27Scrutiny

27 Scrutiny

27 Scrutiny

(1) At the close of the poll, the returning officer must—

(a) produce all postal and pre-poll voting applications and all envelopes containing postal ballot-papers and pre-poll ballot-papers, and

(b) compare the signature of the elector on each such envelope with the signature of the same elector on the relevant application and allow the scrutineers to inspect both signatures, and

(c) if the returning officer is satisfied that the signature on the envelope is that of the elector who signed the relevant application—accept the ballot-paper for further scrutiny, and

(d) if the returning officer is not satisfied that the signature on the envelope is that of the elector who signed the relevant application—disallow the ballot-paper without opening the envelope, and

(e) take from the envelopes all ballot-papers accepted for further scrutiny and (without inspecting them or allowing any other person to do so) place them in a locked ballot-box for further scrutiny.

(2) The returning officer must also—

(a) examine the declarations on all envelopes purporting to contain ballot-papers of persons voting in accordance with clause 25, and

(b) if, after making such inquiries as the returning officer considers necessary, the returning officer is satisfied that the person who signed the declaration on any such envelope is entitled to vote, accept the ballot-paper for further scrutiny, and

(c) if the returning officer is not so satisfied, disallow the ballot-paper without opening the envelope, and

(d) take from the envelopes all ballot-papers accepted for further scrutiny and (without inspecting them or allowing any other person to do so) place them in a locked ballot-box for further scrutiny.

(3) The returning officer must then—

(a) unlock all ballot-boxes, and

(b) remove the ballot-papers from the ballot-boxes, and

(c) examine each ballot-paper and reject those that are informal, and

(d) proceed to count the votes and ascertain the result of the election in accordance with the relevant method of counting votes.