If official election results processed by an electronic tabulation system, at which level results are entered into an electronic tabulation system?

IFES, Elections in Jordan: 2016 Parliamentary Elections, Frequently Asked Questions

Preliminary results for the local electoral districts are tabulated by each District Election Committee after receiving the results forms from the Polling and Counting Committees. At the results centers in the electoral districts, the results will be entered a second time (after the first entry by the Polling and Counting Committees) into the results database. The results will also be added up by a group of tabulation staff who will calculate the results using calculators. In addition, the results will be written by hand on a whiteboard visible to all present. The totals of all four of these calculations must match.

IEC Polling Counting Manual

The Counting Process Includes:

A. Preparations for Counting (before opening the ballot box) At this stage the Room is re-arranged so as to perform the counting process.

B. Five Steps of Counting

1. Opening the ballot box: Preparation of the ballot box and announcement of its data in order to proceed with the opening procedures.
2. Counting ballots and first reconciliation: This is the stage where all ballots are counted and the data is compared with the number of voters who voted to make sure all ballots are accounted for correctly and discrepancies are identified (if any).
3. Reading and sorting ballots: This is the stage where decision is made on the status of each ballot. It is determined whether the ballot is valid or invalid and, for valid ballots, which list and candidate(s) the vote is for. Ballots are sorted into stacks for each category (lists, blank, invalid).
4. Counting and second reconciliation: This is the stage where ballots and votes in each stack are counted and totalled, and then compared with the list tally board and flipchart candidate tally notebook to ensure results are accurate.
5. Completion of paper and electronic counting form: In this stage, the paper counting form is completed and endorsed, and then entered into the electronic system.

Entering the Counting Form into the Electronic System

After the counting form is checked and signed, the Data Entry Clerk enters the counting data from the form into the electronic system under the supervision of the Head of Committee, using data from the paper form and not the tally board). Entered data should be checked against the form before saving it in the system to ensure that the data is entered exactly as it appears on the form.

The results were counted multiple times electronically. At the polling station level, results were entered into the electronic database and on the forms foreseen for that purpose. At the District Election Commission level, the same polling station results were entered a second time into the electronic database for electronic tabulation, and also tabulated manually, as well as on a giant whiteboard visible to all observers and party agents. The existence of four separate cross checks in the counting and tabulation processes is perhaps more than necessary, and should be evaluated for future electoral cycles.