Scrutiny of votes
26 Scrutiny of votes
At the scrutiny of votes, a ballot-paper must be rejected if it is informal.
The formality of a ballot-paper under this Part is to be determined in accordance with section 345 of this Regulation as if it were a ballot-paper referred to in that section.
The scrutiny of votes in a ballot is to be conducted as follows—
the returning officer is to produce, unopened, the envelopes containing the ballot-papers accepted for scrutiny, other than any envelope (purporting to contain a ballot-paper) rejected under section 23(3) of this Schedule,
the returning officer is then to open each such envelope, extract the ballot-paper and, without unfolding it, place it in a securely fastened ballot-box,
when the ballot-papers from all such envelopes have been placed in the ballot-box, the returning officer is then to unfasten the ballot-box and remove the ballot-papers,
the returning officer is then to examine each ballot-paper and reject those which are informal,
the returning officer is then to proceed to count the votes and ascertain the result of the election in accordance with Schedule 4 of this Regulation.
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