70Forwarding of votes

70 Forwarding of votes

(1) A presiding officer must:

(a) place in a parcel all the envelopes which purport to contain the ballot‑papers of those voters who recorded votes at the polling place and all the envelopes handed in by persons who have cast postal votes, seal up the parcel and forthwith deliver it, or cause it to be delivered, to the Returning Officer; and

(b) forward to the Returning Officer advice in writing of the total number of envelopes enclosed in the parcel delivered or to be delivered to the Returning Officer.

(2) The Returning Officer must:

(a) extract the voter cards of persons who have cast absent votes from the records forwarded to him or her under rule 74 and subrules 66 (9), 68 (7) and 69 (11) and retain a copy of all such voter cards; and

(b) extract the envelopes of persons who have cast absent votes or postal votes from the ballot‑boxes forwarded to him or her under subrules 66 (9), 68 (7) and 69 (11); and

(c) extract the envelopes of persons who have cast absent votes or postal votes from the parcels forwarded to him or her under subrule (1); and

(d) until they are dealt with under other provisions of these Rules, keep the voter cards and envelopes in one or more securely fastened ballot‑boxes.

(3) The Returning Officer must:

(a) maintain a locked and sealed ballot‑box for each ward labelled so as to identify it as a ballot‑box containing absent votes, postal votes and pre‑poll votes; and

(b) keep in those ballot‑boxes, until the scrutiny, all envelopes purporting to contain a ballot‑paper recording an absent vote, a postal vote or a pre‑poll vote in relation to the wards, being, in the case of envelopes purporting to contain postal ballot‑papers, envelopes:

(i) delivered to the Returning Officer before the end of the period of 6 days after the close of the poll; or

(ii) received from a pre‑poll voting officer or a presiding officer where the envelope bearing the voter card bears evidence that it was received by the pre‑poll voting officer or presiding officer prior to the close of the poll.

(4) Before placing in the ballot‑box maintained under subrule (3) an envelope purporting to contain a postal ballot‑paper and delivered to the Returning Officer which is received after the close of the poll and which does not bear evidence sufficient to satisfy the Returning Officer that the vote contained in the envelope was recorded before the close of the poll, the Returning Officer must endorse on the envelope the date of its receipt and initial the endorsement.