Once you have voted and placed your ballot papers in the ballot box they remain untouched until the close of the poll (6 pm) on election day.

After the close of the poll, ballot boxes are opened and the ballot papers sorted and counted in the presence of scrutineers (if any).

Only ordinary votes are counted on election night. Absent, postal, pre-poll and declared institution votes are checked and counted after the close of poll.

On election night there are three counts.

Legislative Assembly first preference

Ballot papers are counted for first preference for each candidate and informals. The results of the count are phoned through to the returning officer who then enters the results into the NSWEC’s computer system. The results for each district are sent to the tally room. The results are recorded and updated on a central tally board for display and transmission to the media.

Legislative Assembly notional distribution of preferences

Ballot papers are notionally distributed to two candidates selected by the NSWEC as the likely candidates who will eventually be the two remaining candidates in the count. The notional distribution of preferences count is sometimes referred to as the “two candidate preferred count”.

It is intended to provide the media, parties and candidates with an early indication of the likely result of the count at each polling place. It is not an official distribution of preferences which is conducted by the returning officer after the election.

The results of the count are phoned through to the returning officer who then enters the results into the NSWEC’s computer system. They are transmitted to the media and the tally board.

Legislative Council first preference

At the end of counting on election night the media commentators are generally able to predict the result of the election but not all districts.

The Legislative Council ballot papers are counted at the polling place on election night. The ballot papers that have a first preference above the line are counted and the results phoned to the returning officer who enters the information into the NSWEC's computer system for forwarding to the media and the tally board.

The voting system of the Legislative Council is different to that of the Legislative Assembly and it takes longer to achieve a result.

Following election day ballot papers are recounted at regional counting centres. Results are entered into the NSWEC’s computer system.

Ballot papers marked below the line are sorted and sent to a central data entry centre where they are individually entered into the computer system.