Why Should They Be Counted?
Spoiled ballots, rejected, and unused ballots must be counted to create a complete audit trail. Spoiled and unused ballots were supposed to be counted at the polling station, before the ballot box was transported to the counting centre. These ballots remain official documents even if not counted as valid. Additionally, rejected ballots are essential in case of a recount.
Rules of Interpretation for Rejected Ballots
This is actually one of the hardest parts of vote counting. To eliminate possible objections to the validity of a ballot, the counting official should be provided with clear rules of interpretation and given illustrations of acceptable and unacceptable marks on the ballot, including the rationale for any rejection of a ballot, see Manual - South Africa and Quick reference - counting centres - Bangladesh Minimizing the interpretation that is needed by the counting official makes it easier for him to take the necessary decisions and will reduce disputes over the validity of ballots. In the event of a close margin in favor of one candidate or party, a recount is likely to be asked for and rejected ballots will be carefully analyzed.
Handling Disputes Regarding Rejections
In several jurisdictions, the counting official is the only person qualified to make the final decision on the validity of a ballot. He is also the person handling disputes regarding objections.
If a representative of a candidate/political party/option doesn't agree with the counting official on the validity of a ballot, he may object to the decision. In most cases, the counting official has to immediately make a decision on whether or not the ballot is valid. To be more consistent in his decisions, the counting official may put all questionable and contested ballots in a separate pile while counting valid ballots. He can then decide which of the potential rejected ballots will actually be rejected, and count the total number of rejections. Remaining valid ballots then be added to the count for each political party/candidate/option. Alternatively, all potential rejected ballots can be pre-identified, decided on, and counted first, and then valid ballots can be counted subsequently.
For each objected ballot, the ballot will be numbered on the back. The same number will be written on the statement of the vote (the voting record book or a separate form can also be used) for each ballot box along with the decision made by the counting official.
All rejected and spoiled ballots are counted and recorded in the statement of the votes for each ballot box as well as on the ballot account form.
