Part XVI, ‘The polling’
Part XVII, ‘Special provisions relating to the polling in Antarctica’
Part XVIII, ‘The scrutiny’
Schedule 3, ‘Rules for the conduct of a preliminary scrutiny of declaration votes’

As a scrutineer, you may be present at the checking and counting of the ballot papers after the close of polling—the scrutiny. This chapter details what you can and cannot do as a scrutineer during the counting process. It also describes the AEC’s procedures so that you will know what to expect as you observe the counting of ballot papers on election night and after.

What scrutineers do

The Act, ss. 264 and 265

As a scrutineer, you have certain roles under the Act. These are outlined below.

Sealing and opening of ballot boxes

You have the right to inspect the condition of and observe the sealing and opening of ballot boxes. Ballot boxes containing votes taken by electoral visitors in hospitals and prisons and by mobile polling teams in remote divisions are either forwarded to an ARO designated by the DRO or returned to the divisional office. These ballot boxes are opened and the scrutiny conducted in a divisional office or a counting centre.

Counting of ballot papers

see Indicative two-candidate-preferredYou have the right to observe the counting of ballot papers on election night by AROs, including the two-candidate-preferred count conducted after the counting of first preference votes. You may also view the flow of preferences from other candidates, but only if this does not unreasonably delay the scrutiny.

see Fresh scrutiny or recheckYou may observe the counting of ballot papers following election night, including the fresh scrutiny, the preliminary scrutiny of declaration votes and any recount of ballot papers.

Objections

see Formality checks

You may object to the admission or rejection of any ballot paper. The officer conducting the scrutiny will then decide whether the vote is formal or informal and mark the ballot paper ‘admitted’ or ‘rejected’. The officer may reject a ballot paper as informal even if no scrutineer has objected to it.

Countersigning endorsements

Electoral officers bundle ballot papers and other materials relating to the election for dispatch to the divisional offices. You may countersign endorsements of the contents on any parcels of ballot papers, and countersign statements setting out the number of first preference votes for each candidate and the number of informal ballot papers.

Coming and going

see Appointment of scrutineersYou may come and go during the scrutiny, provided there is never more than one scrutineer per candidate per polling official engaged in the scrutiny at any one time. If you leave, you can be replaced by a relieving scrutineer who has been properly appointed.

What scrutineers must not do

During the scrutiny, you must not:

• handle ballot papers in any way; or
• unreasonably delay or interfere with the counting of votes.

On election night

The counting of ordinary votes begins in each polling place immediately after the poll closes at 6 pm on election day. Ordinary votes are votes cast by electors at a polling place within their division on election day.
At the 2004 federal election approximately 82 per cent of votes cast were ordinary votes.

When the House of Representatives election and Senate election are held at the same time, the House of Representatives ballot papers are scrutinised before Senate ballot papers. If a referendum is held at the same time as an election, the referendum ballot papers are scrutinised after those of the election.

On election night, polling officials are required to complete four main tasks after the close of polls:

• count the first preferences on the House of Representatives ballot papers;
• conduct a two-candidate-preferred count of the House of Representatives ballot papers (note that this is an indicative count only);
• count the first preferences on the Senate ballot papers; and
• count and sort any declaration vote envelopes received during the day (these remain unopened).

All proceedings at the count must be open to you. The scrutiny may be adjourned from time to time as might be necessary until the counting of the votes is complete.

House of Representatives count on election night

The House of Representatives ballot papers are initially sorted by the polling officials into first preference votes for each candidate and informal ballot papers. The results are then tabulated and the first preference vote figures for each candidate are telephoned to the relevant DRO.

see National Tally RoomDivisional staff then enter these figures for each polling place in their division into the national computerised Election Inquiry System, which in turn updates the National Tally Room in Canberra and the Virtual Tally Room at www.aec.gov.au.

Indicative two-candidate-preferred

On the completion of the count of first preferences for the House of Representatives at each polling place, the officer-in-charge must, as directed by the relevant AEO, conduct an indicative distribution of preferences on a two-candidate-preferred basis.

This interim distribution of preferences provides, on election night, an indication of the likely outcome of the election in each division.

Like the count of first preference votes, this result is telephoned through to the DRO, who enters it into the Election Inquiry System, which in turn updates the National Tally Room and the Virtual Tally Room at www.aec.gov.au.

The procedure for the indicative two-candidate-preferred count is outlined below.

• After nominations close, the AEC selects two candidates in each division to whom preferences of all other candidates will be distributed indicatively on election night. These candidates are chosen in most cases on the basis of previous election results.
• The names of the two candidates are not made public before the close of polling. At each polling place, the ARO announces the names of the two candidates at the commencement of the count.
• After the first preference votes have been counted, the preferences of all other candidates are distributed to one of the two identified candidates.

see Senate count after election nightAs soon as the scrutiny of ordinary votes ends, all the ballot papers from the polling place are placed in sealed parcels and delivered to the DRO. The full distribution of preferences is conducted by the DRO in the weeks after election day.

Senate count on election night

The counting of Senate ballot papers also begins on election night. The first preference votes on the Senate ballot papers—above-the-line and below-the-line—are counted and a single figure for each group and each ungrouped candidate is reported.

Because Senate results cannot be calculated until the state- or territory-wide total of votes used to determine the quota—the proportion of votes required by a candidate to be elected—is known, it is only possible to get a general impression of the Senate results on election night.

The Senate count on election night may begin at the same time as the two-candidate-preferred count for the House of Representatives depending on the number of staff in the polling place. Results from the Senate count are telephoned through to the DRO, and group totals and ungrouped results are entered into the Election Inquiry System in the same way as House of Representatives votes.

On election night, the only figures released for the Senate are the first preference votes for groups and individual candidates.

Senate count after election night

The AEC conducts the Senate below-the-line scrutinies and the distribution of preferences by a computer process. This involves data entry of all ballot papers marked below-the-line. Ballot papers marked above-the-line only are entered as a single total for each group voting ticket. The computerised system calculates the quota, distributes preferences and determines the result of the Senate election.

This system provides full accountability and an audit trail, including reports for inspection by scrutineers. Using this system, the AEC expects to be able to declare all Senate election results no later than the fourth week after election day.

Fresh scrutiny or recheck

The initial scrutiny conducted at the polling place on election night is routinely followed by a ‘fresh scrutiny’ or recheck of votes cast conducted by the DRO in the days following election day. The exact time will be advised by each DRO.

At this stage, some ballot papers earlier treated as informal may be admitted to the scrutiny by the DRO, and some ballot papers originally treated as formal may be reclassified as informal.

Any person approved by the officer conducting the fresh scrutiny may be present, as well as duly appointed scrutineers.

Scrutiny of declaration votes

The DRO and staff in the divisional office conduct the scrutiny of declaration votes in two stages:

• the preliminary scrutiny of postal vote certificates and declaration envelopes containing early, absent or provisional votes to determine whether each person is entitled to a vote; and
• the further scrutiny where the ballot papers admitted to the scrutiny are treated in the same way as ordinary ballot papers.

Preliminary scrutiny

The preliminary scrutiny of declaration vote envelopes determines which declaration votes are admissible and can proceed to further scrutiny.

The preliminary scrutiny of early and postal declaration vote envelopes can begin on the Monday before election day. This assists the DRO to begin the further scrutiny of these types of declaration votes promptly after election day.

Early and postal declaration vote envelopes are checked to ensure that they have been signed by the voter. For early declaration vote envelopes, names are marked off the certified list of voters. For postal vote certificates, names are marked off an electronic copy of the certified list.

Any envelopes requiring further investigation will be put aside until after the polling.

Postal vote certificates

For federal elections, the legislation requires that the AEC wait for up to 13 days after election day for any outstanding postal votes. These votes are included in the count if they are postmarked before 6 pm on election day and are received within 13 days of election day. For this reason, the counting of postal votes is an ongoing process for up to 13 days after election day.

Having produced all postal vote applications and all unopened envelopes containing postal votes, the DRO must, in full view of any scrutineers who may be present, compare and allow scrutineers to inspect the elector’s signature on the postal vote certificate to the signature on the elector’s postal vote application.

If the postal vote certificate is from a general postal voter, the signature on the certificate envelope is checked against the signature on the application for registration or the enrolment form.

The early preliminary scrutiny of postal votes will only include signature checks from the postal vote application to the postal vote certificate that are straightforward. Any envelopes requiring further investigation will be left until after election day.

A postal ballot paper will be accepted for further scrutiny if the DRO is satisfied:

• that the elector is enrolled (or entitled to be enrolled) for the division;
• that the signature on the postal vote certificate is genuine and properly witnessed; and
• that the vote contained in the envelope was recorded prior to the close of the poll.

A postal ballot paper in an envelope with a postmark dated after the close of the poll will not be admitted for further scrutiny. If there is no postmark or the postmark is illegible, the date of witnessing is used to determine admissibility.

Where a DRO receives a postal ballot paper from an elector who has already cast a vote at a mobile polling place, the postal ballot paper is not admitted to the scrutiny.

For a postal ballot paper from an elector who is provisionally enrolled as a new citizen to be accepted for further scrutiny, the elector has to provide, by the first Friday following election day:

• the elector’s original certificate of Australian citizenship; or
• a copy of the certificate attested to by an elector in a prescribed class of electors.

Early, absent and provisional vote declaration envelopes

The requirements for the preliminary scrutiny of early, absent and provisional votes are essentially the same as those for the preliminary scrutiny of postal votes.

An early, absent or provisional vote will be accepted for further scrutiny if the DRO is satisfied:

• that the elector is enrolled (or entitled to be enrolled) for the division; and
• that the certificate or declaration has been properly signed and witnessed.

Votes will not be admitted where:

• the elector was provisionally enrolled at age 17 but had not turned 18 on or before election day; or
• the elector’s claim to be enrolled was received by the AEC after the close of rolls for the election; or
• the elector lost enrolment entitlement through change of address and their name was correctly removed from the roll; or
• see Provisional votingthe person cast a provisional vote and did not satisfy the proof of identity requirements specified in the Act and Regulations.

A vote will generally be admitted if clerical or computer error or omission was responsible for the elector’s name or address being excluded from the electoral roll.

Antarctic electors

An Antarctic elector will have their vote and details recorded as an early vote by the AEO for Tasmania. The AEO will sign the early vote certificate instead of the elector. The AEO’s signature will not be witnessed.

Declaration exchange

In the days following election day, a ‘declaration vote exchange’ is carried out between the divisions within each state and territory, where declaration votes are physically passed on to the relevant division. Declaration votes received on behalf of divisions in another state or territory are sent to that state or territory and then are distributed to the relevant divisions. Once the declaration votes are received in the home division, the counting of these votes can begin.

Further scrutiny of declaration votes

Declaration votes do not get counted on election night. They are counted in divisional offices in the period following election night, and the counting of these votes takes longer than the counting of ordinary votes.

At the further scrutiny, the DRO opens the declaration vote envelopes that have passed the preliminary scrutiny. The ballot papers are extracted, without being unfolded or inspected, and placed in a ballot box. They are then treated in the same way as ordinary ballot papers.

The DRO will advise candidates of the times, dates and locations of the further scrutiny.

Scrutineers have the same rights and responsibilities at a further scrutiny in a counting centre as they have at the scrutiny of ballot papers in a polling place after 6 pm on election day.

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