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From ballot box to counting centre, it’s a complex process. Aaysha Cader and Renu Warnasuriya report
COUNTDOWN
On Friday morning you exercised your democratic right to vote - simply by marking a cross against a symbol and number. In all probability, you've been glued to your TV set since Friday night to see how your vote mattered. But the fact is, where our duty ends, someone else's begins. What exactly happened to that sheet of paper that carried your vote?

It all starts at the place you left after casting your vote. Each polling station is supervised by a Senior Presiding Officer (SPO) whose staff consisted of an Assistant Returning Officer (ARO) and other clerical staff appointed by the Elections Commissioner from among government servants. Any political party or independent group contesting the polls was also entitled to appoint two polling agents per station to see to their interests. Candidates (one at a time) and local and international observers who had obtained special authority were allowed into the stations, which as you may have noticed, were also manned by armed police officers.

When polling officially closed at 4 p.m., the SPO prepared a 'ballot paper account' detailing the numbers of ballots cast, and the number unused. In the presence of the polling agents, the SPO sealed the ballot boxes with his own seal, and the seals of polling agents who wished to do so. He also packeted and sealed the unused ballot papers, the counterfoils of the used ballot papers, and the key of each ballot box.

Under the supervision of the SPO of the polling station, the ballot boxes were delivered to the relevant counting centre in the same vehicle in which they were brought to the polling station. Reports of the day's proceedings had to be prepared by the SPO, polling agents of each party, police, local and international observers.

The April 2 election had 1023 counting centres islandwide. Each district has many counting centres and one of them will have the central room where the Returning Officer who is the District Secretary would function from. Each centre is headed by the Chief Counting Officer (CCO) and includes staff appointed for various counting duties. When notice of elections is announced in the gazette, the heads of government departments and schools send in information of their officers to the Elections Commissioner. "The appointments are then made depending on seniority and salary scales," explains Colombo District Secretary G.A.J. Sylvester. Once selected, the counting officers are given necessary training; closer to the poll, they are also given written instructions by the Elections Commissioner.

A counting officer at a previous election reveals that there are relatively more men than women at counting centres as it involves staying overnight as well. In addition, there is also staff engaged to supply services such as food and drink. Each party can, from among its supporters, appoint upto five counting agents per centre, to see that there is no injustice done to their party. Two agents can be appointed for a postal counting centre.

Counting starts only after all ballot boxes, along with the reports, are delivered at the counting centres. "In Colombo, this is usually at about 7 p.m.," reveals the District Secretary. If all the reports had no incidents of concern, counting of ballots commences with postal votes being counted first.

The counting agents are shown the ballot paper accounts after which they open each ballot box and begin the primary count. Known as the 'box count', this tallies the number of ballots polled with the account given by the SPO. "If the two don't tally, they are recounted, if the same number occurs repeatedly and provided there is no substantial difference, we settle on that number," says the Returning Officer for Colombo. On completion of the box count, they proceed to the 'party count', where the ballots are separated, counted and put into the different (often cardboard) boxes allocated for parties. They are put in bundles of fifty, then five hundred etc. The ballots are checked, re-checked, super-checked (another check by the Asst. Returning Officer) and random-checked (by the Chief Counting Officer) says an elections officer.

Counting is done simultaneously on long tables, and a counting officer reveals, "You can't turn on fans because papers might fly, there are so many lights and it's hot, like a stove." He explained that there are those who can't tolerate this for very long, and even faint. Since counting officers can't leave the premises, the centres are equipped with medical facilities and have doctors on duty. "It's tough, but we get used to it after a while," says another officer. Everyone at a counting centre is advised not to wear party colours, although it's not a hard and fast rule.

Counting votes is not simply flicking through a bunch of ballots and separating them. Each ballot has to be carefully examined and categorised as acceptable or rejected votes, under the constant scrutiny of the counting agents who watch every move. Ballot papers that don't bear the official mark or which have votes given to more than one party are rejected, as are those declared void due to uncertainty. "Sometimes the counting agents try to influence the officers into rejecting votes of an opposing party etc," says a counting officer, adding that it ultimately boils down to good situation management. A counting agent, however, justified it by saying, "But it's our duty to look after the interests of our candidates."

The entire process is monitored by the agents, and if they are not satisfied, they can request up to two recounts of the ballot. In the case of preferential votes, however, recounts are not allowed. If the count is a close call and the difference is very few, the officers proceed to count the 'tendered ballots'. These are the ballots given to voters whose polling cards have already been fraudulently used by someone else. Records of the counts are regularly tabulated in writing. The counting centres are also equipped with phones, but as the Colombo District Secretary reveals, "They are used only to check if counting is completed, not to deliver results or figures."

Once the party count is completed, the results are conveyed to the Returning Officer in the central room. From here it is faxed to the Elections Secretariat, where two copies are made. One of them is given to the Elections Secretariat staff for manual tabulation while the other is handed over to the head of the computer centre also for tabulation.

The computer centre, which is housed in the Elections Secretariat, is run by the University of Colombo School of Computing and headed by its Director Prof. V.K. Samaranayake. "We have about 50 of our internal staff working on this election at the centre in Rajagiriya," he says, explaining that two additional centres have been set up in Kalutara and Gampaha.

Computers are used to some extent in all the districts, and Prof. Samaranayake says, "They use their own machines but we provide the software." First used in the 1982 Presidential Election, computerized tabulation was initially done with primitive computers. "We used a TV screen as a monitor then," reminisces Prof. Samaranayake, adding that technology has advanced by leaps and bounds. There is now the facility of feeding in any information and getting instant comparisons, graphs and charts etc.

The results, after both manual and computer tabulations are compared and tallied, are sent to the Elections Commissioner who will certify them. The 'official' results are then electronically transmitted to the TV stations, and certified copies are faxed to the other media. The results are also instantly fed online and can be viewed on the Department of Elections official website www.slelections.gov.lk or at www.bit.lk/elections. Technology is such that results can also be accessed via SMS.

The first results to be released were postal voting results, tabulated as a whole district and not on the basis of electorates, as there are relatively fewer postal votes. The results of electorates are processed and released as and when they come. "When the result sheets of all the electorates are ready, we can put it together and release the district result, together with the number of seats allocated per party after which all island results are processed and released accordingly," said Prof. Samaranayake. The computer also calculates the allocation of the 29 National List seats and releases data of the composition of Parliament. "The advanced technology allows us to calculate and release vote percentages, as well as the current all island status," says Prof. Samaranayake, conceding however that they do not depend 100% on the computer as they don't want to take any chances.Preferential voting results are not processed by computer.

Much like the counting officers, the IT personnel also work non-stop and there is no 'shift' system. "It's a big responsibility, as all of it has to be done very fast and we can't make any mistakes," says Prof. Samaranayake, explaining that his staff rests in the premises itself, as they can't leave if curfew has been imposed. "Despite all this we enjoy the work, and look forward to it as it is an unusual experience," he smiles.

Back in the counting centres, the preferential votes are being counted. Having decided on the number of seat allocations per party, the counting commences, beginning with the party that has gained the highest number of seats. "After the release of the big result, people start getting tired and sleepy," says a former counting officer, as written tabulations are extensive, and sheets have to be filled even if a candidate has no votes polled.The preferential ballots are divided into categories: ballots papers with only one preference marked, two preferences marked, three preferences marked, no preference marked, more than three preferences marked and ballots where the preference marked is uncertain. The latter three categories are rejected and counting of the others is done, once again, with continuous written tabulation, before finally being released to the media.

Later today, or by tomorrow, while you sit in the comfort of your homes, you will finally find out the outcome of a massive process that you were a part of, and come to know which one of those you voted for has made it to Parliament.

The all- important ballot paper
The centre-piece of the whole election is the all important ballot paper. Seventy two tonnes of paper were used to manufacture ballot papers for this year's general election. The special paper was ordered from overseas. Government Printer Neville Nanayakkara revealed that it contained a watermark bearing the word elections in English, Sinhalese and Tamil.

In the course of printing, a minimum of two personnel were assigned to each machine, in addition to an audit officer and two clerical staff. The printing was under maximum-security conditions, as confidentiality is important to prevent forgery. "Until you go to the polling booth you don't know what type of ballot paper you will get," says Mr. Nanayakkara, adding that not even a square inch of the paper left his premises before the election.

Printing began on February 27,starting with the ballots for the more distant areas, so as to ensure an early despatch especially for postal voting. This year, the first batch of ballot papers was sent to Hambantota on March 2. The final stock was despatched to the Colombo District Secretary on March 19. Mr Nanayakkara reveals that printing was completed within three weeks.

Once the papers were ready, the relevant District Secretaries were informed and the papers then transported to the different areas. Although there were 12.8 million registered voters this year, the Government Press printed extra ballot sheets. Mr. Nanayakkara explained that this was because the ballot papers come in books of 50. "In a polling station where there are 720 votes, we had no choice but to send 750 papers in book form," he said.

The format of the ballot paper is stipulated in the Constitution and though the width of the ballot sheet has always remained the same (4 ½ inches), the length changes depending on the number of candidates. "During the previous election, the counterfoil was lengthwise," he says, adding that it was impractical as 3-feet long rulers had to be given to some polling stations to tear off the ballot papers.

This time around, the counterfoil was repositioned along the width of the ballot. "Though we estimated 121 tonnes of paper, we managed with 72 tonnes and it was a huge saving," said Mr. Nanayakkara. They also printed an additional 5% of ballots from the total number in bluish-grey colour. These were for 'tendered ballots'.

All unused ballot papers were sealed and despatched to the Elections Secretariat. All cast ballots are also stored in case of a recount if a petition is filed. Every square inch of paper used for the election has to be accounted for, Mr. Nanayakkara added.

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