This section discusses how the electoral system and chosen ballot type might affect vote counting procedures.
What Vote Counting Means
It is necessary to carefully distinguish between counting the votes and determining a winner (See Transforming Votes to Seats).
Counting the votes consists of opening the ballot boxes, sorting their contents, determining the validity of ballot papers, and counting ballot papers counted. With the exception of countries using voting machines, vote counting is a concrete operation, based on actual objects (ballot papers and, if applicable envelopes), and is often done manually. It is a labour intensive operation. In some countries mechanical or electronic devices are used to facilitate the counting process.
Counting votes requires clear procedures, concentration, literacy, and honesty. Those who count votes are not highly paid and in some countries the literacy requirement excludes many applicants. Given the delicate nature of this process, the EMB management is advised to pay close attention to this activity. Is important to introduce a set of checks and balances reducing the risk of electoral malpractices or fraud.
Vote counting involves the preliminary operation of checking the validity of ballot papers. Electoral legislation normally outlines detailed grounds for rejecting ballot papers. Election officials must be fully familiar with those provisions.
This operation requires a higher skill level than simply counting the votes. Decisions on the validity of ballot papers may be made collectively (for example, by a majority decision of all election officials present) or hierarchically (by the presiding officer). The decision may also be "referred to higher officials". Decisions of this nature must be subject to judicial review to prevent abuses.
Vote counting results normally produce the following information for each counting unit:
Counting votes can be accomplished by counting officials, usually at the voting station level, but also at the electoral district level, or on a national level.
Counting officials can count the votes, usually, at the voting station level, but they can also do it at the electoral district level, or on a national level. The final stage of vote counting is the aggregation of figures for electoral districts. Electoral districts are the territorial units for which representatives, in a first-past-the-post system, are elected and where votes are added before the electoral formula is to be applied to determine who is elected. If the counting centre is smaller than the electoral district, the figures included in the statements of votes for each counting unit must be aggregated for all the counting units in the electoral district. It is fundamental that observers, party agents, and accredited journalists can witness this process. Transparent tabulation enables stakeholders to verify individual polling station results in the aggregated result.
This operation involves gathering the results from each counting centre, checking whether all statements are in, and aggregating the figures included in each statement. Once the totals are available for the electoral district, the vote counting is over. The next step is applying the electoral formula to determine who is elected.
Electoral Systems
An electoral system determines how parties and candidates are elected to a body as representatives. Depending on the electoral system used, the electoral formula – the actual mathematical formula translating votes into seats - may vary.
For legislative elections, the electoral system is the rule whereby members of a legislative house are elected and votes transformed into seats. For presidential elections, the electoral system is the benchmark a candidate must reach to be declared elected: e.g. a plurality or a majority of the popular vote.
Electoral systems and formulas are outlined in Transforming Votes to Seats. The electoral system chosen will affect many other variables of the election process. In particular, it has some effect on the ballot type and on the counting procedure.
Influence of Electoral System over Ballot Type
The variables of ballot type are outlined in greater detail in file Ballot Type Counting Requirements.
Ordinal or Categorical Ballots: The main effect of the electoral system on the ballot type is whether a categorical or an ordinal choice will be required from voters.
A categorical ballot is one where the voter makes a straight choice, either for a candidate or for a party list, or for a party and a candidate at the same time. An ordinal ballot is one where the voter indicates his or her preferences among the various candidates or parties by numbering their respective names, in declining order (1, 2, 3) or by cumulating votes on certain candidates. On an ordinal ballot a voter is able to alter his or her vote between the first and second round of an election.
Most electoral systems require voters to make a categorical choice, which means that categorical type ballots are the most common occurrence. Ordinal ballots only account for one-quarter of the world total of ballots. They can be required for four electoral systems:
Ballot Structure: The Australian Ballot, the "Ballot and Envelope System," and the French Ballot
Another important dimension of the ballot paper is its structure. Two broad options exist: an "Australian ballot" (named after its country of origin) and "the ballot and envelope" system. The Australian ballot is a ballot on which the names of all competing parties and candidates are grouped on a single sheet of paper, to be marked by the voter.
The "ballot and envelope" system, requires printing a distinct ballot paper for each of the competing parties or candidates, and inviting voters to insert one single paper into an envelope, which is to be dropped into the ballot box.
Between those two types exists an intermediary solution: the French ballot, which lists the candidates to be marked by the voter. This type of ballot is used in some jurisdictions where proportional representation (PR) is combined with the right for voters to express preferences for individual candidates within the party list. Most electoral systems are fully compatible with either ballot structure option (see "group 1" in the appendix). However, some electoral systems (First Past the Post, Two-Round, or PR) in multi-member electoral districts with panachage or preferential voting within a list are compatible with both.
The Australian ballot system is sometimes the preferred option as it is a simpler format of ballot paper and for the cost factor of producing less ballot papers, especially if the number of members to be elected is high: (see "group 2" in the appendix.) Finally, some electoral systems are only compatible with Australian ballots, and cannot be operated with the ballot and envelope system. This is the case for the alternative voting and STV (see "group 3" in the appendix), because both require an ordinal choice, which cannot be expressed with sufficient clarity under the ballot and envelope system.
Influence of Electoral System over Vote Counting
The most important influence of the electoral formula over vote counting is to determine what must be counted. Some electoral systems simply require counting the votes for candidates or parties. Other electoral systems require counting the votes both for parties and for candidates within each party list.
If the electoral system requires voters to express an ordinal choice, then vote counting is performed in a very different way.
Another influence of the electoral system is the determination of which territorial level (the voting station, the electoral district, or the nation as a whole) votes must be counted and aggregated.
Appendix
This is a discussion of the compatibility of various electoral systems with the Australian ballot paper and the ballot and envelope system.
Group 1 - The following electoral systems are compatible with both the Australian ballot and the ballot and envelope system:
Group 2 - The following electoral systems are compatible in theory with both the Australian ballot and the ballot and envelope system. However, in practical terms, it is advisable to use Australian ballots, especially if the number of votes to be cast in the district is high.
Group 3 - The following electoral systems are compatible only with Australian ballots:
