General Discussion

Ballots arrive in two envelopes. Mailer (duh) and secrecy.
At least two election workers scan the secrecy envelope for relevant info. Once it's approved, the ballot is separated from the envelope and then tabulated.

I'm not sure what happens to the envelopes (when are they discarded?) However, they are not stored with the ballots.
Ballots are retained for:
Recount purposes
Audits.

I know lots on here wanted a national recount. A recount cannot happen if the ballots are not retained.