When ballots are sorted, the poll official needs to distinguish a valid ballot from a counterfeit as he goes along. Each ballot in the ballot box needs to be verified.
In some jurisdictions, security paper is used for ballots. This paper contains a watermark or other form of unique identification (special colour, lines, symbols, or logos) making the ballot virtually impossible to counterfeit. The texture, thickness, colours, size, and format of the ballot are also indicators that separate a valid ballot from counterfeits.
The poll official should know where to look on the ballot to be sure of its authenticity. If he does not recognize the ballot, or the ballot was not issued at the polling place, then it should not be included in the count and should be put aside.
Authenticating Ballots
To speed up the process of authenticating the ballots, certain jurisdictions require that the poll official add their initials in a space provided at the back of the ballot before handing it to the voter. Other jurisdictions provide a validating stamp at the polling station for every ballot to be stamped before handing it to the voter. During counting, a ballot without a stamp is rejected. If the initials at the back of the ballot are not from the poll official, then it should be set aside and not counted as a valid ballot. If no initials are on the back of the ballot, but the poll official recognizes that he issued the ballot, he can then initial it, and the ballot can be counted as valid.
This measure of adding the poll official's initials at the back of the ballot can help to identify valid ballots from counterfeit, but the poll official's initials should always be identical in order to protect the voter's secrecy of the vote. The poll official should always use the same colour of pen or pencil when adding his initials. This problem will not exist when a validating stamp is used as described above.
In all cases, all ballots are kept, even if they are not valid. No ballots should be destroyed (at this stage of the process, see Challenging Results for more details on how long ballots should be kept), as an audit trail of all ballots considered must be assembled in such a way that the count can be fully reconstructed.
If there is any doubt, and before taking the decision to reject a ballot as counterfeit, the poll official should be able to verify the basis of his decision with the electoral management body. Rejecting a ballot on the basis that it is counterfeit is an important decision and should be taken without any doubt.
