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.
