Counting Agent Duties

Other than the Returning Officer and staff, the following people are entitled to attend the count:

• candidates and one other person chosen by each of them
• the candidate’s election agent
• any appointed counting agents
• any accredited election observers, and
• representatives of the Electoral Commission

The Returning Officer may also permit other people to attend the count at their discretion, but is not obliged to do so. The decision of the Returning Officer as to who may attend the count is final.

Arrangements will be put in place to ensure that only authorised persons can gain access to the counting rooms. Election agents will be issued with a valid admission card which they will be required to bring to produce when gaining access to the counting room.

The duties of counting agents can be summarised as follows:

• to maintain and aid in maintaining the secrecy requirements;
• to be present at all stages of the count;
• to oversee the counting process and see that it is undertaken in an orderly, accurate and correct manner;
• to draw to the attention of the count staff any bad or doubtful ballot papers; to defend ballot papers marked for their candidate to which objection is taken;
• to require the Returning Officer to mark on a rejected ballot paper the words ‘rejection objected to’, if they object to the decision of the Returning Officer(usually, this would only happen in the absence of an appointed election agent);
• at the close of the count, when the Returning Officer seals the envelopes, the counting agents are entitled to add their seals.

Counting agents are not permitted to handle ballot papers.

The Returning Officer must give counting agents reasonable facilities for overseeing the proceedings at the count and fulfilling the various duties described above. In particular, the counting agents should be able to verify that the ballot papers are rightly sorted between the candidates. Either the candidate or their election agent are also entitled to do anything that the counting agent is authorised to do, and should be given the same facilities as a counting agent. Again, it is important to note that proceedings at the count or the opening of postal voters’ ballot boxes are not invalidated if any person entitled to attend is not present.

Contact Information
Send us a Message	Elections Tameside MBC Council Offices Wellington Road Ashton under Lyne OL6 6DL  View local map
0161 342 3036
0161 342 2187