Once the statement of the votes of the polling station is completed, the poll official should communicate the interim results to the local offices of the electoral management body (and in certain cases, to the electoral management body directly). In the case of voting locations housing multiple polling stations, the person responsible (known in some jurisdictions as the central poll supervisor) should obtain the results from each poll official and transmit them.
In many countries the electoral management body maintains local or regional offices during the electoral period. The interim results are generally communicated to the local office, which, in turn, communicates a cumulative statement of the votes for the electoral district to the national headquarters office.
Communicating Interim Results
The interim results for each polling station, using the statement of the votes (see Statements of the vote (interim results) - Canada), should be transmitted to the office of the local electoral management body by phone (cellular or fixed line), or other means such as radio, if such exists. It is recommended that a unique password or code be provided to the person who will transmit the results. For security reasons, this is best done by the electoral management body during the day of the election itself. This code will reduce the possibility of impersonation, and screen out unauthorized persons from transmitting incorrect or biased election results to the local office of the electoral management body.
If a fax machine is available on the counting premises, it can be used to send a copy of the statement of votes to the electoral management body. Specific measures should be taken to control access to the fax machine and number, to reduce the risk of any transmissions of unofficial statements of the votes. In all cases, the statement of the votes sent by fax should be signed by the poll clerk and/or the poll official, and/or all poll workers, and by representatives of political parties/candidates/options present at the count.
For greater security, and to detect any attempts at fraud, the original form should be sent separately to the local electoral management body in a sealed envelope. This envelope should be sent along with the electoral materials by hand or by courier. By sending the original, the local electoral management body can verify the results against the one previously sent by telephone or electronically, and ensure they are the same.
If the availability of phone (cellular or fixed) at a polling station is a problem, alternative methods should be considered. Walkie-talkie or radio emitting devices do not require the installation of a phone line and are flexible and simple in their use. However, their deployment should take into consideration the topography of the area to identify in advance any black-out regions where it is impossible to receive or transmit messages. Again, appropriate training and identification codes should be provided to poll workers before deployment.
If it is not possible to use any means of wireless communication, the last resort is hand-to-hand delivery by election official of the results to the local electoral management body. If this is not possible, the last alternative is to designate a messenger. This messenger should be a credible person and the choice of such person should be accepted by counting workers, as well as representatives of the political parties/candidates/options. When using this method, the messenger could also bring the ballot box and its contents, eliminating the need for additional transport arrangements. A tamper-evident bag is recommended for this kind of transport, in order to ensure that results are not changed in transit. This is often a thick plastic bag, signed by the persons at the original location that, once sealed, cannot be opened without damaging the bag. Consequently, the receivers can be confident that the bag is the same upon its arrival at headquarters. For this kind of manual transportation of results, a trail of signatures of those handing over the materials, and those receiving them, is essential, and constant accompaniment of the materials by election staff, as well as by national/international electoral observers is recommended.
Role of Media
News agencies and media organizations will likely compete to provide their forecast of the election results as quickly as possible after the closing of the polls. They will dispatch their representatives as close as possible to the scene of the electoral action. The offices of the electoral management body are the most likely media targets, mainly for efficiency reasons. At a centre for collecting results for polling stations, one representative can cover a wide area, and can report for a reasonable number of polling stations.
However, for various reasons, the media also may want to access the polling stations during the counting process. As the print or electronic media are considered a key element in a free democratic society, it is recommended that they be given controlled access to counting and polling stations, especially if the freedom and fairness of the election process is in question. To keep control on who is allowed at the polling station during the counting phase, proper accreditation should be given in advance by the electoral management body, and corresponding identification should be worn by the media representatives. Also, to minimize the disruption of counting activities, there should be agreements that media personnel will not intervene, or seek interviews while the counting process is taking place, nor take photographs unless given specific permission for each photo.
If the media decide to concentrate their representatives at regional or local electoral management body offices, specific physical areas should be set aside to accommodate them. If they require specific installations, such as telephones or fax lines, they should make their needs known well before polling day, and appropriate cost sharing arrangements could be made in advance.
If the media concentrate their operation at the regional or local electoral management body offices, periodic reports should be made available to them. Such reports can be given to them at regular intervals: for example after each five or ten polling stations reporting. The report given to the media should include the turnout in a polling station, the results by party/candidate/option, and the figures for spoiled and rejected ballots. Usually, media should be allowed to have access to the same interim results provided by the electoral management body to representatives of political parties/candidates/options.
Route of 'Official' Statement of Votes
Copies of the voting results should be provided to the electoral management body by the poll official, and the right to copy the results should be given to representatives of political parties/candidates/options, and to national/ international electoral observers. Such copies can be the result of a multi-part carbon copy form, or through the use of photocopy machine. Alternatively, multiple copies can be prepared by hand transcription.
The original statement of the votes should be attached to the ballot box in a sealed envelope. This is particularly important to processing a recount of the ballots, if required.
Once the statement of the votes for a polling station is fully prepared and transmitted to the local electoral management body, a copy can be posted at the outside of the polling station. This way, the same information and results are made available for everybody, and at the same time. Because witnesses are permitted to observe and scrutinize the counting process, results are public. The statement of the votes becomes a public document; this is made especially evident once it is posted. However, it is important to mention that these results are not official yet, but are only interim results: official final results will always take legal precedence.
