The following people are entitled to attend the opening of postal votes at a constituency election:1
Constituency candidates
Election agents for constituency candidates or a person appointed by the candidate to attend in their place
Postal voting agents appointed to attend openings
Regional election
The following people are entitled to attend the opening of postal votes at a regional election:2
Individual regional candidates
Election agents for individual regional candidates or a person appointed by the candidate to attend in their place
Party list candidates
Election agents for the party list, the Nominating Officer of that party or a person appointed by the Nominating Officer to attend in their place
Postal voting agents appointed to attend openings
Sub-agents
Sub-agents are also entitled to attend the opening of postal votes at both the constituency and regional elections but only if they are attending instead of an election agent.3
Duty to maintain secrecy during postal vote opening sessions
Ballot papers will be kept face down throughout a postal vote opening session. Anyone attending an opening session must not:
obtain
attempt to obtain
communicate at any time to another person:
any information relating to the number or other unique identifying number on the ballot paper
any information as to the official mark on the postal ballot paper before the close of poll
disclose how any particular ballot paper has been marked or pass on any such information gained from the session
It follows therefore that keeping a tally of how ballot papers have been marked is not allowed.
Anyone found guilty of breaching these requirements can face a fine of up to £5,000, or may be imprisoned for up to six months.4