Counting the Votes

E-counting will be introduced for the elections in May 2007.

All paper ballots will be scanned after the close of poll, and the choices marked on each ballot paper will be captured electronically.

Where the scanners are unable to clearly interpret any preference a voter has made ( for example, if it unclear whether a given choice is a '2' or a '3') then  the Returning Officer’s staff will be able to examine the information on a screen and determine what any unclear number on the ballot paper actually is.

Once all choices on all ballot papers are clarified, then the electronic process to run the Single Transferable Vote  (STV) calculation is carried out.

Announcing the results

After the count is complete, the returning officer/constituency returning officer will announce the results.

The results declarations will cover a variety of information including:

• the names of those elected
• the percentage turnout
• the number of rejected papers and the reasons for their rejection

Additionally, the STV results documents will show the stage at which councillors were elected. 

Download this Detailed Description of an STV Count (PDF, 95KB)