Where
there are multiple ballot elections taking place at the same time (presidential,
national legislature, and municipal elections on the same day for example),
there should be an order of priority for the counting of the ballots, so as to
avoid mistakes and confusion in the counting process. This should be part of
the rules given to the counting officers during training and in the
documentation and training manuals for counting.
Instructions
should also be given for procedures to be used when ballots are found in the
wrong box. In some countries, only one person handles the initial sorting of
ballots; this is often the electoral officer who provided the ballot to each
voter on Election Day. This is particularly important if initials are added on
the back of the ballot.
Spoiled
ballots should have been separated and counted as part of preparing the ballot
paper account. A spoiled ballot is simply one that a voter marks incorrectly,
or is somehow unusable, and hands back to voting station officers in exchange
for a new ballot. Spoiled ballots should never be placed in the ballot box. In
some countries, spoiled ballots are put in a separate envelope and are clearly
marked as such. This is to preserve the secrecy of the ballot, as the voter may
have indicated how they wanted to vote on the spoiled ballot.
Sorting Procedures
One way
of sorting is as follows. Once the ballot box is opened, the counting officer
verifies the validity of each ballot in the process of counting. As they
proceed with the task, the official needs to be able to distinguish between a
valid ballot and a counterfeit (by the watermark or other identifying mark on valid ballot papers). Any identified
counterfeit ballots should be set aside, counted, and reported to the electoral
management body as an attempt at fraud.
The
counting officer will divide up all ballots in terms of the political party or
candidate voted for. At the same time, the counting officer can separate all ballots
that can be potentially rejected. After the count of valid ballots is complete,
the counting officer must go one-by-one through the pile of potential rejected
ballots, and decide on the validity of each one (see Criteria to Determine when
Votes should Count as Valid).
Political
party or candidate representatives should be able to examine the rejected
ballots. If party or candidate representatives do not agree with the decision
of the counting officers, they should be able to make formal objections that
can form the basis for contesting the results of the count. There must be clear
rules for recording objections made by representatives of political parties or
candidates.
Potential
rejected ballots that are determined to actually be valid are separated by
candidate/party/option. All invalid ballots, as well as any counterfeit
ballots, are counted and set aside. The counting officer will then add the additional
valid ballots decided to the initial number of valid ballots for each
candidate/political party/option, and make a total count for each
candidate/political party/option.
Rules
of interpretation, guidelines, and illustrations regarding the basis for rejecting
a ballot should be provided to the counting officer, and be known in advance by
all representatives of parties and candidates and observers, to facilitate the
decision making process. In all cases, rejected ballots should be put aside and
kept. No ballots may be destroyed.
The
separation of rejected ballots is important to create an audit trail of the
count, and is an essential component if there is to be a recount of the
ballots. Rejected ballots must be closely examined, and the counting officer
should announce the reason for rejection of each such ballot.
Once
the spoiled, counterfeit (if any), and rejected ballots have been separated,
the valid ballots can be counted. The counting officer can call out the choice
of each voter, and show the ballot, so the political party or candidate
representatives, and other persons allowed in the voting station for the
counting, are able to see the ballot and make their own count. The various
representatives and observers witnessing the count must also be able to see
each counted ballot. For greatest efficiency, other counting officers can
assist. However, it must be very clear who is entitled to make a decision on
the validity of a ballot.
