A LOOK AT THE COUNT PROCESS

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ABOVE-THE-LINE AND BELOW THE LINE VOTES?

Above the Line votes
If a voter casts a vote for a party above-the-line the voter is expressing a choice for that party and the way in which the preferences will follow (see list of party preferences).

Below the Line votes
If a voter casts a vote below-the-line, the voter is expressing a personal view about every candidate standing for election. If the candidate they want to win does not get elected, their next preferred candidate will receive their vote and so on.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THOSE PRESENT AT THE COUNT

Supervisor of Elections
The Supervisor of Elections is ultimately responsible for the conduct of the election. He will be required to represent the Elections Office in Court if there are any objections to the conduct of the election. The Referring Officer will refer any unusual occurrence to the Supervisor and take notes of any complaints or objections during the count. This should be recorded in the Log Book provided.

Returning Officer
The Returning Officer is responsible for the conduct of the count. He will oversee the planning and operation of the counting process and has the responsibility under the Electoral Act to make decisions on the validity of ballot papers. He will deal with the unusual occurences at the Count Centre and keep the Supervisor of Elections informed of developments. He will also authorise the release of progressive and final results, in consultation with the Supervisor of Elections.

Progressive results will be issued on the basis that they are provisional only.

Assistant Returning Officers
The Assistant Returning Officers will assist the Returning Officer with the overall operation of the Count Centre. They will oversee the organisation and conduct of the count.

Technical Consultants
The Technical Consultants from the Australian Electoral Commission will be there to assist the Returning Officers as required.

International Observers
The role of International Observers is similar to the role of Count Agents. They are present to scrutinise the Count process but they must not touch ballot papers. If an International Observer has a concern or problem, they should be referred to the Returning Officer or Assistant Returning Officer.

Count Team Leaders
The Count Team Leaders play a crucial role in the count. They are responsible for the effective conduct of each step of the count. They will not proceed with the count until each step has been checked and signed by the Returning Officer or his nominated Assistant Returning Officer.

The Count Team Leaders will refer decisions on the validity of ballot papers to the Returning Officer or his nominated Assistant Returning Officer. The Count Team Leaders are also responsible for keeping the “process line” of the count in the process. They will refer to any problems or issues to the Returning Officer or his nominated Assistant Returning Officer so as not to interrupt the organised flow of the count.

The Count Team Leader in charge at the completion of the last count will be responsible for the packaging of all the ballot papers and hand over the packages to the Returning Officer for safe keeping.

Count Clerks
The Count Clerks are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the ballot paper count. They will follow the instructions of the Count Team Leader and will not proceed with the count unless instructed to do so by the Count Team Leader.

The Count Clerks are also responsible for identifying possible invalid ballot papers for the attention of the Count Team Leader.

They will count ballot papers in a way that makes the process open and clear for the Count Agents to see. They will refer any questions from Count Agents to the Count Team Leader.

Count Agents
Each candidate in the election can nominate up to five Count Agents to be present at the count. The presence of Count Agents is an important element of free and fair elections. They can scrutinise the conduct of the count by they must not touch the ballot papers.

A Count Agent may question the validity of a ballot paper and the Count Clerk will put aside in a “doubtful” pile for the attention of the Count Team Leader, who will ask the Returning Officer to make a decision on these ballot papers.

Legal Officers
Government Solicitors will be present at the count to assist with decisions made on the validity of ballot papers. They will generally observe the count and will be called upon to assist when required by the Returning Officer.

Police Officers
Police Officers are present at the count to ensure the security of ballot papers and the peaceful conduct of the count. Any disturbances or problems will be dealt with by Police Officers in consultation with the Returning Officer.

Authorised Personnel
The Supervisor of Elections may authorise other persons to observe the count. These may include observers, government officials, journalists, photographers etc.

These authorised personnel will be asked to report to the Returning Officer when they enter the Count Centre to announce their presence.

STAGES OF THE COUNT

The count consists of eight (8) main stages:

Stage (I)

• Verification of Postal Ballot Papers;

Stage (II)

• Verification of ballot papers and mixing of ballot papers;
• Mixing of Postal Ballot Papers with the ordinary ballot papers;

Stage (III)

• Unfold the ballot papers and check ordinary ballot papers [Not postal ballot papers] for stamp and signature;
• Turn to the front side of the ballot paper and check formality rules.
• Sorting to Above the line (ATL), Below the Line (BTL), Invalid Votes and Doubtful Votes.
• Sorting the Above The Line to ATL[c] candidate and ATL [p] party;
• Counting these votes into bundles of 50 for each group [ATL] and first preference votes by candidate [BTL].
• Check the counting of the bundles of 50 and collating them into bundles of 500;

Stage [IV]

• Decision on invalid or doubtful ballot papers;

Stage [V]

• Recording the total number of first preference votes;

Stage [VI]

• Conducting the distribution of preferences;

Stage [VII]

• Recording, authorising and transmitting progressive results.

MIXING THE BALLOT PAPERS

• The purpose of mixing the ballot papers is to ensure the secrecy of each vote by making it impossible to identify where a particular vote has come from. A substantial number of ballot papers should be mixed prior to starting the production line of sorting and counting.
• The Count Team Leaders should do the mixing. Count Clerks must not handle the ballot papers until they have been instructed to do so by their Count Team Leaders.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF PREFERENCES

• The candidate with the least number of first preference votes (total of Above the Line and Below the Line) is the candidate who is to be excluded. These votes are transferred to the other candidates still in the count.