Provisional or Tendered Votes
Where provisional or tendered votes (see Provisional or Tendered Votes) have been issued to voters not on the voters list at a voting station, at the close of voting these ballots will need to be totalled and reconciled separately against any application forms required and records of issue.
Where voter details attached to or within provisional ballot envelopes will require checking against voter registration data prior to the ballot being accepted for counting, they are more effectively counted at a central administration location for the whole electoral district. Thus, after reconciling with issue records they would be parcelled separately from normal ballots. During voting, use of a ballot box for provisional ballots separate from that used for normal ballots will assist this.
Where the same ballot stocks are used for provisional ballots as for normal ballots, ballot accounting records may need to be adjusted for the number of provisional ballots issued, if these will not be found in the ballot box for the voting night count. If separate ballot stocks are used, a full accounting (in style similar to that for normal ballots described at Collection of Ballots, Reconciliation of Ballots or Envelopes Received and Reconciliation of Ballots or Envelopes Issued) must be completed for provisional ballot stocks and included with other ballot accounts with the voting station manager's report.
Ballot Envelopes
Where envelopes used for containing provisional or tendered ballots are also strictly accountable, reconciliations will need to be undertaken for:
- stocks of these on hand at the close of voting to stocks received, less envelopes recorded as issued;
- envelopes issued to voters listed as having been issued provisional or tendered ballots.
For further information on 'provisional' or tendered ballots, see Provisional or Tendered Votes and Voters Not Found on Voters Lists.
