Summary
Results should be publicly announced, including through posting at the counting station.
Obligations
Election Parts
Quotes
- To ensure that the will of the people serves as the basis of the authority of government, the participating states will: (7.4) ensure that votes are cast by secret ballot or by equivalent free voting procedure, and that they are counted and reported honestly with the official results made public.
- In particular, the EMB should ensure that: detailed results are published at every stage of the aggregation and tabulation process as soon as they are available, indicating how many votes have been won by each candidate or political party and the number of invalid votes.
- When the counting process is completed the results should immediately be announced and posted at the counting station.
- An official copy of the results should be posted at the polling station (e.g., pinned to the door) as soon as the counting is completed, to provide an opportunity for results to be publicly inspected.
- Results from the results centres should be announced publicly.
- The legal framework should ensure, among other things, that: ...Tally sheets at intermediate and final counting centers record disaggregated votes, as well as aggregated results tabulations, are easily verified, publicly posted and provided to representatives of political parties, candidates, groups supporting or opposing referenda or other ballot initiatives, domestic nonpartisan election monitors, news media and international election observers.
- ...[O]bservers and the media should all have the right to receive copies of the official results of each polling station ('protocols') which should also be made available to the general public by posting in a public place.
- The publication of results should include detailed breakdowns nationally, regionally (if applicable), and by polling stations (if votes are counted in this manner) or other voting sites or methods, except in highly exceptional circumstances where identifying the geographical distribution of the results of voting could lead to discrimination, retributions, or other severe adverse action against a local or regional population, and such circumstances should be explained and be subject to judicial review.
- In particular, the EMB should ensure that: results are published in full, including a breakdown of results by individual polling station/counting centre, as well as regional constituencies, to allow for crosschecking of results.