Site Selection Ballot Counting
The site selection ballot counting process normally involves the site selection administrator, one or more members of his staff, and two representatives from each bid that has submitted a valid bid filing.
The first step in site selection ballot counting is to validate the mailed-in ballots and any ballots which were hand-carried. The ballots are removed from the envelopes (which have been opened and the checks deposited or charges run) and are validated against the list of members used during at-con site selection to confirm that they are eligible to vote and have not voted at-con. The representatives of the bids may challenge voters eligibility at this time, just like they can during at-con site selection. Challenges are uncommon.
When all of the ballots have been validated, counting begins using the transferable preferential ballot procedure. (Usually, the first step is to do a rough count of first place votes. If, as is usually the case, one bidder has a clear majority, the rest of the process is quickly completed without fussing too much about details.) If the winner is not clear, then ballots will be more closely examined and ambiguous ballots may be ruled invalid.
At the end of the process, the site selection administrator, with the concurrence of the bid representatives, produces a report to the WSFS Business meeting.
Ballot counting usually takes no more than an hour or two, but in one case (the selection of the 1994 Worldcon at Chicon V in 1991) due to an inexperienced site selection administrator and an exceptionally close race with an exceptionally large number of ballots, ballot counting ran twelve hours, finishing after dawn the next day, just in time to present the report to the WSFS Business Meeting.
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