Postal votes
Postal votes from the previous opening sessions within the Highland Hall will have been prepared before the start of the count. All postal votes will be in sealed postal vote ballot boxes which have had their contents recorded.
One box will be allocated to each table and will be the first to be opened. These ballot papers will already have been unfolded and put into bundles during the postal vote processing stage.
Postal votes handed in at polling stations and at the City Chambers during polling day will be transferred under secure arrangements to Ingliston.
The final opening of postal vote ballot papers received during polling day will commence at the Highland hall at 8.30pm on polling day. Postal votes received from polling places at close of poll will be processed as they arrive.
We will have two collections from the polling stations at around 12 noon and 6pm. The remainder will be uplifted with the ballot boxes at 10pm. Royal Mail will also carry out a sweep of their distribution centres in the late evening and deliver anything picked up in that sweep at around 9.30pm. Royal Mail will perform a “sweep” of their systems after the last collection and will retrieve any postal votes. These will be brought directly to the Highland Hall for processing.
If you wish to observe, as with all of the postal vote opening sessions, you must provide us with advance notice of any agents who will be attending these opening sessions on your behalf.
Delivery of ballot boxes from polling stations
Ballot boxes from polling places will be delivered to the count hall as they arrive after the close of the poll at 10pm on Thursday 7 May. Due to the spread of polling places around the city, it may take some time until all the boxes are received.
They are checked in on receipt at the Highland Hall and then taken to the correct constituency area to be allocated to constituency and regional tables to be counted the next day.
Each ballot box has a unique identifying number and will be checked in on arrival as it is removed from the van. The seals on the box will also be checked to ensure that they have not been tampered with.