73Preliminary scrutiny of postal votes and transmission to regional electoral officer

#### 73 Preliminary scrutiny of postal votes and transmission to regional electoral officer 73 Preliminary scrutiny of postal votes and transmission to regional electoral officer > > (1) This clause applies to each envelope purporting to contain a postal ballot-paper that is received by the returning officer before 6 pm on the thirteenth day immediately following the close of the poll. > > > (2) The returning officer must, in respect of each envelope— > > > > > (a) check if the declaration on the envelope containing the ballot-paper has been duly signed and witnessed, and > > > > > (b) if the officer is satisfied that the declaration has been duly signed and witnessed, accept the ballot-paper for further scrutiny. > > > (3) If a ballot-paper is accompanied by, but is not inside, an envelope bearing a declaration that has been duly signed and witnessed, the returning officer may accept the ballot-paper for scrutiny, but only if the returning officer is satisfied that the declaration relates to that ballot-paper. > > > (4) If the envelope has been accepted for further scrutiny, the returning officer must— > > > > > (a) send the envelope and ballot-paper to the regional electoral officer for the Region for which the elector has cast a vote in time to reach that officer before the close of the poll, or > > > > > (b) if the returning officer is of the opinion that the envelope cannot be sent to the regional electoral officer in order to reach the officer before the close of the poll, count and inform the regional electoral officer of— > > > > > > > (i) the first preference votes which are recorded for each candidate on the ballot-papers, and > > > > > > > (ii) if necessary, the additional preference votes which are recorded on the ballot-papers. > > > (5) A ballot-paper that is not accepted for further scrutiny must be set aside, together with the other ballot papers that have not been accepted for further scrutiny, without unfolding or otherwise examining the ballot-paper. > > **cl 73:** Am 2023 (600), Sch 1\[6\].