One way to separate valid ballots is as follows.
All ballots are unfolded, one by one, and the counting official makes sure that the ballot is valid (please refer to Separating Spoiled/Rejected Ballots for a discussion about spoiled and rejected ballots).
The counting official may call out loud the name of the candidate/political party/option for whom the ballot has been marked and hold up the ballot for all to see. If several persons are involved with separating and counting the ballots and identifying those that are potentially to be rejected, the practice of calling out names may not be useful. It may be more efficient to separate the ballots according to choice (without counting them), setting aside those potentially to be rejected, and then establish which ballots are actually to be rejected. After the rejections are finalised, the piles of valid ballots for each candidate/party/option can be quickly counted.
In all cases, only counting workers should handle ballots and it must be made very clear that the counting official is the only person entitled to make a decision on the validity of a ballot (see Challenging Results for a more comprehensive discussion).
The advantage of showing the ballot and calling out the result of each ballot considered is that it allows the representatives of political party/candidates/options and national/international electoral observers to make their own count. The disadvantage is that the process is interrupted each time a rejected ballot is discovered; this tends to make the count of valid ballots very inefficient. It can also create a very noisy ambience and it could confuse counting officials working at another table.
Whichever method is used, the valid ballot papers are put in separate piles on the table; one pile per candidate, political parties, or option (in the latter case for a referendum).
The examination of the ballot should allow national/international electoral observers, representatives of political parties or candidates or options, and other persons to see the ballot and ensure that it is appropriately separated according to choice. They should have controlled access to contest the validity of sorted ballots. If political party or candidate representatives do not agree with the decision of the counting official, official objections can be made.
While transparency of the process is important, controls on movement of ballots should always be the first concern of the counting official.
