Sometimes, you may find that electors have cut or torn their completed postal ballot paper. You will need to decide whether the returned extract is a valid ballot paper.
There are various scenarios that may arise:
Scenario
Accept at postal vote verification stage?
Accept at count?
The extract has the ballot paper number and the official mark on it
Yes - The 'ballot paper' will pass through the postal vote verification process (as it contains the ballot paper number) and go forward to the count.
Yes - This could be accepted as a valid vote at the count, provided the intention of the voter was clear.
The extract has only the ballot paper number and no official mark
Yes - The 'ballot paper' will pass through the postal vote verification process and go forward to the count.
No - It must be rejected at the count as it does not contain the official mark.
The extract has only the official mark and no ballot paper number
No - The 'ballot paper' must be rejected at the postal vote verification stage as it will not be matched on the opening of the 'A' envelope or against the postal vote statement.
N/A
The extract has neither an official mark nor a ballot paper number
No - The 'ballot paper' must be rejected at the postal vote verification stage as, again, it will not be matched on the opening of the 'A' envelope or against the postal vote statement.