351AFinalising the count—postal elections

#### 351A Finalising the count—postal elections 351A Finalising the count—postal elections > > (1) This section applies only to postal elections. > > > (2) The returning officer, as soon as practicable after 6 pm on election day, is to open the ballot-boxes containing postal ballot-papers accepted for further scrutiny under section 347, take out the ballot-papers, scrutinise them and reject the informal ones. > > > (3) The returning officer must then do the following or have the following done— > > > > > (a) ascertain the result of the count in accordance with Schedule 4 or 5, depending on the system of election, > > > > > > Note. > > > > > > Section 285 of the Act specifies the circumstances in which the optional preferential (Schedule 4) and the proportional (Schedule 5) systems of election are to be used. > > > > > (b) inform the persons present of the result of the count, > > > > > (c) immediately notify the election manager of the result of the count, > > > > > (d) inform the candidates (in person, in writing, by facsimile, by telephone, by email, by text message or in any other way) as soon as practicable after the result is ascertained— > > > > > > > (i) of the result of the count, and > > > > > > > (ii) when the returning officer’s declaration under section 356 will be available for inspection at the office of the relevant council, and > > > > > > > (iii) that the information contained in the returning officer’s declaration under section 356 will be published on the election manager’s website for at least one month. > > > (4) For the purpose of ascertaining the result of the count, the returning officer may cause some or all of the ballot-papers to be sent to a ballot counting place appointed under section 345A to be counted in accordance with approved arrangements.