The poll official and/or the poll workers often use a count sheet to count the ballots. Sometimes the poll clerk performs this task. The representatives of political parties, candidates, and everybody observing the count may have a count sheet as well. The official one is the one used by the poll official in charge of the count.
The proper information regarding the polling station number and the electoral district should be written at the top or bottom of the form. Each column should show the names of the candidates (or party or option) as they appear on the ballot.
There are two common types of count sheets: one where each square represents a vote for a candidate/party/option, and the other where you draw a square with a diagonal mark denoting five votes (see Tally sheet Togo - Guinea and Tally sheet - Canada). In the first case, each square may be marked with a tick for each vote for a candidate/party/ option. At the end, the total for each will be easy to count. In the second case, four vertical marks and a diagonal one are made. Each square represents five votes for a candidate/party/option.
To correct mistakes, if several count sheets are used at once then there is only a need to correct errors when the results of the count are no longer synchronized. Establishing correlation between count sheets requires a pause for consensus as to how many votes are recorded per candidate at certain set times (every one hundred ballots for example). Restarting the count at the last point of correlation is much more efficient than beginning the entire count all over again.
