This section discusses how the electoral formula and chosen ballot
type might affect vote-counting procedures.
What Vote Counting Means
It is necessary to carefully distinguish between counting the votes and determining the winner (See Transforming Votes to Seats).
Counting the votes consists of opening the ballot boxes, sorting their contents, determining the validity of ballot papers, and counting ballot papers counted. Except in countries using voting machines, this is a very concrete operation, based on actual objects (ballot papers and, if applicable envelopes), and is often done manually. It is a labour intensive operation. However, in some countries mechanical or electronic devices are used to facilitate the counting. Except for determining on the validity of ballot papers, counting votes does not require exceptional skills, only concentration, literacy, and honesty. Those who count votes are not highly paid and in some countries the literacy requirement excludes many applicants.
Vote counting involves the preliminary operation of checking the validity of ballot papers. Electoral legislation normally outlines detailed grounds for rejecting ballot papers. Election officials must be fully familiar with those provisions. This operation requires a higher skill level than simply counting the votes. Decisions on the validity of ballot papers may be made collectively (for example, by a majority decision of all election officials present) or hierarchically (by the presiding officer). The decision may also be 'kicked upstairs' to higher officials. Decisions of that nature must be subject to judicial review to prevent abuses.
Vote counting results normally produce the following information for each counting unit:
1. how many electors have voted ('Registered' is a term reserved for encouraging voters to register.);
2. how many ballot papers were rejected;
3. how many ballot papers were valid;
4. how many votes went to each party and/or candidate.
Counting the votes can be accomplished by lower officials, usually at the voting station level, but also at the electoral district level, or on a national level.
The final stage of vote counting is the aggregation of figures for electoral districts. Electoral districts are the territorial units for which representatives are elected and where votes are added before the electoral formula is to be applied to determine who is elected. If the counting unit is smaller than the electoral district, the figures included in the statements of votes for each counting unit must be aggregated for all the counting units in the electoral district. This operation involves gathering the results from each counting unit, checking whether all statements are in, and aggregating the figures included in each statement. Only once the totals are available for the electoral district is vote counting over. The next step is applying the electoral formula to determine who is elected.
Electoral Formula
An electoral formula may be defined as the criterion that determines the winner(s) of an election. For legislative elections, the electoral system is the rule whereby members of a legislative house are elected and votes transformed into seats. For presidential elections, the electoral system is the benchmark a candidate must reach to be declared elected: e.g. a plurality or a majority of the popular vote.
Electoral formulas are outlined in Transforming Votes to Seats. The electoral formula will affect many other variables of the election process. In particular, it has some effect on the ballot type and on the counting procedure.
Influence of Electoral Formula over Ballot Type (see Way of Voting):
The variables of ballot type are outlined in greater detail in file Ballot Type Counting Requirements.
1. Ordinal or Categorical Ballots
The chief effect of the electoral formula on the ballot type is whether a categorical or an ordinal choice will be required from voters.
A categorical ballot is one where the voter makes a straight choice, either for a candidate or for a party list, or for a party and a candidate at the same time. An ordinal ballot is one where the voter indicates his preferences among the various candidates or parties by numbering their respective names, in declining order (1, 2, 3) or by cumulating votes on certain candidates. On an ordinal ballot a voter is able to alter his vote between the first and second round of an election.
Most electoral formulas require voters to make a categorical choice, which means that categorical type ballots are the most common occurrence. Ordinal ballots only account for one-quarter of the world total. They can be required for four formulas: the Alternative Vote, the Single Transferable Vote, the Block Vote, and the Two-Round System (see table in Way of Voting).
Whether the ballot requires a categorical or an ordinal choice does not mean that an unmarked ballot paper will be substantially different. In two single-member electoral districts using respectively first-past-the-post or the alternative voting, for example, the ballot papers may be the same. Voters may express their choice by a single mark in the first case or by a series of numbers in the second.
2. Ballot Structure: The Australian Ballot, the 'Ballot and Envelope System,'
and the French Ballot
Another important dimension of the ballot paper is its structure. Two broad options exist: an 'Australian ballot' (named after its country of origin) on which the names of all-competing parties and candidates are grouped on a single sheet of paper, to be marked by the voter. The other option, the 'ballot and envelope' system, requires printing a distinct ballot paper for each of the competing parties or candidates, and inviting voters to insert a single paper into an envelope, which is to be dropped into the ballot box.
Between those two types exists an intermediary solution: the French ballot, which lists the candidates to be marked by the voter. This type of ballot is used in some jurisdictions where proportional representation (PR) is combined with the right for voters to express preferences for individual candidates within the party list.
Most electoral formulas are fully compatible with either ballot structure option (see 'group 1' in the appendix). However, some electoral formulas (First Past the Post, Two-Round, or PR) in multi-member electoral districts with panachage or preferential voting within a list, are compatible with both. Australian ballots are clearly advisable, especially if the number of members to be elected is high: (see 'group 2' in the appendix.) Finally, some electoral formulas are only compatible with Australian ballots, and cannot be operated with the ballot and envelope system. This is the case for the alternative voting and STV (see 'group 3' in the appendix), because both require an ordinal choice which cannot be expressed with enough clarity under the ballot and envelope system.
Influence of Electoral Formula over Vote Counting
The most important influence of the electoral formula over vote counting is to determine what must be counted. Some formulas simply require counting the votes for candidates or parties. Other formulas require counting the votes both for parties and for candidates within each party list. If the electoral formula requires voters to express an ordinal choice, then vote counting is performed in a very different way.
Another influence of the electoral formula is the determination of which territorial level (the voting station, the electoral district, or the nation as a whole) votes must be counted and aggregated.
Appendix
Following is a discussion of the compatibility of various formulas with the Australian ballot paper and the ballot and envelope system.
Group 1 - The following formulas are compatible with both the Australian
ballot and the ballot and envelope system:
- First-past-the-post (FPTP) in single-member electoral districts (see First Past the Post (FPTP));
- FPTP in multi-member electoral districts, with no panachage allowed (akin to the Party Block Vote, see Block Vote);
- FPTP in multi-member electoral districts, with panachage allowed, and with distinct individual competitions for each seat (the Block Vote, see Block Vote);
- Single Non-Transferable Vote (SNTV) (see Single Non-Transferable Vote);
- Two-Round System in single-member electoral districts (see Two-Round System);
- Two-Round System in multi-member electoral districts, with closed lists no panachage allowed (see Mali: A Two-Round System in Africa);
- Two-Round system in multi-member electoral districts, with panachage allowed, and with distinct individual competitions for each seat;
- PR with closed lists.
Group 2 - The following formulas are compatible in theory with both the Australian ballot and the ballot and envelope system. However, in practical terms, it is advisable to use Australian ballots, especially if the number of votes to be cast in the district is high.
- The Block Vote;
- Limited Vote;
- Two-Round system in multi-member electoral districts, with panachage allowed, but no distinct competition for each seat;
- PR list with panachage allowed.
Group 3 - The following formulas are compatible only with Australian ballots:
- alternative voting in single-member electoral districts;
- alternative voting in multi-member electoral districts;
- Single Transferable Vote (STV).
