ELECTORAL ACT (as amended at 24th January 2008) (4) When the postal ballot box has been opened, the constituency elections officer shall count and note the number of envelopes and shall then open each covering envelope separately, examine the declaration of identity and compare the number thereon with the number on the ballot paper envelope. (5) If the numbers agree and the declaration of identity is found to be duly signed and witnessed, the constituency elections officer shall place the declaration of identity and the ballot paper envelope unopened in separate receptacles. (6) If the constituency elections officer is not satisfied that the declaration of identity has been duly signed and witnessed, he or she shall endorse the declaration of identity “Vote Rejected” and shall attach thereto the ballot paper envelope without opening such envelope or, if there is no such envelope, the ballot paper. (7) If the constituency elections officer finds that the numbers on the declaration of identity and on the ballot paper envelope do not agree or if the envelope has no number on it, he or she shall open the envelope and, if the number of the ballot paper agrees with the number on the declaration of identity, he or she shall mark the ballot paper with the official mark and place the ballot paper in the ballot box referred to in section seventy-nine. (8) In every case in which the number on the ballot paper does not agree with the number on the declaration of identity, the constituency elections officer shall replace the ballot paper in the ballot paper envelope, if any, attach such envelope or ballot paper, as the case may be, to the declaration of identity and endorse the declaration of identity “Vote Rejected”. (9) Where a declaration of identity does not appear to accompany the ballot paper envelope, the constituency elections officer shall open the envelope and, if it is found to contain the declaration of identity, he or she shall deal with such declaration and ballot paper in accordance with the procedure set out in subsections (4) to (8). (10) A declaration of identity not accompanied by a ballot paper and a ballot paper not accompanied by a declaration of identity shall be marked “Rejected”. (11) Where a ballot paper and a declaration of identity are received together and the numbers thereon agree, the ballot paper shall not be rejected solely on the ground of noncompliance with paragraph (d) of subsection (1) of section seventy-five. (12) Where a ballot paper envelope or a ballot paper is found in terms of this section to be accompanied by a written statement of a competent witness in terms of subsection (3) of section seventy-five, and the constituency elections officer is not satisfied from the statement that the competent witness was entitled in terms of that section to mark the ballot paper, the constituency elections officer shall endorse the declaration of identity “Vote Rejected” and shall attach thereto— (a) the written statement concerned; and (b) the unopened ballot paper envelope or the ballot paper, as the case may be. 78 Rejected declarations of identity (1) The constituency elections officer shall show to the candidates and their chief election agents present every— (a) declaration of identity which he or she proposes to reject on the ground that it has not been properly signed and witnessed; and - 59 -