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Registration Officer Guidebook

After voting hours

This section tells you how to close your station after the close of polls and how to support the counting of ballots with the DRO

Close the registration desk

  1. At the end of voting hours, finish serving electors

    Note electors who are in line before the end of voting hours (written at the front of the guidebook) are allowed to vote

  2. Every night, give the CPS the Alphabetical List of Electors by Site

  3. If it is not the last night of polls, leave all other supplies on your desk.

    If it is the last night of polls, put all other supplies back in your kit. Give your kit to the CPS

  4. Do any other tasks assigned by the CPS

    Note you may be asked to witness or support the counting of ballots if you are working on election night – you can only act as a witness if you are a qualified elector (you must be a Canadian citizen and 18 years of age or older)

  5. Fill out Time sheet for the Election Worker EC 11655 from the CPS

Supporting the counting of ballots

It is mandatory to have two election officers (EO) count the ballots. A second EO will be assigned to help each DRO count the ballots, who will normally be an IO or a RegO, or in some cases a CPS.

Your CPS will advise you if you are expected to assist a DRO in counting the ballots.

The DRO is usually the “Counter” who will count the ballots and the second EO is usually the “Recorder” who will record the ballot count on the tally sheet.

Only the Counter should touch ballots

Counter

  1. Unseal top of ballot box

  2. Take one ballot out of the ballot box and make sure DRO initials and PD of the polling station are on the back

    Note there may be different DRO initials. Compare initials on ballots with the initials of all DROs on Log of poll workers – Events Log EC 50060

  1. Unfold the ballot and say out loud which candidate is marked. Show it to everyone present
  2. Put the ballot in its appropriate pile (one pile for each candidate and a pile for rejected)

Recorder

  1. On Tally Sheet EC 50090, each time a candidate's name is called out, put a mark under that name. For rejected ballots, put a mark in the rejected column

Counter and Recorder

  1. Repeat steps 2-5 until every ballot has been placed in a pile

Counter

  1. Make sure there are no ballots left in the box (check under flaps). Show it to everyone present. Set the box aside

Recorder

  1. Write the totals in each column of the Tally Sheet EC 50090

Counter

  1. Count each pile of ballots and compare the number to the Tally Sheet EC 50090

    If a total does not match, count that ballot pile one more time and compare it against the total on the tally sheet

    If they still do not match, consider the physical ballot count to be correct. Ask the Recorder to make a note on the tally sheet about the mismatch then move on to the next step

  2. On each envelope, write the total number of ballots counted or “nil” if none
  3. Put each pile of ballots inside its appropriate envelope. Leave the envelopes open
  4. Complete the Statement of the Vote EC 50100

When the Statement of the Vote has been completed, the second EO has finished their role in counting the ballots. They can see CPS for further instructions