Scanning of ballot papers

At every election, the paper ballots that are cast on election day in polling places are counted in those same polling places when the polls close at 6pm.

This count gives us a good understanding of which candidates may be successful. However, the final and official count of votes happens the week following election day.

Read about ballot papers.

Scanning process

At the central scrutiny centre, starting on the Sunday after polling day, formal ballot papers are amalgamated into batches of 100 papers.

All ballot papers identified at the polling place as informal are manually rechecked by a senior elections officer

Any papers ruled to be formal are added to a new batch and scanned as formal.

Each batch is then:

• given a unique batch number for the polling place it came from
• scanned and imaged.

The image of each ballot paper is read by intelligent character recognition (ICR) software.

The ICR software interprets hand-written voter preferences and reads the Robson rotation version number printed on each ballot paper.

Read about the Robson rotation system.

Ballot paper scanning involves a 3 -stage verification process for ensuring each ballot paper is interpreted correctly.

Initial validation and business rules check

The first step provides Elections ACT operators with an image of each preference number written on a ballot paper.

The operator conducts an initial validation check on the accuracy of the scanning system's interpretation results. For example, by checking every ‘1’ on every ballot paper and every ‘2’ on every ballot paper, and so on.

The ICR software then applies a set of business rules to each ballot paper.

If the ICR software interprets with a high-level of certainty a ballot paper passes the business rules check and is a formal ballot, it’s admitted for counting.

Verification stage two

The second stage involves Elections ACT officers reviewing images of any ballot papers which:

• have unclear numbers
• don’t pass the business rule check because, for example, they may have a skipped a preference number, or a preference number was written twice.

The Elections ACT officer compares the on-screen image of the ballot paper with the ICR interpretation.

They determine if the system’s interpretation is correct. The operators can adjust the computer system to ensure the voter's intended vote matches the recorded preferences.

Final verification stage

If an Elections ACT officer corrects any identified errors on the computer system, a second Elections ACT officer must verify the change is accurate.

The final verification stage can involve the officer comparing the image of the ballot paper and its recorded preferences to the physical ballot paper.

Scrutineers

Scrutineers (representatives of parties and candidates), observe this process. If they believe a ballot paper may have been interpreted incorrectly, they may challenge the interpretation.

Challenged ballot papers are re-examined by the Deputy Electoral Commissioner or another senior electoral official. It is common for the physical ballot paper to be examined as part of a scrutineer's challenge.

Transfer to the electronic voting and counting system

Once all ballot paper scans are verified, the preference data transfers to the electronic voting and counting system (eVACS).

eVACS combines ballot paper data with the vote data from electronic voting. The computer program distributes preferences under the ACT's Hare-Clark electoral system.

Read about the Hare-Clark electoral system.