(1) Absentee ballots shall be accumulated and kept, unopened, by the district's secretary until the time in which such ballots may be received is closed. The secretary shall deliver them to the board of directors as early as practicable on the following day. That board shall proceed at once to determine whether the voters submitting absentee ballots are qualified so to vote and to count and tally the votes of those so determined to be qualified. The board shall make, record, and certify the result of its determinations and count; and promptly thereafter it shall deliver the ballots, certificates of qualifications, and its certificate to the district's secretary. The provisions of RCW 87.03.100 with respect to recount shall govern also in the case of absentee ballots.

(2) On the completion of the canvass of the regular returns of the several election precincts as provided in RCW 87.03.105, the board of directors shall canvass the returns of the absentee votes and declare the result thereof in substantially the same manner as provided for the returns of the votes cast in the regular manner. Thereupon the statement of the result conforming as nearly as practicable to the requirements of RCW 87.03.110 shall be made covering both regular and absentee votes.