Most electoral observers believe the vote was fair despite irregularities that included security forces at polling stations, some ballot boxes not being properly sealed, and the absence of opposition representatives during some vote counting.

VOA: standard.2009.10.04

These rules apply to both manual and electronic counting of ballot papers and state the reasons why a ballot should be rejected if it does not bear the official marks, if votes are given for more than one candidate or party, if anything on the paper can identify the voter, or if they are unmarked or void for uncertainty.

BBC: NEWS | UK | Scotland | Scotland Office ballot response

On Monday, Commons Speaker John Bercow warned the security of the ballot could be threatened by Friday counting and demanded an end to the "passive acceptance" of the practice.

BBC: Commons questions

In the last election, they even saw examples of ballot boxes and ballot counting not going right.

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