BOROUGH OF TELFORD AND WREKIN

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ELECTIONS 2009

INSTRUCTIONS TO COUNTING ASSISTANTS FOR THE COUNT ON SUNDAY, 7TH JUNE 2009

The count of the votes cast in this election is being held in the Sports Hall at the TelfordCollege of Arts and Technology, Haybridge Road, Wellington, and will commence at 7 p.m. on SUNDAY, 7th JUNE 2009.

You should enter the campus from Haybridge Road; there is extensive car-parking at the campus, but you will be directed to a car park that is shown on the attached plan and which has been designated for counting staff. The Count will take place in the Sports Hall, and you should enter the premises through the main door marked on the plan. You should aim to arrive about 6-15 p.m. You must be seated by 6-30 p.m.

You will be asked for your name when you enter, and you must wear the badge that you have been issued with (enclosed).

You will receive instructions from your Table Supervisor followed by a briefing from the Returning Officer, Steve Wellings.

GENERAL POINTS

Counting Assistants should be present not later than 6.30 p.m.

Counting assistants will not leave their respective tables without permission. There will, however, be comfort and refreshment breaks during the Count.

Order and quiet are to be maintained throughout

No mark is to be made on any ballot paper

Speed with accuracy is to be the aim of all

Smoking is not allowed

Any snacks, food or drink are to be kept off the tables

Mobile phones should remain switched off within the Count Room

No person will be allowed in the central area of the Count Room, with the exception of the Local Returning Officer and his staff. Party agents and guests will be present at the counting of the votes and they have to be given all reasonable facilities for overseeing the proceedings. Provision will be made for agents to sit alongside the counting tables outside the central area. Agents should remain seated during the count.

Counting staff will be seated four to each table and should not leave the tables. The Table Supervisor in charge of a table has an adjoining table

The party agents should not take part incounting the papers. They attend as scrutineers or observers only. Even so, they must be given all reasonable facilities for overseeing these proceedings. They are entitled to satisfy themselves that the ballot papers are correctly sorted. They are also entitled to ask for the Local Returning Officer to adjudicate on a particular ballot paper.

The verification of the votes cast will have taken place on the previous Friday morning and the ballot papers will be secured in sealed boxes, ready for counting.

THE COUNT

Object: to sort and count the ballot papers into bundles of 25 according to the Parties voted for.

A Count Supervisor will now attend each table, and he/she will have a set number of verified ballot papers which it will be the responsibility of his/her table to count – accurately!

Each counting table will have baskets labelled for each of the Parties. Two counting assistants on one side of the table will sort the ballot papers between the candidates by placing them face upwards in the appropriate basket. The two counting assistants on the other side of the table will take papers from the baskets and count them into bundles of 25. Again papers should be kept all the same way up face upwards and none should be inserted upside down in a bundle.

Each bundle should be secured with a paper clip

The counted bundles of 25 papers should then be passed to the Count Supervisor who will stack them between each candidate, using number cards to keep a record of how many votes are in each stack and party cards to show which stack relates to which candidate.

Throughout this process, the ballot papers should be visible to the Parties’ counting agents who may request that a paper be referred to the Acting Returning Officer for adjudication. No discussion should take place between the counting assistants and the counting agents on whether a paper is valid or otherwise. The paper in question should be passed to the Count Supervisor, and await adjudication by the Acting Returning Officer.

‘Good’ and ‘Bad’ Ballot Papers

Ballot papers which are ‘bad’ or ‘doubtful’ must be referred to the Table Supervisors.

A ballot paper is ‘bad’:

(a) if the ballot paper does not carry the distinctive background print mark on its reverse side;

(b) if votes are given for more than one party;

(c) if it contains writing or another mark by which a voter can be identified;

(d) if it is not clear for which party the voter intended to vote;

(e) if no vote has been given for any candidate.

There are savings and a ballot paper can be ‘good’:

(a)if the votes are marked elsewhere than in the proper place;

(b)if the votes are marked otherwise than by means of a cross;

(c)if the votes are made by more than one mark.

Any papers which you suspect of being invalid must always be referred to the table supervisor, but their briefing will already have covered the savings outlined above.

The Candidates’ counting agents can request that a paper be referred to the Returning Officer for adjudication. Again, you should call the table supervisor for assistance, and no discussion should take place between the counting assistants and the counting agents on the validity or otherwise of a paper.

APPENDICES

(1)The rules concerning secrecy

(2)The layout of the count at TCAT

(3)Car-parking and access to TCAT

Steve Wellings

Local Returning Officer

Appendix (1)The Rules Concerning Secrecy

REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE ACTS

The European Parliament Elections (Regulations) 2004 Regulation 29 as amended

(2) / Every person attending at the verification of the ballot paper accounts or the counting of the votes shall maintain and aid in maintaining the secrecy of voting and shall not -
(a) / ascertain or attempt to ascertain at the counting of the votes the number or other unique identifying mark on the back of any ballot paper;
(b) / communicate any information obtained at the verification of the ballot paper accounts or the counting of the votes as to the way in which any vote is given on any particular ballot paper.
(3) / No person attending at the verification of the ballot paper accounts shall express to any person an opinion based on information obtained at that verification as to the likely result of the election.
(5) / Every person attending the proceedings in connection with the issue or the receipt ofballot papers for persons voting by post shall maintain and aid in maintaining the secrecy of the voting and shall not –
(a) / except for some purpose authorised by law, communicate, before the poll is closed, to any person any information obtained at those proceedings as to the official mark; or
(b) / except for some purpose authorised by law, communicate to any person at any time any information obtained at those proceedings as to the number or other unique identifying mark on the back of the ballot paper sent to any person; or
(c) / except for some purpose authorised by law, attempt to ascertain at the proceedings in connection with the receipt of ballot papers the number or other unique identifying mark on the back of any ballot paper; or
(d) / attempt to ascertain at the proceedings in connection with the receipt of the ballot papers the way in which any vote is given in any particular ballot paper or communicate any information with respect thereto obtained at those proceedings.
(7) / If a person acts in contravention of this regulation he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months.

Appendix (2)The Layout of the Count.

Appendix (3)Access to and car parking at TCAT.

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