How to balance ballot papers and votes on polling night
The process for balancing on pol ing night is very similar to the process used on al previous pre-pol voting
nights. The major diference is counting and recording pol ing results. There is also an important extra step
for the recording of EVACS votes – see transmitting EVACS figures on polling night (this should already
have been completed). The fol owing guide outlines the steps necessary for completing the ‘Bal ot paper and
votes’ process on pol ing night.
Step 1:
Step 3:
From the OIC’s home screen click the ‘Bal ot papers
You wil notice that after entering the figures, you no
and votes’ button.
longer have a ‘View summary’ button. Instead you
have ‘Enter result of Count Figures’. Click this button.
Step 2:
In order to complete the Bal ot papers and votes
Step 4:
section of eLAPPS on pol ing night, you need figures
The result of count screen wil show three separate
for the fol owing items from pol ing day for each
tables. The middle and right table are for EVACS
electorate:
figures which have already been completed (see
• Spoilt bal ot papers;
transmitting EVACS figures on polling night).
• Discarded bal ot papers;
You can now ignore these tables for this process.
• Declaration bal ot papers found in the ordinary
The first table (left hand side) is for entry of figures
bal ot box;
relating to the paper bal ot papers you count.
• Declaration votes;
• Unused bal ot papers; and
If you have fewer than 20 paper bal ots for the
• The result of count.
electorate you are currently completing select ‘
yes’ to
the question “less than 20 votes by paper bal ot
Once you have these figures, select ‘Bal ot papers
today” and enter the total number of votes you have
and votes’ button for the home electorate
in the total field. However, if you have more than 20
and enter the figures as you have done during the
votes for paper bal ots select ‘
no’.
previous days of pre-pol voting.
Answering ‘
no’ wil display a field next to every
candidate’s name.
Step 5:
If there are more than 20 paper bal ots, take the
completed ‘Result of Count’ slip relating to the pol ing
day paper figures and transcribe them into the left
table in eLAPPS.
You can tab between fields.
Be very careful that you are entering the correct
‘Result of Count’ slip. It must be the POLLING DAY
paper figures
Step 8:
If you stil don’t balance, do a recheck of your pol ing
place looking for bal ot papers you may have
overlooked.
Also perform a recount of the candidate figures. If
you find an error in the result of count that needs
correcting, just click the ‘Edit’ button next to the
‘Total number of bal ot papers counted’ field.
Step 6:
Check to ensure that you have entered the correct
figures next to the correct candidate’s name and
check that the total figure at the bottom matches
your expectations from the Result of count slip.
If you are happy you have correctly entered these
figures click the ‘Save and Continue’ button.
Step 7:
The next screen is the summary screen. As was the
This wil return you to the ‘Result of count screen’
case during pre-pol it tel s you whether the figures
where you can make alterations. Clicking ‘Save and
you have entered balance. If it indicates that the
Continue’ from that screen wil return you again to
EVACS figures do not balance, make sure you are
the ‘Summary screen’.
confident you have entered the candidate figures
correctly.
Step 9:
If you now balance, or stil don’t balance but you are
confident you have accurately counted al your bal ot
papers, used and unused, click the ‘Transmit figures
for....’ button.
Wait for it to finish transmitting the figures and then
repeat this process for the remaining electorates.
If the bal ot paper figures do not balance you should
do a recount, starting with the spoilt, discarded,
declarations and unused bal ot papers.
If you need to change a figure, you can do so from
this screen, just change the figure and click the
‘Recalculate’ button.
