Election Returns.
Section 41
SEC. 41. Election Returns.—The citizens election committee shall prepare the statement of the count, commonly known as the election returns, simultaneously with the counting of the votes as prescribed in Section 154 of the 1978 Election Code, as amended. The statement shall be prepared in sextuplicate. Each vote read shall be recorded by the poll clerk on the election returns by means of a vertical line, and every fifth vote for the same candidate shall be tallied with a diagonal line across the four vertical lines previously tallied. The entry of votes in words and in figures in parenthesis for each candidate shall be closed with the signature and the clear imprint of the thumb of the right hand of all the members present, likewise to be affixed in full view of the public immediately after the last vertical line, or immediately after the name of the candidate who did not receive any vote. The statement shall also show the date of the election, the name of the municipality and the number of the voting center in which it was held, the total number of ballots found in the compartment for valid ballots, the total number of ballots withdrawn from the compartment for spoiled ballots because they were erroneously placed therein, the total number of excess ballots, the total number of rejected ballots, and the total number of votes polled by each candidate, writing out the said number in words and figures, and, at the end of the statement, the committee shall make a certificate signed by all its members present that the contents are correct. The statement should be contained, if possible, in a single sheet of paper, but, if this is not possible, each additional sheet of every copy shall be prepared in the same manner as the first sheet and likewise signed by all the members of the committee. The Commission shall take steps to ensure that the original copy of the election returns is clearly reproduced in its entirety in one instance on the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth copies thereof, and for this purpose the Commission shall acquire, if necessary, a special kind of carbon paper or chemically-treated paper. Immediately upon the accomplishment of the election returns, each copy thereof shall in the presence of the watchers and the public be placed in the envelope especially designed for the purpose, and distributed as provided herein.