; and (C) the vote cast on the ballot shall be transferred to, and added to the total number of votes received by, the highest-ranked continuing candidate determined under subparagraph (B). 333. Exclusion of inactive ballots In any round of tabulation of ballots under this part, including the initial tabulation of ballots, a vote shall not be counted for any candidate if it is cast on an inactive ballot. 334. Use of batch elimination (a) Batch elimination described At the option of the State, with respect to any candidate elimination round carried out under this subsection, a State may use batch elimination to treat multiple candidates as defeated candidates for purposes of the additional rounds of tabulation described in section 331(b)(2) or section 332(b)(2). A continuing candidate is in the elimination batch if it is mathematically impossible for that candidate to be a winning candidate in the election for any of the following reasons: (1) The candidate’s vote total in the initial tabulation of ballots plus all of the votes that could possibly be transferred to the candidate in the additional rounds of tabulation would not be enough to equal or surpass the continuing candidate with the next highest vote total in the initial tabulation of ballots. (2) The candidate has a lower current vote total than a continuing candidate described in paragraph (1). (b) Special rule for nonpartisan blanket primary elections In the case of a nonpartisan blanket primary election for which tabulation is carried out in accordance with section 332, a candidate may not be in the elimination batch if the candidate’s vote total is one of the top ___ vote totals among all continuing candidates, with the blank space filled in with the required number of winning candidates with respect to the election, as provided under the law of the State involved. 335. Treatment of ties between candidates If a tie occurs between candidates with the greatest number of votes or the fewest number of votes at any point in the tabulation of ballots under