Ballots (and envelopes where applicable) are bundled by groups of ten, for example, in order to facilitate keeping a record of the votes counted. Depending on the number of political parties or candidates, and depending on the number of poll workers, each poll worker can be responsible for receiving and counting all ballots cast for one or more political parties, candidates, or options. Later, the poll workers can exchange all ballots cast for 'their' political party/candidate/option and verify each other's totals.
Poll workers count all ballots, including spoiled and rejected ballots. Even if not counted as valid, these ballots are important for the audit trail and will be needed in case of a recount.
To eliminate possible objections over the validity of ballots, the poll official should be provided with clear rules of interpretation of accepted marks on the ballot, and all reasons that should lead to the rejection of a ballot. Minimizing the interpretation needed by the poll official makes it easier to make the necessary decisions and reduces disputes over the validity of ballots.
If the validity of a ballot is challenged or objected to (see Challenging Results for more information on the subject), then the poll official should be the only person entitled to make a decision, even if the other poll workers are involved in the counting process. In order to be more consistent in his decisions, the poll official can put all questionable ballots in one separate pile, decide on all rejected ballots following the count of valid ones, and then add any additional valid votes to the appropriate candidate/political party/option. Alternatively, the ballots can be separated first, the questionable ones decided, and then each pile can be counted. For each disputed ballot, the ballot should be numbered at the back. The same number should be written in the poll book along with the decision made by the poll official.
To count the ballots, the poll official and/or the poll worker uses a count sheet (see Tally sheet Togo - Guinea and Tally sheet - Canada); sometimes the poll clerk performs this task. The representatives of political parties, candidates, and everybody observing the count may have count sheets as well. The official one is the one used by the poll official in charge of the count.
The count sheet is used to facilitate the count. For each vote for each candidate/party/option, a mark is made on the count sheet. Periodically, the marks for each candidate are added together. If a mistake is made during the process, comparison with the count sheets of other poll workers can be made. If the mistake is still not found, the count should be restarted from the last point of agreement.
A verification of the count should be done once the ballots are counted. This verification is usually the last one before transmission of the interim results to the regional or local district. It is also important in order to make sure that no votes were changed in favour or against one candidate/party/option. It could include a comparison to the reconciliation done previously, before opening the ballot box. The total number of ballots cast for each candidate, plus the rejected ballots, the unused ballots, and the spoiled ballots should match with the total of ballots received at the opening of the polling station.
Once the counting process is over, the ballots are bundled and put back into the ballot box along with all relevant forms. The statement of the vote should be in a separate envelope, outside the ballot box. Both the envelope and the ballot box should be sealed before being transported to a secure local storage room. All these documents are needed in case of a recount. This is why elaborate precautions for sealing the ballot box contents are important. For greater security, the poll officials and/or poll workers, as well as a representative of the political party/candidate/option could even sign the seal. The poll official should keep one official copy in case of loss.
