In some jurisdictions provision is made for voting
outside the country. The legislation will provide for the requirements of each
jurisdiction. Generally, categories of voters outside the country include
people working at embassies, consuls and trade missions, members of the armed
forces and personnel on security duty outside the country, people studying or
working outside the country, those traveling outside the country and, in some
instances people who are resident outside the country.
Votes
cast by people outside the country are called special ballots. Special ballots
are usually returned to the national office of the electoral management body.
In some legislation, absentee voting takes place in embassies. If this is the
case, then ballots are often counted locally in the foreign country, following
the same procedures as ballots counted in the country, and results are then
communicated directly to the head office of the electoral management body.
Depending
on the rules of the system used, the legal framework and the logistics in
place, the ballots returned by mail might be received only a specific number of
days prior to voting day, or up until voting day itself. If special ballots are
accepted until Election Day, counting procedures should be designed so as not
to let the count delay the publication of interim results.
Envelopes
received at the nation office of the electoral management body are sorted by
category. If different types of ballots are used, different colours of return
envelopes for each category of voters using the special ballots are
recommended. This helps to speed up the sorting of the envelopes at reception.
Once at
the national office, a first verification for creating the audit trail is
carried out and includes the following steps: receipt of ballots, comparison of
the identity of the voter, signature and bar codes (if used). The voter’s name
will also be marked on the voters’ lists in order to avoid double voting. The
voter should have been provided with three envelopes: a pre- addressed return
envelope, an outer envelope on which the signature of the voter appears, and
finally, the secrecy envelope or the inner envelope containing the ballot. This
secrecy envelope has no marks on it, in order to protect the secrecy of the
vote.
First,
the returned envelope is opened on receipt, and the outer envelope (containing
a secret envelope) is removed. If the identification of the voter is positive,
the external envelope is opened, and the secrecy envelope (but not the ballot)
is then removed from and inserted into a ballot box.
Depending
on the deadline given to return the special ballots, the counting may start
before Election Day, or at the beginning of Election Day, or at the close of
voting on Election Day.
However,
counting these ballots may take a very long time, depending on the volume of
ballots to process and the procedures used. Counting special ballots before Election
Day is common and generally recommended, but special security is necessary to
ensure the results are only released when the results of ordinary elections are
known. For the advance voting, and sometimes, for incarcerated voters, counting
procedures are quite different.
If the
advance voting takes place over several days, reconciliation may be done at the
end of each day. Some jurisdictions require that the ballot box be opened at
the end of each advance voting day, and unused ballots, used
ballots (which are not counted) and spoiled ballots be sealed in separate
envelopes, as well as the voter's list and the voting book. This measure is
mainly for control and creation of a full audit trail of ballot usage.
For
incarcerated voters, the procedures used for advance voting may also be
applied, but only if the vote took place prior to Election Day.
The
ballot boxes for advance voting are kept safely until the closing of ordinary
voting on Election Day. The counting process for these ballots starts at the
same time as for the ordinary voting. If possible, the same voting officers who
took the votes for the advance voting should be there for the counting.
Counting of these ballots should take place at the regional/district office of
the electoral management body in the presence of representatives of political
parties and candidates. The counting procedures are virtually identical to the
ones used for counting at ordinary voting.
For the
purposes of creating separate audit trails, and for properly reporting the
results of advance voting, and special ballots, these unique voting procedures
should not be confused with ordinary voting. This difference should be made
very clear with distinctive statement of the votes forms used for these types
of ballots.
Transport Arrangement for Votes from Outside the
Country
Transportation
of ballots across national boundaries and throughout the world will require a
different approach from domestic arrangements and involve very careful
planning. Time zones, customs, carriers' schedules, and other types of delays
in transport may impact the starting date and hour of the counting process.
If the
vote abroad takes place in embassies and consulates only, diplomatic bags may
be used, avoiding delays at customs. However, such deliveries may not be made
as frequently or rapidly as is required.
If the
international vote is highly decentralised and takes place in major cities
where expatriates are found, then a world-renowned courier firm with extensive
worldwide coverage would be more suitable for the transport of ballots.
Carriers that have divisions specialising in transporting securities should be
approached as they are able to provide well-designed tracing mechanisms
including logs to control and secure packages throughout the route to their
final destination.
They
also tend to possess a broad knowledge of diverse customs regulations and
practices, which may alleviate many of the potential delays related to them.
Once
the electoral management body agrees with a carrier on security measures during
transportation, an intimate knowledge of the pick-up and delivery schedules is
recommended since this is essential in planning the activities for receiving
ballots at the counting centre.
In some
instances, the counting centre location could be close to the airport/hub where
the selected carrier intends to deliver the ballot boxes to minimise
transportation delays once the ballots arrive in the country of destination. If
appropriate, political party and candidate representatives and electoral
management body officials should be at the airport/hub to deal with unexpected
delivery problems and expedite processing. In some jurisdictions the ballots
will be delivered to the central counting centre, which may not be near the
delivery hub.
Publicity
around the transit facilities should be limited to those who require this
knowledge. Throughout the process, the electoral management body should
designate a specific individual or unit to deal with the carrier and to resolve
contracting, logistical and security problems as they arise.
For
ballots that are sent by mail, arrangements should be made with the national
postal service to conduct a special sorting of overseas ballots before the
ballot return deadline. In addition, special deliveries should be planned to
the designated counting centre to maximise the number of ballots received
before the deadline date and hour. A specific code on the return address may
facilitate such activity and should be planned with the national postal service
authorities, according to their practices, well before printing the address on
the mail vote return envelopes.
