Guidance for Returning Officers administering a Scottish Parliament election

Keeping accurate records at the receipt and opening of postal votes is key to maintaining a clear audit trail. 

You are required to complete a statement as to postal ballot papers for the election which includes details as to the postal ballot papers for the constituency and the regional election. The records you keep will be essential for ensuring that the statement is complete and accurate. 

You should ensure that all of the figures required the for the statements are accurately recorded during the receipt, opening and verification of postal votes. You should:

• maintain a clear audit trail of the receipt and opening of postal ballot packs 
• record the total number of envelopes received 
• record the number of envelopes counted 
• ensure that all of the figures required for the statement as to postal ballot papers are accurately recorded
• keep a record of the total number of envelopes received at your office and placed in a postal voters ballot box and use this record for audit purposes and check it against the number of envelopes counted at opening

You must complete a postal vote ballot paper account for every postal ballot box, we have provided a template postal vote ballot paper account below:

• prepare a list recording 
  • the total number of postal votes placed in each postal ballot box 
  • the total number of such boxes

You should batch ballot papers to ensure that you are able to retrieve and cancel any particular ballot paper(s) as required, for example, if you have had to re-issue following a procedural error.

You can find the template postal vote ballot paper account in the absent voting section of our resource page.

For more information on keeping a record of postal voting statements that have gone through the opening process and have been rejected see our guidance on checking the personal identifiers.