Any candidate may mail a declaration of candidacy for an office to the filing officer. Such declarations of candidacy shall be processed by the filing officer in the following manner:
(1) Any declaration received by the filing officer by mail before the tenth business day immediately preceding the first day for candidates to file for office shall be returned to the candidate submitting it, together with a notification that the declaration of candidacy was received too early to be processed. The candidate shall then be permitted to resubmit the candidate's declaration of candidacy during the filing period.
(2) Any properly executed declaration of candidacy received by mail on or after the tenth business day immediately preceding the first day for candidates to file for office and before 5:00 p.m. on the last day of the filing period shall be included with filings made in person during the filing period.
(3) Any declaration of candidacy received by the filing officer after 5:00 p.m. on the last day for candidates to file for office shall be rejected and returned to the candidate attempting to file it.