Once the statement of the votes of the voting station is completed, the presiding officer should communicate the interim results to the local offices of the electoral management body (and in certain cases, to the national electoral management body directly).

In the case of voting locations housing multiple voting stations, the person responsible (known in some jurisdictions as the central voting supervisor) should obtain the results from each counting officer and transmit them to the local offices of the electoral management body.

In many countries the electoral management body maintains local or regional offices during the electoral period. The interim results are generally communicated to the local office, which, in turn, communicates a cumulative statement of the votes for the electoral district to the national headquarters office.

There is a trend towards a “two-channel” approach whereby the presiding officer will send results both to the local office as well as to the national level. The latter equips the EMB HQ with the source data and allows an internal end-to-end verification of all interim consolidations.

Communicating Interim Results

The interim results for each voting station, using the statement of the votes, should be transmitted to the office of the local electoral management body by phone (cellular or fixed line), SMS, internet or web application or other means such as radio hand sets, if such exists.

It is recommended that a unique password or code be provided to the person who will transmit the results. For security reasons, this unique password or code should be given to the responsible person by the electoral management body as close as possible to the day of the election itself.

This code will reduce the possibility of impersonation, and prevent unauthorized persons from transmitting incorrect or biased election results to the local office of the electoral management body.

For greater security, and to detect any attempts at fraud, the original form should be sent separately to the local electoral management body in a sealed tamper-evident envelope. This envelope should be sent along with the electoral materials by hand or by courier. By sending the original, the local electoral management body can verify the results against the one previously sent by telephone or electronically, and ensure that they are the same.

If there is no available phone (cellular or fixed) at a voting station or the cellular or fixed line phone is not working, alternative methods should be considered. Walkie-talkie or radio emitting devices do not require the installation of a phone line and are flexible and simple in their use. However, their deployment should take into consideration the topography of the area to identify in advance any black-out regions where it is impossible to receive or transmit messages. Satellite phones are increasingly used in small number of highly remote stations, though the cost can be prohibitive.

Again, appropriate training and identification codes should be provided to voting station and counting officers before deployment.

If it is not possible to use any means of wireless communication, the last resort is hand-to-hand delivery by election official/s of the results to the local electoral management body. If an electoral official is unavailable a suitably designated person should be used as a messenger.

As a general rule, electronic transmission should be utilised at the earliest possible point. For example, if a presiding officer is unable to use a cell phone to transmit results from the polling station because of poor coverage, he or she may deliver the results by hand to the local office. If there is cellular coverage at the local office, the presiding officer may now transmit results electronically.

This messenger should be a credible person and the choice of such person should be accepted by counting officers, as well as representatives of the political parties and candidates. When using this method, the messenger could also bring the ballot box and its contents, eliminating the need for additional transport arrangements.

A tamper-evident bag is recommended, in order to ensure that results are not changed in transit. This is often a thick plastic bag, signed by the persons at the original location that, once sealed, cannot be opened without damaging the bag. Consequently, the receivers can be confident that the bag is the same upon its arrival at headquarters. A complete chain of custody, comprising trail of signatures of those handing over the materials, and those receiving them, is essential. Constant accompaniment of the materials by election staff, as well as observers is recommended.

Role of Media

News agencies and media organizations will likely compete to provide their forecast of the election results as quickly as possible after the close of voting. They will dispatch their representatives as to the scene of the electoral action. The offices of the electoral management body are the most likely media targets, mainly for efficiency reasons.

At a centre for collecting results for voting stations, one representative can cover a wide area, and can report for a reasonable number of voting stations.

Route of Official Statement of Votes

The presiding officer should provide the electoral management body with copies of the voting results, and the right to an official copy the results should be given to representatives of political parties and candidates, and to observers. Such extra copies can be made with a multi-part carbon copy form, or a photocopy machine. Alternatively, multiple copies can be prepared by hand.

The original statement of the vote should be attached to the ballot box in a sealed tamper- evident envelope. This is particularly important to processing a recount of the ballots, if required.

Once the statement of the vote for a voting station is fully prepared and transmitted to the local electoral management body, a copy can be posted at the outside of the voting station. The same information and results are then made available for everybody, and at the same time.

Because witnesses are permitted to observe and scrutinize the counting process, results are public. The statement of the vote becomes a public document; this is made especially evident once it is posted. However, it is important to mention that these results are not official yet, but are only interim results: official final results will always take legal precedence.