(1)Votes cast at every polling station shall be counted at the polling station immediately after the presiding officer declares the polling closed, and the votes cast in favour of each candidate shall be recorded separately in accordance with this Part.

(2)Subject to section 146, no votes shall stay uncounted overnight and, where required, the presiding officer shall provide lanterns or any other source of adequate light for the purposes of counting votes.

(3)A candidate may be present in person or through his or her representative or polling agents at each polling station, and at the place where the returning officer tallies the number of votes for each candidate or conducts a recount, for the purposes of safeguarding the interests of the candidate with regard to all stages of the counting, tallying or recounting processes.

(4)At the commencement of the counting, the presiding officer shall, in the presence and full view of all present, open the ballot box and empty its contents onto the polling table, and with the assistance of polling assistants proceed to count the votes separating the votes polled by each candidate.