(a) The canvass of all absentee challenged and questioned ballots will be made in public by opening the returns, and announcing the results thereof in front of those present.
(b) Absentee ballots shall be counted by the City Clerk and two or more assistants in the following manner:
(1) All ballot envelopes shall be removed from return envelopes, and placed in a ballot box.
(2) The return envelopes shall be delivered to the City Clerk.
(3) The absentee ballots shall one by one be removed from the ballot box, taken out of the ballot envelopes and counted, in the same manner in which ballots cast at the polls are counted.
(c) The canvass shall include a review and comparison of the tallies of paper ballots with the election certificates to correct any mathematical error in the count of paper ballots.
(d) If the City Clerk finds an unexplained error in the tally of paper ballots, he may count the ballots from the ballot box.