A scrutineer (also called a poll-watcher or a challenger in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

) is a person who observes any process which requires rigorous oversight. Scrutineers have the tasks of preventing the occurrence of

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

and of detecting genuine mistakes. The scrutineering process takes place most commonly alongside

voting Voting is a method by which a group, such as a meeting or an electorate, can engage for the purpose of making a collective decision or expressing an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election campaigns. Democracies elect holde ...

in an

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

; the scrutineer observes the

counting Counting is the process of determining the number of elements of a finite set of objects, i.e., determining the size of a set. The traditional way of counting consists of continually increasing a (mental or spoken) counter by a unit for every ele ...

ballot A ballot is a device used to cast votes in an election and may be found as a piece of paper or a small ball used in secret voting. It was originally a small ball (see blackballing) used to record decisions made by voters in Italy around the 16t ...

papers, in order to ensure that election rules are followed. There are other uses of the concept, such as in

motorsport Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

, when a scrutineer is responsible for ensuring that vehicles meet the technical regulations.

Politics

Scrutineer sheet for Australian Federal Election, 2013

Rules vary concerning the number of scrutineers from a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

who are allowed to be present at each

polling station A polling place is where voters cast their ballots in elections. The phrase polling station is also used in American English and British English, although polling place is the building

. In some jurisdictions, each candidate or party may have one scrutineer or poll-watcher per

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

or precinct where voting or counting takes place. In other jurisdictions, such as in Australia and in Canada, each party is permitted to appoint one or two scrutineers per polling-booth. Scrutineers are often required to refrain from contact with voters, from wearing or displaying political slogans, or from otherwise exerting influence on the conduct of the election while it is taking place. Scrutineers also report back unofficial results to their campaign headquarters, as the official results can take some time to be issued.

Sport

World RX - 2018 - RD6 Sweden (41303479520)

Scrutineers play an important role in many

s. Racing series typically have a set of technical regulations to which the cars, bikes or other vehicles must conform. The role of the scrutineer in this case is to confirm that vehicles entered for the race meet the relevant regulations.

Design and engineering

Someone who carefully verifies the accuracy of technical specifications, drawings, or configurations as they apply to a specific discipline field.

Competitive dance

Dancing competitions (especially

dancesport Dancesport is competitive ballroom dance, ballroom dancing, as contrasted to social or exhibition dancing. In the case of Para dancesport, at least one of the dancers is in a wheelchair. Dancesport events are sanctioned and regulated by dancesp ...

) employ (usually professionally certified) officials who oversee judging and tabulate scores. Software is often used to aid with tabulation.

References

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External links

Scrutineer’s Handbook for federal elections
published by the

Australian Electoral Commission The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is the independent federal agency in charge of organising, conducting and supervising federal Australian elections, by-elections and referendums. Responsibilities The AEC's main responsibility is to ...