Once
the statement of the vote for each voting station is completed, the counting
officer should give a copy of the results to the person responsible for
combining the results at the counting centre.
For greater
transparency, periodic progress reports should be sent to the central office of
the electoral management body. These progress reports should be sent by the
electoral district officer and will enable the electoral management body to
release results as they come in, after performing required checks.
Once
all ballot boxes in a counting centre have been counted, a cumulative statement
of the vote for the counting centre needs to be transmitted to the national
office of the electoral management body. International practise now requires
that the counting centre also reports the results by voting station thereby
adhering to the accepted level of transparency for a results management system.
This practice allows political party and candidate representatives to check the
final results against their copies of the vote counting form, thus, strengthens
the transparency of the process.
Communication of the Results
The
progress report and cumulative statement of the vote for a counting centre
should be transmitted to the office of the national electoral management body
by phone (cellular or fixed line), or other electronic means.
For
security reasons, a unique password or code should be provided to the person
who will transmit the results, or other forms of ensuring secure transmission
of results electronically could be considered. The electoral management body
should issue this password or code on the day of the election itself. This code
will reduce the possibility of impersonation, which will screen out unauthorised
persons from transmitting incorrect or biased election results to the national
office of the electoral management body.
For
more security, and to detect any attempts at fraud, the original cumulative
statement of the vote form should be sent separately to the central office of
the electoral management body in a sealed tamper-evident envelope. This
envelope should be sent by hand or by courier. Party and candidate
representatives and observers should be aware of this mechanism and allowed to
be present during transportation.
By
sending the original, the electoral management body can verify the results
against the one previously sent by telephone or electronically and ensure they
are the same.
Alternative Methods for Communicating to the
Electoral Management Body
If
internet, cellular or fixed line phones are unavailable at a counting centre,
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, the error rate often increases when using radio
communication something the EMB need to make stakeholders aware of when releasing provisional results. Satellite
phones can also be used where appropriate, though the costs of the handsets and
the service may be prohibitive.
However,
their deployment should take into consideration the topography of the area to
identify in advance any blackout regions where it is impossible to receive or
transmit messages.
Again,
appropriate training and identification codes should be provided to counting
centre workers before deployment.
If it
is not possible to use any means of wireless communication, the last resort is
hand-to-hand delivery by election officials of the results to the electoral
management body using tamper- evident envelopes. If this is not possible the
last alternative is to designate a messenger, who should be a credible,
authorised person.
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.
The
person chosen to transport the results should be accepted by counting officers
as well as representatives of the political parties and candidates in advance.
Role of Print/Electronic Media
The
media will likely compete to provide their forecast of the election results as
quickly as possible after the counting process begins.
The
counting centres are most likely locations for the media to base their
reporting activities. Since the print or electronic media is considered a key
element in a free and democratic society, it is recommended that they be given
controlled access to counting centres, especially if the freedom and fairness
of the election process is in question.
To keep
control of who is allowed at the counting centre, proper accreditation should
be given in advance by the electoral management body and media representatives
should wear corresponding identification.
It is
important that the disruption of counting activities is minimised.
Should
the media decide to station their representatives at the national office of the
electoral management body offices or at the counting centres, specific physical
areas should be set aside to accommodate them.
If they
require specific installations such as internet, they should make their needs
known well before election day.
Usually,
media should be allowed to have access to the same results provided by the
electoral management body to representatives of political parties and
candidates and observers.
The
exponential growth in the use of social media has made it all but impossible
for elections management bodies to fully contain the dissemination of results.
Even where there are legal prohibitions on the publishing of provisional or
interim results by, for example, television or radio stations or newspapers,
the use of SMS, email, and such channels as Twitter, Facebook make it all but
impossible to prevent the widespread dissemination of election results.
Accordingly,
elections management bodies should reconsider the regulations in light of the
ground realities. The trend towards early and complete disclosure of polling
station results, in response to multi-media dissemination is visible.
Route of Statement of the Vote for Each Voting
Station
Copies
of the statement of the vote for each voting station should be provided to the
counting officer, to the person in charge of combining results for the counting
centre, and one should be in a sealed tamper-evident envelope attached to the
ballot box.
Representatives
of political parties and candidates present at the counting table, and
observers should be allowed to receive official copies. Such copies can be made
from a multi-part carbon copy form, or through the use of photocopy machine.
Alternatively, multiple copies can be prepared by hand, but need to be signed
by the appropriate EMB official.
The
original copy of the statement of the vote for a ballot box should be attached
to the ballot box in a sealed tamper-evident envelope. This is particularly
important for the processing of a recount of the ballots, should it be
required.
Route of Statement of Votes for Counting Centre
Copies
of the voting results should be provided to the electoral management body
(often the original sent in a sealed tamper-evident envelope), to the person
responsible for combining results for the counting centre, and one posted
outside the counting centre.
The
representatives of political parties and candidates present, and observers,
should be permitted to receive their own official copies.
Once
the cumulative statement of the vote for a counting centre is fully prepared
and transmitted to the national office of the electoral management body, a copy
can be posted at the outside of the counting centre. This way, the same
information and results are made available for everybody, and at the same time.
Because witnesses are permitted to observe and scrutinise the counting process,
results are public. The statement of the vote becomes a public document that is
made evident once it is posted.
