# COMAR Title 33 — State Board of Elections

## Subtitle 11 — Absentee Ballots

### Chapter 04 — Canvass of Ballots — Procedures

#### Regulation .04 Hold Back of Ballots.

*COMAR 33.11.04.04*

A. Required Hold Back. Except as provided in §B of this regulation, to preserve the secrecy of provisional ballots and absentee ballots, the local board shall withhold from the initial canvass at least five absentee ballots of each ballot style to be canvassed during the provisional ballot canvass.

B. If, at the start of the initial canvass, a local board has received five or less absentee ballots of a specific ballot style, the local board shall withhold all of the ballots of that ballot style until the final canvass.

C. Later Canvasses. The absentee ballots withheld under this regulation shall be included and canvassed with the provisional ballots.