Sometimes, you may find that electors have cut or torn their completed postal ballot papers. 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.