(1) Upon receipt of an envelope containing a marked ballot from an absent elector, the clerk shall keep it safely in the office and, before delivering the ballot for counting, shall compare the signature of the absent elector that appears on the ballot envelope with that upon the elector’s registration record.
(2) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, ballots for absent electors shall be counted and returns shall be made, as nearly as possible, in the same manner as for other ballots cast at the election.