 Once the count is completed, the Polling Station Return Form (Form V11) is completed.  The V11 Form and all documents originating from the polling station must be stamped with the presiding officer’s seal.  A duly complete V11 Form is affixed outside the entrance of the polling station.  The presiding officer must personally transmit the certified polling station return to the ward elections officer.  For each election, the marked ballots, unused ballots, the V11 Forms and other materials – such as the voters’ register and the gender statistics form – are packed into envelopes then placed in the ballot box.  The ballot box is sealed and transported to the ward elections officer. Assessment of closing and counting The vote count at the polling stations was transparent, with party agents and citizen and international observers able to follow the process closely. It was, however, a laborious process, carried out by exhausted, yet dedicated and resilient, polling officials and attentive party agents, often in challenging infrastructure, including poor lighting. Some key observations of the Group are as follows:  The counting process followed a procedure that was fair and generally consistent, including when addressing invalid ballots.  Spoilt ballots were dealt with fairly. For the instance observed, the ballots were shown to party agents and observers and the decision as to how to treat these ballots was made by consensus.  The mood at the polling stations observed was generally informal and collegial. However, the counting process was laborious, time consuming and inefficient. Counting occurred around a table and party agents and observers were allowed to view the count without hindrance and were able to ask questions and make suggestions regarding the counting procedure.  Presiding officers and the other polling officials were very tired after an already long day. This factor posed a risk of inadvertent errors. 53