(a) The Board of Elections shall consist of two active or retired members of the system appointed by each candidate and a chair appointed by the president of the Retirement Board. Candidate appointments shall be made by filing the names and addresses of such candidate's appointees on a form prescribed by the system. The form must be filed with the system no later than September 15th in the year in which the election is held. The president of the Retirement Board shall appoint an active or retired member of the system to serve as Chair of the Board of Elections by filing a written designation with the system. No member of the Board of Elections shall be a candidate or alternate candidate.

(b) No later than October 15th, the system shall notify the members of the Board of Elections in writing of their appointment and of the date and time for the counting of the ballots.

(c) The ballots shall be counted in accordance with a written procedure established by the system. On the second Monday in November, the Board of Elections shall meet at the location within New York State established by the system for the purpose of certifying the election of the candidate receiving the highest number of valid ballots cast in the election.

(d) The members of the Board of Elections shall be reimbursed for reasonable expenses actually incurred in accordance with the system's written reimbursement policies.

(e) The Chair of the Board of Elections shall notify the candidate so elected within five days after the Board of Elections certifies the election of such candidate.

(f) If, by reason of a tie vote, no candidate can be certified by the Board of Elections as having won, the Board of Elections shall certify the tie vote and order a special election to be held in accordance with the procedures set forth in section 5021.7 of this Part.

(g) Ballots shall be preserved by the system for at least 90 days after such certification pursuant to a written procedure established by the system. No recount of the ballots shall be required except upon written petition of a candidate or alternate candidate or of 100 retired members of the system eligible to vote in such election. Such petition must be filed with the system no later than 30 days after the date on which the ballots were counted. Any recount shall be paid in advance at the expense of the person(s) requesting the recount, unless the margin by which a candidate was elected is less than one percent of the votes cast, in which event the cost of the recount shall be borne by the system.