The (Acting) Returning Officer’s ((A)RO)'s staff will deliver the ballot boxes from the polling station to the count venue.
The (A)RO’s staff check in the ballot boxes as they arrive at the count venue.
Stage 2 - Verification
Ballot boxes are emptied onto tables and the empty boxes are shown to agents.
Staff count the ballot papers from each polling station.
Staff verify that the number of ballot papers matches the number of papers issued, as recorded on the Presiding Officers’ ballot paper accounts.
The verified ballot papers are shown to election and counting agents face up.
The (Acting) Returning Officer determines the reasons for any discrepancies and produces a final verified total.
The (A)RO produces a statement of the verification. Agents can view or copy this statement if they wish.
In England and Wales, where the election has been combined with another electoral event, the (A)RO may decide to start counting the votes before verification of all ballot papers for all polls is complete. However, they can only announce the result of the UK Parliamentary general election for their constituency once the verification of all ballot papers is completed.
In Scotland, where the election is combined with another poll, the verification of all ballot papers for all polls must be completed before the counting of the UK Parliamentary general election votes can begin.
There may be a single ballot box for all elections or separate boxes for each. In any case, ballot papers will be sorted into the separate contests.
Any ballot paper found in the ‘wrong’ ballot box is still valid and will be moved to the correct box during verification.
If the UK Parliamentary election is combined with other polls and the count for those polls does not take place immediately following verification, the verified boxes will be stored securely. Candidates and agents can attach their seals to boxes if they wish.
Stage 3- Counting of the votes
Staff sort ballot papers by candidate.
Staff count the number of votes cast for each candidate.
The (A)RO will share the provisional result with you and the agents. You or your election agent can ask the (A)RO to recount the votes.
The (A)RO can refuse to recount if they think the request is unreasonable.