Country Case Studies

Ghana: Vote Counting using Majoritatrian and First-Past-the-Post

Indonesia: Counting the Votes for the 1999 Elections

Russia: Counting Votes for Local Elections

Sweden: Counting Ballots

Mozambique: Vote Counting and Tabulation

Ghana: Vote Counting using Majoritatrian and First-Past-the-Post

Ghana practises both the majoritarian and First-Past-the-Post electoral systems. In presidential elections, the winner is the candidate who earns a majority percentage of the valid votes cast.

A second round election is conducted for the candidates who obtained the two highest numbers of votes, if no candidate earns a majority in the first round. In Parliamentary elections however, this majoritarian clause does not apply, and a candidate is declared the winner if he earns more votes than any other candidate. An issue for determination by referendum is taken to be determined if at least thirty-five percent of the persons entitled to vote at the referendum voted and, of the valid votes cast, at least seventy percent voted in favour of the issue.

The constitution of Ghana specifies when and where the counting of votes cast at an election should be carried out. It says: "Immediately after the close of the poll, the presiding officer shall, in the presence of such of the candidates or their representatives and their polling agents as are present, proceed to count, at that polling station, the ballot papers of that station and record the votes cast in favour of each candidate or question." Counting is done manually.

Appointment and Training of Election Officials

The electoral commission of Ghana employs permanent officers to manage its offices at the national, regional, and district levels. In addition, it appoints temporary staff whenever it embarks on an exercise involving registration of voters, demarcation of electoral boundaries, or elections (including referenda). The highest temporary electoral appointment is the electoral district officer who, assisted by two deputies, is in charge of a district.

There is a presiding officer and usually two polling assistants at each polling station. For a national election, therefore, the commission employs as many as 60,320 temporary officials to man the 120 districts and 20,000 polling stations. Most of the temporary staff are very senior public servants, especially teachers, and senior students.

Wherever possible, people with past experience at an election are considered for appointment. One important consideration for appointment is that a person has not shown any active affiliation with, or support for, a particular political party, candidate, or an issue to be determined at a referendum. As much as practicable, the officials are also appointed from the area they are to operate in. Public approval for their neutrality and ability to hold the office is sought by publishing the names of the electoral district officers in the national newspapers, and those of the junior officers in the areas where they will work.

The political parties are, in addition, given the names and addresses of all temporary staff. Both the political parties and the general public are allowed to make reasonable objections to a temporary staff appointment.

The officials must attend the training exercise, regardless of whether or not they have had election experience. The training of temporary staff is always carried out close to the election. The trainers are usually permanent senior staff of the commission and proven qualified electoral district officers. The trainers themselves undergo a training of trainers (TOT) exercise organized by the Public Education and Training (PET) division at the national level. The trainers for the TOT are professional (university) trainers and some members of the electoral commission (the Board of the Commission).

The training session is planned to allow the trainees or trainers to be able to go through the election operations manual, and role play the election. No training is carried out at the polling stations, but presiding officers are encouraged to hold briefing meetings with their staff at the polling station before the poll starts. (Copies of training and operations manuals are supplied.) Candidates' agents are allowed to attend the training sessions. In Ghana the term "election official" is used to mean the officer in charge of the poll taking and counting exercises.

The officer therefore doubles for both on election day. The training also involves both aspects of the election. It is normal to train a few more than the number of officials required, and some will serve on a standby basis. The polling station structure is such that the voter population per station is not so big as to require long periods of counting. Most polling stations have less than one thousand voters, and some actually have less than five hundred voters on their lists.

Vote Counting

Immediately after the polls close, the presiding officer, in the presence of those candidates or their agents, and any other persons permitted to attend the count:

• ensures that the seal on the ballot box is securely intact;

• opens the ballot box and takes out all the ballot papers in the box;

• makes a pile of the ballot papers cast for each candidate or issue;

• proceeds to count the ballot papers, sorting spoiled and rejected ballots separately; and

• records the total number of votes cast in favour of each candidate or issue.

During the count the presiding officer takes a ballot paper, announces for whom or which issue it was cast, and allows any representatives and observers present to check the proof of his announcement. If there is no disagreement, he adds it to the pile of the particular candidate or issue.

If there is any disagreement over the ballot, the presiding officer will pass it around for close examination by the agents, to reach a consensus decision, but the presiding officer has the final word. All rejected and spoiled ballot papers are put together in a separate pile.

Any of the following reasons cause rejection of a ballot paper:

• there is no mark made at all;

• it is not evident for whom or which issue the voter made the mark;

• the voter has voted for more than one candidate or issue; or

• the ballot paper does not carry a validating stamp of that polling station.

When the vote counting is completed, a candidate or his agent may require the presiding officer to have the votes recounted, and the officer must comply. However, a second request for a recount may be carried out only at the electoral district centre by the electoral district officer or his deputy.

At the end of the count, the presiding officer and the candidates or their representatives (agents) sign a declaration, stating:

• the total number of persons entitled to vote at the polling station,

• the number of ballot papers issued,

• the number of votes cast in favour of each candidate or issue, and

• the number of spoiled and rejected ballot papers. The presiding officer then announces the results of the voting at that polling station and gives copies of the results declaration form to each candidate (or agent), and posts another copy at the station.

As soon as possible after the announcement of the voting results at the polling station, the presiding officer in the presence of the candidates or their agents puts the ballots of each candidate or issue into separate packets and seals them with his own seal and the seals of the candidates or their agents if they so desire. The packets are then put into the ballot box, along with the following other documents:

• the unused, spoiled, and rejected ballot papers packaged together;

• the tendered ballot papers, the tendered voters' list, and any declarations made, packaged together; and

• the marked copies of the register and the counterfoils of the used ballot papers.

The presiding officer then puts his seal (and those of the candidates or their agents) on the ballot box and delivers the box to the electoral district officer.

Collation of Votes at Electoral District Centre

The electoral district officer makes arrangements for collating the votes in his electoral district in the presence of the candidates and or their agents as soon as possible after the close of the poll. The electoral district officer is required to give the candidates or their agents sufficient notice of the time and place of the collation of votes.

During the collation, the electoral district officer shall take the sealed ballot boxes from the various polling stations under his jurisdiction, and open them one at a time, after the candidates (or their agents) have inspected each to make sure the seals are intact.

He takes the recorded results of each polling station and reads it aloud in the hearing of everyone present. He then takes them to find the totals for each candidate or issue. He will also carry out a recount of any ballot box, if there was a request for a second recount at the polling station. At the end of the collation, the electoral district officer:

• announces the total number of votes cast for each candidate;

• publicly declares the winner of the election;

• endorses on the writ the name of the winner; and

• forwards the endorsed writ to the commission.

In a Parliamentary election, on receipt of a writ as prescribed by law, the commission publishes in the Gazette a notice stating the name of the person elected and the total number of votes cast for each candidate, and informs the Clerk of Parliament soon thereafter of the name(s) of the candidate(s) elected.

In the case of a presidential election or a national referendum, the results declared by the various electoral district officers throughout the country are collated to determine the national result. The commission then causes a Gazette notice to be published, stating the name of the candidate elected. No court certification is required.

Petition against Election Results

Within twenty-one days after the date of the publication in the Gazette of an election result, a candidate, or a person who lawfully voted, or had a right to vote, or other qualified persons may present a petition to a High Court to declare the said result to be void, or grant any other relief sought by the petitioner.

Indonesia: Counting the Votes for the 1999 Elections

The significance in both the international and domestic public eye of the elections, following as they did 32 years of elections with a high degree of coersion, and low degrees of freedom and transparancy make a case study of the count especially relevant. Mechanisms were chosen to highlight the transparancy and correctness of these elections that could serve as a model for other transitional elections.

On the other hand, the notorious problems of the consolidation of the results, will be brought up as a cautionary reminder of the importance of planning and training as carefully for the count and results process, as for the polling process. The 1999 Indonesian transitional elections do not reflect procedurally the conduct of earlier elections, nor do they reflect necessarily the conduct of subsequent elections.

The main differences with previous elections were the increase in political participation (48 parties compared with 3 the 32 previous years), and the transparency built into the procedures. Accredited national and international observers were permitted, in unlimited numbers, to watch both the voting and the count. In addition, party agents (maximum one per party), were not only free to observe, but also to challenge elements of the polling or count.

The 7 June 1999 elections were for 3 levels - district, provincial, and regional legislatures. For the national elections, a total of 462 seats were at stake (with 38 reserved for the military and police, making a total of 500). These 462 seats were apportioned to the provinces on the basis of population, but with some favouring of the more sparsely populated outer islands over the densely populated Java.

Polling was conducted from 8 am to 2 pm in approximately 300,000 polling stations across the country - no mean logistical feat in a country of 17,000 islands, some mountainous, some densely forested.

Following the closing of the polls, votes were counted at the polling station, by the polling station officials. As 80% of Indonesia´s polling stations were outdoors, there was ample opportunity for not only the observers and party agents, but also the general public to watch (which they did! - the count across the country was characterised by a carnival like enthusiasm on the part of the onlookers).

The Voting Station Count

For the sake of this case study, a random sample polling station count is used to exemplify certain stages of the counting process, in this a village polling station in Sorkom Sub-District, North Sumatra.

Before opening the ballot boxes, the polling station officials prefilled the Official Reconciliation Forms to the extent possible (see example model C1 form). These forms were in the form of rather unwieldy, large books, a necessity considering that there were not only 48 parties times three elections, but also that all the polling station officials, as well as all the party agents present were to sign, endorsing the correctness of the documents. The C1 book/forms were to be filled out in 3 copies for the station, as well, each party agent had a copy.

The first entry on the form Ballots Recieved should have been filled out already at the opening of the polls. The ballot papers for the polling station were sealed in inside the ballot boxes upon reciept, and were to be opened, counted, and recorded as part of polling station opening procedures, in full view of all present, including the first voters the day.

The ballots received total should equal the amount of registered voters at the polling station, plus a 3% contingency (for spoilt ballots, or for persons added to the register with valid registration cards, or for persons registered elsewhere with a special authorisation form). The first ballot box, for national elections, was then opened, and ballots counted. The Indonesian 1999 ballots was small-poster size, and folded in a special way to ensure secrecy of the ballot. An official  ballot was one signed by the polling station chairman, the vice-chairman, and a third polling station member as well as affixed with an official hologram sticker.

The three levels of ballots had three different colours for differentiation; the ballot boxes were in corresponding colours. When the first ballot box was opened, a number of wrong colour ballots had crept in - a common problem for the count when several elections are held at the same time. With the approval of all the party agents present, the misplaced ballots were placed in the correct boxes. The expectation would be of course that any missing ballots for this count would be found in the boxes to be opened subsequently.

For this reason, the official reconciliation form results at each polling station were not to be filled in until the end of the count of all three boxes. Back to the opening of the ballot box - the first task upon opening was to sort out the most obvious invalid ballots, that is the inofficial ones, that were missing the three signatures or the official hologram, fake ballots, photocopies ballots, ballots larger or smaller than the official ballots, or ballots in a different colour, which were to be removed and not counted, should any exist.

The official ballots were then counted, the total noted, hopefully matching the amount recieved, minus unused and minus spoilt, and minus unofficial/invalid. If the numbers didn´t reconcile, chances are that this was because ballots for this election were still in the, as yet uncounted, other boxes. One by one, in front of all party agents, observers, and the general public, the ballots were unfolded, held up in full view, and the party called out by the chairman, and tallied on a large visible boards.

The party agents, and observers if they so wished, had forms to do a parallel tally at the same time. Interestingly for the Indonesian elections, ballots were punched with a hole rather than marked. Because of this, the back of the ballots were shown to all present, so that the hole would be clearly visible. As the ballot papers were thin, translucent, and the party symbols bright and easily visible from the back of the paper, this was fine except, had there been worse lighting, (mostly the count was done in the daytime, between 2-6 pm, but in some places delayed materials resulted in delayed counts, meaning the count was conducted in poor lighting) this could have been a problem.

When voters had not properly punched the cards, but rather just made a dent in the paper, these were considered valid if so approved by all present. Ballots marked with a pen, punched more than once, unclearly punched (ie on the line between two parties), or not punched were considered invalid, along with the inofficial ballots already removed.

The chairman made special effort with the invalid ballots to make sure that the invalidity was approved by all. This greatly added to the sense of transparancy, good will, and participation. Valid votes were both tallied during the count, and the ballots divided into piles, subsequently counted and checked against the large tally board. The parallel count by the party agents and observers present served as a triple check for accuracy.

Following the tally, and the determination of votes per party, the ballots were rubberbanded together on a party basis, and placed into an official envelope that was then sealed. Invalid ballots, were placed into another envelope, recorded and sealed. These two envelopes, plus the envelope with the spoiled ballots were placed in a plastic bag. This procedure was repeated for the provincial and district level ballots.

After the ballots were tallied for each election, the polling station chair asked the vice chair to count the number of votes for each party, for each election, on each tally sheet. The chair announced the total number of votes for each party so that party agents and observers could hear. The vice chair and another polling station member then record the number of votes for each party on the official reconciliation form (3 copies). Another polling station member recorded the numbers at the same time on a large, visible form on the board.

The three copies were signed by all polling station officials, and all party agents present. One form was to be kept sealed, with the other election material, another to be posted publicly at the polling station, and the third to be given to the village level election committee for the consolidation of the results.

The sealed envelopes were locked inside one of the ballot boxes, other materials placed in a second, and all the materials accompanied by the polling officials, party agents, observers, and general public, to the location designated by the village level election committee for safekeeping overnight.

The Consolidation of the Results

The village election committees, known as the PPS, were each responsible for between 2 and 9 polling stations, depending on the population of the area. The Indonesian elections were organised based on a hierarchy of 6 (!) levels: the national election committee and commission (KPU/PPI), Provincial (PPD1), Regency/Municipality (PPD2), District (PPK), Subdistrict/Village (PPS) and polling station levels.

Official reconciliation forms were consolidated at each level - that is, the PPS (Village) consolidated its polling station results, which were sent to the Sub-district (PPK) level. The District level consolidated and sent official forms to the next level up (Municipality), but also sent the results directly to an electronic parallel counting centre in Jakarta, run largely by internationals (Australia). The official manual results, following consolidation at the provincial and national levels. was a process scheduled to take approximately 2 weeks, followed by a legalisation process and official announcement. The computerised count, though inofficial, provided considerably quicker results. Certain observer groups also conducted parallel tallies.

Under the current electoral law, candidates are allocated seats on a constituency basis (the constituency, but within a proportional representation system. List of candidates for each party/constitutency are posted in advance.

If a party is allocated 3 seats in The use of reconciliation of numbers was an important feature of the election forms, and yet one area that many election officials seemed to have difficulty with. Using the sample polling station as an example, the results were spread over 11 parties, with 2 parties neck in neck, resulting in a marginal victory for Golkar, the party that only a few yearts before had garnered over 90% of the vote. This gives an indication of the changes that a new electoral law, free campaigning, and clear and transparent procedures can bring to a small village.

Mozambique: Vote Counting and Tabulation

Electoral System

Mozambique’s electoral system for Parliamentary elections is proportional representation, with a five percent threshold for representation. The candidate elected as President receives the majority of votes cast. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes cast, run-off elections are held where the weakest candidates are eliminated and the candidate that receives the most votes is elected.

Concurrent Presidential and Parliamentary elections are held every five years.

The Counting Process

Counting takes place at the voting stations after the close of voting. Counting is conducted by the presiding officer in the presence of candidate and party agents, observers and counting officials.

There are three phases to counting votes in Mozambique.

Partial Counting and Verification

Partial counting and verification takes place at the voting station and begins directly after the voting has been completed.

The electoral officer in charge of the voting station closes the voters’ roll, which has to be signed by all the party and candidate representatives. The remaining ballot papers are counted and verified against the number people who voted at that voting station.

The ballot boxes are opened and the ballots are counted. Ballots are then returned to the ballot boxes and ballot boxes are closed until they are once again counted in the verification phase.

The number of ballots counted are announced publicly and the results displayed in a form of a publication. In the event that there are discrepancies between the number of ballots in the ballot boxes and the number of voters that voted, the ballots will be taken as the true figure unless the ballots exceed the number of voters registered. If ballots exceed the number of registered voters the votes are considered null and voting will take place on the second Sunday after the final decision of nullification of the vote.

The voter verification at the voting station takes place in the following manner:

1. The presiding officer opens each ballot and announces the name of the candidate or party that was voted for;
2. The secretary registers the votes attributed to each candidate or party on sheets of white paper or on a big board, if one exists;
3. the second scribe places the votes separated by lots which will correspond with each candidate or party including spoilt ballots;
4. the two scribes counts each of the lots;
5. the presiding officer announces the number of votes that each candidate or party has received.

It is only after the counting that party representatives have the right to examine the lots of ballots and if necessary present their complaints to the presiding officer.

If a decision was challenged, the challenge was noted on the back of the ballot and signed by the presiding officer and the agent making the challenge. The challenge does not affect the result at this stage but is sent (within 24 hours) to the National Electoral Commission for a final decision.

An edict is completed showing the number of registered voters, the number of ballots in the ballot box, the number of ballots each party or candidate received and the number of blank and invalid votes. The edicts must be signed by the polling officials. The result edicts are then displayed publicly at the voting station.

The ballot boxes, the minutes, the published results, the voters’ roll, the number of contested votes, any problems experienced and any remaining documentation is delivered to the district or city Election Commission, who in turn have to ensure that all this material is received by the Provincial Election Commission within a period of 48 hours.

Party representatives have the right to accompany the transportation of the materials. Security is also present when ballots are transported.

Provincial Verification

Provincial verification is the responsibility of the Provincial Election Commission which has to centralise the results of each district including all the voting stations within the respective district. This verification is based on the minutes, published results and any other documentation produced at the respective voting stations.

All ballots that have been challenged or considered null have to be submitted to the National Election Commission (CNE) within a period of 24 hours.

The final lists of centralised results per district have to include the following:

1. total number of registered voters;
2. total number and percentage of voters that did vote in relation to the number of registered voters;
3. total number and percentage of voters that did not vote in relation to the number of registered voters
4. total number and percentage of valid votes in relation to the number of votes cast;
5. total number and percentage of blank ballots in relation to the number of votes cast;
6. total number and percentage of null votes in relation to the number of votes cast;
7. total number of votes that each candidate received in relation to the number of the valid votes cast.

Verification of the votes is finalised by producing minutes and lists of results. Copies of these documents have to be signed and stamped and given to the party and candidate agents. Observers and journalists can also request copies of these documents.

At the provincial level results are entered into a results data base. All party and candidate agents are given access to the database to compare their tallies recorded at the voting stations to those entered into the database.

National Verification

It is the responsibility of the CNE to reevaluate the ballots that have been challenged and those that have been declared invalid. The CNE is responsible for centralizing all the results. This stage of the counting takes place in the capital city, Maputo.

The sealed transport bags are organised by province. The bags are opened and every ballot is reviewed by two CNE members appointed by different parties. The regulations allow for a wide interpretation of what constitutes a valid ballot.

A document is filled out for each polling station, specifying the number of invalid votes that have been reclassified as valid and to which party or candidate they have been assigned. The results are then tallied for the whole province on a separate form.

Other CNE members review the problematic edicts that had been forwarded by the Provinces. Whenever the problems are resolved, the number of votes is entered into the database. The summarised results of the reclassification of invalid and contested votes are added to the databases with the provincial results. This tabulation is then calculated according to a formula to determine the distribution of parliamentary seats.

To determine the outcome of the presidential race, the figures are added together for nation-wide results. The official results must be publicly announced, within 15 days after the close of the poll, by the CNE. There is no provision for recounting. Challenges to the results may be made through the court system; the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Council.

Russia: Counting Votes for Local Elections

The following is a step-by-step account of vote counting procedures in Russia.

Repeated by-election of a Duma deputy in Monchegorsk District - December 3rd 2000. Polling station no 163 in Apatity.

This polling station was shared and used as two polling stations in the same big room. The room was divided in the middle. Most polling stations were schools, culture houses or daycares.

Voter turnout in this particular polling station was approximately 25% compared to the regional average on 37%. It was common throughout the vote counting process that more than one activity took place at the same time. For example the unused ballotpapers were counted at the same time as the number of signatures on the voter register.

The vote counting procedures at this election went generally very well and smooth. We did not witness any major violations worth mentioning. This case study represents a typical vote counting procedure from a local election in Russia. The same electoral law is used all over the country with very minor changes. The vote counting procedures at federal elections as well as local are very similar.

As far as the domestic observer could tell as well as ourselves, we know could not witness any unusual circumstances during this procedures. The only thing we reacted to was the fact that at some other polling stations at other elections in Russia it had been allowed to come in and go for visitors during the process, however this was not the case at this polling stations. The polling officials were very experienced and seemd to know the full process by heart.

Present at the polling station are:

• Seven polling station officials including the chairman.

• One police officer (responsible for both polling stations).

• One local observer representing one of the candidates in the election.

• Two international observers:

1) The chairman pronounces that the voting has closed and as a physical symbol she pulls down some curtains.

2) Before they start any counting she asks her staff to remove all pens so that there is no possibility to change numbers on the ballot account form or marks on the ballot papers.

3) The unused ballot papers are counted at the same time as the signatures on the voter register are counted. Each polling station receives a few less ballotpapers than the number of registered voters for that pollingplace, but they can easily have more delivered during the day should they run out of ballot papers.

4) When all the unused ballot papers are counted the number is announced and they are destroyed by cutting off a corner of each. During this time the polling boots are taken apart by the some of the polling officials to save time since they are not all needed for that one task.

5) The signatures on the electoral roll are now counted. The registers are put on a pile and sown together with thick thread and a needle with the experienced sowing hand of an old woman. The pile is signed by the Chairman on a smaller piece of paper put at the back of the pile.

6) The number of applications by voters that wished to vote in their homes are counted and the number is announced.

7) The movable ballot box which is used for these voters is examined and opened and the ballot papers in it are taken out and counted.

8) Each ballot paper is held up and it is proclaimed for each and every ballot paper which candidate received this vote.

9) A big table is now set up for the votes from the main ballot box. The votes from the movable ballot box are on another table which is actually not allowed because they should by now all be mixed on the big table.

10) The ballot box from this polling station is examined and opened. The votes are put on the big table by turning the box upside down.

11) After we all had a chance to look in the box, it is proclaimed that the ballot box is empty.

12) Before they start counting the votes the polling officials ask the chairman whether they should all stick to the same piles or if they should all have seven piles each. The chairman decided that they should all have their own piles.

13) Every polling official begins to sort the ballot papers in piles after candidates. That gives each polling official seven piles. Five for the different candidates, one for votes "against all candidates" and one for invalid votes.

14) Only the polling officials are allowed to touch the votes. Observers are allowed to stand very close, ask questions and to take photos but not touch the votes.

15) While counting is going on one of the officials is wrapping in the unused, destroyed ballot papers in brown, thick paper and seals it with thick broad tape and the package is stamped.

16) Every now and then during counting the polling officials comment on the votes with surprise. For example "There are not that many invalid votes this time" or "Candidate X seems extremely popular".

17) When all the votes are counted (approximately 1300) all the piles for the same candidate is put on a large pile.

18) Each invalid vote is proclaimed invalid and held up so that everyone present at the polling place could see. The chairman also mentions the reason for why this vote was invalid. 19) Now the pile with "against all candidates" votes is dealt with the same way. Each and every vote is held up and it is proclaimed that this is a vote "against all candidates".

20) All the invalid votes are now put in an envelope. The number of invalid votes that the envelope contains is written on it and the envelope is stamped and signed by the chairman. The envelope is not sealed as yet.

21) Among the "against all candidates" the polling officials have found yet another vote that they proclaim invalid. This vote is given to the official who is holding the envelope containing all the invalid votes.

22) Now the chairman moves towards the piles of votes with votes for candidates. The chairman starts with one pile and holds up every vote and proclaims that this a vote for candidate X. The chairman asks the observers to feel free to stand right behind her when she is counting each vote for the candidate so that they can see that it is a vote for that candidate and so that the Chairman wouldn´t have to proclaim each vote loudly.

23) This procedure is repeated for the other four candidates. Sometimes the counting of the different piles/candidates overlaps. Before any polling official starts counting a pile he/she announces that these are votes for candidate X etc.

24) The number of votes for the candidate that was counted first is announced.

25) The piles with votes are put in piles in alphabetical order on the table, which is the same way they are listed on the balance sheet and on the posters on the wall at the polling station. (they can be sorted in any way according to the law, not necessarily in alphabetical order.

26) The Chairman takes the pile with the last candidate. It seems this candidate received many more votes than any of the other and therefore the votes are divided up in piles by 50. There was a comment on this among the polling officials about this candidate receiving many votes but the Chairman asks the official to stop talking like that and comment on such political things since they have to be neutral and only deal with the process.

27) A former polling official at this polling stations comes in to the polling stations to say hello to his old colleagues. The chairman told him that he could not be here as just a visitor, he would then have to be registered before the vote counting process started. An interesting note is that at another local election in Tula, south of Moscow visitors were allowed to come and go as they wished.

28) One of the ballot papers had a little signature on it made by the voter. But the Chairman declared the ballot valid.

29) As soon as the number of votes is declared for each candidate the pile of votes for him/her is put in separate envelopes/packages and the number is written on the package together with the candidate´s name. The package is, like all other packages signed by the Chairman and stamped.

30) One of the polling officials has been sitting down all the time writing down the numbers that have been announced, like an accountant keeping the balance numbers. Together with other polling officials writing the same numbers on the poster sized ballot account form on the wall. This ballot account form also contains information about the address for the polling station etc. At the same time some other material is being taken down and packed, such as posters, scissors, chairs etc.

31) The polling official who fills in all the numbers is continuously checking with the regulations concerning adding votes so that they do it the right way.

32) All the envelopes and packages are put in a larger brown box.

33) They have wrapped the registers in thick brown paper and tape. The polling officials are discussing whether the voter registers should be put in the same box. They decide to not put them in the same box.

34) The large box is closed and brown tape wrapped around it.

35) The polling official that filled in all the numbers is now double checking them together with another colleague. They agree after going through it that everything seems correct.

36) The Chairman had a binder where she wrote down how many local and international observers were present. She also needs to write this down at another place if the observers want to have copies of the ballot account form. All polling officials have to sign all the balance sheets that are distributed.

37) The poster sized ballot account form on the wall is now filled in by the Chairman with the last numbers after adding and subtracting votes. The Chairman reads all the numbers out loud. The numbers are read with double numbers. Forexample, the number 2033 is read twenty, thirty-three.

38) The large box containing the votes is on the table all this time. The voter registers are on top of the box together with a binder with some information on for example how many observers there were present during vote counting etc. The doors have been closed but not locked all the time. Only those that were present at the pollingstation before closing and registerd their presence are allowed to be there, other people not allowed in after the voting hours have been proclaimed closed.

39) Every polling official has to sign each of the ballot account form that the observers want and also the three official ones that goes to the Election Commission.

40) The Chairman then asked one of the polling officials to call for the car.

41) Those observers that asked for a copy of the balance sheet have to sign a list to confirm that they received it.

42) The Chairman numbers the three official balance sheets with 1, 2 and 3. 43) The Chairman never officially declares the vote counting process finished but by filling in all the balance sheets and signing them, the Chairman makes clear that it is over.

44) The box containing votes and the voter registers are kept on a pile on the large table. Some polling officials stays and watches the pile while some other polling official goes off to fetch jackets and private bags etc.

45) A police officer arrives. The Chairman, the vice chairman and the secretary of the polling station go with him down to the car which is parked outside the polling station. The policeman carried the box with votes and the Chairman was carrying the voter registers and the balance sheet. Some polling stations are not able to find a free police officer that can assist, so they simply walk to the regional electoral office.

46) The box and registers were placed in the car and all four went in the car to the regional election commission where they were supposed to hand in their box, the registers and the balance sheets.

47) Most transports were with a police car but some were with private or borrowed cars. Public services such as the police and other guards have to assist in the electoral process.

48) At the regional electoral office the polling officials from each different polling station were lined up outside the office. There was a security guard in the room and local as well as international observers are allowed to be present. The police officer that accompanied the polling official from this particular polling station has left and is on his way to the next polling stations.

49) When it is the turn of the polling officials from our polling station the balance sheets are gone through. This is the first step. If they are not correctly filled in and stamped and signed they are sent back to correct them. In our case all seemd correct and our Chairman could hand in the box with votes and the voter registers. 50) The box is carried away to a separat archive room to be gone through later on.

51) The balance sheets and other documents are carried up to a computer room where all the numbers are plugged in to the computer. After it has been written they print it out for the Chairman to sign.

Sweden: Counting Ballots

Summary

In Sweden there are three elections (parliamentary, county council, and municipal) on the same day. The votes are counted, by party only, in the polling stations immediately after the closing of the poll.

Interim results are reported by telephone from the polling station to the local election committees who report to the regional office of the Regional Tax Board. From the Regional Tax Board, a computer transmits the parliamentary results to the National Tax Board, where a preliminary distribution of seats in parliament is carried out, and the interim results are published.

The ballots and reports are delivered to the Regional State Administration where a recount is carried out. Based on the recount, the final distribution of seats for the municipal and county levels is made, and the final results published by the State County Administration. The distribution of seats for parliament is made by the National Tax Board and the final results officially published, based on reports from the State County Administration.

Electoral System

Sweden has a proportional list system, with a possibility for preferential vote for one candidate on the list.

There is a separate list for each alternative (the party can have more than one list in each electoral district).

The voter inserts the ballot, with or without preferential mark, in an envelope, using a separate ballot for each election. The ballots have different colours for each election, and separate ballot boxes are used.

There are around six thousand polling stations in Sweden, with a separate voters' register for each polling station.

Normally, voters choose to vote at the polling station where they are registered. However, absentee voting is permitted at post offices up to eighteen days before election day, and during a more limited period at Swedish missions abroad. About thirty-five percent of the electorate vote using the absentee ballot.

The voter can vote either in person or by proxy. Limited mail-in voting is allowed in special cases. Most of the absentee votes are sent to the polling station where the voters are registered and counted there. However, a small proportion of "late" absentee votes and mail-in votes are counted by the local election committees.

Vote Counting in Voting Stations

Immediately after the closing of the polls, the votes are counted in the voting stations in this order:

• parliament,

• municipal, and

• county council.

First, the absentee votes are put in the ballot boxes.

The number of voters who have cast their votes according to the voter register is determined. The envelopes in the ballot box are counted and compared with the numbers according to the voters' register.

If there is a discrepancy, a recount is carried out. If there still is a discrepancy, this is written in the polling station report and the count continues. The envelopes are opened, and the ballots are sorted according to party. Spoiled ballots are set aside and counted.

A ballot is spoiled if:

• the ballot is marked so the voter can be identified;

• there is more than one ballot for different parties (if ballots are for the same party one ballot is valid);

• if there is more than one party name on the ballot; or

• if there is no party name on the ballot.

The ballots are then counted per party and the numbers are written in the polling station report. The ballots are put in special plastic envelopes. A separate envelope is used for each party, and for spoiled ballots, and the envelopes are sealed. The ballots, voters' register, and reports are delivered to the local election committee, and from there, to the state county administration for the recount.

Reporting of Interim Results

As soon as the parliamentary election is counted in the polling station, the results are reported by telephone to the Regional Tax Authority. The parliamentary results are forwarded to the National Tax Board where a preliminary distribution of seats is carried out and published.

The results from the municipal and county council elections are reported in the same way, but the procedures end at the Regional Tax Authority, where preliminary distributions of seats are carried out and published.

Predictions of the parliamentary results are made by the media based on sample results delivered by the National Tax Board. The media bear the responsibility for these predictions. However, the accuracy of the predictions has improved, and normally the predictions are very close to the actual result.

Counting of Absentee Votes and Mail-in Votes

The local election committees are responsible for "late" absentee votes (that have not been sent to the polling stations), and mail-in votes. This count takes place three days after election day, and by and large, the same rules apply as in counting at the polling stations.

The election materials are delivered to the State County Administration for a recount immediately after the count is finished.

Final Count at the State County Administration

At the final count, all ballots are examined and decided on once again. The ballots are counted, not only by party, but each list within the party, and preferential votes for candidates. The numbers are entered into computers, the results are calculated, and seats distributed among parties and candidates. These operations start the day after the election.

The final parliamentary results are published after a little more than a week later. The final county council and municipal council results are published approximately three weeks after the election. All ballots, reports, and voters' registers are kept in case of complaints.