There is no interruption in the process until the statement of the vote of the voting station is released and sent to the local office of the electoral management body. Once the counting process is completed, electoral materials are taken to a local office for secure storage.

Interim results are also sent to the national level and publicized. Special measures and procedures need to be followed during the entire counting process in case results are challenged. As with all other aspects of conducting an election, there are administrative considerations, which are directly or indirectly related to vote counting at voting stations. Each of these procedural components has particularities and subtleties associated with its respective processes.

At the closing of the voting station, voting station officers and other authorized persons such as party and candidate representatives and observers remain in the voting station and start the counting process.

In some jurisdictions the voting station layout is changed to reflect a layout more conducive to the counting process.

A first reconciliation of ballots may be done before opening the ballot box. Spoiled ballots are counted and put aside. Once the ballot box is emptied of its contents, the validity of each ballot is verified and the ballots are sorted into different piles reflecting the choice of the voter.

The votes are then counted into valid ballots (by candidate/political party) and rejected ballots (a ballot found in the ballot box is rejected because it was improperly marked, or is not marked at all when a mark is required) (see Criteria to Determine when Votes should Count as Valid). Clear rules of interpretation or guidelines regarding the basis for rejecting a ballot should be provided to the counting staff in advance, to facilitate the decision-making process regarding rejections.

Representatives of political parties and candidates should be able to examine the ballots, and if they do not agree with the decision of the counting officer, be allowed to make formal objections that can form the basis for contesting the results of the count.

Using a count sheet, all valid ballots are recorded, as well as spoiled and rejected ballots. All ballots are counted and none are destroyed. A verification of the count and a last reconciliation should be done before completing the statement of the vote. The ballot box can then be re- sealed (with the new seal number duly noted by party and candidate representatives and observers), and appropriate counting documentation can either be enclosed or attached to the ballot box in a separate sealed envelope. Party and candidate representatives should have the opportunity affix their seals or signatures to the resealed ballot boxes.

The results recorded on the statement of the vote will be communicated by the counting official to the local/national office of the electoral management body by telephone or whatever technical solution the EMB has implemented as part of its Results Management System – including mobile phone, internet/web application etc. Representatives of political parties and candidates, and observers, if present, can make a copy of the statement, where the law provides for such.

The count at the voting station itself is now over, and all the electoral materials may be transported to a secure local storage room. In the event of a recount, all the prepared documents are needed, so elaborate precautions, and sealing the ballot box contents, are important.

The local/national office of the electoral management body totals the results transmitted by all voting stations of the electoral district, as well as results of any special ballots, advance voting, and mobile voting stations. However, observers, party agents and media representatives should always be able to trace the results from a single voting station through the tabulation process and verify that the results remain constant, unless a recount prove the results incorrect, or the results form contains mathematical errors.

A proper audit trail will allow the electoral management body to maintain full control, and ensure that possibilities of fraud via ballot box tampering are extremely limited, and can be detected if attempted.

Numbering each voting station, and using the same number for the corresponding ballot box, is one simple method of implementing such a control system. Additionally, the same number should appear on each form used at the voting station. The importance of recording the history of each ballot box (recording ballots book number, serial number of the seals, ballot box number, etc.) becomes clear in cases of judicial recount.

[1] Cornell University Law School. "What are challenged ballots?". https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/5/2422.24