A voter's act of signing a challenged or Special Ballot Envelope shall be deemed the filing of an appeal by the voter of the refusal by the Board's Registrar of Voters to permit the voter to vote by regular ballot, and a waiver of personal notice from the Board of any denial or refusal to a later count of the challenged or Special Ballot.
The Board shall provide the voter, at the time of voting or after a challenge to a mail-in ballot has been upheld pursuant to this chapter, with written notice that indicates the manner by which they may learn whether the Executive Director has decided to count or reject, in whole or in part, the voter's Special Ballot, and of the dates scheduled for hearings for voters whose Special Ballots are rejected to contest the Executive Director's preliminary determination if they petition to do so.
The Board shall enable any voter who has voted a Special Ballot to learn of the Executive Director's preliminary decision to count or reject their ballot along with the reason(s) for each decision by accessing either a dedicated section of the Board's website or a telephone service which shall be maintained during regular business hours.
No earlier than eight (8) days and no later than ten (10) days after the date of any election, the Board shall, upon petition of the voter, conduct a hearing for the voter to contest the Executive Director's preliminary determination to reject the voter's Special Ballot.
The Board shall review the information provided on the Special Ballot Envelope as well as all other available evidence pertaining to the eligibility of each voter casting a Special Ballot, and shall make a decision about whether to count or reject each special ballot.
At the hearing, the voter may appear and give testimony on the question of the Executive Director's preliminary decision to reject the Special Ballot.
The Board shall make a final determination to either count or reject the voter's Special Ballot no later than the day after the date of the hearing.
The voter may appeal an adverse decision of the Board to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia within one (1) business day after the date of the Board's decision. The decision of the court shall be final and not appealable.
D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 3, r. 3-712