The Electoral Office for Northern Ireland's staff deliver the ballot boxes from the polling stations to the count venue.
The Returning Officer's staff check in the ballot boxes as they arrive at the count venue.
Stage 2 - Reconciliation
Ballot boxes are emptied onto tables and the empty boxes are shown to agents.
Staff count the ballot papers from each polling station.
Staff reconcile the number of ballot papers against the number of papers issued, as recorded on the Presiding Officers’ ballot paper accounts.
The ballot papers are reconciled face up.
The Deputy Returning Officer (DRO) determines the reasons for any discrepancies and produces a final total of ballot papers to be included in the count.
The DRO produces a statement of the verification. Agents can view or copy this statement 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 DRO will share the provisional result with you and the agents. You or your election agent can ask the DRO to recount the votes.
The DRO can refuse to recount if they think the request is unreasonable.