Content of Reports
While supervising close of voting activities, the voting station manager may be able to commence the completion of the voting records and a report on voting activities.
The contents of these reports will vary, particularly between voting stations where counts are to be conducted, where the count details may be included in an overall report, and those where ballots are counted at a different location.
The voting records and reports may be a series of separate forms, or, more effectively, be combined in a single stapled or bound booklet for each voting station. The reports should be fully completed before the voting station manager leaves the voting station, and information required should be clearly identified in the voting station manager's activity checklist.
The content of these reports falls into two broad categories: accountable information and service information.
Apt Information
The liable information to be provided in voting station managers' reports would normally cover:
• witnessed records of the sealing and, if the count takes place at the voting station, unsealing of ballot boxes, with the numbers of the seals or locks placed on each ballot box recorded;
• where paper or card ballots are used, an accounting record for ballot stocks received at the voting station against those on hand at the close of voting (see Collection of Ballots) (where issue of ballots to voters is controlled through envelopes, this accounting would relate to envelope, rather than ballot stocks);
• a reconciliation of total numbers of ballots issued (or registered on a machine/computer) with total numbers of voters marked on voters lists as having voted at the voting station (see Collection of Ballots) (in some partially or semi-automated ballot information systems, reconciliation may be more efficiently and accurately done centrally by computer rather than at each voting station);
• if the voting station is used for any form of special voting, a summary of the special votes received, by category (if any of these are votes for another electoral district, this summary should be categorised by electoral district);
• where applications are required to be completed for the issue of any vote, a reconciliation of numbers of completed applications received with numbers of ballots issued;
• reports and statements on any challenges, disputes, accidents, involvement of security forces, and interruptions to voting.
Where the count is conducted at a different location, the accountable information should accompany the voting material, under security, to that location (or if a centralised count of computer or machine votes is undertaken, to the computer processing centre). Where the count is undertaken at the voting station itself, these completed reports should be returned at the conclusion of the count, under security with voting materials, to the electoral district manager at the voting operations administration centre.
Service Information
The service information to be provided in voting station managers' reports would include:
• correctly completed attendance records (and if paid at the voting station, payment records) for voting station staff to provide an audit trail;
• performance evaluations of all staff employed at the voting station, indicating their suitability for future voting station employment, including suitability for higher responsibilities;
• voter service, length of voting queues and time voters had to wait to vote, effectiveness of voter information provided in the voting station, any need to provide assistance in future to voters with lower literacy, different languages, or physical disabilities;
• the premises used, its facilities, and suitability for continued use as a voting station;
• any petty expenditures for reimbursement;
• any appointments of substitute officers, in the event of illness or other absences, to voting station staff.
Where the count is conducted at a different location, it may be preferable to send this material to the counting centre with the liable materials. While it may seem that this would result in irrelevant information being sent to the counting centre, a split of information destinations runs the risk of material not being at the counting centre when required.
Where the count is undertaken at the voting station itself, these completed reports should be returned, at the completion of the count and under security, with other voting materials to the electoral district manager at the voting operations administration centre.
Records of Multi-Day Voting
If voting is conducted over more than one day, some issues covered in voting station manager's reports and voting records will require separate recording at the end of each day. This will include essential areas such as:
• reconciliations of ballots, voters marked as having voted and any applications for votes, to allow early identification of any errors or suspicious figures;
• reports on challenges, interruptions, disputes.
The design of form or report formats provided to managers of multi-day voting locations must cater to this need.
