Welcome Briefing for postal vote opening staff at a combined European Parliamentary and local government election in England (combined issue) Name of trainer

Aim of the training session To inform staff of procedure for the opening of postal votes The session will aim to: –describe the opening procedure –outline the role of the agents/candidates & observers –describe the matching and ‘provisionally rejected’ process

Security of returned postal votes Postal votes returned: –by post –hand-delivered to the office –hand-delivered to polling stations Will be –stored and locked in ‘postal voters’ ballot box –those returned to polling stations will arrive in a sealed packet

Postal ballot pack Envelope B (covering envelope) contains: –postal voting statement (DOB and signature) –envelope A Envelope A contains the ballot papers.

Opening of postal votes Who can be present? RO will have given at least 48 hours written notice of time and place of each opening session Every person present will have been given a notification of requirement for secrecy Who can be present? –candidates –election agents –sub-agents –any person appointed to attend –representatives of the Electoral Commission (do not need to give advance notification) –accredited observers (do not need to give advance notification)

Identification to be carried by Commission representatives and accredited observers

Types of postal ballot boxes Two types of postal ballot boxes –‘postal voters ballot box’ – containing unopened postal votes –‘postal ballot box’ containing valid postal ballot papers from each opening.

Opening the ‘postal voters ballot boxes’ Open ‘postal voters ballot box’ Count and record number of covering envelopes Set aside postal votes to be verified if less than 100% of identifiers are to be checked Record total numbers received and put forward for personal identifier verification Open each covering envelope

Stage 1: Opening of covering envelope ‘B’ Count and record covering envelopes ‘B’ Open covering envelope ‘B’. Check that both a postal vote statement and ballot paper envelope ‘A’ are present Put postal voting statements and ballot paper envelopes ‘A’ in two separate piles Check number(s) on postal voting statement matches number(s) on envelope ‘A’ Check that the postal voting statement has a signature and date of birth

What happens if the B envelope is opened and…..... The postal voting statement is missing… The signature and/or date of birth field are not completed… Ballot paper envelope ‘A’ or ballot paper(s) are missing… The number of postal voting statement does not match the ‘A’ envelope…

Stage 2: Verification of personal identifiers Postal vote statements are scanned System identifies statements where identifiers do not match Invalid statements shown to candidates and agents RO or deputy to adjudicate mismatches

Stage 3: Opening the postal ballot paper envelopes Open the remaining ballot paper ‘A’ envelopes Remove ballot papers – match number on reverse Keep ballot papers face down If numbers on ballot papers and envelope ‘A’ do not match – place aside for listing as provisionally rejected Ballot papers will be secured into bundles of an agreed number and total recorded ready for sealing in ballot box

The final opening: After close of poll Special arrangements for supervisors and clerks for opening postal votes after close of poll Opening and verification process as at other postal vote openings Final matching of provisionally rejected – ballot papers sealed in box and passed to verification of ballot papers

Questions?