Editing Vote counting (section)

===When manual counts happen===
The tallying may be done at night at the end of the last day of voting, as in Britain,<ref name="britain">{{Cite news |url=http://theconversation.com/explainer-how-britain-counts-its-votes-41265 |title=Explainer: how Britain counts its votes |last=Game |first=Chris |date=May 7, 2015 |work=The Conversation |access-date=August 16, 2019 |language=en}} {{Cite news |url=http://theconversation.com/how-votes-are-counted-on-election-night-78863 |title=How votes are counted on election night |last=Keaveney |first=Paula |date=June 8, 2017 |work=The Conversation |access-date=August 16, 2019 |language=en}}</ref> Canada,<ref name="canada">{{Cite web |url=https://lop.parl.ca/About/Parliament/Education/ourcountryourparliament/html_booklet/elections-e.html |title=Elections, Our Country, Our Parliament |website=lop.parl.ca |access-date=August 16, 2019}}</ref> France,<ref name="france">{{Cite news |url=https://www.vie-publique.fr/decouverte-institutions/citoyen/participation/voter/bureau-vote/qu-est-ce-qu-depouillement.html |title=Qu'est-ce qu'un dépouillement ? - Comment se déroule une journée dans un bureau de vote ? Découverte des institutions - Repères - vie-publique.fr |date=January 14, 2018 |access-date=August 16, 2019 |language=fr}}</ref> Germany,<ref name="ger">{{Cite web |url=https://wahlhelfer.muelheim-ruhr.de/m%C3%BClheim/wahllexikon/stimmenausz%C3%A4hlung/372 |title=Stimmenauszählung |date=2019 |website=Mülheim an der Ruhr  |access-date=August 17, 2019|language=de}}</ref> and Spain,<ref name="esp">{{Cite news |url=https://www.elconfidencial.com/elecciones-generales/2019-04-28/escrutinio-recuento-votos-urnas-papeletas-28a_1950082/ |title=¿Qué es el escrutinio y cómo se cuentan los votos en las elecciones generales 2019? |date=April 28, 2019 |work=El Confidencial |access-date=August 17, 2019 |language=es }} and Section 14 of the law:{{Cite web |url=http://www.juntaelectoralcentral.es/cs/jec/normativa/estatal?idLeyJunta=1&template=Loreg/JEC_Contenido |title=Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de Junio, del régimen electoral general. SECCIÓN 14.ª ESCRUTINIO EN LAS MESAS ELECTORALES |website=www.juntaelectoralcentral.es |access-date=August 17, 2019}}</ref> or the next day,<ref name="ace"/> or 1–2 weeks later in the US, after [[provisional ballot]]s have been adjudicated.<ref name="bp2018b">"Starting to audit only when all the audit units have already been counted is the most straightforward method." {{Cite web |url=https://electionaudits.org/files/Audit%20Principles%20and%20Best%20Practices%202018.pdf |title=Principles and Best Practices for Post-Election Tabulation Audits |date=2018 |website=ElectionAudits.org |access-date=August 12, 2019}}</ref>

If counting is not done immediately, or if courts accept challenges which can require re-examination of ballots, the ballots need to be [[Physical security|securely stored]], which is problematic.

Australia federal elections count ballots at least twice, at the polling place and, starting Monday night after election day, at counting centres.<ref name="aec-house">{{Cite web |last=Australian Electoral Commission |title=House of Representatives count |url=https://aec.gov.au/Voting/counting/hor.htm |access-date=2022-08-27 |website=Australian Electoral Commission |language=en-AU}}</ref><ref name="aec-sen">{{Cite web |last=Australian Electoral Commission |title=The Senate counting process |url=https://aec.gov.au/Voting/counting/senate.htm |access-date=2022-08-27 |website=Australian Electoral Commission |language=en-AU}}</ref>