received by electronic transmission; and

(b) One of the following conditions is met:

(i) If received by fax, the receiving fax machine automatically prints the correct date and time received; or

(ii) If received by email, the date and time the email was received is included in the printed version of the email.

B. Review.

(1) The election director shall:

(a) Review each application for an absentee ballot;

(b) If the election director determines that the voter resides in another county, the election director shall send by electronic transmission the application to the appropriate local board; and

(c) Accept or reject the application as provided in Election Law Article, §9-306, Annotated Code of Maryland, and this subtitle.

(2) If an election director rejects an absentee ballot application, the election director shall:

(a) If the application was submitted by an absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter, provide the voter with the reason for the rejection;

(b) If the applicant is not registered to vote, provide the applicant with access to a voter registration application; and

(c) If the applicant submitted an improper application before the application deadline established in Regulation .03 of this chapter, provide the applicant with access to the formal application defined in Regulation .02 of this chapter.

(3) If the election director rejects an application, the applicant may appeal that decision to the local board.

C. Priority Processing. Once absentee ballots become available, the election director shall give priority to:

(1) Applications or requests submitted by absent uniformed voters and overseas voters; and

(2) Issuing and transmitting absentee ballots to absent uniformed voters and overseas voters.

D. Filing. The election director shall process all applications so that, in the event of a challenge, applications can be matched with the appropriate ballot envelopes.