How to Count Votes: Tabulation, Abstentions, Ties, and Certifying Results

Counting Is Where Elections Are Won and Lost

Almost no one challenges an election because they think the wrong ballots were dropped in the box. They challenge it because the count did not match what they expected, and nobody could explain the difference.

Counting is a procedure, not arithmetic. Get the procedure written down before ballots come back, follow it exactly, and the result is defensible even when it is close. Improvise it on the night, and even a correct result looks improvised.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Your governing documents and your state's statutes control the specifics. Confirm your own before you count.

Step 1: Decide the Denominator Before You Start

"A majority" is meaningless until you say a majority of what. There are three common bases and they produce different winners.

Your bylaws will use one of these phrases. Read it literally. "A majority of the votes cast" and "a majority of the total voting interests" can hand the same election to opposite sides.

Step 2: Separate the Ballots Before You Count Them

Sort into four piles first, then count. Do not count and adjudicate at the same time.

• 1Valid ballots. From an eligible voter, properly returned, clearly marked.

• 2Ineligible. From someone not on the eligible voter list, or a duplicate from someone who already voted.

• 3Spoiled or ambiguous. Overvotes, marks in two boxes, illegible, contradictory.

• 4Blank on this question. Returned but left this contest unmarked.

Getting the piles right in advance is what stops the argument later, because the disputed ballots are identified before anyone knows whether they would change the outcome.

Step 3: How to Treat Abstentions, Blanks, and Spoiled Ballots

This is the part boards get wrong most often.

An abstention is not a vote. A member who abstains has declined to vote, so their ballot is not counted for or against. Under most bylaws and under Robert's Rules, abstentions are excluded from the denominator when the threshold is "a majority of votes cast." The practical effect is that abstaining makes it easier for a motion to pass, not harder.

An abstention still counts toward quorum. The member participated. See what is a quorum.

A blank on one question is an abstention on that question only. A ballot with four contests and one left blank is a valid ballot in three contests.

A spoiled ballot is not counted for the affected contest. If a voter marks three candidates in a race that allows two, that contest is void on that ballot. The rest of the ballot still counts.

Where the threshold is "of those present" or "of the total membership," abstentions have the effect of a no vote, because the denominator does not shrink. Nothing about the abstention changes. The bylaws changed the math.

Step 4: Apply the Right Winning Rule

Plurality. The most votes wins, even without a majority. Standard for multi-candidate board races. Three candidates, one seat, votes of 40, 35, and 30: the winner has 38 percent and is validly elected under a plurality rule.

Majority. More than half of the votes cast. If nobody clears it, there is no winner and something else must happen, usually a runoff. Requiring a majority without writing down what happens when nobody gets one is a common and expensive drafting gap.

Multi-seat plurality (block voting). Three seats open, each voter marks up to three, the top three vote-getters win. Watch for overvotes: a ballot marking four candidates for three seats is spoiled in that contest.

Cumulative. Each voter gets votes equal to the seats and may stack them on one candidate. The counting changes completely. See cumulative voting explained.

Ranked choice. Last-place candidates are eliminated and their ballots transfer until someone has a majority. See what is ranked choice voting.

Weighted or per-unit. Each ballot carries a weight rather than counting as one. Multiply, do not tally. This is where hand counting fails most often, because the arithmetic scales with your roster.

Step 5: Break the Tie the Way Your Documents Say

Check your governing documents first. Many associations already specify a method, and if yours does, that method controls. If nothing is written, common approaches include:

• A runoff limited to the tied candidates.
• A repeat vote at the same or an adjourned meeting.
• Lot. A drawing conducted openly. Widely used and, when your documents authorize it, entirely legitimate.
• The chair's casting vote, where the bylaws grant one. Note this is unusual in member elections and more common on boards.

What you may not do is let the board pick the winner unless the documents grant that power. Deciding a tie by board discretion after the fact is one of the more reliable ways to end up in front of a mediator. If your documents are silent, this is worth fixing at your next bylaw amendment.

Step 6: Build the Tally Sheet

A tally sheet is the working document, and it should be legible enough to hand to a member who asks. At a minimum:

Two people should count independently and compare totals. If the two counts disagree, count again before anyone announces anything.

Step 7: Certify and Retain

Certification is a short signed statement that the count above is accurate and complete, signed by whoever your documents assign it to, often an inspector of elections or the secretary. See inspector of elections for who can serve.

Then keep the records: the ballots, the eligible voter list used, the tally sheet, the certification, and any rejected ballots kept separately with the reason. Retention periods vary by state and by document, so use the longer of what your statute requires and what your bylaws say.

Announce the result with the numbers, not just the winners. "Chen 61, Alvarez 48, Whitfield 33, of 142 ballots counted from 240 eligible" ends far more arguments than "Chen and Alvarez are elected."

Where Hand Counting Breaks Down

Manual counting is fine for a small, single-question, one-vote-per-person election. It gets fragile fast when any of these are true:

• Votes are weighted by unit, share, or square footage
• The method is ranked choice or cumulative
• There are more than a few hundred ballots
• Eligibility has to be checked against a roster with recent transfers
• The result is expected to be close or contested

Every one of those adds a place for an honest arithmetic error, and an honest arithmetic error in a close race is indistinguishable from a dishonest one to the person who lost.

FAQ

Q: Do abstentions count as votes?

No. An abstention is a decision not to vote, so it is not counted for or against. It still counts toward quorum because the member participated. When the threshold is a majority of votes cast, abstentions lower the number of yes votes needed.

Q: What is the difference between a plurality and a majority?

A plurality is the most votes. A majority is more than half of the votes cast. A candidate can win a plurality with 38 percent of the vote in a three-way race and never come close to a majority.

Q: How do you break a tie in a board election?

Follow your governing documents first. If they are silent, common methods are a runoff between the tied candidates, a repeat vote, or drawing lots in the open. The board should not simply choose the winner unless the documents give it that authority.

Q: What do you do with a spoiled ballot?

Set it aside, record it as rejected with the reason, and do not count it for the affected contest. The rest of that ballot still counts if other contests are marked clearly. Keep rejected ballots separately as part of the record.

Q: Who should count the votes?

Whoever your governing documents designate, often an inspector of elections, a teller committee, or the secretary. Candidates should not count their own race. Two independent counts that agree are the practical standard.

Q: How long do we have to keep the ballots?

It depends on your state and your governing documents. Use the longer of the two. Keep the ballots, the eligible voter list, the tally sheet, and the certification together, since a partial record is barely better than none.

Q: Can we recount an election?

Usually yes, if your documents provide for it or the board authorizes it before results are certified and the records are intact. This is exactly why the ballots and the tally sheet have to be preserved rather than discarded once the winners are announced.

The Bottom Line

Write the counting rules down before the ballots come back. Decide the denominator, decide how abstentions and spoiled ballots are handled, decide what happens in a tie, and decide who counts. A close election with those four answers already on paper is routine. The same election without them is a dispute waiting for a trigger.

Electronic ballots remove the arithmetic risk entirely. vote.direct applies weighting, handles ranked choice and cumulative counting, rejects duplicate and ineligible ballots at submission rather than at the count, and produces a timestamped tally you can attach to the minutes. Elections start at $4.99 and cover up to 50 voters.

Facing a close or contested count and want a second set of eyes? Call or text (512) 222-8191, or email [email protected]. We will look at your rules with you before you count, which is the only time it is cheap to fix.