The
counting officers often use a count sheet to count the ballots. The
representatives of political parties and candidates, and observers observing
the count may have a count sheet as well. The official sheet is the one used by
the counting officer in charge of the count.
The
proper information regarding the voting station number and the electoral
district should be written at the top or bottom of the form. Each column should
show the names of the candidates or party or option as they appear on the
ballot.
There
are two common types of count sheets: one where each square represents a vote
for a candidate or party, and the other where you draw a square with a diagonal
mark denoting five votes
In the
first case, each square may be marked with a tick for each vote for a candidate
or party. At the end, the total for each will be easy to count. In the second
case, four vertical marks and a diagonal one are made. Each square represents
five votes for a candidate or party.
To
correct mistakes, if several count sheets are used at once then there is only a
need to correct errors when the results of the count are no longer
synchronized.
Establishing
correlation between count sheets requires a pause for consensus as to how many
votes are recorded per candidate at certain set times (every one hundred
ballots for example). Restarting the count at the last point of correlation is
much more efficient than beginning the entire count all over again.
