(a) The general returns from the various districts which have been returned unsealed shall be open to public inspection at the office of the county board as soon as they are received from the judges of election. None of the envelopes sealed by election officers and entrusted to the judge of election for delivery to the county board shall be opened by any person, except by the order of the return board, or of the court of common pleas.

(b) The county board shall submit returns received under subsection (a) to the Department of State for each office for which a candidate must file a nomination petition with the Secretary of the Commonwealth by three o'clock A. M. on the day following the election. The submission shall be by telephone, facsimile or the World Wide Web site or by any other manner required by the secretary.